Philip Brewer's blog

How to Have an Above-Average Life for Below-Average Prices

If you target your spending on the things that matter most to you (and not to everyone else), you can often get more for less. Here's how it works.

What You Can Learn From People Who Take Vitamins (It's Not What You Think)

Stop wasting your money on multivitamins that don't work, but do start following these other healthy habits that multivitamin buyers follow.

Your Web Presence Will Soon Be More Valuable Than Your Credit Rating

Soon it won't be enough to remove those compromising tweets and selfies. To succeed and prosper, you need to build an attractive online persona.

How to Make Your Fortune: Become Your Own Hero

Your average fictional hero can teach us a lot about living in the real world, starting with understanding motivation and goals, and finding a way to reach them.

One Simple Trick to Get the Best Tax Benefit From Your Retirement Portfolio

Discover how smart investors keep their retirement accounts in check.

How to Resist Lifestyle Creep and Still Have Everything You Want

Responsible financial management doesn't mean you have to live like a monk. It does mean you have to define — and choose — your own individual lifestyle.

Counterfeiters Beware: Here's How the New $100 Will Ruin Your Day

Scheduled to enter circulation back in early 2011, the new, more secure $100 finally starts circulating today. These are the new security features to look for.

How to Take Advantage of Obamacare for Less Financial Risk and More Freedom

The Obamacare exchanges will go live in a few days. Find out how to use the new insurance market to reduce your risk and consider more career choices.

Psychology of Money: How We Secretly Want People to Make Us Buy Things

A good financial plan includes planning and budgeting for both needs and wants. Don't let short term wants steal from those wants you really desire.

Become a Producer to Put Your Consumption in Perspective

The gap between making and consuming keeps widening, but making more of what you consume can lead to a richer life.

Save Money by Trusting Yourself

People often create spending rules because they don't trust themselves. But if you can develop that trust, you can save even more.

Control Your Debt With an Annual Clean Sweep

Do you use credit to manage cash flow fluctuations or to live beyond your means? Here's a simple, practical test for keeping your debt under control.

New $100 Bill: Issue Date Set

After years of production problems, the new $100 bill finally has a date of issue — October 8th. Learn what's new and different.

Eating at the Intersection of Cheap and Healthy

A lot of healthy food — organic, locally grown food — comes at specialty food prices. But with some planning and smart shopping, you can eat both well and cheap.

Get Ready to Manage Your Bank (and Other Cash) Accounts

Recently, there's been no reason to pay much attention to how you store your cash — it doesn't earn enough interest to worry about. That's about to change.

Being Frugal Without Giving Up Your Social Life

Despite what some people think, you don't have to be a hermit to be frugal. Learn how you can have a fun social life AND maintain your budget.

The False Allure of Compound Interest

You've seen stories about compound interest adding up to big savings. That can happen — but often, it's not the whole truth.

Becoming Financially Secure: What to Do First

Standard financial advice is full of things to do first — emergency fund, 401(k), paying off debts...but what REALLY comes first?

Student Loans: The Third Way to Ruin Your Finances

"Is college worth it?" has become a difficult question to answer — and answering wrong could saddle you with years of debt. Here are your options.

The Limits of Small Economies

People often recommend cutting out little expenses to help get back on financial track. What's rarely mentioned is that this alone won't solve the problem.