From the category archives:

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How Your Household Items Can Make You Fast Cash

by Kelly on June 17, 2010

This guest post was written by Go Banking Rates, bringing you informative personal finance content and helpful tools. You can follow them on Twitter at @GoBankingRates.

In this tough economy, bringing in some extra money is an exciting idea for anyone. However, finding an additional job could be a bit difficult with so many qualified job seekers vying for the same positions. So how can you bring some cash into your household – and fast? Letting go of your household items is one way.

Let’s look at four quick and easy ways to get this done.

1. Sell Your Items on eBay

For many years, eBay has been offering regular people a chance to sell their personal items to a massive audience. Whether you want to get rid of your comic book collection or sell your car, you can do it on this dynamic site. To sign up, all you need to do is visit the site, obtain a free account and post your items. You do have to pay a small fee to sell, but the amount you receive in return usually covers the fee.

2. Sell Personal Belongings in Consignment Shops

Another great way to acquire and save money for your family is to consider selling items in consignment shops. These shops allow you to sell your personal items through their store while offering you a percentage of the amount received through a sale – usually around a 50/50 split. Most shops look for clothes in good condition; however, some allow you to sell other items like crafts or handmade jewelry.

3. Sell On Craigslist

Sites like Craigslist are also cropping up and allowing people to sell their items to a wide audience. However, unlike eBay, which offers ratings to help you determine whether a buyer is trustworthy, Craigslist serves more as a newspaper ad, allowing you to post your ad for free, then leaving the rest up to you. To get started, you must sign up for an account then you post ads for whatever you want to sell.

4. Have a Yard Sale

photo credit: j.sanna

Over the past decade, we’ve been so caught up with the convenience of the Internet that we often forget we can bring in fast cash with an old-fashioned yard sale. By taking this route, you can choose a yard sale date, grab all of the items you want to get rid of, drag them outside, post some signs around the neighborhood and start selling.

What to Do With Your Fast Cash

After you’ve rounded up your fast cash from your various sales, now’s the time to go out and spend it on something great, right? Wrong! Unless you were bringing cash in to help buy something major like a new car or house, it’s a good idea to open a savings, CD or money market account and put at least some of that money away. Here are some other things you could dedicate your money to:

Emergency funds: You never know when an emergency could occur, which is why it’s good to always set money aside in case something happens.
Add to retirement funds: When it’s time to retire, it’s good to know you’ll have a nest egg waiting for you, which is why it’s good to consider dedicating some of the money to opening an IRA account.
Investments: Saving money is great, but growing money is better, so consider using some of your fast cash to open up some reliable investment accounts.
Paying down debt: If you have bad credit, you might consider using some money to pay down credit card debt, student loans or other debts you owe.

Isn’t it great to know that you can bring in fast cash through a variety of venues nowadays? By adding the icing on the cake, which is saving and growing your money, you get the greatest benefit from your hard work.

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5 Reasons to Ask your Spouse for a Money Date

by Kelly on May 12, 2010

in guest post

This is a guest post by Christian of Money Obedience, a virtual financial coach that offers a free budget planner. If you enjoy this article, please consider subscribing to the MoneyObedience RSS feed.

I call a “money date” a date with your partner that focuses on making joint decisions around money. You make a date with your husband or wife or significant other, so that the two of you have some time to discuss money issues of the family. It is not enough to lay down the ground rules when you get married like how many checking accounts do you keep, who pays for what, and stuff like that. Things change in life. They always do. That is why it is important that you have regular money dates.

My wife and I don’t have a regularly scheduled money date anymore. We used to talk more often about money earlier in the relationship. Our finances run fairly smoothly now and we don’t have as much need to talk about money as we did in the past. But we still have a money date about every other month, and sometimes even more often.

A date in the park by dospaz.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/59195512@N00/ / CC BY 2.0

These are the times when you want to have a money date with your spouse:

Your Monthly Expenses. Let’s say you keep a monthly budget, and even record your expenses. Whenever you decide it’s time to take a look at your monthly expenses you should have a money date to talk about how you’re spending your money and what changes you want to make to your spending habits.

Your Quarterly Account Statements. When you get your statements from your retirement account or other investment accounts, talk about the performance of your investments and whether they make sense to you and your spouse.

Feelings around money. When one of you has any strong feelings around money – let’s say one of you gets nervous about dwindling emergency savings, credit card balances, and so on. Talk about how the two of you can avoid any negative feelings about your finances.

Major purchases and plans. Whenever you make or plan to make major purchases like buying a car, doing home improvements, etc. or when you make any other plans that involve money, it’s a really good time for a money date. Most plans for big and small life events – from having a child to going on vacation – involve money in one way or another. Talk with each other about what can you afford, and how you want to pay for it.

Emergency savings. Whenever you think you’ll need to dip into your emergency savings, talk about whether it is really necessary to use the emergency savings for that purpose, or whether you have alternatives.

You don’t necessarily have to wait for a money date to get the job of money-housekeeping done. If you already have a good and regular way to talk to your spouse, just make sure that you make money the topic of a conversation regularly. If you don’t already have a good way to talk to your spouse, make sure that you improve the way you guys relate to each other and then bring up money. Unfortunately money is a sensitive subject for many people and couples, but it does not need to be. Remember, it is just money!

Do you have money dates with your significant other? If so, what do you discuss on such dates? If not, why not?

Kelly’s notes: I think a money date is a fantastic way to connect with your spouse and improve your finances. Just make sure you include some fun or a bottle of wine so it doesn’t feel like it’s all business.

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10 Areas of Personal Finance

by Kelly on April 14, 2010

in guest post

This is a guest post from Charles Chua from All About Living with Life.

As a husband, father of two and a writer/blogger with a financial background I blog about parenting, work, home life, happiness, relationships, success, healthy lifestyle, self development and personal finance at All About Living With Life. I wish to uplift the mood of the readers and motivate them to change their life for the better.

To enjoy financial freedom take note of the following key issues in money matters.

1. Savings: The best thing to do is to treat savings as an expense item. Deposit a fixed sum of money no matter how small it is into this “expense” account and let it accumulate and grow.

2. Income taxes: You should take maximum advantage of tax reliefs provided by the government to reduce your tax liability.

3. Insurance: You need insurance coverage to cushion the unfortunate happenings of personal accident, critical illnesses and temporary or permanent disablement as a result.

4. ”Debt”: You can incur debt as long as it is good debt like hosing loan or education loan and not purchases to get what you want. Good debt is an investment. Bad debt like credit card debts is a waste of money.

5. Retirement: Start early to plan for your retirement. When you do it only when you need it, it will be too little too late.

6. Investment: When you have saved a substantial amount it is time to invest and make your money growth further. There are many instruments to invest in such as unit trusts, shares and properties. The most important thing is not to put all your eggs in one basket.

7. Income: The ideal situation is to have many sources of passive income, generating earnings but you don’t have to work for it. Collecting rental is one of such sources of income.

8. Expenses: Do not spend more than what you have earned. If you do it means you are incurring debt to meet your spending. Debt attracts interest and it means extra unnecessary expenses. When debt becomes unmanageable it leads to bankruptcy.

9. Health: Do not think that health has nothing to do with personal finance. Think of it as a balance sheet item. Is it an asset or a liability? It is an asset when you are in robust health with full energy to work and earn. It is a liability when you health is out of whack. You are not only in no capacity to perform well, worse still your ill health is draining your financial resources to meet huge amount of medical expenses

10. Knowledge: Even though Knowledge is power, the application of the right kind of knowledge is even more forceful. When you possess the expert knowledge that is in demand it will boost your earning capacity.

Personal finance is a balancing act because income is limited while needs are aplenty. What you do in one area will affect other areas. Juggle cautiously.

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By Train, by Plane, by Automobile…Ways to Save on Travel

by Kelly on April 7, 2010

in guest post

This is a guest post from Little House in the Valley, who is currently working toward owning her own little house in the valley. On her journey toward home ownership, she is learning to be financial savvy through budgeting her money and living frugally. With each new savings tip or idea, she shares how she accomplished her goal.

With Memorial Day approaching and summer right around the corner, I’ve been letting my imagination run away from me. The idea of taking a vacation, or at least leaving my living room, is making me drool over each and every sunset-on-the-beach photo I come across. Yet, traveling on a budget calls for creativity, research, and gumption. Lately I’ve been scoping out the best modes of transportation for quick weekend get-aways, longer holidays, and family vacations that are frugal and can fit within any budget.

Quick Weekend Get-Aways….on the rail

photo credit: nedrichards

A couple of years ago, I had the opportunity to travel to a nearby city on Amtrak. It was my first experience on a train and I absolutely loved it. The roomy seats, the ability to walk around the cars, and the experience as a whole was incredibly comfortable compared to driving the short distance in a car. I decided from that point on that I would travel by train to cities within a couple hundred miles of me, as long as there was a direct Amtrak route.

Here is a breakdown of some sample excursions for west coast, mid-west, and east coast residents including prices via Amtrak:

Los Angeles (Union Station) to Santa Barbara – Pacific Surfliner: $24 each way, travel time 2 hours and 48 minutes. Santa Barbara is known for its temperate, coastal climate, charming State Street, and expensive properties. It’s a beautiful beach-side city to visit for the day.

Milwaukee to Chicago (Union Station) – Hiawatha: $22 each way, travel time 1 hour and 42 minutes. I’ve never spent time in Chicago, but would like to some day. Their waterfront and downtown area look like a fun and exciting city to visit for the day or weekend (summer, preferably for me!)

New Haven, CT to New York (Penn Station) – Acela Express: starts at $35 each way, travel time 1 hour and 32 minutes. Ahhh! New York, it’s my town! There’s so much to do that one day won’t cut it. From Time Square to Central Park, Manhattan is a great place to visit.

Finding Great Last Minute Airfares

photo credit: tauress

Depending on if my travel plans are flexible, there are some terrific last minute deals to grab from sites such as Expedia and Travelocity. I’ll use Travelocity as an example; they have a Last Minute Packages feature that allows me to select trips for about $250 including flight and hotel. (Wow!) One of their current deals includes a trip to Washington D.C. as a destination. Departing from Los Angeles and traveling to Washington, the trip averages about $375 per person for 3 days including airfare and hotel. East coast departure cities come closer to the $250 price tag. Not too shabby!

Another method I use when searching for the best airfare deals online is Kayak.com. Kayak searches multiple online travel engines simultaneously, saving me time searching each of them myself. Multiple browser windows pop-up and I can effortlessly compare their airfare deals side-by-side.

Once I’ve found the best flight price, I check to see if they are part of the MyPoints.com program. Purchasing through a My Points vendor builds up my points, which I then use towards gas and gift cards. I have to admit that I don’t fly often enough to rack up enough frequent flyer points on any one particular airline, so the My Points program allows me to earn points through various vendors. It’s a great alternative for me.

Making traveling by car comfortable

photo credit: tristanf

Sometimes, the least expensive travel option is driving to your destination, especially for families of three or more. Though driving to your vacation spot can be trying, verging on grueling, there are some ways to make it more comfortable and pleasant.

One of the best ways I’ve found, relieving the intensity of driving long distances, is to break up the drive time. Plan to stop along the way, whether it’s a 30-minute rest stop or spending the night at an inexpensive motel, stretching out my legs and getting out of the car helps alleviate the discomfort of sitting for hours on end.

Another option to make driving comfortable is to bring along a neck rest or pillows. Of course, this only comforts the passengers of the vehicle, not the driver him/herself. As a child on family road trips, I remember crashing in the back of the conversion van and sleeping for hours while my parents drove across state. (This was during the days of no seatbelts. I don’t recommend this!)

Bring along your own fresh snacks also helps during the scheduled, frequent stops. It saves time and money by not having to eat at a restaurant every few hours, and it’s healthier than most fast food options, a standard on almost every road trip.

And finally, to help restless kids pass the time (without staring at a monitor the entire trip) there are a few good, old-fashioned travel games you can play to keep them engaged and entertained. Here is a short list:

The traditional I-Spy game is always fun (for about 10 minutes, that is).

Scavenger Hunt: before your trip, print out a list of items you might see while traveling. Then try to predict who might win the game first. Each kid and adult can scratch off their list as they view their item.

License Plate Game: See who can find all 50 state plates first. Print out a list of the states before you go, give each person a list.

Portable travel games: There are many portable, printable games available, like bingo and scrabble. A great site I came across that has printable versions of many of these games is Moms Minivan.com. A great resource for activities.

Card Games: Some games I remember enjoying as a kid were Uno, Go Fish, and War. All you need is a deck of cards.

As the warm weather trickles in, I’m itching to hop on the rail and zip up to Santa Barbara with my bike. With the convenience and low cost of Amtrak, and their luggage cars that store my bike throughout the trip, I might just have to take an excursion this weekend!

Kelly’s notes: I love Little House’s tips on travel. My kids are all eager to travel, so I will be using some of her fabulous ideas to plan some mini getaways this summer. My kids adore I Spy. Even the 4 year old can get on the action.

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5 Ways to Fund a Trip to Disney World By Cutting Back on Your Coffee Habit

by Kelly on April 6, 2010

in guest post

This is a guest post by Raza from The Coffee Maker Store, a daily blog and e-commerce store about coffee, coffee makers, and coffee culture. Stop by for the latest coffee related news, tips, and tricks.

Have you ever wondered how much your coffee addiction costs you? If you’re a real coffee addict… ahem… I mean coffee lover, it could be costing you a pretty penny. Think about it, if you grab a coffee at your favorite cafe everyday on your way to work, or when dropping the kids off at school, you could easily spend $4 per day. That comes to over $80 per month, which is close to $1000 per year. And that doesn’t include specialty coffee beans and equipment you buy for home use.

Truth be told, your coffee habit probably won’t cause you to default on your mortgage, but if you have a worthwhile goal, like taking a family trip to Disney World, being smart about how much money you spend (or any indulgence for that matter) can easily fund the trip. So here are a few budget-friendly ways to get your coffee fix:

1. Don’t Buy the Expensive Stuff:

You don’t have to go to the fanciest, most expensive, Italian-themed cafe to get a decent cup of coffee. In fact, many blind taste tests reveal that coffee from “average” places like Dunkin Donuts is as good as, if not better than, specialty coffee chains like Starbucks.

Now if you’re a big Starbucks fan, think about how much money you could save if you just bought the beans and brewed your coffee at home. If you just buy Starbucks beans and brew them at home (compared to going Starbucks to get your coffee), you could save over $1200 per year! That’s a whole latte money (get it?… “whole lotta” sounds like “whole latte”…. never mind)

photo credit: hirotomo

2. Tools of the Trade:

I always make lunch at home and then forget to take it with me. I start off hoping to eat healthy and save money by eating at home, but I just don’t remember to take it with me when I leave the house.

Similarly, it’s easy to get lured into the big coffee shops if you aren’t prepared. That’s why having a good coffee maker at home is so important. Make sure you brew a fresh pot in the morning and put it in a travel coffee mug so you aren’t tempted to spend your money when you’re out.

3. Stretch Your Beans:

There are lots of cool things you can do with used coffee grounds. For one, coffee contains high amounts of nitrogen, making it an excellent insecticide. If you have ants in your garden, just sprinkle some coffee grounds around and they’ll be sure to stay away.Cats are also repelled by coffee, so it’s a good way to keep Garfield and his buddies from turning your flowerbed into a litter box.

Lastly, coffee grounds are a great fertilizer for your garden. Again, the high nitrogen content really helps make the soil more fertile. Incidentally farmers plant soybeans every few years for the same reason. Apparently, soybeans help “nitrogenize” soil. One last way to stretch your coffee beans is to mix new grounds with used coffee grounds. It might take some time to get the proportions right, but once you do, you’ll save a good amount of money by stretching your beans.

4. Bring Out Your Inner Barista:

Just because you aren’t a highly trained barista doesn’t mean you can’t act like one! Instead of buying pricey coffee drinks, buy regular coffee and doctor it up at the condiment station. For example, you could get an iced latte with extra syrup instead of a Frapuccino. Or you could get an espresso and add your own milk to make it into a latte. Of course, part of going to specialty coffee houses is the expertise of the baristas so this tip won’t work for everyone. But if you’re open to a little bit of trial-and-error and having some fun at the condiment stand, you just might come up with a great concoction.
photo credit: hj_west

5. Make Your Own Flavored Coffee:

Instead of buying flavored coffee and flavored cream, consider making your own. One creative tip is to add whole spices to your whole coffee beans and then grind them. You can try things like cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, dried fruit, toasted almonds, etc. You can even try flavoring your coffee by adding liquid extracts like vanilla to your coffee and cream. Play around with it and adjust it according to your taste.

Those were 5 fun ways to save money on coffee. Of course, your mileage may vary, but if you’re a big coffee drinker, following these tips could save you enough money to take a family vacation by the end of the year.

Kelly’s notes: I love Raza’s post. I’m a HUGE fan of coffee, and this provided me with tips I didn’t know. Coffee grounds keep ants away? So helpful. I still think there is a place for the occasional latte from Starbucks, but these tips could save you a to of cash especially if you have hungry kids with you when you stop at Starbucks.

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Of Slugs and Budgets

March 24, 2010

This is a guest post from Karyn Hodgens form Kidnexions. Kidnexions is all about helping kids make connections between what they are learning and their every day lives. Karyn is the author of Raised for Richness, a Parent Primer with Tools to Teach Kids About Money and Life which already won the 2010 NAPPA Gold [...]

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Your Credit Score: How it affects your budget

March 12, 2010

This is a guest post from Clover Mortgage. If you’re watching your dollars and budgeting carefully, you probably don’t want to use any credit, but at some point it can become unavoidable. You may find yourself needing a new car, or your employment could demand a move to a new city where you’ll need to [...]

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Why I Left My Work From Home Job: Guest post

March 10, 2010

Samantha “Sam” Duckworth is a 20-something college graduate with an emerging interest in all things financial. Sam’s Ducks and Dollars which was started in November, 2009. Sam is motivated to show others that it’s not impossible to set financial goals and to actually meet those goals. I recently wrote a blog post about the benefits of working [...]

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Holiday Gift Guide: Save on Christmas Gifts

December 9, 2009

We all like to spend money on our friends and family at Christmas time and there are few things as satisfying as being able to buy and give a gift you just know the recipient will love. However, if you need to tighten your belt a little this year in the Christmas gift department, or [...]

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Change for Change: Living life to the fullest (on a budget)

December 3, 2009

This post is part of the Guest Blog Grand Tour over at Life Without Pants – an epic two-month journey of over 50 guest posts. Want to learn more about Matt Cheuvront and see how far the rabbit hole goes? Subscribe to the Life Without Pants RSS feed and keep in touch! photo credit: Hey [...]