How advertising ruins your life

According to this article, companies spent nearly $600 billion—that's billion with a b—on advertising around the world in 2015 alone!

All of this money is geared toward one thing: convincing you to spend, spend, spend! Is it really any wonder that consumer debt is sky-high, and 70% of Americans believe that debt is necessary? I'm here to tell you that it's not necessary. Not at all.

The point of advertising is to make you want stuff. And if you spend your money on stuff, it can't be invested and go to work for you. In fact, many businesses use some pretty clever psychological tricks to get people to spend money on an annual, biannual, or monthly basis. So, despite the clickbait-y title, it's true in a general sense: the constant stream of advertising ruins people's lives!

What happens if you don't buy into the advertising hype? Well, take me for example: I live on under $13,000 a year, before taxes. And I make money doing it! Not much money, mind you, but I live well below my meager means!

Top Premium Laptops 2016

Top Premium Laptops 2016

Think reliability, comfort, and high style are only for businessmen with big bucks? You'd be surprised!

A nice computer doesn't have to break the bank! As I do every year, I've collected the best premium laptops for you. The best news is that most of these are under $1000!

How the Rich Get Rich

Much has been written about how to get rich, and this pattern will likely persist until the end of the human race. Some of the books and articles are worth your time; many aren't. The ones that are worthwhile, however, tend to be less earth-shattering than we expect.

Premium Laptops 2015

Premium Laptops 2015

This is an old article and will no longer be updated. Please see my latest version here.

Being Froogal doesn’t mean you can't have nice stuff! The trick is to allocate your resources effectively. If you can justify the purchase of a higher-quality, more expensive item because you need it for work or a hobby and you can afford a premium item, you can still get a great value!

Froogal Consumption

Froogal Consumption

As promised in my previous article on Why Being Cheap Costs More, I expound here on how to shop frugally. Whereas conspicuous consumption focuses on image and flash, Froogal consumption focuses on getting the maximum value for a quality product.

Value, rather than price, is a critical concept here!

Premium laptops

Premium laptops

This is an old article and will no longer be updated. Please see my latest version here

The 14 best value headphones

Best Value Headphones

*Note: this page is frequently updated to reflect changes in pricing, 
and/or which headphones offer the best value.

As promised in my earlier post, I would feature a post with some Froogal-approved headphones. The criteria? They must represent a good value, they must have good reviews overall, they must be durable, and they must feature good sound quality. It also helps if I have had good experiences with them.