Clever Dude founded CleverDude.com in June 2006 while working as a technical analyst in the Washington, D.C. area. A Penn State graduate, he built the site as a side project alongside a white-collar career that included earning a master’s degree and multiple promotions.
In five years he wrote nearly 1,300 articles on personal finance and life lessons drawn from his own experience. The blog grew from a hobby into a recognized early voice in the personal-finance community and generated meaningful revenue. He sold the site in 2010, continued as a guest contributor through 2015, and returned in 2023 after further career advances, paying off his home, and extensive travel.
I got a few checks this past week from affiliate sales, Adsense and other CleverDude.com-related income that enticed me to consider paying off the rest of our original $20,000 in credit card debt. However, I opted for the safe bet and wait until the … [Read more...] about Credit Card Debt: Ohhh so close to gone!
I've been wanting a chance to speak about finances with my cousins "Conner" and "Emily", and I finally got the chance this past weekend. While wandering around State College, PA, I asked both my 13- and 17-year-old cousins if they knew what a credit … [Read more...] about Talking money with my teenage cousins
Casey, a subscriber and commenter here at Clever Dude, had some great comments on our article Examine Your Motives: Buying A Home, so I asked her to make her comment into a full article. Casey and her husband are in their early 30s and currently live … [Read more...] about Renting vs Buying a Home: A Detailed Calculation
Common Sense Tip #546,753: When you're going away for an extended period of time, such as the weekend, week or month, don't do something untested and unproven in your home. This past weekend, we went to Pennsylvania to see family and a football … [Read more...] about Tip: Don’t try something new before a long weekend
This guy: He is a wanted thief who ran into the Bethesda metro station when police identified him. He then assaulted an officer on a train, jumped off and ran down the tracks towards Medical Center. They closed both stations and had to bus … [Read more...] about The reason for my 2 hour commute home today was…
David at Money Under 30 has a good post about a surprising number: The Freshman $1,500. He writes about the pitfalls of getting a credit card before you can manage the responsibility of your spending, and the effects of your spending. I actually … [Read more...] about Avoid the freshman 1,500…Wait, what?
Redbox! Yep, we have canceled our Blockbuster Online subscription, but not because we were overly unhappy with it. Rather, we had other reasons. Basically, Redbox costs $1 per night to rent. If we only want to see 5 movies per month, it costs us $5. … [Read more...] about Cancelled Blockbuster Online in favor of….
A few weeks ago, we sold our 2005 Chevrolet Malibu sedan. Basically, it was cheaply made and we wanted something projected to be more reliable. Oh, and it didn't have a number of safety options like side-curtain airbags and ABS. I saw the crash test … [Read more...] about Do we miss our car?
