Woman's Perspective: Books Your Girlfriend Likes

Editor's Note: We want to help our readers understand the mind of a woman. In our continuing series, Laura Brautigam-Anderson tells us guys about books that women enjoy. Enjoy...and learn. Before Bridget Jones had a diary…before walks were remembered…before sex was in the city…there were good stories about women. Let’s face it - if your girl has never heard of Elizabeth Bennett, Jo March, or Laura Ingalls, you’re probably dating Snooki. Most of the girls I know (and all of the girls worth dating) have at least one classic chick lit book on their list of favorites. I’ve taken the opportunity to de-code some of the most... Read More

Five Unexpected Pregnancy Expenses Yeah, babies cost a lot of money. A LOT of money. But pregnancy isn't so cheap either. Here are a few expenses that you never saw coming. 1. Clothes Okay, so maybe you saw this one coming. After all, your wife is going to be going up more than a few sizes. But she not only needs new pants and shirts - she needs new everything from shoes to underwear. Everything's growing! Helpful Hint: Maternity clothes are forever being passed around, from sister to sister-in-law to best friend. Because they're only worn for about six months they're pretty gently used. If you want to buy... Read More

Did you know there was a handbook for guys? We crack open the old pages of this book and post it here in a column called (get ready for it) BC Rules. This time, we're taking a look at men's shower etiquette. Enjoy! Zone 1 - Hair - This should always be washed first. There are two purposes here: 1) Washing your hair of course, and 2) after you wash your hair you'll be able to wash your face with no concern for dirt being transferred into your mouth or eyes. Your hair conveniently works as a loofah, and your hair tends not to be as dirty as an area like "Zone 5." Zone 2 - Face - It's important to wash your face. Mainly to keep your... Read More

Dear Rachel, Do girls like jerks? I'm thinking about being more of a jerk. Should I be? It seems like that's what girls like. Rachel's Take: If you're referring to a specific scenario between you, a girl, and a jerk, the situation often looks like this: Nice guy pursues a girl he's interested in, (taking his time/moving slowly/acting passively) as to show that he (respects her/doesn't want to scare her away/has no self-confidence), when out of nowhere, in swoops some jerk who (doesn't respect her/treats her like crap/has a lot of chutzpah) and somehow the girl leaves the nice guy in the dust and runs off with the jerk. How rude. Nice guy... Read More

In our Essentials series, we like to feature things that may seem difficult at first but are rewarding once you get into them. And as always, we weren't paid to feature any of these items - they're the products we personally use and have found to be the best. Today, we’re going to take a look at what you need to get started with great teeth and fresh breath. Have you ever gone on a date and realized your breath wasn't fresh or, possibly worse, went in for a good night kiss and immediately felt a pang of regret because of improper dental hygiene? You're not alone. After a quick Google search I found a random article that... Read More

OK ladies, we’ve all been there…you meet a guy; he’s tall, handsome, funny, and smart. He may even be described as “dreamy!” Everything about him is all you’ve ever wanted right? You spend every ounce of spare time with him in the beginning, just you and him taking long walks on the beach, picking wildflowers, and star-gazing…that sort of thing. Time stands still. But wait! Then it hits you. Along with this amazingly-wonderful-dream-come-true boyfriend of yours comes a packaged deal. The dude’s got friends! Maybe even friends who double as roommates! All of a sudden you’ve been together 6 months and you’re... Read More

Recently, I decided to go on a trip to Europe and wanted to change up my travel style. Typically, I pack a carry-on and backpack for all of my travel, but this wasn’t going to be ideal since I would be traveling by air, train, and even boat while visiting nine countries over the course of 22 days. What do you do when you want to travel as easily as possible? You go the solo backpack route. There are a lot of websites and Reddit threads with packing lists, tips, and concerns. After pouring through many of them we put together a list of some of the best gear for solo backpacking: it’s our list of the Ultimate Backpacking Travel... Read More

Recently, I bought a bed at IKEA and it turned out to be a terrible investment. The frame broke after 4 months and I had to tear the thing apart, drive it back to the store, and then buy a different frame. Now, if I would have stuck with Ikea for the new frame I would have had to spend another four hours putting it together, and I would have had to deal with buying all kinds of extra (weird sounding) required pieces that weren’t included in the box. That wasn’t an option. So, I decided to try and find the best online bed system under $1,000. And by bed system I mean mattress and frame. My thought process was that since I was already... Read More

This is another article in our finance series, creatively titled "Broker", with an article about saving cash. We have a lot of humor and sports on the site, but we want to help people be better at life. Read on to find out how to plan for the future - it may not sound fun, but once you do it life becomes better. In May 2008, at the age of 22, I decided that I wanted to save $100,000 in cash or liquid assets and another $100,000 in retirement accounts before I reached the age of 30.  At this time, I had roughly $15,000 in cash and $6,000 saved in retirement accounts split between a 401(k) and a Roth IRA. These savings goals took... Read More