Tomorrow is Independence Day in the United States, a time for friends and family to gather and enjoy the early summer. I'm taking a l-o-n-g weekend, and won't return until Monday. If I'm lucky, I'll get a chance to play in the sprinkler. In the meantime, I thought it would be fun to devote a thread [...]...

One of my favorite saving techniques is the use of targeted accounts. If I want to save for something big — like a Mini Cooper, for example — I'll open a new savings account specifically for this purpose. I first learned about this method from Robert Pagliarini's The Six-Day Financial Makeover: Traditionally, most people invested for [...]...

The August 2008 issue of Consumer Reports — one of my favorite personal finance magazines — features two articles that may be of interest to readers of Get Rich Slowly. The first offers tips for cutting expenses. The second gives a brief overview of budgeting. Cut your spending by $500 per month The Consumer Reports Money Lab [...]...

On Thursday I'll be interviewing personal finance columnist Scott Burns. Burns may be best-known for his "Couch Potato" investment portfolio. He's also the brains behind Asset Builder and the co-author of the new book Spend 'Til the End, which explores the notion of "consumption smoothing", or how to maintain a stable standard of living throughout [...]...

This is a guest post from Amanda, a Colorado tech writer and an activist for children with congenital heart disease. This article is about Amanda's personal experience with insurance. It's not a prescription for other people, but insights into the value of insurance in her own life. It's her hope that it will get you [...]...