Say you’re like me, you own a car, and your hood release lever doesn’t work.  I have several options to fix the car.
1.  I can try to fix it myself and risk breaking additional things.
2. I can go into debt to have someone else fix it.
3. I can access my emergency fund.
So what do you do […]

This was taken from a comment that David Robarts left on here a while back in regards to credit cards:
“There was a brief period where we decided to carry a balance because we were uncertain of our cashflow when we moved, but we returned to paying off the balance every month after just a few […]

The following quotes are taken from jmule’s posts on The Finance Forums, the title of the thread is “At the end of my rope”  You can read the whole series of posts here.
I don’t know where to turn. I have a good steady income, but very bad credit, from a previous relationship that destroyed my […]

Yesterday I made a career move that will nearly double my income.  It will require moving to a more expensive part of the state and being futher away from family members, but all in all I think it’s a good thing.
I am trying to set up a moving budget, and we’re still debating whether or not […]

“Honey, did you spend $800 on the credit card at Payless yesterday?”
I work with a lot of college students.  College students are great people, they’re fun, interesting, and very creative.  College students typically ARE NOT good with finances though.  Student loan debt is high for almost anyone, but some people do the credit card thing, […]

Sometimes even I’m surprised at how stupid people can be.  This individual is a customer at the bank where I used to work, and he saw me in the grocery store last night, I’m still not sure if he was joking or not.
Customer: Heeey! Hey You!  You!  Guy who works at the bank!
Me: Hello sir, […]

Am I an expert?  An interesting question that was e-mailed by a reader a few weeks ago that asked me essentially that question:
“Mark, I appreciate your site and what you’re trying to do with it, how did you become a financial expert anyways?”
While I’m glad that this reader thinks I’m a financial expert, the sad fact […]

Paidtwice AND My New Choice tagged me in a meme.  What fun!  What excitement!  I got tagged!!
What’s the point?
I’m excited about this one though, because the question is a core personal finance question: If you can give one advice, tip, or story related to money, what would you share?
My advice: Spend less than you earn. […]

      This is a guest post from Jamie over at PaidTwice.  She has some good things to say in this article, I suggest you take some notes :)  In case you were wondering, I’m at historic Lambeau Field in Green Bay, WI.
I’ve been thinking and talking about getting out of debt for a long time. Especially […]

I came across an interesting post over at Growing Up, which made me think of my own trap with credit cards.  Here’s the interesting part of the post for your perusal:
True, the immediate cash back reward meant I spent less on every purchase. But too quickly did both my husband and I sink into the […]