A New Blog about Personal Finance: Practical Advice for Living Well by Living Frugally
One great benefit of living in the Philadelphia area is seeing the city become a foodie’s paradise with seemingly endless options for wonderful food.
But even when dining out, frugal principles can still be applied.
Continue reading “Dining Out – a Special Occasion not an Everyday Habit”
I am currently reviewing our June electric bill. It’s a grand total of $106.38. Not too bad for the first month of summer. We only consumed 845 kilowatt hours from June 3rd to July 5th. Granted we were away for several days and, so far, it’s been a fairly mild summer. However, we did run the air conditioner on a number of hot days. I’d like to think that we are doing some things right.
Here are nine ideas for lowering your summer electricity bills while comfortably keeping your cool. I am doing my best to offer unique and effective ideas rather than merely repeating the usual litany of ways to cut air conditioning costs that the media dishes out this time of year.
Continue reading “The Cool 9: Ways to Cut Summer Cooling Costs”
Over the weekend, I read Enough: True Measures of Money, Business, and Life by Jack Bogle, founder of the Vanguard Group. A short but erudite read.
It’s partially an autobiography — Mr. Bogle remains a vigorous spokesman at the ripe old age of 87. It’s partially an indictment of the financial industry and excesses leading up to the Great Recession and even today. It’s also about embracing a healthy perspective on wealth and investing for the long term using tried and true approaches. Continue reading “Worthwhile Read: “Enough” by Jack Bogle”
This ‘catch the foxes’ phrase comes from Song of Solomon in the Bible (also referred to as Song of Songs). On one level, Song of Solomon captures the romantic passion of a marital relationship – and it can get quite steamy in places! Continue reading “Catch the Little Foxes…”
There was a man of significant wealth and the father of seven children – six sons and a daughter. He resolved to teach them an important financial principle. On New Year’s Day, the first of January, he made this offer to each of his children. They could chose a gift of:
Continue reading “A Fable: Pennies a Day and the Power of Compounding”
This posting’s title borrows from the Texas capital’s informal slogan: “Keep Austin Weird”. The point being: if you adopt a frugal lifestyle with the goal of long-term wealth accumulation, you will be out of step with how most folks spend their money.
Be warned: Once you adopt frugal ways, you could really stick out among your present circle of friends and colleagues – like card-carrying Democrat living in West Texas.