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Note: This article is part of an on-going series about Jim, a fun-loving but financially-disastrous friend. Let’s see what adventure he has in store today. Shortly after my return from Greece, I found myself sorting through the massive stack of snail mail that had amassed since my departure. At least 80% of it turned out to be junk, but a letter [...] Read more

Mr. IM has a confession. For all intents and purposes, I’m unemployed. No, that’s not quite true. I’m actually a doctoral candidate at my university, and astute readers (both of you!) may remember that in some of my posts from last spring, I made references to being on a job interview. i actually had two interviews at differing universities (for a [...] Read more

I just returned from spending close to seven weeks in Greece. While I certainly enjoyed my time there, I’m happy to be back in America. Living in a tiny Greek village really opened my eyes to the luxuries I enjoy in America (like being able to flush toilet paper… seriously). The sheer amount of poverty I saw startled me – I can’t speak for Greece [...] Read more

Shock and Awe? What’s happening to my country? I’ve been in Europe for a month now (in a village with limited Internet access), and I stopped by an Internet cafe to check the news only to discover that Indymac Bank failed, oil is (or was) well over $140 a barrel, and the Dow is in the lower 11k range. I have no insights to give about Indymac’s [...] Read more

My wife and I are both grad students, currently without any children. Even so, I recently opened 529 plans through Learning Quest (Kansas). What is a 529 plan? Essentially, it is a tax-advantaged account meant for future expenses related to higher education. I’m embarrassed to admit that I thought you could only open 529 plans after you had a [...] Read more

Before I begin extolling the virtues of KeePass, allow me to explain why I think a password manager is worthwhile. After I wrote the previous article, an irate reader seemed hell-bent on pounding into my head that ALL my ideas were dumb and that people only need pencil and paper to manage all financial account information. Give me a break. Sure, [...] Read more

My passport recently expired, and since I’m planning a European trip this summer, I need to renew it ASAP. I grabbed the passport application from the Post Office and zipped over to Kinko’s since I knew they took passport-approved photos there. It can’t cost more than a couple bucks for two small photos, right? Wrong! My local Kinko’s did not have [...] Read more

Today we once again meet Jim, our soon-to-be-bankrupt friend. Poor Jim just can’t catch a break – every time he comes close to breaking free from the “living month-to-month” cycle, something (or someone) pulls him back into the fray. Remember that Jim’s parents are bankrupt, and have been for over eight years now. They have taught Jim everything [...] Read more