Dollars Spent

The other day I was about to grab lunch at work.  Lunch at work for me is a boring affair.  On Sunday evenings I run a sandwich making assembly line which churns out 5 identical turkey sandwiches for my daily noon time feedings. On this particular day I thought about the pattern I was weaving and I realized that it has been several weeks since I’ve spent money on lunch.  My guess was that it...

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...

Seven Financial New Year’s Resolutions for 2010

Hello everyone.  I am away travelling on some very important business for a couple days and thought this would be a perfect opportunity to share a guest post from the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE). While I tend to spend less time with basic financial concepts, (which is a real sweet spot for NEFE), I am a firm believer in Financial Education and want to share their message with...

You Are What Your Record Says You Are

The title is a quote from Super Bowl winning coach Bill Parcells. The idea is that a team is as good or as bad as its record indicate.  Fans, commentators, and even players like to interpret – or rationalize – circumstances and game events so as to suggest that a team is better, or sometimes worse, than its record might suggest.  A lucky bounce here or a bad call there and those close losses...

Consumptive Footprint

I remember a day in the late 90’s.  More precisely, I remember a particular episode of self talk back in the summer of 1998.  At the time I was living in St. Louis and was only a couple short years out of grad school.  I don’t know exactly what prompted this specific contemplation but it was about money.  It was often about money in those days.  I was learning about money but in a...

CD Ladders – My Take

A few weeks ago a friend wrote an article about his experience with his CD Ladder.  That article led to a comment, a follow-up article, and a promise from me to craft an article sharing my opinion and perspective on the topic.  Today, I (finally) make good on that commitment. So you ask, what the heck is a CD Ladder?  Great question.  It was not that long ago that I asked the very same question. ...

Plant Your Financial Tree

  According to an ancient Chinese Proverb, “The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago.  The second best time is now.” I find that to be a compelling message.  And one that lends itself to the world of personal finance.  One only need imagine the line “the best time to pay-off debt, or start saving for retirement…” to identify the fit. Several months ago, I was...