Monday puzzle: two clock puzzles
With daylight savings ending this weekend, I thought it would be fun to include two time-related puzzles. They are challenging but not too difficult. Both puzzles involve old-fashioned analog clocks.

How to spot fake reviews
Review websites are like a wife to me: I always check with them first before making a major decision. I say this jokingly, but it is pretty much true. There is Amazon for consumer products, Yelp for restaurants and site-seeing, TripAdvisor for hotels, and Angie's List for repair services. Even at ...

Consumer Ed: which Southwest credit card is better?
My friend flies Southwest Airlines a lot, and he recently decided it would be worth it to get one of its frequent flyer credit cards. My friend was careful to consider the options, as each Southwest Rapid Rewards credit card carries an annual fee. There were two different cards that he was ...

5 tips for tracking expenses while traveling
When I was sipping a drink on a private beach resort recently, I felt completely relaxed and I forgot about my worldly troubles. In this paradise, it was tempting to let go and splurge on things like cocktails, jet ski rentals, and massages. But I brought myself down to earth and ...

Dividing up Halloween candy: the strategy to get the best candy for yourself
One of the things I used to enjoy about trick or treating was the surprise factor. Each house offered different candy, resulting in a nice mix. But the variability lead to some issues too. Many times my brother and I would go to the exact same houses, but we would end ...

Monday Puzzle: Alice and Bob race to 1 million
This is a fun game in which Alice and Bob race to 1 million in a mathematical sense. Alice and Bob start with the number 1. Alice multiplies 1 by any whole number from 2 to 9. Bob then multiplies the result by any whole number from 2 to 9, and ...

All about economic consulting: what it is, how to get a job
Today I want to share a bit about the field of economic consulting. While this site already has a classified listing of jobs in economics, I wanted to highlight economic consulting because it will be of particular interest to readers of this blog. You should be interested because jobs can be ...

How much rent can I afford? The 30 percent rule explained
When I got my first full-time job, I remember being overwhelmed by a lot of financial questions. One of the pressing issues was finding an apartment. Specifically, I wanted to know how much rent I could afford to know which neighborhoods and areas were within my budget. I did a bunch of ...

How to fix crowded elevators at work
After a long day of work, all that my friend wants to do is go home. But many days he is held up by the office building elevators, crowded from everyone leaving at the same time. The worst part is that people on other floors "game" the elevators and exacerbate the problem. ...

A math game of dodgeball
Let's analyze a math game called dodgeball that's a sort of twist on tic-tac-toe. Here is how the game works. It's a two player game with the following set-up. Player 1 gets a 6x6 grid of squares as follows: Player 2 gets a 6x1 grid of squares: Here are the rules: 1. Player 1 begins ...

Monday puzzle: hide and seek with a twist
I came across this fun puzzle over at MathOverflow: A princess inhabits a flight of 17 rooms in a row. Each room has a door to the outside, and there is a door between adjacent rooms. The princess spends each day in a room that is adjacent to the room she ...

Reading this before you shop can help you save: a psychological trick to stand up to salespeople
A lot of people I know have trouble saying no to salespeople. Lacking confidence, they end up buying extended warranties and magazine subscriptions that they never use. I came across an interesting trick that can help turn the tides. But before I explain it, I want your help in settling a bet ...

Why don’t people track expenses? [Poll results]
In March of this year, the National Foundation for Credit Counselling surveyed over 1,000 American adults to get a sense of financial literacy. The results showed an alarming trend in personal finance. Compared to 2010, people had more reckless habits: "Americans are spending more, saving less, and still carrying credit card ...

6 credit card tips when traveling internationally
I have been traveling a decent amount this year, and my credit cards have definitely been a huge convenience. I do not have to carry as much cash, and I am comforted that I can get access to money when needed. But since travel means I am using my credit card in ...

The ‘magic’ number 495
Today I want to talk about an interesting mathematical curiosity. First, I want you to think of any three digit number where all the digits are different. I will work through this example using my number of 729. What I want you to do is the following routine: 1. Rearrange the digits to make ...