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Car Insurance Quote Shopping and Credit Checks

After doing a car insurance quote comparison test, I wanted to clear up any confusion regarding applying for car insurance and your credit history. Here's why you should be able to get quotes from as many insurers as you like without worrying about … [Read the rest]

Cooked: A Book About Why You Should… Cook

Consider the following questions that you may have asked yourself recently: What can you do to consume fewer calories while eating healthier food? How do you get your family to spend more time together, talk, and connect? How do you get the … [Read the rest]

Auto Insurance Quote Comparison Results: State Farm vs. GEICO vs. Allstate vs. Progressive vs. Liberty Mutual

Inspired by reader experiences, I set aside an hour today to obtain auto insurance quotes from the major providers in my area. Insurance companies provide different quotes for "new customers" and "renewals". Guess which one is usually lower? Also, … [Read the rest]

Free eBook on Small Business Tax Deductions (Expired)

(Update: Free promo is expired, it's back at $9.99.) Just a quick note that there is a Kindle eBook about tax deductions for small businesses, including self-employed people, that is currently free called Small Business Tax Deduction Secrets by … [Read the rest]

Tweaking Common Advice: Take Risks While You’re Young

A common piece of advice I've heard is "Take risks while you're young." This is often applied to personal finance, in terms of trying to land a higher-paying job, starting a new business, or pursuing your passion. The thinking goes something like … [Read the rest]

Yale Professor Subtly Threatens High-Cost 401(k) Plans

Speaking of how to deal with bad 401(k) plans... Yale Professor Ian Ayres decided to write letters to thousands of 401(k) plan sponsors that have high costs and fees according to data from website Brightscope. I'm totally paraphrasing and adding … [Read the rest]

Shareholder Yield: Better Stock Screening Metric Than Dividend Yield?

I've read a few books about dividend investing and remain interested in the idea, although I'm not confident enough (yet?) to allocate my portfolio that way. Portfolio manager and writer Mebane Faber has a short book called Shareholder Yield: A … [Read the rest]

State Farm Insurance Payment Plan (SFPP) Review

Ever since we started cutting back our work hours in order to share childcare duties, Mrs. MMB and I have kept a closer eye on our monthly spending patterns. One of the headaches for budgeters is dealing with large lump-sum payments like those for … [Read the rest]

Optimize Your Cell Phone Plan: The Wireless Efficient Frontier

The other day while I was trying to help someone find a cheaper cell phone plan, I realized two things: There are way too many different options these days. Most are MVNOs that buy bulk minutes and data from the major providers, and many of … [Read the rest]

Should I Still Contribute to a Bad 401(k) Plan?

Along with other factors, new fee disclosure requirements for 401(k) plans have brought a lot of attention recently on "bad" 401(k) plans. These are plans with little or no employer match, higher-than-average fees, and/or limited investment … [Read the rest]

Cooked: The Health Argument For Cooking At Home

I'm roughly halfway through Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation by Michael Pollan. Although the book covers a variety of topics ranging from chemistry to religion to anthropology, the overarching theme is examining the practice of cooking … [Read the rest]

Apple App Store: 5 Top Paid Apps & Games For Free

Apple is celebrating the 5th anniversary of Apple's App Store by making 5 top apps and 5 top games free for a limited time. Some other developers have also made their apps free as well. here is the official iTunes page, and below are some direct … [Read the rest]