Tracking your expenses is the easiest way to get started on a financial plan. Try keeping track of all your income and all your outgo for a month. Get a small notebook and start writing down all of your expenditures, no matter how large or how small. Write down all of your income, too, including… [Read More]
Blog
Tag: Chicago on the Cheap
Card Games Using Incomplete Decks
Back when I ran Chicago on the Cheap, I was on the hunt for things to do with incomplete decks of cards. Sure, you can use them for things like bookmarks, but who needs 49 bookmarks? They are too slippery to build a house of cards. So what? I have finally come across two games… [Read More]
Paying for college: free and low-cost SAT and ACT prep
College starts costing families money long before the acceptance letter arrives. SAT and ACT scores influence not only admission, but also financial aid: higher scores help students qualify for more types of financial aid. It is possible to spend a lot of money on test prep, but it is not necessary. There are a lot… [Read More]
Dummies books are everywhere!
The lovely and talented Lisbeth Levine wrote a review of the new Salvation Army thrift store for Chicago on the Cheap, and she sent me this picture of its Dummies shelf. Fun, huh?
The blogger/Etsy/food truck economy
The picture is a slice of (poorly done) DIY culture, a shirt I made to help promote Chicago on the Cheap. In recent years, my business has shifted toward blogging and away from writing for publications. Back in 1997, Dan Pink published an article in Fast Company called “Free Agent Nation“. It was later expanded… [Read More]