Personal Finance

I called Wells Fargo’s customer service line on a Saturday morning but code-switched into my weekday work voice. “Hi. I’m calling about a checking account bonus that may be due …

Update, June 2020 I bought another automobile from Hertz Car Sales, this time a jazz blue 2019 Chrysler Pacifica minivan/bus for the kids to ruin in comfort. Due to media …

Student loans are Satan’s work backed by the federal government. According to Forbes, Americans owe more than $1.5 trillion in student loan debt, which is nearly equal to the entire …

Thanks to deficit-funded tax cuts championed by that disturbed guy in the White House, corporations are flush with cash, especially financial institutions. They are using the extra money for stock …

I promised myself in June that I would salvage an otherwise swag-deficient year by submitting one article each month for publication on websites that pay writers and have much larger …

I recently wrote of how my contract job ended early, leaving me angry and unable to walk confidently like George Jefferson, as black men prefer to do when we have …

My neighbor, who is often drenched in sweat while doing yard projects, referred to his house as a “money pit” when discussing deck restoration. Now…I wouldn’t go that far, but …

I began looking for contract, remote, and other flexible jobs after I started a family and decided it would be fun to stay home with my kids and their friends …

I was in Los Angeles but had a phone interview scheduled for 6 a.m. with a large healthcare organization based in the Midwest. Despite the cruel hour, I prepped for …

I walked into the interview with the confidence of a guy who already had a gig that paid well. A confidence enhanced by two glasses of wine. The interviewer, who …

Last February, we joined the estimated 3.5 million people who left California over the first half of this decade. Armed with home equity and a desire for an inexpensive life …

My love affair with Walmart lasted close to 20 years. Almost every day I’d visit to buy a little bit of nothing, more so out of habit than need. Late …

Here are some of my feelings about surviving Christmas as a parent: 1) Kids should be told that Santa’s fake, and that his round belly, indicative of low testosterone and …

The excitement of having a new car ends long before the payments. For the first year or so you keep it clean, probably don’t let friends eat in it, and …

I am a man of many gigs. From Uber driver to grant writer to USPS director of dropping stuff off, I will do just about anything to refill my meager …

There may or may not be a heaven for a gangsta like myself, but there is life insurance. I searched for a policy after coming across GoFundMe posts from families …

There was a time when I held a 100 percent interview-to-hire ratio. Of course I had only had three jobs—grocery bagger, bookseller, and movie theater popcorn eater/maker—but the wins increased …

My wife and I had a master plan to sell our San Diego-area residence and use the proceeds to live mortgage-free in the boonies outside of Columbus, Ohio. As I …

I figured my travel days were over after my wife and I completed three straight years of procreation. Discretionary income was one issue: Kids are costly and unable to contribute …

When I was young and sexy but not yet wise, I made a number of financial mistakes that would eventually lead to a temporary stay in Brokedom. One that stands …