Going out to eat: how much should we spend?

Note: this was originally posted as a guest blog on Make Love Not Debt.
Over the summer, Jon and I let a relative stay in our apartment for a week, while we were away on vacation. As a thank-you gift, she gave us a $150 gift certificate to a nice restaurant. And this presents us with [...]

Money Mistake #1: the laptop

As part of our effort to share our personal finance failures, I bring you: the story of the laptop and the cup of tea.
Shortly after I graduated from college, I had to buy my first paid-for-on-my-own computer. This was back in 2003, and I was on track to make about $15,000 that year as a [...]