One of the hardest changes for people with debt is changing their spending habits. We all get used to buying what we want, and that becomes part of our “lifestyle”. I’m not even a big spender, but I know it’s hard for me to give up those things I’ve grown to enjoy. [...]
If you’re looking to get a Citibank credit card, you’ve got quite a few good choices. If you happen to pay your credit card in full each month, you’ll be able to benefit from the rewards offered by the Citi ThankYou Points Network, which is Citi’s credit card rewards program. Your credit history [...]
Citi Credit Cards Review: From Citi Platinum Select To Citi Forward
There are still nearly three months away from the 2010 tax deadline, but it’s not too early to start prepare to file your 2009 income taxes, especially if you expect a refund. If you plan to do your own taxes this year, whether this is the first time or you have done it for many [...]
Original Post on The Sun’s Financial Diary
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[Nick Barber is a site editor for Voucher Codes, the UK's leading money saving website.]
Being a tourist in Europe is one of the toughest challenges anyone committed to the frugal life will endure. Even for locals, it’s dispiritingly easy to fritter away cash in tourist hotspots that seem to go out of their way to [...]
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An old adage might say that ignorance is bliss, but in actuality it rarely is. And when it comes to your money, it never is. The good news is that with a little effort it can be easy to educate yourself and truly become your own best advisor and your budget’s best advocate.
Start by seeking [...]
Original Post on The Sun’s Financial Diary
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Just a couple of announcements before we get to the links this week. First, don’t forget to enter the Money Crasher’s epic New Years contest. There’s nearly $10,000 worth of prizes being given away! That’s huge, and I’m even giving away a new Kindle. You still have a few days left to get your entries [...]
About the Author: Jeremy is a retirement planning specialist and founder of Generation X Finance and the guide to Financial Planning at About.com. To learn more, follow Jeremy on Twitter.
People make a lot of mistakes when it comes to IRA and 401(k)-related decisions. And I can’t blame them. The tax code is obscenely complex. That said, there’s no need for you to make these mistakes.
1. Converting to a Roth when it makes no sense Just because you can convert your traditional IRA to [...]
I’m excited to feature our very first reader submitted free money offer. The Exxon cash back is our Free Money Friday offer of the week.
Ironically our very first reader submission was submitted by two readers, Paj and Dan M. Since Paj submitted first, that’s the one we’ll feature. Thanks to both of you. Paj, we’ll be sending you your money via paypal soon!
Be sure to keep your eyes pealed for more deals and submit them for all the My Dollar Plan readers to enjoy!
*If you live in FL, LA, MA, NC, NJ, RI and SC, you get a $20 gift card (or credit on your ExxonMobil credit card linked to Speedpass) just for activating.
Written by Madison
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How to properly evaluate income property @ Canadian Money Forum
Six new ETFs from iShares @ Canadian Capitalist
The Allowance Game @ Canadian Dream
Personal Finance at Ridgemont High @ Four Pillars
How to Benefit from Chaos in Your Life @ The Financial Blogger
How risky is starting your own business? @ Thicken My Wallet
Severing The Link Between Price and [...]
This article is by Adam from Money Relationship. Subscribe to his site to get updates about his journey out of $150,000 in debt.
That’s a question that a lot of people ask while in debt. Dave Ramsey, possibly the most popular debt counselor, recommends that you stop ALL retirement saving while eliminating debt. He argues that [...]
Post by Frugal Dad
If you are already on Facebook, you can get a $5 eGift Card if you become a fan of Babies R Us. The offer is valid for today only.
Free eGift Card!* Become our Facebook Fan today and get a $5 eGift Card as our thanks to you! Use your eGift Card online or in-store at [...]
Original Post on The Sun’s Financial Diary
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Not happy with health care costs! Especially as a small business owner.
Image from Training Time.
Here’s a very simple question and I’d love to get your thoughts on it. So having our own business, we carry our own insurance. But we don’t have dental insurance, because it seems that dental insurance premiums plus [...]
I promised you would be the first to know when we launched the new business. I’ve been working around the clock for the last few months to get ready for the big reveal.
I’m sure you figured it out by now; we started a new tax business. However, it’s not just any tax business. I’d like to think it’s the tax business of the future.
After spending a lot of time trying to convince my friends and family that they wanted to learn all the intricacies of tax laws, I realized they could care less. They just wanted someone they trusted to do it for them. And they didn’t want to waste any time with it.
I get it now, not everyone is in love with taxes like I am. So, I came up with a solution for them, and all of the future tax haters.
Of course there was one snafu in the plan. My partner and I decided that we wanted high quality tax preparation that people could trust, so all of our preparers needed to hold a CPA or enrolled agent designation, including me. (I passed my final exam to become an enrolled agent last weekend.)
In my original plan, somehow I didn’t factor in that studying for the exams would take time away from business development. I’m guessing it’s a common error for entrepreneurs. We think we can do everything ourselves. The reality is, there is only so much time in the day.
Here it is, tax season already, and I have everything ready for the big launch… except the website. So much for the launch!
In reality, we did launch the local side of the tax business, and we’re busy preparing returns. It wasn’t a total botched launch, but I’m definitely not celebrating.
Why do I tell you all of this? It’s simple. Every new business has it’s hurdles. If it wasn’t the website, it would be something else. You identify the problem, find a solution, and keep on going.
Stay tuned for the website launch. Although, if you are a computer whiz, I’m sure you’ll be able to find it in the works…
Written by Madison
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I got a request a couple of weeks ago from a company to see if I wanted to review a business book. I get a lot of these as my email address seems to have gotten out on some public relations circles. Usually, the pitch goes something like:
PR Person: Would you like a [...]
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I bought a lot of individual stocks in 2009 in my brokerage accounts, mostly with Scottrade. Many of them were purchased before the market hit the bottom (now we can safely call it the bottom) in March. But those stocks were not all what I bought last year. In addition to stocks purchased here and [...]
Original Post on The Sun’s Financial Diary
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Once there was a farmer with a beautiful daughter. Men came from miles around to ask her father for her hand in marriage, but he was the old-fashioned type, and wanted to make sure his daughter would have a husband who provided for her – strong, sensible and industrious.
So finally he settled on three [...]
the farmer’s daughter is an original article from the website brip blap.
There are some conversations in life that are more difficult than others. Bringing up the subject of money with your aging parents or grown children has the potential to get messy. It’s a sad but true reality that our days are numbered and for the millions of aging baby boomers with their billions [...]
With the Superbowl teams set, how many of you are rushing out to pick up a big screen television for Superbowl Sunday? I suspect not many of you will actually do this, but judging from the number of ads I’ve seen in the last week or two, I’d bet this is a popular thing to [...]
Post by Frugal Dad
Our family has spent most of the last two weeks with some form of head cold or stomach bug. It all seems to start at daycare when our son gets sneezed on by another kid or our baby girl chews on a toy after a sick baby.
One of them brings home the germs and before [...]
The subject of this post comes from an article I found in my email box today, care of Consumer Reports. CR put together a discount calendar showing the best times to save money during the year (and for what items). They based the information here on industry surveys and publications, among other things. [...]
Diversification is the foundation of an investment portfolio. While simply being diversified can’t eliminate risk, it can help minimize your overall risk and protect you from catastrophic losses. But what does it mean to be diversified? Everyone tells us about how we need to diversify our investments, own stocks, bonds, real estate, cash, commodities, and [...]
About the Author: Jeremy is a retirement planning specialist and founder of Generation X Finance and the guide to Financial Planning at About.com. To learn more, follow Jeremy on Twitter.
Three Types of Asset Allocation: Strategic, Tactical, and Core-Satellite – Which is Right for You?
When you live in a fun state to visit, like I do, you are frequently barraged with incoming guests. It starts with a simple phone call, “Hey, we’re on vacation in March and we are coming down to . Mind if we bunk in the guest room?” Not wishing to ruin anyone’s great vacation or [...]
Original Post on The Sun’s Financial Diary
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As a child, my Uncle Andy and Aunt Anita bought my sister and I a book by James Stevenson called Could be Worse. It was a humorous book about an old man who’s favorite response to any sort of complaining—such as when his grandkids get a splinter, or their kite flies up into a tree—is “could be worse”.
We’ve come to learn in the last year that things always ‘could be worse’. In the wake of the recession, most financial experts advised us to set up an eight month emergency savings fund (instead of the normal 3-6 months) for when the unimaginable happens.
But what if you are one of the people who does not have this in place, nor has the means to put this in place in the near future? What bills can you shed quickly and easily (i.e. without huge termination fees) in order to make ends meet at the end of a very long month?
Should the unimaginable happen to you, it is best to come up with a worst-case scenario plan so that you can weather the storm, even if you do not have an eight month emergency savings in place. To help get you started, here are some ideas that my fiancée and I have come up with for our plan.
Once we put this worst case scenario into place (and of course I hope we never have to), then we can free up approximately $1715 per month. These are all just temporary fixes, but the idea is that hopefully we can get ourselves back on our feet again in 2-3 months.
What things would you add to your own worst case scenario plan, or what things have you had to do in the past to balance your budget in a tight situation?
Written by Amanda
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Nothing like trying to prepare a post while dealing with the dull, thudding ache of repaired teeth. I had to have a few (three) fillings removed and replaced today (plus some crown repairs and a small-but-critical preventative procedure that was too technical and boring to explain here). Other than a few fillings – almost [...]
linklings, my ache-y break-y tooth edition is an original article from the website brip blap.
“Slump? I ain’t in no slump. I just ain’t hitting.” – Yogi Berra
How did you do with the 12 questions in stock market quiz? We have found that most investors have quite exaggerated views about stock market risks, especially after 2008.
The bear market has created fear, much of which is completely unrealistic, based on actual [...]
