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 have a vision benefits plan through my employer which costs me just shy of $9 per month ($108 per year) for both myself and Stacie. For some people, this plan is a luxury they don't need. For others, it's a necessity, especially if they have kids … [Read more...] about Save Money on Contact Lenses
August traffic was as I expected: moderate. I actually had very similar numbers as in June, but I expect September numbers to be significantly higher now that summer is over. Visitors: 24,704 Pageviews: 37,101 That's almost double my traffic … [Read more...] about Thanks for the Hits! August 2008 Traffic and Referral Numbers
Credit • Debt • Finances & Money
A year ago, we paid off our original credit card debt of about $20,000. The moment was rather anti-climactic, but I don't know why. I carried that debt with me (us), and then added to it, for about 4 years (most of that was in the first 2 years), and … [Read more...] about Financial Milestones: Out of Credit Card Debt… Again
I just got off the phone with the IRS because I need to amend my return, and I had a question about interest and penalties. I got some more 1099-INT forms from Stacie's bank back home after we filed our original return, so I need to file a 1040X … [Read more...] about Please increase IRS “hold music” funding
Family or Marriage • Finances & Money
Now that Stacie and I are both over 30 years old, we're both getting barraged almost daily with "Do you have kids?", "Why not?", "You only have a few years left!", "You're not getting any younger!", and any of a myriad of other rude and even … [Read more...] about Babies will help you ignore your problems
I've been getting a lot of emails lately from my readers saying they really love my site, and I really appreciate every one of them. But some readers add in a bit extra. Some of my readers seem to idolize me. They make it sound like I have some … [Read more...] about Can you be a Personal Finance Rock Star?
I flip-flopped on whether to write this article because it was mostly my wife's business, but since I was the one who got the letter in the mail, I'm taking full rights to the topic, and hopefully get some feedback from all of you AND educate you in … [Read more...] about Accepting Defeat by the Heavy Hand of the Law
Debt • Finances & Money • Home
For the last 3 years, we've been on a mission to pay off our non-home debt. In that time, we've paid off about $82,000! You can track our current status in the debt scales in the sidebar. But now we've decided to switch from paying down our car … [Read more...] about Changing Gears on Our Debt Repayment
