From the category archives:

Personal Finance

6 Reasons You Won’t Go to Finance Hell if You’re Getting a Tax Refund This Year

There are a select few articles that get republished year in and year out that start to become “gospel” in the personal finance world. With tax time approaching, you’re going to see several writers and talking heads on television chastise you for the “free loan” you gave the US government this year if you’re receiving [...]

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What Does Financial Freedom Mean To You?

I hear the phrase “Financial Freedom” batted around like it’s goin’ outta style. Scammy multi-level marketing outfits tout financial freedom, mutual fund and money management companies refer to it, magazine covers…it’s everywhere. I guess Financial Freedom means a lot of things depending on who it is you’re asking. The problem with advertising that phrase is [...]

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Dear Wallet, We’re Both Too Fat to Continue this Relationship

You’ll find this to be one of the more insipid posts you’ll ever find here at Darwin’s Finance, but it deals with finance (at least tangentially) so I figured I’d share my experience in liberating myself from my wallet. Due to one of the two phenomena: 1) my pants shrank or 2) I’m getting fatter, [...]

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How Did Childhood Jobs Influence Your Current Financial Situation?

My wife and I were talking about teaching our kids about money the other day and she mentioned how entrepreneurial our 5 year old seems. I haven’t really started to talk to the kids about money too much other than the piggybank 50/50 save/spend thing which will eventually become a bit more structured. However, this [...]

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Your Wife’s a Gold-Digger – Is She Evil or Just a Forward Thinking Strategist?

The term gold-digger immediately elicits a pronounced response: revulsion. A woman who latches onto a guy (usually; other scenarios apply of course) solely due to his existing or perceived future wealth. Regardless of what she thinks of this man as a person, she has one focus – money. Well, what about a “rational/moderate gold-digger”?
photo credit: [...]

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Is Paying Kids for Good Grades Wrong?

I watched an inspiring 60 Minutes episode on the Canada Harlem Children’s Zone project whereby several blocks of a blighted section of Harlem were transformed into a safe area spanning many blocks and the charter schools within were staffed and run completely differently than the NYC public schools. The program employs very innovative techniques and [...]

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Easy Ways to Find the Best Finance Blogs

There are a few ways people like to keep track of their favorite personal finance and investing blogs. There’s the old fashioned way of just bookmarking a site and visiting when time permits to check out the latest posts. That’s very inefficient and sooo 2000.
Then, there’s the RSS and Twitter option. I recommend following both [...]

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How Much Could You Reduce Your Budget if You Get Laid Off?

In this economy, even if you think your job is safe, you’ve gotta at least have in the back of your mind, “What are some immediate steps we could take to dramatically reduce our monthly expenditures in the event of a layoff?”. While many companies offer severance for several months, there’s no guarantee that you’ll [...]

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No Good Deed Goes Unpunished – Charitable Giving

When I was a kid, I remember listening to my Dad come home from work and frustratingly relay a story to my mom. For whatever reason, the story stuck with me and I continue to see similar behavior from people that should know better – or if they don’t know better, they should shut [...]

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