I love sales.
BJ and I went to Kohl’s (a) because it’s a new store in our area and (b) because I needed some new clothes to start out the school year.
Regular prices were, well, steep.  Not since my mother bought all of my clothes have I seriously shopped at a store with prices this high.  […]

Have you filed your income tax return yet?
I haven’t.  And for me, that’s highly unusual because I always had the payroll clerk withhold extra money so I knew I would qualify for a refund.  We call it Hoopie Christmas in these parts.
Anyway, since I lost my job last February, then collected unemployment until August, then […]

So are you one of those Black Friday fanatics who spent the night camped out in the mall parking lot?  Even without my pelvis and BJ’s shoulder, I’m not.  Never have been.  In fact, I think you’re all nuts.
I guy I used to work with  at the radio station always wanted his “off” holiday to […]

I’ve always heard that there’s no such thing as a free lunch.  Neither, it seems, are free checking accounts all that common.
We do our banking through a credit union rather than a bank simply because it was as close to “free” as we could find here in our area.  The place we used to patronize […]

One of the things human beings must learn is to identify their own strengths — and weaknesses. I can do a lot of things, some of them well, but one thing I know I could never do is manage a small business.
That said, though, I know several people who have taken the entrepreneurial plunge, […]

It’s almost scary how easy it is to get credit these days.
It’s been years since I’ve applied for any loans, but the mail is full just about every day with credit card offers.
And that’s odd, too, because I got into some serious trouble several years ago with those little plastic things and had to get […]

Not to be morbid or anything, but I’m thinking I should probably pick up some term life insurance.
Let’s face it:  I’m not getting any younger, and not taking care of those final expenses is just thoughtless and irresponsible.  It’s also a nasty thing to do to your family at a terrible time in their lives.
At […]

How reliant are you on credit cards?
I see those TV commercials all the time where the world literally grinds to a halt whenever a customer tries to pay for deli food, coffee and doughnuts, gardening supplies, or whatever else with cash or a check, then happily resumes when the card in the hand of the […]

As states go, West Virginia’s taxation system is not all that bad.  My sister Doris lives in New York, and her property taxes are outrageous when compared to ours.  Yes, we have a food sales tax, but it’s actually coming down (now at 4 percent).  But every once in awhile, the folks […]

It’s time once again to renew our home insurance policy.
Why is it that all these annual bills come due at the same time? It seems that, try as we might, we just can’t get them to spread out over the rest of the year.
I’m without life insurance right now; I never picked up another […]