Every year you come up with a New Years resolution and inevitably every year it’s already broken by the end of the month. Perhaps you would have a better success rate if you realized that your new years resolution had a dual purpose. Namely, you’ll achieve your goal and save money while doing it. Let me give you a few examples on how changing a few of your bad habits can translate into big savings.
Smoking. It seems like every year there’s a new tax added to cigarettes. You can pay up to 10 bucks per pack nowadays. How’s that for a cash incentive to stop smoking. Reduce your bad smoking habit to 1 less pack per week. You’ll save $520 ($10 x 52 weeks) per year.
Tax time isn’t until April the 15th 2012, but you can begin planning for that date right now. There’s only a few days left to take advantage of these end of the year tax savings. So let’s get right to these tax saving tips for business owners.
Freelance Payments
If you work as an independent contractor / freelancer and bill people for your services, you can choose to send out invoices and get paid after the new year. Otherwise, if you get paid by the end of the year, it’s considered income in 2011 and you’ll have to pay taxes on that income in just a few months. What matters, as far as the tax man goes, is when you get paid, rather than when the work was actually done.
Every year around this time we have to dig into our savings or put holiday gifts on credit cards. It’s as if the holiday music puts us into a money spending mood. If you’re tight on cash this holiday season you can still buy presents without breaking the bank. Here’s how.
Plan a gift exchange. Instead of buying 3-4 co-workers presents and 5-10 relatives presents, set up a gift exchange. Each person in the group draws a name from a jar and you have to buy a present for that person. In this system, everybody buys 1 present and receives 1 present. The benefits of this system are plenty. You’ll save money since you’re only buying 1 present instead of several. There are also no hurt feelings if you neglect to buy someone a present, since you all agreed to participate in the gift exchange.
Asking for a discount isn’t tacky, it’s being financially savvy. You really have nothing to lose by asking for a discount. But in order to increase the chances of walking away with a better-than-advertised deal, follow these tips on how to negotiate a discount.
Big ticket items. When buying big ticket items your odds of getting a discount are great. You can almost always negotiate the price of a house, a car, HDTV or a wedding dress. But you won’t get anywhere asking for a $2 discount on $8 sunglasses. So target the larger items to get big savings.
Small stores. The smaller the store the better the chances of getting a discount. When you’re at a family owned business or some other small store, you’re likely going to be dealing with a decision maker. This person knows their profit margin and is more likely to give you the discount.
Can you afford to take that job? Can you afford to keep the one you have? What are your alternatives? Few people look at the cost of going to work, instead looking only at the paycheck at the end of the week.
Evaluating your current or new job should be part of the decision making process when preparing to accept a position. Letting your excitement about a new job interfere with logical thinking can cost you more than you think. Reviewing your employment costs is a crucial first step.
In times of financial crisis, many consumers find it necessary to use more credit to make ends meet. With an increase in credit use, it’s to be expected that there will be more complaints. In an effort to help consumers with their mortgages, credit cards and other financial issues, enforce federal finance laws and encourage responsible control of personal finances, the Federal Reserve has formed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The new agency is part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 and designed to consolidate consumer protection powers that were previously scattered among many federal agencies under one entity.
Conflicts in the workplace arise often, but if ignored can negatively affect the team, department and even the overall organization and their goals. Anytime a diverse group of people come together in a work setting there is bound to be conflict. However, differing views between coworkers can often result when:
People who are used to living paycheck to paycheck may have a hard time figuring out what to do with leftover cash once debts are finally paid. Instead of forking over $300 a month toward that auto loan, for example, you’re left with 300 extra dollars each month and are probably more tempted to blow it than save it.
Take time to congratulate yourself for paying off even one debt. Whether you use the excess money to pay down more debts or invest it in savings, feel good about your accomplishment.
Paying off any one debt can be a tremendous relief, but you shouldn’t feel like you can carelessly spend the extra cash you save from no longer having payments. Investing the extra cash flow doesn’t have to be complicated and you don’t even have to research how to be an investor.
The importance of maintaining a high credit score is the number one way to secure a healthy financial future. What many people may not be aware of are the negative impacts that innocent actions can have on their score.
Two common errors that are pretty obvious are missing or making a late payment and carrying an excessive amount of debt. But there are other mistakes that you may not be aware you’re doing that adversely affect your credit score.
Life insurance can eliminate your worries by helping ensure that your family will have financial protection if you die. Once you decide to purchase life insurance, you must determine how much you need, so you can obtain life insurance quotes. What factors are essential when deciding the amount of life insurance you need?
First, you must decide on what you expect the insurance to cover. You will decide this by assessing your family situation and its needs. For example, a young couple with no children may only be worried about having sufficient coverage to pay off debts. However, a family with young children may require enough income to ensure that the surviving parent can stay home to care for
the children.
