Baby Step One – Starter Emergency Fund

Today I’m launching a new series. Actually it is the very first installment of what I envision as an ambitious 3 series set in which I plan to cover some personal finance basics from different angles.  Call it a “Back to the Basics” bundle if you will.  I expect this series to take shape over the next couple months so stay tuned.  I hope you’ll enjoy and engage the discussion. In some ways...

Wake Up Call

A read an article the other day from a pretty well respected icon in the blogging game.  Leo Babauta over at Zen Habits has about 160,000 readers – an insane number when you’ve been doing this long enough to know what that really means. His article was about changing habits and the easiest way we too often derail our efforts to change and improve. The idea was as simple as it gets.  So simple...

Goal Setting – March 2010

Introduction March is here already – amazing how time flies.  Yet 2010 is shaping up to be a fantastic year.  I am continuing to lag behind on some of my goals – I’ve again conquered only 3 of my 5 targets for the month but I did bang out one of the overdue items from January.  I’ll count that as progress as my overall % completion has increased.  How are you doing and...

I Want That Feeling Again

  A couple weeks ago I was talking with a friend who was leaving her job.  It was a good job with a good employer but it was time to move on.  I spoke with her as she was navigating the decision making process and then again on her last day.   Leaving a job – a real career-type job – is not as easy as it sounds.  I know from experience.  But I was happy (and a little relieved) at her response...

David Allen Is A Genius

If you happen to follow my rare personal commentaries on Facebook you’ll notice that the title for today’s article matches with the headline I broadcasted Saturday morning.  I’m being repetitive because I’m twice as convinced in the truthfulness of the statement. For starters, who is David Allen?  Well, I suppose many titles would fit, but I’d define him as a personal productivity guru. ...

Homeless Man With A Plan

Being homeless is by no stretch a tragedy and while it is not a cause I actively combat, it never fails to illicit a reaction in my mind if not my heart.  In Canterbury, England the youthfulness of the homeless population is shocking, the true stench of the homeless population surrounding Philadelphia’s City Hall will turn your stomach, and the aggressive and entitled nature of the panhandlers...

Mortgage Interest Is Tax Deductible, So What?

A couple weeks ago I was exchanging emails with a friend – and reader – and during the exchange he shared from a discussion he was having with a co-worker about tax deductible debt – think mortgage.  It seems that his co-worker – a CFO, trained in the ways of finance – was in favor of maintaining a mortgage for the purposes of the tax deduction rather than paying off the debt as quickly...