Today’s Deals: Barbie, Tax Prep, and Kindle Fire + MORE

This guest post is from David Lye. David is an expert on novated leasing, which is a “company car” type perk that many Australian companies offer their employees. In today’s uncertain economy, many employers are reluctant to offer raises to their employees. You may be lucky enough to keep your job, but chances are that you may not get a raise, or if you do, it could be a very small raise…

One of the scariest situations is becoming disabled and unable to work. You might want to provide for your family, but your disability can stop you from being able to perform your job. If this is the case, you might be eligible for CPP disability benefits.Who’s Eligible for CPP Disability Benefits?Not anyone can draw on CPP disability…

What do you do when a pair of socks gets a hole in the heel? How about when a lamp stops working? What happens when your favorite pair of leather boots starts to lose it’s soul?
Many of us throw the broken or outdated item out. Few try to repair or get it repaired. I’m guilty as well. I used to darn my family’s socks, but now don’t…

I’m getting real tired of the typical financial advice out there. It seems that everyone is a personal finance expert these days. Everywhere you turn, people are giving financial advice. My friend, who is employed at a student loan call center, is even giving people financial advice on what to do with their student loans…

Can you believe that March is almost over? That mean Q1 is almost done and it’s time to dust off the 2013 New Year’s resolutions and get a few things ticked off. One of my goals for 2013 is to come up with a sustainable exercise program and do it. I used to go to the company’s gym at lunch 4-5 times a week when I was working and it was great…

Via Credit.com. By Todd Tresidder
Why do you keep buying things you can’t afford? It makes no sense: it’s not rational. Nobody wants to be in debt.
The answer is simple: debt problems are emotional, not rational.
Debt results from unconscious habits and attitudes that cause you to spend more than you can afford…

I subscribe to the promotional emails of hundreds of companies so you don’t have to. I sift through 1,000 deal-touting emails every week. Most are worthless. But some offer valuable coupons, promo codes, sales, and freebies – which I collect and organize.Note: Expiration dates are in brackets.FoodJamba Juice: Fruit & Veggie smoothies are $2 (print first) [3/24]…

If you ever thought I was frugal, this will change your mind 😉 I do like saving money where I can, but I also like saving sanity and *time* just as much. As evidence of this first list below…
This all came about after reading two articles:

The first on Blonde and Balanced where Em wrote about 45 things she does NOT spend money on (I was curious to see how many I DO spend on :))
And the second from Julia at Bargain Babe where she, too, listed a bunch of things she doesn’t spend on…

A few hours ago, my wife and I were sitting out in the yard watching our three children playing together.
I looked around me and saw all that I have.
I have a wonderful, intelligent, and witty wife who chose, for some reason beyond my comprehension, to marry me.
I have three curious, passionate, and funny children who fill every day of my life with laughter and surprise…

I never want to be called an optimist. Optimistic people have a tendency to be frustratingly stupid, thinking the best is coming, when all signs say otherwise. I get the idea of hoping for the best, but I’ll never understand planning on the best.
I like to consider myself a realist. I make an intentional effort to think with my head and not my heart…

Upper class.  Middle class.  Lower Class.  Poor.  Terms that have been used for decades to describe which income class you fit in to.
One of those classes is quickly disappearing.  The middle class that I grew up in, the middle class lifestyle that I aspire to live is disappearing.  My gross is just under $50,000 per year and that leaves me at either the bottom of the middle class or the top of the lower class…

The following is the latest post in my “Reader Profiles” series. Each post in this series details the financial situation and challenges of an FMF reader. The purpose of this series is to help us all identify with people like us (in similar situations — not all will be, of course, but eventually I’m sure you will find someone like you here), get to know the frequent commenters on the site, and hear some financial wisdom/challenges from people other than me…