Archive for October, 2005

“There was a time when a fool and his money were soon parted, but now it happens to everybody.” – Adlai Stevenson

I ran across this site called How To be Poor (and keep all your original teeth – it looks like he has a revolving subtext as I have also seen “Pinch Your Pennies Like A Pro” and “And How to Still Survive”). While it has some good reading, the item on the site that struck [...]

“If you want to feel rich, just count all of the things you have that money can’t buy.” – Unknown

Okay, it’s still late Sunday night, but the Monday carnivals are already up. Blawg Review is hosting Carnival of the Capitalists which has my The Best Investment You Can Make post. Consumer Commentary is hosting the Carnival of Personal Finance and my Case study On Saving Money. Last, but not least, Frugal For Life is [...]

I received an email asking me about me decision to take the plunge and try and make the websites my full time job instead of concentrating on auctions for my income since they seem to be making more money. There’s no doubt about it. If I put as much time into auctions as I am [...]

I have a good college friend coming in on Tuesday for 10 days with his wife and I’ll be giving them the tour around Western Japan. Since I’m writing about personal finances I’ve been debating whether or not to include their trip out here or not. I figure it would be a shame not to [...]

“It is physically impossible for a well-educated, intellectual, or brave man to make money the chief object of his thoughts.” – John Ruskin

As you have probably heard a million times from your parents growing up, money doesn’t grow on trees, but it may now be found in the roots and leaves of corn, canola or mustard plants according to a short piece on Business 2.0. …Anderson spent eight years refining a chemical process that causes plants to [...]

It’s getting down to crunch time on finding that perfect Halloween costume. Since Halloween isn’t really celebrated in Japan, the expatiates usually take over a train car on the Osaka loop line and spend the evening celebrating while going around in circles until we all get kicked off. Part of the challenge is coming up [...]

I’m a huge fan of public transportation, at least here in Japan. No doubt that it is expensive and most Americans would likely have a mini heart attack if they saw the prices, but it’s still a lot less than driving a car and it’s extremely convenient. Even with changes, the public transportation system in [...]