Everyone knows that staying at home and watching a movie is one of the cheapest ways to share a night, but that can often get tiresome. There's something about the Halloween holiday season that brings the notion back to life, as Halloween movies are ...
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Your Disaster Fund and the Best Places to Hide Money in Your Home
Most people who have emergency and rainy day funds use banks to keep their cash safe. However, it's also wise to keep a home-based readily-accessible disaster fund in the event a situation arises that makes it impossible to withdraw the cash from ...
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My Daughter’s Latest Business Venture (A Car Wash? That’s So Last Year!)
This is another post from my 12-year-old daughter, Nina.
Hi everyone! My dad asked me if I would write another article to tell you about my latest accomplishments so far in 2012.
My last post received a lot of attention because it was put on ...
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The Apocalypse Can Wait: My State of the Household Report for 2012
As the old saying goes, knowledge is power.
When it comes to tracking personal finances, one of the most important pieces of information in you can have in your knowledge database is a detailed summary that highlights where your household income ...
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The High Cost of Getting My Son’s Wisdom Teeth Removed
Nobody likes a big mouth.
At least that's what I used to think.
My teenage son, Matthew doesn't have a big mouth -- although I wish he did.
That's because most big mouths have one particular virtue that makes the rest of us extremely envious: they ...
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A True Love-Story: My Proven Method for Online Dating Success
I thought this article would be apropos today, considering the Honeybee and I are enjoying a bit of a second honeymoon in Maui this week -- sans kids, of course. And yes, we're having a fabulous time!
It's tough being single. Perhaps that's why ...
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My BBQ Sauce Taste Test: My Family Bucks Conventional Wisdom (Again)
Depending on who you talk to, barbecue sauces have been around since the days of the American colonies.
Wikipedia claims that the first commercial barbecue sauce appeared around 1909. I know; please don't grill me on my source, folks.
And while ...
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Dogs and Old Cars: Why Both Are Worthy Of Being Man’s Best Friend
I was surfing the Internet this week when I stumbled upon a brilliant essay by The Washington Post's Gene Weingarten on why old dogs make the best dogs. In it, Weingarten astutely observed:
"It's no big deal to love a dog; they make it so easy for ...
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How to Choose a Reasonable Health Care Plan on a Budget
by Patricia Walling
Every year there are millions of Americans who struggle to afford health care. This can be due to insurance companies raising premiums, but there can be other reasons too. For example, many people who are either unemployed or ...
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100 Words On: Why My Dog Is Worth Every Penny I’ve Spent On Him
Earlier this month our Rhodesian Ridgeback, Major -- that's him there in the picture -- celebrated his 8th birthday. Over that time, we've spent a little over $6500 on him -- not counting the $1500 the Honeybee and I paid for him way back in 2003. ...
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A Look Back at 12 Years of Spending Data: My 2011 State of the Household Report
Since 1999 the Honeybee and I have used our trusty Excel spreadsheet to steadfastly track how we use every dollar earned that is not siphoned off by federal and state taxes, or automatic retirement contributions. Over the years, this disciplined ...
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My Ketchup Taste-Test: Upset! Guess Which Brand Topped Heinz
Ketchup is the most popular condiment in the United States, and if you ask one hundred people what their favorite brand is, ninety-nine will usually say Heinz. As for the other guy, he'll simply say he doesn't like ketchup, period. It's true.
Then ...
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How Being Absentminded Resulted In A $2750 Year-End Windfall
At least I'm calling it a windfall. Let me explain.
You see, if I leave a twenty dollar bill in a winter jacket only to rediscover it after it has been hanging in the closet for nine months, that's a windfall.
Now I can hear a lot of you out ...
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My Daughter’s Halloween Take for 2010
In case anybody is interested, here is Nina's Halloween take this year.
I had her itemize everything in her bag when she got home Sunday night. Isn't that terrible?
Actually, she didn't mind at all. She happily put this together for me in no ...
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Why Marriage Makes It So Hard to Control Remodeling Costs. (Well, Kinda Sorta.)
As I've previously mentioned, the Penzo household is in the middle of a long-awaited home renovation project with a reliable contractor.
Originally, it was supposed to be a fairly modest kitchen renovation that involved replacing our porcelain ...
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The Great Debate: Do Kids Really Need Their Own Cell Phone?
Last week I shared the story about my $1055 cell phone bill, courtesy of my teenage son. The article seemed to, um, resonate with a lot readers, not only here but at MSN where it was also featured as a guest post, and on Digg, where at last count it ...
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My Store-Brand vs. Name-Brand Blind Taste-Test Experiment #3
Okay. If you are a regular reader here you know the drill by now, so feel free to skip to the juicy parts!
Are name-brand groceries really worth the extra cost when alternative cheaper store-brand groceries are available? More specifically, when ...
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Dear Diary: A Night at the Oscars with Me and the Honeybee
The other night the Honeybee and I sat down and watched the 82nd Annual Academy Awards, and I have to say it was the most entertaining show I've seen since Billy Crystal was hosting.
Naturally, we recorded the event to avoid all the ...
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Retirement Savings: Why My Kids Shouldn’t Plan on Receiving an Inheritance From Me
I know. A lot of you wish you could retire now, looking for reasons to retire early.
However, before that can become reality, it's important to understand our magic number; that magic number, of course, is the amount of money we'll need to have ...
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Evaluating The Costs of a Longer Commute: When It’s Better to Just Suck It Up
As many of you know, I live in Southern California; cars are king here. Most of us who live in Los Angeles can't even spell "public transportation."
That's why it was big news when I found out my employer was moving 21 miles down the road, ...
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