Popular MSN Money and New York Times columnist MP Dunleavey got a heap of criticism after she and her husband bought a house that seemed more than they could readily afford. Dunleavey's recent explanation at MSN Money has not silenced all of her critics. This appears to be the price you pay when you live your financial life out in the open.   Read More...

Lazy Man at Lazy Man and Money observes that although "in personal finance there are no 350-pound linemen from the other team looking to crush you into the ground," there's plenty to be learned about personal finance from the single-minded and successful New England Patriots. (Congratulations on that perfect season, by the way.)   Read More...

What to do with spare change has been a popular topic here of late, so we thought we'd look into how personal-finance bloggers handle theirs. (None keep enough in jars at home to pay cash for a new truck, like that famous Indiana fellow.) You can tell by the name of his blog that glblguy at Gather Little by Little doesn't eschew spare change. In fact, he wonders "at what point did we as a society make the decision that loose change just isn't worth the trouble?" He and his wife put spare change, and now $1 bills, in a jar, and periodically deposit the money in an emergency fund or pay off debt. Estimated savings over 15 years of marriage: $4,500.   Read More...

This devil's advocate post comes from partner blog Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.

What do Suze Orman, Robert Kiyosaki, David Bach and every other so-called personal-finance expert have in common? They don't know you, but they know exactly what's wrong with you and how to fix it.

Orman thinks you're a moron, that you need tough love, and that those 0% financing offers from Ford are awesome. Kiyosaki says you're like his poor dad, you should aspire to be like his rich dad (who apparently isn't real), and that you should buy one of his books. Bach thinks, without the indignation that comes with Orman, that you should get out of your own way and make things automatic.

I think you should ignore personal-finance experts -- all of them.

You might think this is a self-serving devil's advocate post -- and it is, because personal- finance bloggers aren't experts. Then again, bloggers don't treat you badly and tell you how you need a wake-up call. Bloggers just write about themselves and invite you to check out how normal and bad at personal finance we are.

Experts are a totally different animal, and here's why you should ignore them.   Read More...

Just before Christmas, an Associated Press article reported that Americans are losing the battle with credit-card debt. We're falling behind on payments, and defaults and delinquencies are increasing rapidly.

The subprime mortgage mess is partly to blame, economists say. But they also cite "America's long-standing attitude that debt -- even high-interest credit card debt -- is not a big deal."

Howard Dvorkin, the founder of a Florida credit counseling service, put it this way: "The desire of consumers to want, want, want, spend, spend, spend -- it's the fabric of our nation."

Dvorkin's words irritated the heck out of me. Unfortunately, they happen to be true.   Read More...

Here are today's hot deals from partner blog dealnews.com:

Craftsman digital multimeter for $39.99. Add it to your cart and it drops to $9.99. Shipping adds $6.25, or choose in-store pickup. Even with shipping, that's $15 off our last mention and the lowest total price we've seen.

Wamsutta Magic Gel pillow for $16.99 for jumbo, $22.99 for king. Buy one, get the second for 50% off. Coupon code 223823997733 takes off another 20%. Combine both discounts and get two jumbo pillows for $20.39, or two king pillows for $27.59. Shipping adds $8.99, or order online for in-store pickup. Even with shipping, that's a savings of up to $18 and the lowest total price we've seen for these pillows since September.

Koolatron Coke Can cooler for $69.99. That's $110 off and the lowest price we could find. Add $8.95 for shipping, or choose in-store pickup.   Read More...

This post comes from J.D. Roth at partner blog Get Rich Slowly.

For three years a single goal directed my actions: I wanted to get out of debt. Now that my consumer debt is gone, I've spent a lot of time wondering what to do next. I was worried that I'd lose focus, lose direction. That's not going to be the case. I've set three major financial goals for 2008. I intend to:

• Max out my retirement plan for 2007 and 2008.

• Pay taxes.

• Bolster my savings.

These goals are ambitious, but I think I can achieve them. In fact, I hope to do even more.

Retirement. I got a late start on my retirement savings. My employer has been setting aside a pension for me, but I began my self-directed retirement savings only last year. I managed to make the full contribution to my 2006 Roth IRA. I've contributed $2,000 so far this year, and intend to max out my plan in the next couple weeks. For 2008, the contribution limit on Roth IRAs increases to $5,000 a year. I hope to invest this amount.   Read More...

Kay Bell of Don't Mess With Taxes, an exceptional source of tax-related information, reminds us that there's little time left to make several possible end-of-year moves to reduce your tax liability for 2007. Luckily, Dec. 31 falls on a Monday, giving procrastinators one more business day as the year winds to a close. Bell also gives us the good news that the IRS will start processing most tax returns on time, despite problems caused by Congress' last-minute vote on the alternative minimum tax. (About 13.5 million taxpayers will have to wait until February to file.) So, what can you do to reduce your 2007 tax burden?   Read More...

Brian at Change Is Good knows exactly where his money is coming from. He blogs about the change he finds on the ground, including where and how much, in daily posts interspersed with snippets about his life. He's not the only one inhabiting this subset of the personal-finance blogosphere. AndyfromSimi at the Found Money Jar details his finds, as well as money made from recycled cans and bottles, and how he invests that money. Yes, folks, your dropped money is someone else's investment opportunity, and these bloggers are collecting more than chump change.   Read More...

Philip Brewer of partner blog Wise Bread has a lasting memory of a poor family he encountered many years ago. Their clothes were worn, their car was old, and they were skinny. "It's unusual to see that now," he writes. "The new face of poverty is fat." The fact is that poor people buy the least expensive source of calories they can find, Brewer says. As we've noted here before, it's often junk food. If you eat packaged, high-calorie food until you're satisfied, you are going to be fat, Brewer adds -- and, we might add, prone to diabetes and other health problems associated with obesity. He offers some possible solutions.   Read More...