Way back in 1995, I remember when I helped a young pest control business get their first computer. We set up their books with a new software from Quicken. Over the years, Quicken has been the only real money management software for personal of business use.

Since then there has been several of money management programs to come on the market and many of them leave. Then in 2005, Aaron Patzer said there could be something better. So in 2008 Mint.com came out of beta.

Several years ago, I worked briefly at this computer store. The owner would change the terms of service at least once a week, if not more. When I left there the Terms of Service was very fine print on the back of every receipt. The receipt was printed on an 8 1/2 by 11 sheet of paper.

This is nothing unusual. Every business has literature that states where their responsibly starts and where the customer’s responsible begins.

Next to marriage and underwear the mattress you sleep on is the next personal thing in your life. It has been my experience that what on individual sleeps well on is another individuals restless nights sleep. So when asked to help buy as mattress, I had to start with the basics.

The number of different types of mattresses far exceeds the three Goldilocks came across in the three bears cottage. I below is a basic overview of the different types of mattresses.  Shopping for a mattress, should not be done in a hurry.

I remember a time as a teenager we go through the neighbors trash just to see what we could find. This was at the local dump outside a small town, in northern California. People saw us and thought we were looking for old aluminium and copper to sell at our version of the recycling center, in 1968. In addition to the  aluminium and copper we found old love letters, adult magazines, and credit card numbers. Of course we only used what we found for our amusement.

Today, there are unethical people going though other people’s trash, before the garbage man comes to get information for identity theft. This could be a credit card offer, or a bill from a life insurance company, or even an electric bill. You see adding up these bits and pieces of information, along with the internet can yield enough information for identity theft.

Remember a couple weeks ago when I wrote about setting up a budget for our daughter for school clothes and school supplies. The post was titled, Back to School – A Dad’s View. Well, a few days ago, we gave our daughter her money and went shopping for school supplies.

We chose to do the school supply shopping on a Thursday evening. I would pick up our daughter at the Boys and Girls Club, then my wife as she was getting off work. Then we would go out to dinner before shopping for school supplies.

It can be quite intimidating walking down the paint isle at Home Depot. Especially for someone like me who hates to paint. It is not that I do not mind the work. It is that I have been around some people who can do it so neat and fast. I feel like I am back in kindergarten doing figure painting.

I was ask to the cost of paint to paint a room in a clients home. So my first stop was Home Depot because it was the closest to where my client lived.

We are one of the millions of people who rent their home. Last month our lease was due for renewal. So before going in to discuss any term changes on the lease, I decided to do a little homework.

The Wall Street Journal has had, this year, several articles stating that apartment vacancies were at a 30 year high. 2009 ended with the vacancy rate of 8%.

CNN Money.com reported that rents are going down on the average of 3% per rental unit.

Like any dad, I want to see the best for my children. When it comes to buying for back to school supplies and clothes it can be a bit of a tug of war. This increases as they get older. Girls more so than boys. I am talking about staying within budget!

I am talking about the definition of basics. Last year I did not see what was wrong with the backpack my daughter had from the year before. The concept of a needing a messenger bag to carry over a perfectly functional backpack was beyond my understanding.

It is a good thing to sit back in your comfortable chair, with a tall glass of ice tea and read the end user agreements. I know any legal paper is not the most exciting reading, but it can save you 100′s of dollars by taking a few minutes, and leisurely read through them.

Reading things like mortgage papers, lease agreements. or cell phone contracts is not the most exciting reading there is. However, it is always good to know what you have agreed to do. I have lost count the number of times I have had people come to me and tell me stories of how they got themselves in a bind over not reading fully what they have signed.

A few weeks ago, a friend and I were talking. Then out of the blue he blurred out like someone who was about to be tortured. “I am afraid that I am going to have to file for bankruptcy.”

I could see the pain in his eyes. He was the type of person who did not have a lot of money. He paid his bills. He took pride in providing for his family. The mere idea of bankruptcy was the worst possible thing that could happen. He believed that if he could not provide for his family he was the scum of the earth.