July 1st, 2009
There are two main ways to increase your cash flow. The first way is to decrease your spending (money that leaves your pocket). The second, which I haven’t written as much on recently is to increase your income. Below are several ideas on how to increase your income.
Sell Your Old Stuff
Most people have junk laying around their place that they don’t use anymore. If you have a few items that you’re willing to part with, list them on Ebay or Craigslist. If you have a ton of stuff consider having a garage/yard sale.
Rent Out Extra Rooms
If you have a spare bedroom or two, consider getting a roommate.
Get a Part Time Job
Find a job doing something that you like in the evenings or weekends.
Offer Your Services
If you have a skill such as photography, painting, or computer repair, offer your services for a fee. Even if you don’t have a specific skill set, you can always look into areas such as lawn mowing, dog walking or shoveling snow.
Optimize Your Full Time Job
Asking for a raise or getting a higher paying job is usually the most efficient way to make extra money.
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tim
Categories: Career, Making Money, Work
June 24th, 2009
Ever buy something in the clearence section just because it was cheap? Buying an item soely becuase it’s a good ”value” is a waste of your money. This includes buying items in bulk to receive a discount when you only have plans to use only a small portion of the items purchased.
It’s an entirely different story if you buy items on the cheap to resell them for a profit. There are many people that buy soely for the thrill of getting a good deal without a plan for their purchased goods. Buying without a plan is wasting money and not “saving” you any money.
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timadmin
Categories: Frugal Living, Saving Money
June 17th, 2009
When shopping at the grocery store, there is a quck way to find the lowest price that you pay per unit in a few quick seconds that doesn’t involve any manual calculations. By simply comparing the unit price label (should be in most grocery stores) you can easily see which product has the best price per unit.
Below, you’ll see that there are many different choices of ketchup to choose from.
By taking a few seconds to scan the unit price (price in the orange box in the picture below), I was able to find the lowest price per a pound of ketchup. The best deal was only $0.66/pound!
Price per unit is just one factor to consider when buying a product. Other factors to consider are nutritional value, size and personal taste.
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tim
Categories: Frugal Living, Saving Money
June 10th, 2009
There are probably lots of bills that you pay monthly without giving a second thought to. If you take a few minutes to take study them, you may find that you can cut back on your expenses.
Cable
Do you have a cable package with premium channels that you don’t watch? Trade down to a cheaper package or consider cutting off cable completely and install an antenna instead if you only watch TV sparingly.
Phone
If you are paying for a land line and a cell phone, consider switching to just just a cell phone or take a look cheaper options such as a VOIP line.
Gym Membership
If you only go to the gym once or twice a month, cancel your montly membership. Many gyms give you the option of paying for each visit, instead of on a monthly basis.
TV/Magazines
Do you have piles of unread newspapers or magazines? Don’t renew your magazine/newspaper subscriptions at the renewal date. If you only read the newspaper on the weekend, consider subscribing to the weekend edition.
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tim
Categories: Frugal Living, Saving Money
June 3rd, 2009
You should almost never take the first offer given to you. There’s a good chance that a better offer will be given to you after you turn down the first offer. If there isn’t, you can almost always go back and accept the original offer.
When I was offered my first job out of college, I was able to get about a 5% increase over what I would have gotten by turning down the initial offer. I told the hiring manager that I was expecting more given the current market rate. I showed him the going rate for my position and location according to Salary.com.
Turning down the first offer works in most situations where there is a list price, asking price or an offer given to you.
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tim
Categories: Career, Frugal Living, Misc, Work
May 27th, 2009
What is the difference between being cheap, being frugal and being wasteful?
Cheap: You’re only concerned about spending the least amount of money.
Frugal: You are financially resourceful and seek the best value.
Wasteful: You buy more than what is necessary and typically buy things on impulse without prior planning.
Toilet Paper Analogy
1 Sheet vs. 3-4 Sheets vs. Big Wadfuls
If you only use 1 sheet you may be considered cheap in your TP usage.
If you use 3-4 sheets you may be considred frugal in your TP usage.
If you use big wadfuls you may be considred wasteful in your TP usage.
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tim
Categories: Frugal Living, Misc
May 20th, 2009
As recently as the 1990′s you had to pay for many things that you can get for free on the internet today. Switching to free online sources will decrease your monthly spend as well as increase convenience and timeliness.
Magazines/Newspapers
Most magazines and newspapers (such as Time Magazine and The New York Times) have free online editions.
TV/Movies
Sites such as Hulu and YouTube offer a broad selection of TV shows and movies to watch.
Classifieds
Craigs List offers a free service for posting your classified ad in front of potential prospects.
Medical Advice
Instead of going to a doctor for medical advice, for minor medical aliments, sites such as WebMD can be a good source for medical information.
Invitations
Evite is a good nice alternative to sending out an invitation through snail mail.
The above are examples of just a few free sites/services, there are probably thousands of other sites that offer free services and information that will be useful to you.
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tim
Categories: Frugal Living, Saving Money
May 13th, 2009
Some people get a thrill out of paying the lowest possible price. But there are several factors that need to be looked at to see whether the best price is really the best price.
Cost of Acquiring the Deal
If gas is $0.02/gallon cheaper in the next town, it doesn’t make financial sense to drive 5 miles out of your way to save $0.30. You’ll be spending more on gas (plus wear and tear on your car) then you would receive in actual savings.
Time
Spending hours doing comparison shopping at the mall to save $2 on one item is not an efficient use of your time.
Usage
If you buy a product just because it’s on sale but never use it, then you would have been better off if you never bought the product in the first place.
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tim
Categories: Frugal Living, Misc, Saving Money
May 6th, 2009
Credit cards are a great resource… if you are able to use them responsibly.
Convenience
There are very few places that don’t take a credit card, so instead of carrying a cash with you everywhere, you can just bring a credit card. Also you won’t be “forced” to carry change that you receive after paying for something in cash.
Rewards
Many credit cards offers you incentives based on the amount you spend with your credit card. Rewards vary from cash back to points that you can redeem for awards.
Security
If your credit card is stolen, you are only legally obligated to pay a maximum of $50 of the fraudulent charges but most companies will even waive this.
Track your Spending
By using your credit card, you’ll have a record of everything that you spent on your monthly credit card statement.
Credit Card Protection from Merchants
If you have a dispute with a merchant your credit card company can do a charge back and issue you a credit if they rule in your favor
Build Credit
Using a credit card will help you in building a better credit score (if you pay your bills on time).
Insurance/Purchase Protection
Depending on your credit card, they may offer purchase protection or travelers insurance.
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timadmin
Categories: Credit, Credit Cards
April 29th, 2009
When comparing pay between various jobs, it’s always easier to compare apples to apples. Below are two simple calculations that you can use to compare salaries vs. wages.
Calculating Hourly Wage
If you are paid a salary, a simple way to calculate how much you make per an hour is to divide your salary by 2000. For example, if you make $40,000 a year, that would equal $20/hour ($40,000/2,000 hours).
Calculating Annual Salary
The above calculation also works in reverse; if you are paid an annual salary, you can calculate how much you make per year by multiplying your hourly wage by 2000. For example, if you make $20/hour, that would equal $40,000/year ($20*2,000 hours).
The above calculations are based on the assumption that you work 40 hours week for 50 weeks out of the year (40 hours *50 weeks = 2000 hours). If you know the number of hours that you’ll work in a year, you can subsitute that number in place of 2000.
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timadmin
Categories: Work