If you’re a student, you can pay $20 a year for a Student Advantage card and get discounts on goods and services offered by 64 national brands and “thousands of local shops and restaurants nationwide.” Hopefully , if you’re eligible for this thing, you’re not already sold and are getting ready to run some numbers [...]

This week, I participated in no less than four blog carnivals. Thanks so much to everybody who worked hard to put these things together!
My Carnival Submissions
Carnival of Debt Reduction #143 - Hosted by Moolanomy and featuring my post Should you let yourself take a break from being cheap?
Carnival of Money Hacks #16 - Hosted by [...]

Planning a road trip for this summer? You might want to reconsider after you take a look at how affordable it can be to travel with Amtrak - particularly if you take advantage one or more of the many discounts floating around online.
First, here’s how cheap an ordinary, non-discounted, advance purchase Amtrak fare can be: [...]

So I just happened across a CNN Money article entitled Nine cool jobs that pay well. “When you’re surrounded by beige walls reading inane e-mails all day, you can’t help but wonder if there’s a cooler job out there that will still put food on the table,” says the article.
This so describes my feelings when [...]

Does it make sense, every once in a while, to allow yourself a little “break” from being cheap? Is it good to splurge on unnecessary things every now and then?
I’ve been thinking about this for a few days now and I’m still not quite sure what the answer is.
A couple days ago I posted about [...]

For some time now, I’ve been wishing I could plant my own garden. It sounds like a great way to dig in and use your hands and have some fun and save some money. Unfortunately, my apartment in Los Angeles isn’t exactly the ideal location for this. Space is limited. I don’t have my own [...]

This week, I participated in four blog carnivals and received two editor’s picks. Thanks so much to all the blog authors and carnival organizers!
My Carnival Submissions
Carnival of Money Stories #62 - Hosted by Finance Gets Personal and featuring my post Spread the message: don’t join the club, which was honored with an editor’s choice. Yippee!
Carnival [...]

It’s said that a penny saved is a penny earned. Well, not if you go right out and spend that penny on something else!
Let me explain.
I recently helped a friend save over $100 on a flight using the strategy discussed in my post How to fly really cheap on Southwest. “Great!” my friend said. “Now [...]

These days, it’s painfully obvious to anyone who owns a car that driving has gotten pretty dang expensive. But have you ever stopped to calculate exactly how much you’re paying per mile?
If you want to figure out how to cut back on your expenses, first you’ve got to have an accurate, thorough understanding of those [...]