Money Tips Network

A few weeks ago, there was a pretty great story going around various business and finance websites about Warren Buffett. According to the story:

One day Buffett went up to his pilot named Steve and jokingly said to him that “the fact that you’re still working for me tells me I’m not doing my job.”

“You should be out going after more of your goals and dreams,” Buffett reportedly said.

To help him with that, Buffett asked Steve to list the 25 most important things he wanted to do in his life.

Then Buffett asked that he review each goal and choose the five most crucial ones.

After considering a moment, he drew circles around five fantastic goals, confirming with Buffett that yes, indeed, they were his highest priorities.

And the rest?

Appliances that generate heat or cold — think dryers — tend to use the most electricity. Photo: TraciTodd

When you tear open your utility bill each month, are you annoyed with the outstanding balance listed on the statement? If so, you aren’t alone. I was having a chat with my hairstylist the other day and she expressed how disgruntled she was about having to fork over $300 or more per month on her utility bills alone. That’s certainly not the first time I’ve heard such a complaint.

According to Energy Star, the average American household spends around $2,200 annually on utility expenditures. Here’s a closer look at where the money goes:

Tis the season for shopping, and for most of us that means swiping some plastic. Did you know that choosing the right credit card for your purchases is more important than ever during the holiday season?

Some states allow you to lock in tuition at current rates, but the conditions and risk vary. Photo: David McLeish

How’s this for a sweet investment: Anyone can buy it, with no fees or commissions. Its value has gone up by about 130% since 2000 — an 8.6% annualized gain. It’s tax advantaged, so those gains were tax-free.

And in that time, investors had virtually no chance of losing their money at any point, even through two devastating stock-market busts. In fact, the worst they could have done was a little better than a 2% annual gain, equal to the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the official U.S. inflation rate.

After my previous two articles on travel destinations to avoid (7 Popular Vacation Spots That Aren't Worth the Money, and 7 MORE Destinations), it became quite clear that there was a need to highlight more places that you should cross off your "see it at all costs" list.

Several people...

No matter how hectic your schedule, it's important to keep your personal finances on track. Let them fall by the wayside, and you could face late fees or a damaged credit score. Automating your personal finances, however, is one easy way to simplify and maintain control of your money.

Nuclear fallout, asteroid strikes, and sinkholes are rare. But, yes, emergencies do happen. And while you'd be foolish to spend time preparing for any of those three disasters, it's smart and doubly worthwhile to prep for some of the more common ones.

There are lots of people who claim to have the key to making money.

And with this post, I’m going to bite the bullet and become one of those people who claims to have the key to making money.

But, I’m not going to charge you anything for this key.  I’m not even going to ask you to sign up for my newsletter!  (Though, if you want to, please move your gaze to the right and enter your email address .)

Recognize the other side of the transaction

Over ten years ago (after spending twenty-three years in school) I began investigating ways to make money online.  I’m still investigating, learning, and trying different things.

One mistake I made for a long time, though, was treating the money “machine” — a website, an affiliate program, an online course — and the actual source of the money as one and the same.  As in:  “This program will make you money.”  “You can make money with your blog.”

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