You might remember that I completed my first oil painting recently. As paintings go, it’s decent, but for a first painting ever it’s pretty good.

So I spent $45 and got it framed.

Now I don’t actually have anywhere to put it, so in that sense the $45 is a waste of money.

But I’m going to make a place for it, and here’s why. » Read more

If you ever want to start a debate, ask for people’s opinion on what the poor ought to be allowed to buy with food stamps. Generalizing about the poor seems to be almost a national pastime.

People who don’t make much money are called entitled, lazy, greedy (and worse), and the things they buy and own are scrutinized and commented on. » Read more

Personal finance is often viewed in terms of numbers. It makes sense on the surface, because things like making a budget, figuring out how much time it will take to get out of debt, balancing the checkbook, etc., all involve wading through columns of numbers.

But the thing is, personal finance isn’t really as much about numbers as it is about your relationship to those numbers. » Read more

I’m right-handed, but I moved my mouse to the left side of my keyboard a few days ago. Why?

One word: pain.

My right wrist has been hurting like the dickens lately — so much so that I changed how I use the computer. Along the way, I noticed a few parallels to the world of personal finance. » Read more