Patrick compares budgeting to dieting. You need to reward yourself, but you have to be careful about when to do it and how.

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When I was 14, I got my first real job. It wasn’t much–working part-time at a warehouse for minimum wage–but getting a paycheck was so exciting! What was even better, though, was tax-time. I really looked forward to it because I’d seen those deductions on each paycheck and knew I’d be getting some of it back.

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Paid Twice’s post this morning that there’s no shame in not being able to afford things really struck a chord. One of those “little” things that aren’t so little.
You see, this morning I was feeling a little bit blue as I got ready for work. Sometimes I get sick of my clothes. I only have [...]

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We got our new tires today, courtesy of the lovely Micah. He called around to various auto shops and got estimates for a fairly inexpensive but well-rated tire. He was also careful to find out their installation prices.
Once he’d found a pretty good deal, we agreed on it and he went off.
Because he was so [...]

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Suppose that your spouse or partner broke your budget with a big and unexpected purchase. How would you feel?
Betrayed? Miffed? Disappointed? Shocked? Sad? Ok? Whatever?
Yesterday, I mentioned that when Micah was getting an oil change, they tried to upsell him some tires. I was at work at the time, incommunicado. If he had gone ahead [...]

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