Job Interviews: You don’t have to be Perfect
During interview season, many of us frugal people magically become spendaholics. Nevertheless, we maintain we are still rational because the end goal of a higher-paying job can justify virtually any purchase. In college, my friend spent $10 for high-quality resume paper. I myself managed to shell out $25 for a ...

A Day in the Life of a Game Theorist: A Tribute to One Year of Game Theory Tuesdays
Today I take moment to celebrate the one-year anniversary of "Game Theory Tuesdays." I can't believe it's been a year already and it has been quite the journey. The column started as a mission to show how our daily lives could be improved with math and strategy. I was warned ...

40 Things To Do Before You Are Rich
Being rich is not all it's cracked up to be. Yes, we all know money is great. But that doesn't mean you can do whatever you want. We forget there actually are some things rich people can't do. Take Indian tycoon Azim Premji of Wipro. He's amassed $17.1 billion so you ...

Game Theory in The Dark Knight: the opening scene (spoilers)
The newest Batman movie The Dark Knight absolutely stunned me. Not since Dr. Strangelove has a movie contained so much game theory. A lot of people have focused on a scene near the end of the movie. But there is so much more to see. In fact, I'll be so ...

Game Theory Roundup (8/18/08)
Recently I've come across some amazing articles discussing game theory concepts. I love it when others join the discussion so let's promote them. I'll do my part by linking out more frequently. Please do your part to encourage game theory by reading and spreading the following articles: --Dorian Wales asks Why ...

Try New Foods to Deal with Rising Costs
All the things I love to eat are getting more expensive. Simple pleasures like bread, rice, and corn have almost doubled in price. What's one to do? Try new food, naturally. There are two reasons to do this. The first is an economic reason. Food prices are the result of supply ...

How do you deal with overdraft fees?
"Bob" emails me his frustrations with managing his checking account: I just got hit with an overdraft fee and I'm really annoyed. I regularly check my account online but this time a check cleared unexpectedly. It was a check I wrote a couple months ago and forgotten about. How do you deal ...

The Game of Free Food: Why We Should Just Say No
photo by jbcurio How do you shop for food? Whether you realize it or not, every time you enter the store you are engaged in a game with food companies. You want to get the best deals. They want to make the most profit. The game is about dividing the surplus ...

3 Activities Where It’s Best to Take Your Time
"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while you could miss it." --Ferris Bueller "You can microwave a Pop-Tart. That just blew me away that you could do that. How long does it take to toast a Pop-Tart? A minute and a half if ...

How to Make Any Food 99 Percent Fat-Free, and Why Nutrition Labels Make My Head Explode
What is your guilty pleasure? Steak? Chocolate? Butter? No problem. You can turn each of these foods into a 99 percent fat-free product. Here's the bare-bones recipe: grind the fatty food in a blender. Add a cup or a few cups of water and ta-da, you have transformed the numbers. Hey, I ...

Improve Savings by Planning for Failure?
My friend was thrilled to find a multimedia section at her library. It had movies, even new ones, for a one-week loan. And the best part was DVD rentals were free. She quickly cancelled Netflix and rejoiced in saving hundreds of dollars a year. All was going well until she got ...

Heart Disease and Used Cars
Why are so many people taking drugs for cholesterol? I pondered this question after reading about a new study on Vytorin: And the results left unanswered whether a drug that has been proved highly effective at reducing “bad” cholesterol—and has racked up $5 billion in sales in 2007 as a result—offers ...

How My Friend Outsmarted a Car Salesman
photo credit: daveynin My friend always gets great deals on cars. Like most of us, he shops around and collects price information. What sets him apart is his ability to close the deal. He gets the best deal because he uses the three following techniques: He avoids price traps (he thinks in dollars, ...

The Financially Responsible Way to Deal with Anger
How do you treat people that make you angry? I used to let it out verbally, often raising my voice at incompetent customer support agents. And when I won, I would brag about it. My behavior, though rude, was admired and accepted. Financial people and winners are supposed to get angry ...