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.
Welcome to my first "synchroblog" in which I, and about a dozen other bloggers answer one question in unison. I invite you to check out the other answers listed at the end of this article as we all have different perspectives on the question. And … [Read more...] about Synchroblog: How to improve the middle class financial health
Debt • Finances & Money • General
Many of you have asked me how you can create your own debt scales similar to mine (see the sidebar). I used to just refer you to the site where I got edumacated myself, but that site was surprisingly scrapped by the owners. Well I guess I'll need to … [Read more...] about Web Tutorial: Creating Your Own Debt Scales
I'm sitting here watching the VP debates and just heard Biden talk about how he wants the bankruptcy courts to be able to reduce your interest rate so you can afford to stay in your home. Ok, I guess I'm not totally against that, although I don't … [Read more...] about Biden says “Let the bankruptcy courts lower your mortgage principal”
Many of you know those "pay-per-pound" buffets where you, well, pay for food by the pound. You find them at the local deli or supermarket, and they're always flush with foods like fruit, chinese food, prepared pasta salads and other pretty or tasty … [Read more...] about Battling the “Pay-Per-Pound” Buffet Bar
Now that summer is over and people are back inside, sitting on their butts in front of a computer, my traffic numbers are on the upswing. While the summer doldrums brought lower than normal traffic numbers for my site, I still blew away the stats … [Read more...] about Thanks for the Hits! September 2008 Traffic Numbers
I knew it would be bad, and I have no reason to worry about our market investments because we're young enough to recoup it all (hopefully), but since I calculate our net worth monthly, I had to look at the damage to my Roth IRA and Rollover … [Read more...] about Oooh, I shouldn’t have looked [Investments]
When I heard about this site on the local news a few weeks ago, I was going to try and write a fancy review. However, I think the site's about page says it pretty well: About FoodTrader.Org The Environmental Finance Center at the University of … [Read more...] about Buy, Sell and Trade Locally Grown Food [Maryland Residents]
Quick question. I've had thousands of direct visitors (the ones who go directly to www.cleverdude.com) in the last few days. Where did you hear about my site that made you type in my address? A magazine? Newspaper? Let me know what brought you here! … [Read more...] about What brought you here?
