Is the Time Right to Start Your Own Business? + MORE

Good Morning Dinks.  Let me ask you a question, do you love money? If you answered yes, then I have a follow up question, why? Why do people love money so much?
Maybe you love money because it helps buy all of the things you want, maybe you love money because it helps you live the lifestyle you want, maybe you love money because it is a reflection of how hard you work or maybe you love money because watching your bank accounts grow makes you happy…

What are you sacrificing for money? Is it Time? Or perhaps physical or mental health? It is a question that I think many people don’t bother to ask themselves, as they don’t feel that they are sacrificing anything. I have been wanting to write this post for a while now and I finally got the motivation to do so after reading this post over at The Free Financial Advisor where The Other Guy asked the following question:
What’s the purpose of money?
Money equals happiness…

After you read my review, please stop on over at Free Money Finance and vote for my post in Round 3 of March Money Madness. Please vote for “Steps” in Game 5. Thanks a bunch!
Ask anyone their view on credit cards and you’re likely to get an opinionated response – even with good credit cards like the Discover it™ card…

This is not a political post but simply poses a question based on current events and a proposal that has been announced.
Recently there has been a proposal that would limit your retirement account balances. There isn’t a ton of information out on the current proposal at the time I wrote this (the official announcement should be out today), but what I know so far is that the proposal would limit retirement accounts to about $3,000,000…

 
First of all, let me preface this article by saying that I came up with the idea because Minnesota (where I live) is supposed to get anywhere from 6 inches to 16 inches of snow(!!) over the next two days.  I’m not sure how we’re going to survive (being that it’s April 10th and should be Spring!)…

“Trust not what inspires other members of society to choose a career. Trust what inspires you.” ~ The Lazy Person’s Guide to Success

I wrote a guest post for Amanda at Frugal Confessions called “Finding and Pursuing Work You are Passionate About”.  Amanda has put together a very comprehensive site dedicated to helping people with frugality and life…

The other week, I was reading an article by DC from Young Adult Money regarding getting the most value out of your gym membership.  I had made a comment on there about my disdain for gym memberships.  My comment was this:
I am not a fan of gym memberships, but that is because Gold’s Gym tried to sue me because they lost my bank account information after 7 months of regular auto-drafts and wouldn’t let me  pay them with a check…

There is probably never a time when you will feel completely sure about starting your own business. There are so many unknowns involved in this sort of decision that it is easy to keep putting it off time and time again. However, if you are decided on the benefits of being your own boss then … Continue Reading »

Planning Ahead: The Advantages of Life Planning
Club Thrifty – Stop spending. Start living. 
I have a confession to make. We are planners. We love to plan out our life. We need to know what is coming around the corner. It makes us feel safe. It makes us feel secure. It makes us less stressed. That is why it drives us nuts when things we want to schedule aren’t available yet…

Image: Freedigitalphotos.net/vitasam2001
Every time we go to spend time in the city, it makes me wonder if living in a small town is better financially and otherwise. While it’s always fun to visit other places, would living somewhere else actually improve our quality of life?
 Why We Live in a Small Town
 When I say small town, I mean small…

As I mentioned in my $3k Challenge update, I have been starting to make some money using Fiverr. For those not familiar, Fiverr is a website that lets sellers offer small “gigs” in exchange for $5. Higher rates sellers have the option of selling more complex gigs for multiples of $5.
As Outlier Model once noted, Fiverr should actually be called Fourer, because they take a 20% cut on all gigs…

Have you ever met one of those people who can’t accept a compliment? You know, the woman who’s wearing a stunning silk Versace dress and responds to a compliment, “Oh this old thing?”. I might not be the woman in the silk dress, but I have been known to be an ungracious receiver of compliments…

In 2012, the average federal tax refund for Americans was $2,800. If you have a big family or a low income, your refund was likely even more than that. Even though you should know about what to expect with your refund, most of us treat it as a windfall. Choosing what to do with this big check may be the hardest financial choice you make all year…

I don’t really understand the American Dream. At one point or another I guess it made sense, and I was convinced that it’s what I wanted with my life as well. The house, the family, the white picket fence, the pension after 20 faithful years of service to a company. Wait, what do you mean that doesn’t happen anymore? Pensions are a thing of the past? Well shit I guess if they’re just going to change stuff on us, we need to change our values as well…

Previously, in part 1 of our options primer we discussed what options are and why you might want to use them.  Now it’s time that we move onto part 2, where we’ll focus on how to read an options listing and how to go about selling cash-secured puts and covered calls.  We’ll also cover how to escape from an option that you no longer want and remind you once again of the risks of dabbling in options…