Evolving Personal Finance » Archive
Judge John Hodgman on Frugality
One of my favorite podcasts currently is Judge John Hodgman (JJHo). The premise of the show is that John Hodgman (of The Daily Show and The Areas of My Expertise) hears “cases” brought by regular Joes and issues judgements. The cases are often silly and relatable, such a wife who wants to get chickens but her husband doesn’t and a man who wants his friend to stop smoking ecigarettes in sports stadiums. It took me … Read entire article »
Easing the Financial Burden on Wedding Attendants
Being asked to be a bridesmaid or groomsman in a friend or family member’s wedding is a major honor, but it can come with a major price tag. Last spring, WeddingChannel.com estimated that the average cost of serving as a bridesmaid is now nearly $1,700. The cost for young adults to be bridesmaids or groomsmen, particularly ones who have been asked to stand in several weddings per year, can be so substantial that it’s reasonable … Read entire article »
Blog Statistics Update August to September 2012
This is my one-month update on how EPF is doing based on our August 16 – September 15 data. Not much commentary from me in this post. I’m feeling a little down about the stats but I know at least a few steps I need to undertake to improve them so I just need to get on those actions. People who listen to us as of September 16, 2012 RSS subscribers: 88 (-3) Twitter followers: 92 (+17) Facebook fans: 21 … Read entire article »
Filed under: blogging, month in review
Weekly Update 33
Last Sunday we went to a wedding and on Monday we visited Niagara Falls. The rest of the week was normal working stuff until Friday evening. Now, Kyle and I are not exactly social butterflies so we don’t go out every weekend night or anything, but it happened that we were invited to literally five different social events on Friday night! We managed to get to three of the five events and had a really great evening (full of free food, too). Yesterday we were invited to a lake house about an hour outside of Durham with all the rest of the Triangle graduate Christian fellowship groups. The owners are doctors at UNC and often host large groups and retreats and stuff – they are incredibly hospitable! We had a … Read entire article »
Filed under: weekly update
Fall Wedding in Canada Financials
Last weekend Kyle and I went to the wedding of one of our graduate school friends in her hometown of Hamilton, ON, Canada. This trip was not nearly as frugal as our trip to Chicago earlier in the summer because we flew, which in itself is more expensive than road-tripping plus we weren’t able to bring our food with us. In fact, we made some poor food choices because of hunger and convenience and such. Here’s … Read entire article »
What Happens When a Spendthrift Marries a Tightwad?
Which adage is correct: “birds of a feather flock together” or “opposites attract”? Overwhelmingly in marriages we choose partners who are similar to us in a variety of characteristics – except for our money personalities. Many people are unhappy with their typical spending behaviors, and disliking a personal characteristic can be motivation for choosing a spouse with the opposite characteristic. People on extreme ends of the tightwad-spendthrift scale we covered two weeks ago might be … Read entire article »
Filed under: marriage, the literature
Future Directions for EPF
The primary niche within the personal finance blogosphere in which I see EPF living is one for graduate students. I only have about two years left as a PhD student and while I hope that the blog will outlive my pursuit of the degree, its niche can evolve (hence the name) at that time. During these last two years I’d like to target a higher percentage of our content toward how personal finance topics and … Read entire article »
Filed under: blogging, grad school
Weekly Update 32
We are in Canada! Hamilton, ON, to be precise. We are attending a friend’s wedding basically all day today and tomorrow we are visiting Niagara Falls! This past week was full of work and unpacking. We had a major disappointment, though. Because of this wedding we’re attending, we weren’t able to participate in our university’s process for qualifying to buy season tickets to the men’s basketball games, and our exemption request was denied. Attending the home games has been a major portion of our social life and entertainment for the past five years so we are very disappointed to not be able to do that this year. We’ll still watch the games on TV with our friends, but it’s just not the same as being there in person. A very, very … Read entire article »
Filed under: weekly update
Can You Change Your Tightwad/Spendthrift Personality?
Last week we discussed a tool used by some researchers to peg people on a tightwad-spendthrift (TW-ST) scale – please take the quiz and share your (and your spouse’s) score on that post! But considering this axis of my money personality made me wonder if people can change their tightwad-spendthrift status. Obviously motivated people can change their behavior. We particularly see this in people going bananas on their debt who go from spending money like water … Read entire article »
Filed under: psychology
August 2012 Month in Review: Money
August actually was not as crazy as I was expecting it to be! We went on a week-long vacation and it was amazing to have that break from work, but it only cost us about $100 because my parents paid for most of it. We also are completely moved out of our old apartment as of the 31st and have all of our stuff (in boxes) in our new townhouse. The move went fairly smoothly … Read entire article »
Filed under: month in review
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