By Jennifer Derrick
This week I attended the funeral of an old family friend. This man was a member of the “Greatest Generation,” growing up during the Great Depression and coming of age during WWII. Aside from his stories, the thing that always amazed me about this man was his ability to construct the most useful […]

By Jennifer Derrick
Maybe it’s just where I live or the places I go, but I have noticed in the past several years that, no matter the situation, the level of rudeness has increased. Whether it’s a the grocery store or an athletic event, it seems that more and more people are tossing civility out the […]

By Jennifer Derrick
I’ve officially reached my limit for how much complaining about oil prices I can take. Maybe it’s because I write for Saving Advice, but I suddenly have people coming out of the woodwork complaining to me about high gas and food prices. Today a friend sent along another one of those emails urging […]

By Jennifer Derrick
A few weeks ago I wrote about books that are valuable for every level of financial knowledge. Almost all of those books were “how-to” books or books about developing and implementing investment strategies. This week I’m going to recommend a different type of financial book. These are the books that don’t teach you […]

By Jennifer Derrick
You’ve probably seen the ads for LifeLock, an identity theft protection service, where the CEO gives out his Social Security number and claims that he can do that because he has such confidence in his company’s ability to protect his identity. It turns out that his confidence may have been misplaced. In recent […]

By Jennifer Derrick
With the economy slowing, everyone is looking to cut back in many ways. Some people are eliminating their daily coffee, others are combining trips to save on gas. These and similar strategies are great and will help you save money. However, there is more money to be saved by learning how to do […]

By Jennifer Derrick
I’ll say it simply: I’m disgusted by the amount of advertising in the world today. I’ve been gradually working up to this fit, but the tipping point came the other day in a public bathroom. It was in a mall and the toilet paper was pre-printed with the name of a restaurant that […]

By Jennifer Derrick
We are friends with a couple I’ll call the Joneses. The Joneses are exactly what they sound like. They are the ones on the block with the latest cars, toys, and gizmos. Despite that, they are nice people and we’ve been friends for years. Each year we go on vacation together to a […]

By Jennifer Derrick
If you’re interested in personal finance, you probably know who Dave Ramsey is. If you don’t know, he’s a television and radio personality (and author) who preaches a “common sense” approach to getting out of debt and creating wealth. His plan is built around seven “Baby Steps” that are designed to lead you […]

By Jennifer Derrick
I’m a huge fan of reading. I believe that reading, both fiction and non-fiction, is a great way to learn new things and be exposed to more than you typically see in your daily life. If you want to learn something new, like personal finance, you can’t beat a good book. You can […]