My name is Mir, and I am a cheapskate. I'm an unapologetic cheapskate, in fact. More accurately: I'm a braggart of a cheapskate. Tell me you like my shoes, and rather than responding "Thank you!" like a normal person, I'll probably grab your arm and say, "I know, aren't they awesome? And they were originally $120 and I only paid nine bucks!" People sometimes inch away from me when I do this. Hey, that's fine. They probably paid full price for their shoes. Suckers.

When Josh and I got engaged, we drew up a Tenaim, which is a Jewish engagement contract. In the old days, it spoke about the dowry and the date of the wedding and what happens if we decided to break off the engagement. Our Tenaim contained all of the things that were important to us at the time--all of our intentions for the marriage.

The New York Times featured an article this week, about how our poor economy, is affecting many patient's ability to buy prescription medications. This isn't a new phenomena, but it is happening on a much larger scale. I've done this myself on more than one occasion. Not only are we putting our personal health at risk when we do thiis, but we also risk profound implications to the health care system.

The Dow is down, the S&P is tanking and we're all tightening our budgets to cope, right? Well yeah, except when it comes to entertainment. A recent poll by Movietickets.com via Pop Watch Blog asked people "how the economy had changed their movie going habits," 31 percent said it had done so "noticeably," 33 percent said, "drastically," and 36 percent said, "No change."

Is it possible to save money on the grocery bill, and still eat healthy?

The subject of kids' allowances is a hot topic in the momosphere, as confused parents try to figure out the best way to teach their children responsible money management.  Most people would agree that hands-on experience is best, of course, but how do you navigate confusing chore charts?  Should you tie chores to payment, or are chores just part of being in the family?  And how do you know how much to pay them?

Julia Boorstin of is an entertainment and media reporter for CNBC.  Her job allows her to cover issues as varied as the projected opening box office for films like "Dark Knight" and "Mamma Mia," to interviewing the founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg.  She also writes a blog called "Media Money" for CNBC's website that covers new media, old media and everything in between.  Next week I'm going to have the pleasure of doing a podcast interview with Julia about her job, her life and above all media and money. 

What do you do when you need a medication, but the cost is more than you can really afford? Even with insurance and a prescription drug plan, this has happened to me on several occasions.

One of the amazing things that happened at BlogHer 2008 was the beginning of mainstream media outreach to certain bloggers to create content for their existing web sites or new blog portals. This is not a bad thing. I repeat, it is extraordinary good thing that type of opportunity is taking place. However, there are parts of my mind that are howling like an old yappy dog. Something is amiss. I can’t see it as yet. I have the scent but I don’t have anything tangible. It nagged me on Day 2 and all the way home.

This may come as a surprise from someone who is a Contributing Editor for Business, Personal Finance and Career, but I don't like to talk about money. Truth be told, I avoid the topic at all costs. I hate money. Yes, I like to use money. But I hate what it does to people. It divides. It judges.It makes people who have great personal success feel like failures.

The New York Times recently published an article, Big Paycheck or Service? Students are Put to Test, about graduates who go into school with high ideals for changing the world, but come out working for big business. (Hat tip to Echoing Green for the link).

While Financial Infidelity Seven steps to Conquering the #1 Relationship Wrecker is not a book targeted to business partners,many of the lessons and exercises offered up in the book can be adapted to business partners --okay not the one where the author Dr. Bonnie Eaker Weil suggests that: