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.
We've both been complaining for months about needing new work clothes. My pants are about 5 years old, and many of my dress shirts are just too baggy. Stacie needs more skirts and light sweaters. This weekend we decided to go shopping at the Leesburg … [Read more...] about Cheap clothes aren’t always a value
While browsing through my Google Reader last night, just after posting my 100% financed article for today, I happened upon One Frugal Girl's article "What were you thinking when you purchased your home?" where she commented on a Washington Post … [Read more...] about Is this us? Washington Post writer has a similar mortgage story
A month ago, I told you that we were backing out of this year's Marine Corp Marathon (MCM). It was a disappointing decision, but a relief, although we will be training for a 5k or 10k run starting next week. We had to wait until August 1st before … [Read more...] about Marine Corp Marathon registration transfer is complete
In my post "Against the grain: Why we chose an interest-only mortgage", I told you why we didn't get a normal 30-year mortgage when we bought our home 3 years ago. I explained why I don't think it was a stupid decision for our situation, but I … [Read more...] about Maxing out your home loan: 100% financing
Ever see a car made out of cake (and Jello, and all other kinds of good-tasting stuff)? See this Skoda cake car. Skoda is a European brand, and unfortunately, they don't actually sell this cake car. You can watch the commercial at the bottom of … [Read more...] about OMG, This makes me so hungry!
Yesterday, I told you my Verizon Wireless bill unexpectedly showed a 20% discount, even though I never asked for one. Today, I got a letter from Verizon Wireless: Dear Clever Dude (yep, they call me that too), Thank you for your continued … [Read more...] about The mystery deepens: Verizon 20% discount update
It appears that my host is having some major network and/or server problems. Quite a few sites were affected, but it appears to be resolved now. If it goes down again, well, I'll have a tantrum. Oh well, none of you read my site anyway, right? Oh … [Read more...] about Apologies for the downtime – August 16th
For some reason, Stacie and I never made it to the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair in the 5 years we've lived here, but last night we went. We were joined by Nick and his wife on this special "date night". But it was no ordinary date. We went … [Read more...] about Monster Trucks and Deep-Fried Twinkies equals DATE NIGHT!
