Show of hands.  How many of you actively participate in recycling endeavors in your community?  You schlep around your empty cans, jugs, and bottles.  You pile them up with your used papers, then sort them all into bins so some poor schmoe down at the recycling center doesn’t have to.  All so your city can [...]

CNN had this post on the Association behind the popular lottery game, Powerball, announcing that, starting January 15, 2012, the price of a ticket to play Powerball would be doubling, to $2 a ticket.  If you read the article, you’ll notice several things. The starting jackpot will also double, from $20 Million to $40 Million [...]

If you’re like almost every other American, after you’ve gorged yourself on all the Thanksgiving day feasts, you’ll be headed out to do a little gorging of a consumer variety.  Black Friday is well known as one of the largest shopping days of the year.  Most every retail store has some huge deals for the [...]

It is only September, but I have already seen Christmas trees and holiday presents in Costco.  Most people probably aren’t thinking about holiday gift buying now, but they will be in another month or two.  If you are like most people, you probably have difficulty coming up with gift ideas for several people on your [...]

Our culture seems to be one that is centered around dining out.  When you are younger, you meet friends at a restaurant for a night out and to chat.  As you get older and have a family, you may go out to eat because time is short between working, raising a family, helping with homework, [...]

According to CNNMoney, Wells Fargo will begin testing a program to charge a $3 a month fee for debit cards. Wells Fargo said Tuesday it will start charging a $3 monthly fee for debit card usage to customers in Georgia, New Mexico, Nevada and Oregon beginning Oct. 14. “We regularly review our pricing and take [...]

What if everyone in the world was as frugal as the most frugal?  Inspired by conversation on the Early Retirement Extreme forums about the ethics of the Early Retirement Extreme lifestyle.  So, the beginning of that linked conversation (if you haven’t read it) is based on the premise that if everyone did as Jacob does [...]

If you’re reading this blog, chances are you know all the tips and tricks associated with spending less. But everyone needs to spend money sooner or later. So when you know you’ll have to open up the wallet, spending smarter is your last defense against wasting your hard earned cash and maintaining a contribution to [...]

Many people have been adversely affected by the economic recession that hit the United States in the last few years. Termed the “Great Recession”, from December 2007-June 2009, The United States has not fully bounced back. Let’s take a look at the facts. Jobs are being cut at an alarming rate, so much so, that [...]

Supply and Demand.  We all learn about this tenet of the capitalist market at a rather early age.  It’s a pretty simple concept really.  When one increases the other decreases.  As supply grows, demand diminishes.  As does the price for that product.  As demand grows, supply diminishes.  And price goes up. It’s a function of [...]