Blunder: Why Smart People Make Bad Decisions
It was at Stanford that I truly understood that smart people blunder just like everyone else. To be honest, the realization came as something of a surprise during my freshman year. I was stunned how people much smarter than me were making bad decisions. There was the person that set off ...

A big reason why you should track your expenses–money flows are complex
Most of the people I discuss money with track their expenses or agree it is a good idea. But not everyone is convinced. Here is a comment I received earlier this week: Presh, I sort of see your point about tracking expenses, but isn't it overkill? I seem to do just ...

Why the secret to speedier highways might be closing some roads: the Braess paradox
During the holiday season, several roads in my town were temporarily closed due to flooding. I was naturally worried how the road closures would affect traffic. But in the end, my fears were unfounded. Not only was traffic mostly unaffected, I often found my travel times were reduced! This experience made ...

A free spreadsheet to track your expenses
(To download the file, see the "free budget spreadsheet and expense tracker" file in Financial Tools page) Tracking your money is perhaps the most powerful step for saving money. But what is the best way to do it? Programs like Microsoft Money and Intuit's Quicken are great but I think they are ...