Money Tips Network

This article is by staff writer April Dykman.

Being a homeowner is expensive.

Correction: Being a homeowner who wants to tear out and replace everything in the house is expensive.

But my home is also my hobby. It’s one of those expenses that falls into the “needs list” (shelter) and the “wants list” (my complete kitchen remodel). Living in aesthetically pleasing surroundings puts me at ease almost as much as a really mean massage, the kind where they throw elbows.

So, possibly you don’t identify with that. Possibly you totally understand where I’m coming from. Either way, I had a situation, and I needed a frugal solution.

Do you ever feel like everyone else but you gets rewarded at work?

Your slacker cubicle neighbor pulls a couple of all-nighters, closes a deal, and promptly gets better and bigger accounts to manage. The seemingly average performer down the hall gets pulled away from the drudgery of day-to-day work to head a new branch office. (See also: 25 Signs You're at the Same Job for Too Long)

Your coworkers may not be doing everything perfectly. But they may be doing a few things extremely well, enough to get on the boss's radar and move to the next level of responsibility.

I know that I’ve mentioned before that my wife knows how to do many things well.  She’s very handy.  And today, she managed to put something together that not only got rid of some dried beans that were a bit past their use-by date — OK, over three years past — but made some money in the process!

A friend of ours had had these corn warmers for years.  They were flannel strips a bit under two feet long that were filled with dried corn and sewn together.  Pop them in the microwave, zap them for a bit, and the corn inside gets warm and holds the heat for quite a while.  They had finally become so threadbare that they broke and spilled the corn all over the place.

So, our friend had a proposition.  She had priced them already on Etsy ($15 each), and asked my wife if she could make three of them for that price each.  She’d rather pay someone she knows than someone she doesn’t.

I’ve had an online stock trading account since I was 13 years old and I’ve used at least a dozen of the best online stock trading platforms. I’ve gained a few “learning experiences” from managing my own account and working as a proprietary day trader in Chicago for several years.

There are over 50 online brokerages where you can open an account. The best online brokerage accounts aren’t just for trading stocks. Sure, many of them started as online stock trading accounts, but now they’re full-fledged trading, saving, investing, retirement planning, and banking machines.

This industry is more complex than the average person thinks. You shouldn’t just pick any online broker and sign up for an account. The best online broker for one person is often completely different for the next person. Use this resource as a guide to your decision process. Figure out what features are best for you, and make your selection.

What’s inside? Here are the questions answered in today’s reader mailbag, boiled down to five word summaries. Click on the number to jump straight down to the question.
1. College savings or mortgage repayment?
2. Flowers for Valentine’s Day?
3. News without cable
4. Credit card with bad credit
5. LLC for hobby business?
6. Early dismissal costs?
7. Do old records have value?
8. Retirement dropping in value

The old saying "you have to speculate to accumulate" does not just apply to those in the investment industries. If you're spending a little more to get a return on your initial outlay, that works in all aspects of life; and the purchases you make are equally applicable. (See also: 15 Items to Pay More For)

Now, the word expensive is relative. What's costly for one person is peanuts to another. So in this article, expensive refers to the competitive products in the marketplace. Why should you shell out your hard earned money on a brand or product that has a much higher price tag than those in the same category?

Here's the latest in my series of six figure interviews, discussions with everyday people who have grown their incomes to at least $100,000 annually.

My questions are in bold italics and their responses follow in black.

Let's get started...

Tell us a bit about yourself (age, marital status, kids, where you live, etc.)

I am 43 years old, happily married and have 5 children (elementary to college). My wife has been a stay at home mom since our first child was 18 months old. We live in the Intermountain West.
 
What do you do for a living?

I’m a financial controller for a $100 million dollar division at a software company.
 
How much do you earn annually?

$170,000

How does this amount break down (salary, bonuses, etc.)?

Our life has become so economic and practical in its orientation that, as you get older, the claims of the moment upon you are so great, you hardly know where [...] you are, or what it is you intended. You are always doing something that is required of you. Where is your bliss station? You have to try to find it. Get a phonograph and put on the music that you really love, even if it’s corny music that nobody else respects. – Joseph Campbell

I love playing tabletop games. There is nothing that makes me happier than sitting around a table with friends new and old, playing a game together. The puzzle of the game makes my brain cells work a little, but the social interaction with the people around the table makes it sublime. For me, that’s one of my “bliss stations.” It really brings me joy.

A bit ago Alan Corey was kind enough to send me a copy of his newest book, The Subversive Job Search: How to Overcome a Lousy Job, Sluggish Economy, and Useless Degree to Create a Six-Figure Career.  (Now, that’s a subtitle!)  I was glad to receive it because I enjoyed his first book, A Million Bucks by 30.

The one thing I noticed about this book is that he seemed so much happier in his author photo on this book than he did on the first one.  He agreed, and credited it to having a little bit more notice of needing one on the second book.  I guess that the first one, um, caught him unawares.

Starting over is painful