Money Tips Network

The Top Ten Freebies You Can Score on Your Birthday This Year Happy Birthday!  Yes, we all hear this on our own special day but how many of us really indulge because of the occasion?

Here are this week’s cool posts from my fellow personal finance writers -

Financial Ramblings has compiled a list of the 17 states that are observing some form of state sales tax holiday in 2013.  School is just around the corner and it’s time to buy school supplies.  We take advantage of our state’s sales tax holiday each year.

Girl Meets Debt had one of those awesome moments of pride that come during the debt repayment process.  It’s always exciting and encouraging to see others reducing debt and having victories along the way.  Rock on!

Four years ago, my wife and I decided that the time was right for our family to purchase a new home.  With a down-payment in our savings, we started our search.  Here’s how we found our home -

We began our search within a 20 mile radius of my wife’s workplace.  We live in a rural part of our state – but there are several small neighborhoods within our desired area.

Once or twice a week, I would check the local online real estate listings.  We found four or five homes that we liked, but all of them were outside of our price-range.  I also checked our local paper, but had no better luck.

Speaking of our price-range – we qualified for a substantial loan amount – but we were only comfortable taking out a loan that we knew we could pay back in 15 years, or less.  We were not simply focused on the payment we could afford.  We were focused on the house we could afford.

How much is that bundle of joy going to cost you? There are lots of online calculators out there, but a quick search will yield this estimator at Babycenter.com. The calculations are based on USDA’s 2010 report, wherein they take account of the region you live in, your annual income, and the type of schooling your child will eventually attend (big factor here). After spitting in my info, the calculator tells me I’ll be spending $13,000 this year.

The thing is, unless you’re an extreme bean counter, most people head into parenting with their eyes half opened. That isn’t to say people decide to have children out of thin-air, but I have yet to met a couple that based their baby decision on numbers.  “Yep honey, we can set aside $10,000 per year, so we can definitely have another baby. Just let me know when you’re ovulating!”

The steps we are showcasing here are not just applicable for an online business but for any small business. What’s the difference between a hobby and a business? The difference is that losses from a business can be deducted on your taxes (schedule C) whereas losses from a hobby cannot.

We compare low cost life insurance vs commission based policies vs those you can buy through fee only insurance agents. Every financial plan should have a risk management or insurance component. Yes, we all know the importance of life and disability insurance, and health and long-term care.

I’ve discussed how to avoid foreclosure and how to avoid bankruptcy in the past, but in some cases, things don’t work out too well, and there are people who end up becoming casualties of the real estate bust, credit crisis and weak job market.

This guest post was written by Henry Truc from Go Banking Rates, a website that publishes informative personal finance content and helpful tools, as well as the best interest rates on financial services nationwide. Finding the best cities, towns or other locations in the U.S. can be a bit difficult these days.

I was actually one of those folks who was perfectly suited for the 9 to 5 and worked for many employers over the span of 17 years so imagine my surprise when I found myself turn into an accidental entrepreneur.