It arrived. I opened the box and held it up to enjoy it. It was a new wireless speaker. It was solid black, a beautiful piece of technology. I couldn’t wait to listen to it. I plugged it in and for some reason I couldn’t connect my phone to it. I googled it. I found …
Greetings from Prague! I’m just over halfway through my European vacation, so I thought it’d be fun to share some of my adventures and to take a glimpse at the financial side of this journey. This trip is unusual for me because I’m traveling with a party of six. My cousin Duane has terminal cancer …
I’m not the only semi-celebrity J.D. Roth. For more than fifteen years, I’ve been receiving email and tweets and Facebook messages intended for the other JD Roth, the former executive producer of The Biggest Loser — and tons of other television shows. Apparently the other JD Roth has a lot of fans. Actually, I’m one …
This morning, for the first time in more than eight years, I weighed in at 200 pounds. I am not proud of this fact but it’s the truth. I own it. I got to this point through my own actions, not because some cruel tormenter force-fed me cheeseburgers and beer. When I’m overweight, I tend …
Warning: This is a rare GRS post that contains salty language. If you don’t like salty language, don’t read this article. Anthony Bourdain killed himself Friday morning. “So what?” you might be thinking. “He’s just another fucking celebrity who didn’t know how good he had it.” Maybe you’re right. But his death has weighed heavy …
When Kim and I moved last summer from our riverfront condo to this country cottage on the outskirts of Portland, one of my primary aims was to slash our spending on both housing and food. Although we owned our condo free and clear, living there still cost us roughly $1200 per month. Plus, there were …
My mother turned seventy a couple of weeks ago. This means a couple of things: First, she’s reached the age at which she can receive maximum retirement benefits from Social Security. Second, it’s time for her to start taking Required Minimum Distributions from her retirement accounts. If you’ve been reading Get Rich Slowly for a …
While the contractors were working to replace the siding on our new home last summer, they discovered a termite infestation outside the bathroom. Further investigation revealed that the floor under the tub was not only wet and damp, but had actually completely rotted. So, we hired somebody to repair the damage. On the first day …
When I woke up last Thursday, I thought my mother was flat broke. I went to bed with the shocking realization that she’s a millionaire. Long-time readers will recall that my mother has struggled with her health for a number of years. She’d been living on her own, receiving ongoing treatment for schizophrenia, since my …
I’ve been waiting a year for this day! At the start of 2017, because I was worried about lifestyle inflation, I began tracking my expenses for the first time in years. Using a rusty copy of Quicken 2007, I resumed updating the same budget database I’ve been using since February 2004. After three months of …