Money Tips Network

One of my friends in college purportedly had racked up dozens of parking tickets courtesy of the campus police.  He graduated, so either he took care of them before he left, or he never had to worry about them in the first place.

A woman in Pennsylvania, however, lost her home over an amount less than most parking tickets.  Her home, which sold at auction for about $116,000 and which was reportedly valued at $280,000, was the result of a tax sale for $6.30 in unpaid interest.

That’s not a typo:  She lost her house over six dollars and thirty cents.

No amount is too small

I’ve been fully self-employed since 2008, starting from a side business that was around in some form since 2004. Over that decade, I’ve learned quite a lot about the financial and practical realities of self-employment.

When I first made the leap to full-time self employment, it was scary. It felt like the number of things I needed to do was overwhelming.

What I found over time was that some of the stuff was important – and some of it wasn’t. Here are the six things that I’m really glad I did during the first stages of self-employment. You should do most of these even if you’re self-employed on a part-time basis or in your spare time.

Start your corporate structure as early as possible

If you’re just earning a few hundred dollars a year from self-employment, this probably isn’t necessary. You can file that extra income on your income taxes easily and not really worry about it.

No matter what change you want to introduce into your life, it involves removing, modifying, and replacing routines.

For example, if you’re trying to spend less money, you’re probably trying to replace or eliminate routines that involve spending money each day. You’re trimming out visits to the coffee shop or cutting out your visits to particular shops or websites.

If you’re trying to lose weight, you’re probably trying to replace or eliminate routines that involve eating unhealthy foods, and you may also be trying to add routines that involve exercise.

It doesn’t matter what the life change is. Routines are going to be altered.

Human beings are creatures of habit. We settle into those habits because they’re reasonably efficient or convenient methods of handling the challenges of life while also allowing us a little pleasure sometimes, too. We stick to routines because they work, at least in terms of the goals we set for ourselves.

Identifying the best CD rates

It is important to think through how best to use a certificate of deposit in your overall financial plan, but it starts with understanding your goals and how a CD can help you reach them. Interest rates change constantly, so having up-to-date rate information is critical to identifying the best CD rates and terms to make the most of your investment. We have made the whole process easier in a convenient page that is updated weekly with the most current interest rates.

I make mistakes. A lot of them.

I spent too much money. I said something I shouldn’t have said. I wasted a bunch of time doing something foolish and unnecessary. I made a statement without properly knowing the facts behind it.

Each time I make a mistake, I’m left with two things.

I’m left with memories of having some fun in that moment or of the relationship I had before I stuck my foot in my mouth.

I’m also left with a fracture in my life. I don’t have the resources – time, money, relationships, etc. – to do the things I would like to be able to do.

It is extremely rare when the memories are worth the damage that I’ve done. It is extremely rare when I feel as though the choice I made to waste a bunch of time or money or to say something without thinking about it adds up to enough of a positive memory to overcome what I lost by doing it.

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My parents immigrated to the US, separately, in 1980 and ’81. They met, married, and started a family while they were still trying to navigate the unfamiliar waters of a brand new country.

Their immigrant experience is an integral part of who they are — and because they raised me, it’s a big part of who I am, too. I’ve learned many valuable lessons from them, including a few that involve spending and saving.

Forget the Joneses. Spend on what’s meaningful to you.

Money magazine released the following stats in their April issue. This set is for households making below $100,000 a year:

• 55% are living paycheck to paycheck
• 66% couldn't handle an unexpected $10,000 expense
• 47% couldn't live comfortably even three months if breadwinner lost his job
• 47% would find it tough to get new job if laid off

Now here are the percentages for households making more than $100,000 a year:

• 37% are living paycheck to paycheck
• 38% couldn't handle an unexpected $10,000 expense
• 32% couldn't live comfortably even three months if breadwinner lost his job
• 37% would find it tough to get new job if laid off

And my results:

Welcome to Wise Bread's Best Money Tips Roundup! Today we found some fantastic articles on ways to make money to fill your fridge, bills you can cut from your budget, and things to bring to a job interview.

Top 5 Articles

Fifteen ways to make money to fill your fridge: make £300/$500 per month — Mending computers or dog sitting can help you make enough money to fill your fridge. [The Money Principle]

Much has been written about the concept of success… oodles, in fact, all claiming to deliver the proverbial key that will help you get from here to there.

Proper planning is apparently crucial for example, as is unyielding determination. Setting goals that are measurable is also said to be important, as it allows you to monitor your progress and celebrate your milestones. (See also: Build on Your Strengths to Succeed)