Personal Finance ABCs

A wise man wrote “There is a huge gap between the skills and knowledge each and every one of us needs to manage our financial lives, and the formal training that we’ve received.”  That was me.  It’s on the about page.

I have lots of posts to help with this.  The latest posts are on the home page, but there are many more.  Click on the category links in the header to explore!

I started with some ideas on how to save more money and create a budget, herehere and here.  Once we’ve managed to save some, we need to start investing.  Check out the posts on  compoundingasset allocationmutual funds and ETFsstocks and bonds. I’ve also got posts to help understand financial products and how they work, and how to use them to your advantage.

  • My company has a 401k. What is it, how does it work, and how can I participate?
  • My credit card gives me points. What am I giving up in exchange?
  • I’d like to invest in stocks but I don’t understand them.

I’ve also got tips on car buying from a former car salesman and a comparison of hearing aids.  

And you can always get back to the home page by clicking the dancing dollar sign guy at the top left of every page.

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I Love Cash - Some Thoughts On Money Markets
Quick story today. I’ve written about my love for Costco and some other great companies, but today...
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Dollar Cost Averaging is Your Friend
It’s April 22, 2025. The S&P 500 has had a wild ride of late. It’s down about 11% year-to-date,...
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Don't Panic! What To Do About Tariffs and market Volatility
The craziness in the markets has got the media excited. Some articles are a call to action. Immediate...
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Car Detailing - Round 1 Results
For those who read the prior post here, I was comparing the Griot’s Garage detailing products to...
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What's Up With Tariffs and Stock Prices
Everything is down. We had a brief reprise on Wednesday April 9 when some of the higher tariffs were...
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3 Thinks I Learned From The Amazon Shareholder Letter
As an investor, it’s important to understand who is running the companies in which we invest and...
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What Did The Market Just Do? Nothing - Here's Why.
For anyone who owns a security, whether it is a stock, bond, mutual fund, or ETF, it is important to...
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Car Detailing Face-Off: Griot's v. Chemical Guys
Today was spring car detailing day. I thought I’d add some excitement and do a face-off between...
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Fun Things To Do When The Market's Melting Down
There is no joy in Mudville…Mighty Casey isn’t the only one who has struck out today. We’re...
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Reading Annual Reports - Don't Be Discouraged
I’ve written a bit about company annual reports. What are they? Each year, every public company...
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Politics & The Growing National Debt
There are few things that I can truly say that I hate, but politics is right up there. In our own lives,...
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My New Favorite Shopping Tool
I hate to shop, but I love stuff. That’s odd. To me, there’s nothing worse than going...
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Boring is Beautiful
We’re in the thick of annual report season and today I skimmed through the report of the most boring...
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Be Skeptical of Amazon Reviews
Be skeptical of everything. This has been a common theme with me lately related to emails, mail, texts...
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You're Paying Too Much For Cell Service!
I just finished a post on cellphones, here, so I thought it was a good time to talk about service for...
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Old Guy's Guide To Buying A Cellphone
This past Wednesday, Tony and I had yet another nice lunch at Napoli Deli. Great prices, outstanding...
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Finding Great Companies
As an equity investor, we’re looking to find great businesses in which to invest our capital....
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Really? Today's Opinion post form NYT
The headline reads: We Were Badly Misled About the Event That Changed Our Lives. You can read the article...
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Get Your Shopping List Ready!
My last few posts have been about the abrupt crash in the stock markets and how to hang tough during...
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Cash Is King (for me) - A Look At Credit Card Rewards
I’ve spent quite a bit of time searching for credit card rewards. A few years back, I was getting...
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Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is - 2 Week Update
On February 26, 2025, I wrote a post about my optimism towards the long-term prospects of the US economy...
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