Limit orders are superior to market orders. At many brokerage firms, including Scottrade, limit orders are the same price as market orders, so there’s really no excuse not to use them.

Limit orders allow you to set the worst price at which you’ll by or sell a stock or option contract. I say the worst price, because you might get an even better price than the one you ask for. If you place a market order then you’ll buy at the ask price and sell at the bid price. This will generally make your purchases more expensive. For that expense, you do tend to get faster execution, since you’ll buy or sell at the current price without having to wait for someone to match your offer. The speed is nice, but I’d much rather get a good deal slowly than a bad deal quickly and have more control over the price I pay.

If you already have a high-speed internet connection at home, then you might as well take advantage of that speed and save some money on your home phone service. I use Vonage and it saves me a ton of money.

They offer an unlimited calling plan for $25 a month, or the plan that I use, 500 outgoing minutes, for $15 a month. I had been paying about $40 a month for my crappy, no feature phone line, from Verizon. Then I had to pay long distance on top of that.

Since my incoming calls are free, and outgoing calls to 800 numbers don’t count against my minutes (like they do on my cell phone) 500 minutes a month is plenty for me. Even if you have to go for the $25 unlimited plan, it’s still probably much cheaper than what you’re paying.

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Already at the store when you’d like to make a price comparison? Try using Frucall. You can do a comparison based on UPC code (or ISBN for Books) by calling 1-888-DO-FRUCALL (1-888-363-7822). The service is free. For more free features, or to search by brand and product name, you can text them or use their mobile website at FRU11 (37811) and http://www.frucall.com/m/ respectively.

Being frugal is a wonderful thing. It is at the foundation of a solid financial plan. Of course, there are other, more important things, than money in the world. It’s in this realm that I’ve found one of the few downsides of being frugal: spenders guilt.

I really do feel guilty spending money. I know that each dollar would be best saved or invested so that it might grow. That doesn’t mean that every dollar must be used as such. As with any endeavor that’s difficult, and living a frugal life is difficult, a small indulgence might make the end goal more achievable.

So be sure to allocate yourself some fun money that you can spend without feeling guilty. Doing so, as long as you keep it to a reasonably small amount, may give just the fix you need to keep living your frugal lifestyle.

A simple way to budget is to use the so called “60% Solution.” Try to keep all of your committed expenses at or below 60% of your income. Committed expenses include all of your bills, housing, taxes, insurance, food, clothing, charitable contributions, etc…everything that you have to pay for each month. Taxes will probably take the largest chunk of your allocation. Make sure you take the taxes taken out of your paycheck by your employer into account when calculating how you’re doing!

Split the remaining 40% of your income into four groups at 10% each for retirement, long term savings, short term savings, and fun money. If you can’t quite make 60%, take from fun money first, then short term, etc.

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Many companies are transitioning their retirement programs from defined benefit plans, such as pension plans, to defined contribution plans, such as 401Ks. This puts the employee in a much more active situation. Instead of paying a fixed amount and having a predetermined, and guaranteed benefit, you decide how much to put in to your plan. You must also manage your account to ensure that it performs well. You have no guarantees and the lifestyle you’ll be able to afford in retirement is entirely up to you.

As a regular contributor to the Lending Club blog, I cover a wide array of personal finance topics on that site as well.

Use this referral link to sign up for Lending Club.

Below are links to some of my individual posts:

Personal Financial Resposibility
Simplifying Your Budget with the 60% Solution
Phone Tax Refund
The Link Between Money and Happiness
Change in Mindset
The Value of The Dollar
Special Tax Audits on the Way
Learning From Compulsive Spenders

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Ignoring raises is a great method to save a little more each month. When you get a raise, try to continue living on the money you were making before the raise. You might splurge for a celebratory dinner, or allow yourself to spend the portion of your raise equal to inflation, but otherwise you could refrain from an increased standard of living. If you were surviving on your prior paycheck, then you should be able to use the increase to pad your savings, pay down any debt, or increase your investments.

I’ve always been a fan of the pay yourself first philosophy of savings. What it means is that you should consider saving a required monthly expense. Just as you wouldn’t skip a monthly bill payment you also shouldn’t you skip your monthly saving. There are always reasons to avoid saving on a regular basis. By making savings a priority in your financial plan, you’ll be less likely to skip it.

Using direct deposit is a great way to pay yourself first. You’ll be able to save more by saving first and then using what’s left over for other expenses and spending. Trying to save what’s left over after you’re done spending never seems to work as well.

In the Rich Dad series of books, Robert Kiyosaki went so far as to say that savings (or investing) should take even higher priority than your other bills. While not suggesting that you don’t pay your bills, his point was that if you save first, you’ll be forced to use your mind to create other ways to pay for the other expenses in your life.

Jim Cramer, and his Mad Money TV show, were heavily criticized by in a recent article by Paul B. Farrell of Marketwatch. Cramer responded well and pointed out the major downfall of Farrells arguments: he assessed Cramer after watching one episode of his show.

Jim Cramer’s book, Real Money, is on my required reading list, so you you’d be correct to assume that I am very much pro-Cramer. Here’s why I like him:

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