Category: Dollars & Cents

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Great ideas

There are many opportunities in life when you are trying to make money. A friend of mine is trying to do this and he is making good money. He started a webpage to try and sell fishing lures and he was getting nowhere. That’s when he discovered a new way to get the word out about his website. He used a site from the internet that could help him.

The site is called Blue Global Media and it helps him spread the word about his site. He uses the internet power of hundreds of people to reach new customers. The way this is done is by using what is called an international affiliate network. This is when people link to his site and help him produce the sales he needs to keep his operation running. It is working great so far.

He has hundreds of people who help him link his site as a payday affiliate. He can relax knowing that while he is asleep, his website is operating at full swing. He is doing very well now and hopes to cash in on his success. I am rooting for him and hope he does very well. I am sure he will and wish that I had the same idea before he did.

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The U.S. and China

It seems that there is a rift between the countries of the United States and China. The trade war is escalating and the stakes are getting high. China recently announced that they will be implementing a tariff on many U.S. cars that are sold in their country. This is in retaliation for the 2009 Obama China auto-tire maker tariff.

Many senators and congressmen agree with the president’s opinion. The talk is tough and we will have to wait until things are worked out between the two countries to see the final result. I am personally tired of China playing games and I hope that our politicians will stand up for our country.

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Small Business

Thanks to Olga Quinn

Small business owners across the country are hurting, it’s not just me, but these times are tougher than I’ve ever seen in the last 30 years I’ve been doing this. We’re just not as busy as we’ve been in years past but that’s given me an opportunity to really try hard to make this business better and more efficient for when things do pick back up. I got us some http://smallbusiness.xo.com/ solutions to streamline things a bit and I did an allover audit of our spending and all that so I could make sure we weren’t hemorrhaging money in places we shouldn’t have been. There are only so many things I can do right now to help business pick up and after that’s done I really just have to wait, you know? Things will come back like they have before we just may have to wait a while longer this time around for it to happen…nothing’s easy in this economic crisis and that’s the end of that story. I don’t want to talk about it anymore.

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Hoarding the pennies

There are some people out there who are willing to take a risk. These people are hoarding pennies. It turns out that pennies minted in 1982 or earlier are made with 95% copper. This makes the pennies worth more than their face value. Some are hoarding these pennies in order to cash in if federal laws change.

It is now illegal to melt down U.S. coins. Some feel that the laws may soon change and they will be able to cash in their pennies for a huge profit. Pennies made after 1982 are made of mostly zinc that has far less value.

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Beefing Up the Credentials

Sometimes you just top out at your job, no matter how long you’ve worked for the company and no matter how good you are at your job. At some point, the HR people need credentials to justify giving you a promotion or significant raise. The hard part is finding a way to beef up the credentials while you are still working. That’s why I’m checking into Online Colleges to get my degree. I still need 6 hours to finish up and I’m just going to have to find a way to do that.

I need a college that offers online degree programs in business and then I need to find some financial aid to make it happen. I have been looking at grants and loan programs online, and am not sure which is the best way to go.

The Government has a good web site with some student loan information. I found a free application for Federal student aid http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/ and I think there might be a way to get my company to match some of the money with their tuition reimbursement program. There are even programs at the state level because of the lottery money that has been coming in. In fact, making the proceeds available to education was one of the requirements that state had when they approved having the lottery here in the first place.

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Free Sounds Good

My niece and her husband are tightening their belts since she is pregnant again and isn’t going to be able to work for awhile. So thinks that they will be OK with bills if hey cut back on a few things and if she takes advantage of coupons and free samples by searching online for deals.

We talked about the real math of what she was earning after expenses and she was really shocked to see how little real money she was bringing home in her paycheck. She took 30% off the top for taxes, then had to take off child care, her car payment/car insurance/gas, oil, tires and then a lot more things she hadn’t thought of. Like the true cost of lunch away from home, the cost of convenience foods for dinners when she was too tired or too rushed to cook, the cost of nice clothes, dry cleaning and pantyhose. The actual net cash she was seeing was less than $50 a week.

We all believe that she could save that same net amount by looking for Free Stuff online and using coupons, and being more budget conscious if she stayed home with the kids instead of working outside of the home.  Finding Freebies is even fun – it is like a treasure hunt. She gets online in the living room while her daughter plays and finds ways to save money. I wish it were that easy for the rest of us!

 

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Making My Money Work For Me

My dad used to say that there are three kinds of people:

  1. those who don’t work,
  2. those who work for their money, and
  3. those who make their money work for them.

 

I have always kept that in mind and over the years I have had to work for my money. I plan on working for at least another 10 r even 20 years yet. But I know at some point I will want to retire, and that is when I need the money in my IRA Accounts to start working for me.

When I was a kid, my dad had a list of professionals that he could call on to help him. He had a lawyer, he had an accountant, he had a banker and a stock broker. But now we can do Online Trading and don’t really need a stock broker to handle our investments.

For the times that we do want to talk to someone or get a professional opinion, we can still get online and talk with an Online Broker. With so much information available online, no one has the excuse of not knowing what they are doing when it comes to the stock market. All you have to do is read and ask questions, and then get serious about taking responsibility for managing your money.

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Extra Time for Procrastinators

Today would have been the deadline for filing taxes, but the Government has given everyone an extra 3 days this year. All the procrastinators who wait until the last day taxes are due can now enjoy the weekend and put off doing taxes until Monday, the 18th.

This is a nice way to spend the weekend – unfiled taxes hanging over your head – NOT.

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Loose Change

With the weather finally warming up, I guess I need to spend a day cleaning cars. The cars need more than just a wash – they need a detailing.

I’m embarrassed to admit that before I can even think about cleaning the cars I have to empty them out of all the trash from the back seat and floorboards, and pick up all the loose change that is rattling around in the door wells, cup holders and the consoles.

I bet I find over ten bucks worth of change today. That’s enough for two washes at the automatic car wash down the street.

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Stocks and the Economy

One thing that I truly believe is that the economy is rebounding. There are signs of it everywhere. I know there are others like me who want to get in on the ground floor of the recovery. I think that one of the best ways to do this is to invest in stocks while they are still low. Their values are sure to increase as the recovery continues. The trick is to find the best way to invest.

One problem in investing is that most people go through some nameless company that takes half of your profits. The good news is that you can invest for yourself and keep the money you make. Online Trading is a good way to do just that. You can do it from home at a cheap rate per trade. My opinion is that Stock Trading will soon be the best way to make money in this economy.

Another thing that some people will encounter is a lack of knowledge about what stocks to buy and which ones to stay away from. That’s why having an Online Broker may be the best option for some people. I think the future is bright and I hope that everyone will make some money in order to help the economy along.