I’ve been in Paris for more than a week, and I’m reminded of how little money you need to have an amazing experience. This morning I ate a fresh baguette (88 cents) with cheese and olives, and sipped a homemade cappuccino in my living room. This afternoon I’m taking a long walk to a local…
My 72-year-old dad just announced that he’s learning to drive a stick-shift. Why? Because he wants to drive – instead of relying on taxis or buses – when he travels to countries that only have manual transmissions. And he goes to a lot of other countries. Last year he and my 72-year-old mom flew to…
Here’s a recent reader question that grabbed my heart. One reader said: “I am a single woman with children who believes I can live a great life traveling and making life grand, in spite of the statistics out there. Do you think its possible? Can you offer some saving/investing tips?” I’m so glad you wrote…
Imagine staring down the road, seeing dozens of half-built houses. I’m not talking about houses that are actively under construction. And I’m not talking about decrepit old houses that need to be torn down. I’m talking about houses that were partially built … and then nothing. No active construction. No wheelbarrows or cement mixers…
An Afford Anything reader recently emailed me about this dilemma: He’s upside-down on his home. He owes more than the house is worth. But he wants to take advantage of today’s low housing prices, which will let him move his daughter into the best school district in town. He can put 10 percent down on…
Launch into any money-related conversation and you’ll inevitably hear the following bad financial advice: “But it worked for me!” Those insidious five little words have been used to justify all types of terrible ideas, from buying lottery tickets to over-leveraging your investments to investing every last dime into Apple stock. Let’s try this one on…
Renting out a vacation home is one step away from running a hotel.
Welcome to the site, Marketplace Money listeners! If you turned on NPR this past weekend, you might have heard me tell a musician to drink more beer. Weirdest personal finance advice ever. But what do you expect from me? I don’t give boilerplate advice. I talk about mindset. And strategy. And beer. Here’s how it…
In the 18th century, a French writer named Denis Diderot received a gift: a beautiful scarlet dressing gown. The fabric was gorgeous. The colors were rich. The craftsmanship was spectacular. Diderot immediately threw his tattered old gown away. He didn’t need it anymore. His new gown was breathtaking. Of course, he needed to make a…
Want answers to some real estate questions? Here’s the latest edition of Readers Ask. One reader asks: I have a long list of repairs and upgrades which my house needs, and I would like to find an impartial source for ballpark price estimates. What do you recommend? Those estimates will vary, depending on what part…