This site will help you learn how to "do" personal finance, from the basics (such as balancing a checkbook) to the most advanced. You'll find helpful How-To Personal Finance videos, podcasts, and articles that will help you make the most of your money, and help you find the Uncommon Way to Wealth.

Personal finance isn't always simple or easy, at least in the short run. It requires that you take a hard look at yourself and your relationship with money, take 100% responsibility for your financial future, and then take the actions that will help you reach your financial goals. Let's face it - it's always "easier" to blame your financial circumstances on somebody else, to let somebody else take responsibility for your care and feeding…but it's so much more rewarding in the long run to take charge of your financial destiny and sculpt a future of wealth and abundance.

Here are some of the topics you'll see covered here:

• Budgeting: Master the budget, and you're halfway to mastering personal finance
• Credit & Debt Management: Tame the debt monster to start building real wealth
• Finances for the Twentysomething: Build wealth while still having fun in your twenties
• Financial Planning: Set realistic goals, make a plan, and achieve the results you want
• Financial Software: Let technology help build your wealth at warp speed
• Personal Finance Spreadsheets: Master the math of personal finance…with a little help from these spreadsheets
• Frugal Living: Hey, millionaires practice frugal living all the time…that's how they became millionaires
• Investing: A good return on investment is hard to beat, and it sure beats working for your money
• Insurance: You earned it, now make sure you protect your wealth
• Retirement Planning: "I wish I'd started sooner" won't make the retirement any smoother - start planning your retirement now
• Saving for College: The value of a college education is a constant, but the price keeps going up

Where to Begin?

There's plenty of free personal finance material on this website, so don't let it overwhelm you. No matter where you begin, it will only take a few clicks to find something that will help you. If you find an article that looks interesting, but just don't have the time to read it right now, go ahead and print it out using the "Print" link at the bottom of each page. If you want to see how any page will look when printed, use your browser's Print Preview feature by clicking File -> Print Preview (on most browsers). Try it out right now on this page if you like.

Make sure you bookmark this site, so you can return to it again and again. Many visitors start their day with 15-30 minutes on this site, and report that it helps them stay motivated about improving their finances.

Here's where you should start, based on your level of experience with personal finance:

1. Personal Finance Recruit - A great place to begin is with the Budgeting section of this site. You'll get a good understanding of that most basic of personal finance skills, called "Spending Less Than You Earn". It's the foundation on which all true wealth is built (as opposed to the foundation on which foreclosed McMansions are built, but that's a different topic).
2. Personal Finance Apprentice - If you don't already have your debt demolished, head on over to the Credit & Debt Management section. Once you're spending less than you earn, the next step is to own more than you owe, with the end goal being "own it all, and owe nothing". Once you've paid off a few large debts and free up the money that used to go to monthly payments, you'll start to see why debt-free is the place to be.
3. Personal Finance Journeyman - You've already mastered the budget, and your debt is history. It's time to invest in your future…by learning about Investing. Check out articles and interviews about how to make your money work for you.
4. All levels of experience - Read the Blog for important thoughts (and some rants) on personal finance. Subscribe to the RSS feed for updates to the Blog.
5. Personal Finance How-To Podcast (Free Audio) - If listening is your preferred method of absorbing information, check out the free personal finance audio section. It's easy to use, and you can either listen on your computer or download the audio files and listen to them later on your MP3 player. There's also a separate podcast RSS feed.