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.
Back in my college days, I was worried that this would happen to me: 1) Get overcharged by the restaurant hosting the buffet (aka the Chinese buffet) and 2) Eventually get banned from eating at that establishment Luckily, neither ever … [Read more...] about When all-you-can-eat buffets go bad
Over the last few months, I've been complaining to Stacie that 2007 seemed like a year down the drain. I didn't have the feeling that I accomplished much all year, but in reality I, and we, accomplished some huge feats: We paid off our Chevy … [Read more...] about 2007 Financial and Life Review
Almost a year ago, I wrote about our declining check usage due to our increased use of online billpay through our bank. Back then, I expected our check usage for 2007 to be under 30... Wanna guess how many (or few) we used? Here are our totals … [Read more...] about Using Even Fewer Checks
Well, it's the end of the first full year here at Clever Dude. It was also the first year I earned any money on the site, so I'm considering this the year anything real happened on my site too. I might have another post to talk about my income via … [Read more...] about 2007 Traffic, Referrers and Keyword Review
I did it! I got all 242 stars in Super Mario Galaxy! Warning: Spoilers Inside: It took 43 days and quite a few late nights the last few days to do it, but first I got all 120 stars as Mario, beat Bowser twice (you need to), and then got all 120 … [Read more...] about Super Mario Galaxy Success!
December was a slow month as I had about 30% less traffic than in November, but that's understandable given all of the holiday and shopping time spent away from the computer. However, somehow I ended up have the same number of posts as in November, … [Read more...] about Thanks for the Hits: December Top Traffic Referrers
For our holiday trip to PA, we took my Honda Ridgeline, even though we've proven the cost efficiency of driving the MINI over the truck. Honestly, we needed the extra space for gifts and for a reclined seat for my back. We got back Tuesday night, … [Read more...] about The MINI Cooper is sick!
Since my contract at work abruptly ended on the 14th, I figured I would have written a slew of awesome articles in the extra free time I was given. Unfortunately that's not the case. If you've been following for the last week, I've been in a lot of … [Read more...] about Rehab, MRIs, and A Job Update
