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Len Penzo dot Com

The offbeat personal finance blog for responsible people.

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A Few Thoughts from Aunt Doris: How to Make the Perfect Cup of Tea

By Aunt Doris

We English do love a good cup of tea (or, as we like to say, a cuppa)! I'm not talking about that panther pee they serve in most restaurants here in the States. You know -- a thick cup with a tea bag on the side! Oh, no! Here's how to make a ...

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December 18, 2020

Power to the Pinched! The Personal Finance Anarchist Cookbook

By Len Penzo

Once upon a time, no self-serving radical activist would be caught dead without The Anarchist Cookbook and its misguided recipes for making homemade bombs, tear gas, and other sinister items out of everyday household products. Of course, that got ...

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July 20, 2020

The 50 Biggest Money Mistakes Household CEOs Make

By Len Penzo

I'm not ashamed to admit I make mistakes. After all, everybody screws up occasionally; for us humans, mistakes come with the territory. For example, I remember the time I decided it would be great fun to play Wii golf for eight consecutive hours. ...

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January 20, 2020

19 Things Your Millionaire Neighbor Won’t Tell You

By Len Penzo

Although having a million bucks isn't as impressive as it once was, most people still consider it as a sign of financial success. And judging by the number of actual millionaires enjoying life in the world today, there are apparently quite a lot of ...

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January 6, 2020

Good Personal Finance Habits Everyone Should Follow

By Len Penzo

There are good habits and there are bad habits - and I have a lot of bad habits. For example, I tend to bite my nails when I get stressed out. I also have a penchant for opening the cupboard to get a drinking glass -- then walking away and leaving ...

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April 29, 2019

100 Words On: Why Competition Is Good For Everyone

By Len Penzo

Human nature is such that, if given the chance, most folks would choose to take the path of least resistance by avoiding competition. However, those who lack challengers almost always miss the motivation required to innovate or otherwise stay at the ...

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January 17, 2019

A Simple Trick for Getting Credit Card Interest Charges Waived

By Len Penzo

There are those who steadfastly insist that credit cards are evil, and that credit card companies are greedy heartless scalawags that care only about one thing: making a profit. I've got news for them: Credit card companies aren't evil. Neither ...

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March 12, 2018

4 Must-Read Personal Finance Books

By Kostas Chiotis

If you take time to focus only on the most important things, living a comfortable life will no longer be a vision but a reality. If you think that it is difficult to create their own strategy, then you can look for practical financial advice that can ...

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October 25, 2017

5 Nuggets of Financial Wisdom from The Thomas Crown Affair

By Roshawn Watson

The Thomas Crown Affair is a fun movie that grants the viewer permission to imagine a world where money is not a concern. It transports viewers to a world where private planes, yachts, European luxury cars, tropical excursions, fine art, and mansions ...

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June 21, 2017

Why Restaurant No-Tipping Policies Are a Bad Idea

By Len Penzo

In the United States, diners have been tipping their servers for more than a century. It's a time-honored practice that's as American as, well, baseball and apple pie. Tipping was originally intended as an incentive for rewarding and encouraging ...

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February 18, 2015

The Unconventional Wisdom of Household Strategic Planning

By Len Penzo

My son, Matthew, is quickly approaching his 16th birthday and so I've been giving him a few driving tutorials. I haven't let him get behind the wheel just yet -- that's on next month's agenda -- but it's gotten to the point now where every time ...

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January 28, 2013

Essential Tips for Lowering Your Grocery Bill (Part 3)

By Len Penzo

This is final post in my three-part series outlining essential tips that the Penzo household follows for keeping our grocery bills under control. Of course, there are many methods for cutting the grocery bill that go way beyond shopping at ...

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December 27, 2012

Essential Tips for Lowering Your Grocery Bill (Part 2)

By Len Penzo

Food isn't cheap. Want proof? Then chew on this: I spent almost $12,000 in groceries last year for my four-person family, including two teenagers. And what's really scary is that I work very hard to keep my food bill as low as possible every ...

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December 26, 2012

Essential Tips For Lowering Your Grocery Bill

By Len Penzo

One of the big reasons the Honeybee has tolerated me for so long is because I love to cook. Some of you fellas out there would be wise to keep that in mind. Why is that, you ask? Well, it's somewhat ironic, but the fact remains, the more time men ...

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December 24, 2012

100 Words On: A Grim Warning to Those Who Think Money Grows On Trees

By Len Penzo

A democracy can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the treasury, with the result ...

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November 8, 2012

100 Words On: How to Avoid Burning Out

By Len Penzo

It takes real drive to turn our biggest dreams into reality, but sometimes the relentless passion that fuels our inevitable push for success becomes counterproductive. When personal expectations finally exceed what we can reasonably achieve on our ...

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October 4, 2012

Your Disaster Fund and the Best Places to Hide Money in Your Home

By Len Penzo

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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May 29, 2012

What Goes Around Comes Around: Rising Interest Rates Are Inevitable

By Len Penzo

Last summer my 12-year-old daughter, Nina, was extolling the fashion virtues of her hot pink Converse Chuck Taylor All-Star high-top sneakers, better known to many as simply, "Chucks." What I found amusing was while Nina really thought she was on ...

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March 26, 2012

Sometimes It Pays Not to Look for the Best Deal

By Len Penzo

Although it's hard for me to believe, my humble home recently turned 14-years-old. So, as you might expect, a lot of the original appliances we bought when we first moved in -- or were included with the brand new house -- have been acting up for ...

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March 14, 2012

A True Love-Story: My Proven Method for Online Dating Success

By Len Penzo

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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October 17, 2011

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