10 Ways to Acquire Cheap Formal Wear + MORE

Naked With Cash is the year-long series on Consumerism Commentary where seven readers’ households share their financial progress on a monthly basis. I’ve partnered with financial planners who will offer some guidance along the way. Read this introduction to learn more about the series. Anonymous S is a 24-year-old engineer earning $67,000 a year plus bonus…

Social media is more than a way to share images on Facebook for your family and friends.
It’s a hiring network.
The swell of Twitter, Google+ Communities, LinkedIn, and more means that you have more possibilities than ever to connect with people you’re interested in working with.
You can do it in 140 characters on Twitter — leaving lots of room for error or miscommunication…

Can’t get rid of that funky odor from your mudroom? Out of laundry detergent and paper towels, too? A trip to Walmart beckons…or does it?As it turns out, you don’t need Lysol to freshen the air, nor do you need paper towels to clean your bathroom mirror. Dig through your cabinets and you’ll find some little-known (and in many cases, better) uses for something you already have…

There wasn’t too much big news for the 2013 Federal Budget, but there was some noteworthy changes, especially for Canadian small business owners. There were two tax changes for small business owners, one good and the other not so good – they included:
1. Lifetime Capital Gains Exemption
Lets start with the good news…

This post is from staff writer Sarah Gilbert. We have all been there: standing in front of our closet or dresser drawers, looking at the contents, and waiting for something to emerge. That surprising dress or just-so shirt. That pair of pants that fits like it was tailored. That pair of shoes that is the sort of pair of shoes people refer to when they advise their friends to judge others on their shoes…

Name
Carrie Smith, the Debt Movement Community Leader
Blog URL
http://carefulcents.com
Why do you think it was so easy to fall into the debt trap?
I grew up and was taught that credit card debt and other consumer debt was bad, but that debt like getting a car or a mortgage was good.
So I always had car debt since the I bought my first car right out of high school…

Hold the plane!
One of the reasons why I left corporate America was because there was a disconnect between pay and performance. It didn’t matter how well you did, everybody got paid the same (poorly). It didn’t feel right to slack off so I made a move instead. I took a chance that 2012 compensation would be abysmal, and from the discussions I’ve had with friends in the finance industry, 2012 was indeed a piss poor year…

Last time we talked about some do’s and don’ts of annuity investment.  Here’s a story about what to do with your annuity investment, if you are looking for some alternative. Let it be clear that if you are looking to rollover your annuity investment in to an IRA, you can only do it if your original annuity was bought under an IRA investment…

What happens if you are hit with an expense that you can’t afford, and your emergency fund just isn’t up to scratch yet? Chances are that you will turn to a source of quick cash to make up the deficiency.
Unfortunately, these sources of quick cash are among the worst possible ways to fund your emergency…

In personal finance, in our careers, and in life it pays to be organized and efficient. There are many different ways to get organized and to improve efficiency, from software applications to apps for your smart phone and tablet, but to me the very best organizational and efficiency promoting tool is the good old fashioned to do list…

Being divorced for several years, I have tried my hand at online dating, experimenting with a number of different sites, and I know from experience that for someone new to the process, it can be rather intimidating and confusing. You might be wondering which site is best for you, and if you should bother paying […

We aren’t always able to control everything that happen in our life. Layoffs happen, unexpected expenses happen, and we can find ourselves in a situation where we simply don’t have enough money to pay the bills. This has happened to millions over the past few years as we have gone through a pretty terrible recession that has left many without a job for an extended period of time…

In times of financial hardship, credit cards can be a life saver. Not only can you extend your limit to buy the things you really need, but you can also claim back reward points, which can be used to supplement your next bill. For those you are unable to manage their money however, credit cards can be extremely dangerous, and can leave you with vast amounts of debt, as well as a sketchy credit history…

Find an employer who will let you do more of this during the work week.When Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer officially cancelled all telecommuting and work-from-home for her company earlier this year, the decision caused an internet firestorm.
Everyone from Yahoo employees to business experts weighed in on the decision, alternately lauding the tightening of often-abused policies at Yahoo and lamenting the step backwards in 21st century productivity…

I’ve messed up many, many times along my financial journey. I’m willing to bet you’ve messed up a time or two as well.
I’ll spend too much. I’ll forget a bill and have to face the consequences of the lateness. I’ll try to adopt a new positive habit and then find myself slipping in my diligence with that habit…

Traditionally, banks have offered items as cheap as toasters in order to entice customers to open a new account. But with the advent of reward credit cards, banks found out that offering a free flight was much more attractive to most of their customers. But eventually, earning frequent flier miles became just one of the many benefits offered by these cards…

Last fall, I highlighted my wife’s switch to a career in nursing.
Nursing was a careful selection. She wanted to get away from the desk and work more with people. Her family has a number of nurses in it, giving her some exposure to the career. It seemed to be a good fit.
In a tough economy, a career in nursing seemed bulletproof…

The following is the latest post in my “Reader Profiles” series. Each post in this series details the financial situation and challenges of an FMF reader. The purpose of this series is to help us all identify with people like us (in similar situations — not all will be, of course, but eventually I’m sure you will find someone like you here), get to know the frequent commenters on the site, and hear some financial wisdom/challenges from people other than me…

I can’t go a day without reading a blog post or news article that predicts the end of the United States as we know it. Some people even stocking up on ammunition, bottled water, and canned food, convinced the zombie apocalypse economic Armageddon is coming.
I get it. It’s not uncommon for me to hear an older Christian person say something like “The world is really going to hell in a hand basket…

Prom and wedding season are just around the corner, which means that if you have a teenager who plans to participate in that annual rite of passage or friends or family getting hitched this spring or summer, you’ll be in the market for formal wear before you know it…

Decided you’re ready to be a road warrior? If you haven’t tried to pull it off before, be advised you’ll need to have a few tricks up your sleeve in order to successfully manage a mobile office. Everything from filing to dealing with messages will be radically different, especially for those used to functioning with a secretary or personal assistant…

With mortgage rates still at near record low levels, if you purchased a home or refinanced a few years ago when rates were significantly higher, you may be inclined to try to refinance that mortgage. Refinancing can certainly make sense when rates are low, but it isn’t a slam dunk and it may not even be worth it to refinance in some situations…

It’s funny to think about cutting grass as I look out on ours and it’s completely covered with snow (about time Mother Nature! you’ve been weak to DC all season!), but with Spring around the corner it seems the hustlers are ready to pounce. And rightfully so.
If there’s one thing I hate about home ownership, it’s all the upkeep…