I define frugality as getting the maximum value for your dollar while living squarely within your means, which is a pretty reasonable definition. I wouldn’t expect someone making $15,000 a year that doesn’t sweat what they eat to make the … Read More

This post is by Mark Dow DXY, a dollar index, looks like it has started to break down. At my firm, Pharo, we have been whispering on the trading desk over the last two days that this was looking increasingly … Read More

This Rachel Ziemba, filling in for Brad Setser. I’m having technical upload issues so will add charts later but for now some thoughts on reserves Chinese reserves data released today seem to be one more sign that the Chinese stimulus … Read More

“They pick me [to be tested for steroids] every time. I don’t know why. I don’t know if it’s because I’m a big guy, or what, but all I know is all they are going to find is a lot … Read More

In case you missed the story I wrote in Sunday’s Register, here’s a clip about one loan modification dispute : Helena Cameron needed help paying her mortgage after she quit her job to care for her sick mother and her … Read More

Many newer readers of The Simple Dollar haven’t been exposed to the hundreds of great articles in the archives of the site, so this is a weekly series that highlights the five best posts from one year ago this week, … Read More

This is the fourth of twelve parts of a “book club” reading and discussion of Dave Ramsey’s The Total Money Makeover , where this book on debt reduction is teased apart and looked at in detail. This entry covers the … Read More

This is Mark Dow. Brad is away. China has become the obsession that Japan was back in the 80s. And rightly so. It is a huge place, with a robust secular growth force underlying it (remember the conditional convergence growth … Read More

A reader asked me if I could break down my ideas into a handful of principles. After some careful thought, I came up with a list of fourteen basic “rules” that summarize my money and life philosophy. I’ll be presenting … Read More

Randy Johnson, president of Independence Mortgage Co. in Newport Beach, author of “How to Save Thousands of Dollars on Your Home Mortgage” and a mortgage broker since 1983, answers questions… Jimbo in Newport Beach asks: Q. I own a Newport … Read More