Xin Lu's blog

5 Tips for Remembering Names

If you forget names as soon as you've heard them, follow these suggestions to avoid embarrassing "I totally don't remember who you are" moments.

Five "Jobs" for Children

Is your child too young to get a real job? These five entrepreneurial activities are great ways for kids to earn their allowances and raise cash.

Affordable Sustainable Seafood Choices for Your Table

For those who love seafood but also want to be mindful of the environment and their wallets, here are some affordable and sustainable seafood choices.

4 Ways Breast-Feeding Saves Money

From reducing national health-care costs to kick-starting your kid's college fund, breast-feeding is fabulously frugal in more ways than you might expect.

Save Money with a Dependent Care Tax Credit and FSA

If you pay for day care or other services, you may be able to save thousands with an FSA, the Child and Dependent Care Credit, or both.

IRS Delays Start of Tax Filing for Some Taxpayers in 2011

The IRS announced that certain taxpayers will have to wait until late February 2011 to file taxes. Read on to see if you are affected by this delay.

How Will the Obama Tax-Cut Deal Affect You?

On December 17th, 2010, President Obama signed a $858-billion tax-cut package into law. Here's how it could affect you.

5 Fun Family Friendly Games for Your Holiday Party

You have the food, you have your guests, now add the entertainment: Here are five games under $20 that kids and adults can enjoy together.

Apperang: Get Paid for Trying iPhone Apps

If you love trying new apps, read this review to learn how you can make money doing what you already enjoy.

4 Reasons Why Everyone Needs Side Income

Many people don't try to earn extra money outside of their jobs, but they should. Here's why.

Why You Shouldn't Plan to Retire at Age 65

Most traditional retirement advice columns I read are written as a guide to retiring in your 60s. Although the advice contained in these columns may be useful to some, I think that

Peer to Peer Lending: Prosper Marketplace or Lending Club?

Whether you're a borrower or investor, here is a quick comparison guide on the two largest peer to peer lending companies.

What is "Quantitative Easing" Anyway?

Recently the news is abuzz with the term "quantitative easing."  What is it anyway and how does it affect you?

Simple Strategies for Using Your Leftover Food

What's that lurking in the back of your fridge? If you follow these suggestions for using leftovers, it might just be something delicious.

6 Great Reasons for Paying off the Mortgage on Your Home

Even though the economy is still rough, there are plenty of reasons why you should pay off your mortgage as soon as you can.

5 Ways to Make Money With Amazon Mechanical Turk

Amazon's Mechanical Turk is a service that allows people to hire several workers for tasks small and large. Discover how you can use the service to make extra money.

Commission Free ETFs: A Great Option for Cost Conscious Investors

ETF stands for Exchange Traded Funds. Recently several major brokerages have started to offer their ETFs without a trading commission, and this is great news for those who are j

Book Review: Hot (Broke) Messes - How to Have Your Latte and Drink it Too

Nancy Trejos is a personal finance writer for the Washington Post. While she was advising readers on financial problems, she was actually so broke that she had to ask her hardwo

Book Review - Buying a Home: The Missing Manual

Housing prices have dropped all across America in the past couple years, and more people are looking into buying a property instead of renting. If you are an eager house hunte