Did you know that dollar stores have been around since 1955 when Dollar General opened its first one in Springfield, Kentucky? It's true.
Granted, in terms of purchasing power, a dollar went a lot further back then -- equivalent to just a hair ...
Continue reading Deal or No Deal? Comparing Dollar Stores to Walmart & Others
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 ...
Continue reading Why Marriage Makes It So Hard to Control Remodeling Costs. (Well, Kinda Sorta.)
Ticketmaster’s New Blog (And Why I Hate Them Even More Now.)
I recently bought tickets to see Maroon 5 for one of their upcoming shows in Los Angeles. Let me tell you, I love Maroon 5 almost as much as I love my dog - which puts them pretty far up my totem pole of most-cherished entities.
Of course, like ...
Continue reading Ticketmaster’s New Blog (And Why I Hate Them Even More Now.)
Black Coffee: A Little Fun with My Dog and Some Peanut Butter
It's time to sit back, relax and enjoy a little joe…
Welcome to another rousing edition of Black Coffee, your off-beat weekly round-up of what’s been going on in the world of money and personal finance. Here’s what caught my attention over the pa ...
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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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The Ugly Truth: Why Big Spenders Are Terrible In Bed
It is a truism that most big spenders are showoffs; they feed off attention.
Ironically, while your typical big spender works 24/7 trying to impress others, most of the time they rarely do so.
There is a small segment of the population, ...
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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 ...
Continue reading My Store-Brand vs. Name-Brand Blind Taste-Test Experiment #3
Drive-By Movie Review: A Simple Plan (A Movie on the Ethics of Found Money)
This is a review of the 1998 movie A Simple Plan starring Billy Bob Thornton, Bill Paxton, Bridget Fonda, and Gary Cole
Plot Summary: Two brothers and a friend find $4 million in the cockpit of a downed plane. The pilot is dead. No one is looking ...
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Expedia, Orbitz, Priceline and Others: What’s the Best Travel Search Engine?
I can't believe I'm saying this, but our annual summer vacation is right around the corner. Weren't we in the throes of a Little Ice Age just last month?
Ah, well.
I'd like to say we were going back to Maui, but unfortunately I drew the short ...
Continue reading Expedia, Orbitz, Priceline and Others: What’s the Best Travel Search Engine?
Should Low-Income Drivers Receive Subsidies to Use Toll Express Lanes?
Every day on my way home from work I zip by tens of thousands of people behind the wheels of cars stuck in hopelessly gridlocked traffic because they didn't want to pay the toll (usually between $2 and $10, depending on the direction and time of day) ...
Continue reading Should Low-Income Drivers Receive Subsidies to Use Toll Express Lanes?
The Redistribution of Health: Excuse Me, But I Think I’m Gonna Be Sick
You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time. - Abraham Lincoln
I don't feel so good.
The United States Congress stuck their middle finger ...
Continue reading The Redistribution of Health: Excuse Me, But I Think I’m Gonna Be Sick
The (Dead)Beat Generation
Should you walk away from your mortgage just because your home depreciated?
So you refinanced. Or bought too much house. You divided the mortgage payments by your income, and decided you could swing something a few percentage points higher than ...
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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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Valentine’s Day Giveaway: What’s the Biggest Money Argument You’ve Ever Had?
The Honeybee and I are extremely compatible in almost every way, right on down to when it comes to our philosophy on money and how we handle the household finances.
I understand though that, for upwards of 80 percent of couples, money can be a ...
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Inflation 101: Why Avatar Isn’t the Biggest Movie of All Time (And What Movie Is)
This past week, the technologically ground-breaking 3-D movie Avatar was hailed across the globe as the new king of the box office world, "topping" Titanic's box office take by grossing over $1.859 billion worldwide.
According to the media, this ...
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Drive-By Movie Review: District 9
This is a review of the 2009 movie District 9 starring Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, and Luis Minnaar
Plot Summary: An extraterrestrial race forced to live in slum-like conditions on Earth suddenly finds a kindred spirit in a government agent who is ...
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My 2009 State of the Household Financial Report
Our "household Constitution" requires the Honeybee, who is the family's household CFO, to deliver the family financial report every January to yours truly, the household CEO.
For years, the Honeybee has painstakingly tracked and recorded our ...
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Buying Glasses? 3 Facts Your Eye Doctor Doesn’t Want You to Know.
Oops, my bad. This is a guest post from some guy who wasn't who he said he was and was trying to make a few bucks off of an affiliate link. Still, I can attest to the information within this post as being accurate, as I too buy my glasses and conta ...
Continue reading Buying Glasses? 3 Facts Your Eye Doctor Doesn’t Want You to Know.