My name is Jonathan. I'm 27 and I've been married to my wife, Kate, for almost four years. We have three girls, ages 3, 1, and a newborn.
After graduating from college, Kate worked for two years at a job that paid $35,000 annually. Then, after our ...
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How I Live on Less Than $40,000 Annually: Tracie from North Carolina
My name is Tracie and I'm 30-years-old. I'm an associate chemist in coastal North Carolina. I have an eight-year-old son and I'm engaged to his dad.
I wasn't always financially responsible -- I was saddled with $10,000 in consumer debt. Twice.
Then ...
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How I Live on Less Than $40,000 Annually: Ruth from Kansas
My name is Ruth and I'm a stay-at-home mom for our four kids. When our first child was born, I vowed to stay home as long as we could afford it. It's been 16 years and three more kids since then, and I'm still here.
I was always very frugal, ...
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How I Live on Less Than $40,000 Annually: Barb from Alberta
My name is Barb and I live in Alberta, Canada. I've been working in retail sales management for ten years. My income is just over $40,000 per year, although the climb to get there was very gradual.
I have a teenage daughter who lives with me. ...
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How I Live on Less than $40,000 Annually: Mary from New Mexico
My name is Mary. I'm 58-years-old and I live in New Mexico. I've been working since I was 16 years old.
I have a bachelor's degree, as well as a master's degree. I was fortunate to attend college in the 1970s and 80s without accumulating any ...
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How I Live on Less than $40,000 Annually: Caine from Colorado
A little about me. On the internet, I usually go by "Caine Volfram." No, that's not my real name. I also go by "Clockwork Gremlin."
I am largely unremarkable. Single white male, just turned 28, Irish descent (among others), living in rural ...
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Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? Guess Which Item Costs More.
Last night I was doing a little shopping on Amazon and I came across an item that was being offered for sale by two different vendors. Here was the price summary that appeared on my screen:
So, which item is the better bargain?
On first ...
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How I Live on Less than $40,000 Annually: Jen from Virginia
Readers: Welcome to the first installment of my new series featuring Len Penzo dot Com readers who make ends meet on roughly $40,000 per year -- or less. Originally, I was hoping to run one or two articles per month, but the initial response has been ...
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The Trouble with Buying Movie Tickets Over the Internet
We all come across things in life that are wildly popular, even though it makes little sense to us.
Take "Duck Dynasty" -- going into its fourth season, it's one of the hottest shows on cable television.
I recently watched a couple of episodes ...
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Cheap Cooking: Fantastic Frugal Meal Ideas from Past and Present
I was on an extremely tight budget when I was in college, so I had cheap cooking down to a science.
Back then, dinner was number four on my list of priorities; right after tuition, beer, and rent -- in that order.
Many people on limited incomes ...
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Is Cell Phone Insurance Really Worth It?
Last month our previous cell phone contract finally expired. That made the Honeybee happy because it meant we could finally move to a new carrier with better coverage.
However, nobody was more excited than the kid with the fastest thumbs in the ...
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Yet Another Reason Why I Hate Buying Tickets from Ticketmaster
Most of you know I've had a hate/hate relationship with Ticketmaster for a long time now.
After all, this is the company that wrote the book on ridiculous consumer fees that, many people argue, only serve to exploit their hapless customers; it's a ...
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A Fun Interview with Stacking Benjamins’ Host, Joe Saul-Sehy
I recently met with Joe Saul-Sehy to talk about his new money podcast, Stacking Benjamins, which debuts this week. We had just finished recording his final Two Guys and Your Money show, and I figured it would be clever to conduct the interview via ...
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More Reasons Why I Decided to Buy a New Car Instead of a Used One
As I mentioned in my previous post, I finally relented and bought myself a new car.
I can understand why some of you may be scratching your head at my decision to buy new instead of used. Especially when the playbook of good personal finance ...
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I Finally Broke Down and Bought a New Car
OK, I did it.
After commuting to and from work in my 1997 Honda Civic for the past 13 years, and with my son on the verge of getting his driver's license, I finally relented and bought myself a new car.
That's right. I'm now the proud owner of ...
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How to Get the Best Travel Deal from Price Comparison Websites
Price comparison websites are a great resource for budget-conscious travelers, with many people skipping travel agents altogether and doing the flight booking themselves. Due to the huge growth in this type of website, there are now more price ...
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A Small Victory in My Quest to Raise Financially Literate Kids
Teaching kids about personal finance is not an easy job. Even so, as a parent I believe it is my responsibility to ensure that my kids have a thorough understanding of good personal finance practices before they leave the nest.
Ultimately it will ...
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Why Bag Ladies are Financially Savvier Than Many Celebrities
Grammy Award winner Dionne Warwick, who found fame in the 1960s singing "Do You Know the Way to San Jose?" filed for bankruptcy yesterday.
Younger folks may recognize Warwick from the 1990s, when she was the celebrity spokesperson for the Psychic ...
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How I Stupidly Got Ripped Off by Not Getting Multiple Estimates
Whether we realize it or not, we manage financial risk whenever we take the time to get multiple price estimates from competing contractors. Those who do often get rewarded for their efforts.
As for those who don't, well ... they often end up ...
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Economic Collapse 101: What It Will Look Like, and How It May Start
It takes courage to face the bogeyman.
I bet many of the good folks in Great Falls, Montana, were more than a little worried earlier this month after a local television station there sent out an ominous message warning viewers that the dead were ...
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