Yakezie.com

I sometimes think that everyone agrees on a few key facts. Just the usual stuff, like:

• It’s OK to make fun of people who wear Ed Hardy or Affliction.
• There’s no such thing as a good tampon commercial.
• It’s a tie between Gabriel García Márquez and Margaret Atwood for the title of greatest living novelist.
• The best late-night snacks are the most unhealthy foods you can grab from the fridge and eat while standing there, half-asleep, with  the door open. Cold pizza, I’m looking at you.

But then I remember that I am full of opinions and not everyone thinks like me. But we do sometimes think alike when we take the same paths, good or bad, with our money. I started American Debt Project with a couple goals in mind: get myself out of debt and figure out why people get into debt so easily and stay in debt when they don’t have any really good reasons for it. Read More

One of my favorite authors, Ralph Waldo Emerson, has the wisdom to cure most problems in our world — Common sense is as rare as genius, – is the basis of genius.

I am not a genius, but I have lots of common sense. When I decided to launch a personal finance blog, I didn’t think much about the name.

Many a times when I reflect on my life, I realize that a common man can achieve uncommon things if he wants it badly.

I grew up in a relatively well to-do family in India. My father owned a small car dealership in days when India was under USSR’s communist influence.

I had polio at the tender age of 3, but I was lucky to overcome that in few years.

I thought that I won’t be  able to play Cricket — my favorite sport! It was my mother who used to tell me that I can do anything, if I want it badly enough. She was right. I wasn’t one of the best, but I did earn a place in the team during my high school years and even in college.

My mom has always been my role model. Read More