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I just finished "Horns" by Joe Hill (Stephen King's son). Now I am starting "Touch and Go" by Lisa Gardner.

We typically do fancier restaurants for our anniversary and our birthdays. My wife doesn't drink or eat meat though, so that helps to keep the tab down. It's usually in the high 2 digits or very low 3 digits.

I typically use Discount Tire, but recently joined Costco. I have to admit it's discouraging to hear they don't take appointments. Can you at least call to see what tires they have in stock? I like that Discount Tire lets you choose the exact tires when you book an appt online. It gives me time to r...

Flipboard and Zite.

PITI + HOA is 18% of gross. It used to be as high as 30% before we re-fi'd and started getting raises.

FYI the Murano is getting a full redesign soon. So you'll have the outdated design if you buy that (in case that matters to you). The RDX was just redesigned last year so it will look new-ish for a longer period. Do you have any info on this? I know the existing design is several years old, even th...

FYI the Murano is getting a full redesign soon. So you'll have the outdated design if you buy that (in case that matters to you).

The RDX was just redesigned last year so it will look new-ish for a longer period.

A few months ago, I posted here about amending 3 years' worth of tax returns to include Schedule K-1 losses that we'd previously ignored. The advice here was to work with a CPA due to the complexity involved, so I did that. The CPA is in the process of finalizing the amended returns. These K-1s are ...

I was in business school in my late 20s. Burned through all of my cash at the time for living expenses. For retirement, I had about $60k saved up.

We purchased LG Tromm front-loaders 5 years ago. They are working well and we are glad we spent a little more on them. The only negative is that the vibration can get loud during certain moments of the cycles. I understand that newer machines are much better about reducing vibration. We also paid fo...

I never eat out, too expensive and who knows what weird things could be going on in that kitchen & then it ends up on my plate. I cook my own food and I know how it'll taste and what's in it. And why is this relevant to the OP's question? OP- there are a bunch of discount card websites out ther...

My very frugal parents taught me about the importance of living below your means. They had the least money of any of their friends or family, but never tried to keep up with the Joneses. My dad and uncle taught me about the importance of saving for retirement when I got my first post-college job. Th...

When I was single, I never really focused on frugality as an important trait. Mainly because I never really thought it was going to be realistic to find it in a 20something girl. I more so focused on high education and career drive as a trait. If she makes good money, frugality doesn’t carry the sam...

Every couple of days, but mainly because the balance is there when I log into Mint.com to look at credit card transactions. Before the days of Mint, I checked once a month or so.

For retirement, we do 15% of gross including vested employer match.

We also save another 10% of gross for other things (future baby expenses, business investments, etc).

We use our Chase Freedom for most of our charges. We also have a Delta AMEX, but only use it for Delta flights or Costco purchases.

I see this a lot in NYC and San Francisco where it's become so expensive to live that many people are priced out or forced into sub-standard living conditions, regardless of their education, intelligence or work ethic. I understand what you mean here, I lived in Boston where the same thing happens....

I suggest asking for an extra week of vacation as part of your next review/raise. Two weeks would go by really quickly, especially if you like to travel.

K-1s can report various types of income and losses for the entities. You should be more specific about what type of losses these are, meaning what lines of the K-1 are you talking about? Also, is that the only line of the K-1s that has information? Is there any interest, dividend, capital gain/loss...

I have an '04 Mazda 3 sedan with 99k miles.

A few years ago my wife was given a small ownership stake in a business her family runs. The business generates a Schedule K-1 for her, but we never get it until about May of each year (well after we have filed our taxes). We are supposed to amend every year to include the K-1, but unfortunately hav...

I think it is perfectly fine to live at home if it works out nicely for you. Not everyone hates their parents.

If you really like the MDX, I'd wait for the 2014 Acura MDX that is coming out this summer. It is a complete redesign and gas mileage will improve over the current version. You will also get an improved interior and exterior: http://www.autoblog.com/2013/01/15/2014-acura-mdx-prototype-detroit-2013/ ...

This has been my AA for the last 6 years:

Total Stock Market 25%
Small-Cap Value 20%
International Value 17.5%
Large-Cap Value 15%
International Small-Cap 10%
Emerging Markets 7.5%
Real Estate 5%

Do you use off-brand contact lens solution such as Equate (Walmart) and Up & Up (Target)? Or do you stick to the expensive name brands like Opti-Free? My wife claims her eyes sting when she uses the cheap stuff.

Visiondirect.com sometimes has great deals if you use their coupon codes. Last time I got a 1 year supply of Acuvue Oaysis for just $90.

I grew up in the Boston area, and really enjoyed it. However, the high cost of housing was a big turnoff. So I decided to move to Atlanta, where I could still enjoy big city life but at a much lower cost of living. I've been here 8 years now and really enjoy it (and even met my wife down here). I do...

23 for me. I had started my first real job and my parents & uncle stressed the importance of saving for retirement. So I maxed out my Roth IRA and 401k (it helped I was living at home so I had extra money).

23 here. My dad and uncle taught me about the importance of investing, and steered me towards Vanguard.

I’m trying to advise my mom about a pension decision she needs to make in the next 2 weeks. She has a small pension from her previous job. She is deciding between taking a $101,000 lump sum right now, or getting a monthly payment of $875 starting in 2016. She is 63, and my dad is 65. Both have jobs ...

I once had a summer job working as a movie theater usher. This involved cleaning the theater in between movies, and I once found a pile of crumbled up $20 bills (total of $120). Another time I was walking around our grad school campus with a friend (who is now my wife). She pointed at a $100 bill on...

Just started "Horns" by Joe Hill (son of Stephen King).

Age: 35

Aggregate US Equities (sans REIT)- 60%
Aggregate US REIT- 5%
Aggregate Intl Equities (sans REIT)- 35%
Aggregate Intl REIT- 0%
Aggregate Nominal Bonds- 0%
Aggregate Inflation Bonds- 0%
Any Sector or Commodity plays- 0%

Hill Street Blues theme. The rapper Cam'ron even sampled it for one of his songs.

Also, Band of Brothers (HBO mini-series) theme is fantastic. Very moving and powerful.

I called today and received:

- $30 credit per month for 12 months
- $150 off NFL Sunday Ticket
- 12 months of Free Showtime

It probably helped that we are out of contract next month.

Thanks for the replies all- lots of good info in here.

I hadn't thought about the hypothetical kids trashing the car. This would definitely annoy me as I get mad when my old Mazda has a new scratch or ding. Seems like it would be a smart idea to get something cheaper for when the kids are young.

My wife and I are hoping to have our first baby in the next 12-18 months, and would like to buy a new SUV to coincide with the baby’s arrival. Cars are a hobby for me- I subscribe to car magazines and read various car message boards. I’m the go-to person in my social circle for new car buying advice...

Ours is 6%. There is also an additional 1-3% per year based on company performance.

My wife's is $1,250 max per yr, no matter how much you contribute.

I enjoy reading it. I skip all of the stock advice articles and stick to the couple/family profiles. Other people's personal finances always intrique me.

I usually get the subscriptions on the cheap (via airline miles or SlickDeals).

We are planning on having kids soon, so we are basically saving for that (beyond our retirement contributions). Our savings rate will plummet once we have that expensive daycare bill to pay. We are also planning on buying an SUV in the next couple of years, so I'd like to put at least 50% down. Our ...

We only count retirement contributions and any cash savings.

So your monthly net is $4k and $2400 of it would go towards the mortgage? Sorry to say but 60% of your net going towards housing seems like an obscene number. And that doesn't even include the utilities. I agree with you that you shouldn't include your wife's income as she may quit or go PT after ha...

Coastal often has deals for free prescription eyeglasses (plus a small shipping charge). People over at SlickDeals have great experiences with them too.

I would tell myself not to invest in individual stocks. In my early 20's I was foolish enough to believe analyst target prices for stocks were a nice way to pick stocks. I would also tell myself to create a monthly budget and income statement. I didn't do this until I was 30. It would have been nice...

In my culture, it is fairly common to have multiple generations in one household. In fact, my brother-in-law (who is a millionaire CEO of a small company) plans on moving back in with his parents in a few years. Both he and his wife get along amazingly well with his parents, so I know the arrangemen...

Just started "The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business" by Charles Duhigg.

Here is a related story I saw. Canadian Lawyer pays off $114,000 in law school debt in cash:

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/345076/ ... enjeev.htm

I have a Mazda 3 and love it. You can also get some nicer features on it, such as xenon headlamps.

I'm a big fan of Jewelers Mutual. It comes highly recommended on PriceScope (which is like the Bogleheads of diamond shopping).

One other point worth mentioning is that 911 call centers do treat with more gravity calls from land lines if the caller is incoherent, unable to state their address, doesn't stay on the line, etc. The reason is that they receive so many, many false and accidental calls from cells that a lot of tho...