Do you want to earn extra income? Well, I’m sure you do. While there are many ways to do that, here I want to focus on something that I personally believe in: creating side projects. In fact, I would say that having side projects is one of the best ways to earn extra money.
The benefits of having side projects is you don’t have to leave your day job. It’s unlike having full-blown business where you need to spend a lot of time if you want to be successful. Side projects, by definition, are just things that you do on the side, things that you do in your spare time.
Even better, you can create side projects that are related to your hobbies. So if your hobby is writing, for example, you can build a blog as your side project. If your hobby is photography, you can sell you photos online as your side project. This way not only can you make some extra money, but also you can enjoy the process of doing it.
One other benefit of having side projects is you just make little bets. You don’t do something big that, when it failed, could ruin your financial foundation. You’re just doing something that will be good if it takes off but which won’t ruin you if it didn’t.
So start creating a side project or two. Do it in your spare time. Instead of spending the time to watch the television, why don’t you just use the time to work on a side project? That definitely is better use of your time. Who knows, perhaps out of your projects you can find something promising that you can expand further.
Saving enough money for college is absolutely vital, especially since you never know what emergencies might creep on you during that time. Fortunately, you can overcome all of these expenses by saving prudently. Of course, you can rely on loans when these emergencies come up, as well, but you will have to repay those loans eventually and this could result in a vicious cycle of debt if you aren’t careful. This is why the best way to save for college would be to live within your means at all times.
The first step you have to take in order to save money for college would be to make informed choices. In a nutshell, if you need to spend money, make sure you spend it on affordable top quality products. Fortunately, you will have a lot of different choices for various kinds of expenses out there. This means that you will be able to make the most sensible choices while staying within your means when you look for the best way to save for college.
If you tend to get tempted by your credit cards, then you have to limit your expenses with them from now on. Credit cards may provide the convenience of purchasing something now and paying for it later, but if your purchases end up exceeding your actual needs, then you might fall into debt and repaying for everything will ruin your plans of saving for college. So, use cash as much as possible and only use your credit cards if it is absolutely necessary for you to do so.
Another prudent way to save money for college would be through strict money control. In fact, this would be an absolute must. To do this, just make a budget or a financial plan that you have to follow every month and place some of your income in a special savings account. Make sure you place some money into your account every month prior to spending money or paying any of your bills, as well. Also, if your saved money is easy to access, try not to get tempted into spending it, no matter what. Remember: you will need the utmost discipline if you want to reach your goals in the end.
Aside from that, all you have to do is keep looking for other ways to cut down on your daily expenses by opting for cheaper options whenever you can. Discount purchases and bulk groceries, for example, are several methods that you can look into in order to reduce costs. Fortunately, there are a lot of solutions for different people out there when it comes to this.
If you feel like you still aren’t saving enough money after following all of these tips, you will have to cut down on unnecessary luxuries that you might have gotten used to so far, such as watching movies at the cinemas or eating out. At the end of the day, you might come to realize that this is actually the best way to save for college out there.
I’m amazed to learn about how big the national debt of the United States is. It runs in the trillions of dollars. That’s a big, big amount of money!
What I don’t understand is why countries such as United States accumulate such a big debt. I mean, at individual level, it is always advised that people be debt free. Debt is a bad thing that could ruin your personal finance. Whenever possible, you should pay your debt as soon as possible so that you can be free from it. Also you should spend less than you earn. That, in fact, is a basic tenet of personal finance.
But why doesn’t the same advice apply to countries? I can understand if the government has some debt for some time: after all there are probably needs to should be covered now rather than later. But to continually be in debt, and to accumulate the debt to staggering numbers, is still something I don’t understand.
What would happen if the country went default? It would be catastrophic, especially if it’s a big country that has strong links to the world economy. So isn’t huge national debt is actually a kind of time bomb?
Of course, I don’t expect it to explore. No one does. But the huge amount makes me a bit worried.
If you want to learn how to raise your credit score with ease and speed, then you will need to try out the following tips to ensure the utmost effectiveness.
First of all, you will have to delete any mistakes that you might find in your credit score within 48 hours. Naturally, you will have to do this through a bank or a mortgage company. So, if you applied for a house loan and found mistakes on your report, for example, you will have to ask your loan officer for a Rapid Rescore, which will need proper paperwork.
When it comes to the Rapid Rescore paperwork, all you really have to do is prove that the item on your report is incorrect. Fortunately, you can ask a creditor for help when it comes to this. Just ask him for a letter that states that the account isn’t yours, that the account was already paid for, or that the collection account has to be deleted. You can also ask for a lien release, a judgment satisfaction, or a bankruptcy discharge, if needed.
Another way to raise your credit score would be by getting rid of bad credit. Now, it is true that there are a lot of scams in this department and that it might cost a lot of money to repair your credit report, but getting rid of errors in itself is actually quite simple.
All you need here is a basic dispute letter and the same Rapid Rescore paperwork as mentioned above. If you can get all of these things ready beforehand, then you can get results faster and make the job of the credit bureau much easier at the same time. On the other hand, if you don’t have time to get any of these things ready, you can also get somebody else to do it for you. Just make sure that person is very economical, as well.
Naturally, you can learn how to improve your credit score by avoiding new credit, too. In fact, just being more vigilant when it comes to your credit behavior from now on can get you better credit scores in no time.
Believe it or not, you can also get a better credit score by maintaining various credit types instead. See, if you can show that you can deal with various kinds of credit at once, you might be given a much better credit score in the end. So, try to get installment loans, such as car, mortgage or personal loans and show off how great you are at managing your credit.
Now, if you want to avoid having to learn how to raise your credit score completely, then all you have to do is always pay your bills on on time. As obvious as this might seem, a lot of people still fail to do so. Remember: if a creditor loans you money, be thankful and pay for your bills on time. Do not be late, no matter what; otherwise your credit score will drop even more than it already has.
Do you tend to shop like there’s no tomorrow? Do you hit every sale that you hear about, just for the sake of it? While compulsive shopping may sound like an innocent pastime to you, it can actually turn into a very serious problem if you don’t keep it in check – remember that. Fortunately, it is possible to overcome this compulsion, and all you will need is some support from your loved ones and a lot of self-discipline. The following tips can help, too:
1. Analyze the problem
Admit it or not, you are a compulsive shopper for a reason. So, what you have to do is find out why you shop so much to begin with. Do you feel more self-worthy when you buy things? If so, then you might have self-esteem problems. Do you feel like material things fill a void in your life? If so, then you need to remind yourself that material things can’t bring you happiness.
Once you find out which emotions or situations trigger your compulsive shopping habits, you might want to visit a mental health therapist for help. If this sounds too extreme to you, though, try asking a good friend for support instead.
2. Think before you buy
It is sometimes possible to battle compulsive shopping just by fighting the urge to do so for a little while. So, give yourself some time to think before you make a purchase. Ask yourself if you really need to buy the item and think about how the item will affect your finances. Once your logic kicks in, you might end up reconsidering the purchase.
The ideal amount of time to wait would be 30 minutes. Wait for 30 minutes before going to the checkout lane. Wait for 30 minutes before typing your personal information online. Then, see if you’re still interested in the item. A lot of the time, you will realize that you don’t really need it after all.
3. Ditch the credit cards
Credit cards are the ultimate curse to compulsive shoppers. Although they appear to fulfill your every desire right away, you will end up paying for it in the end – literally – since all you do with them is swipe away and not think about your spending decisions too much.
Because of this, you should try not to bring your credit cards to the mall with you. Instead, use personal checks or cash to pay for your shopping sprees. This way, you will only use the funds that are actually available to you at the time.
4. Track your spending habits
If you do not have a personal budget yet, then you need to start setting one up for your finances right away. You should also write down the purchases that you make for financial organization. In fact, several experts suggest rating everything that you buy and eliminating the items on the bottom of the list to save you more money. Try it out yourself and see if it works for you.
In 2008, the world was struck with a great financial crisis. Many people say that the crisis is the biggest the world has ever experienced since the Great Depression in the 1930s. But what caused the crisis? What is the thing behind it?
While there are many different ways to look at the financial crisis, here I want to take a special look at one derivative behind it: credit default swap. In particular, it’s the credit default swap on subprime mortgage bonds.
Subprime mortgage bond itself is something that shouldn’t have happened in the first place. With common sense, you should only extend credit to those who can pay it back. But it seems that the financial world had lost their common sense back then by making it easier and easier to extend a loan to buy houses. Subprime mortgage, in essence, is mortgage for the people who aren’t likely to be able to pay it back. It’s mortgage to the people who wouldn’t have qualified for a mortgage under normal circumstances. Even stranger, is how the subprime mortgage bonds got securitized into a bond. That’s a way for people in the financial world to make more money by creating a new instrument, especially considering that the housing market was so hot back then.
Credit default swap is actually an insurance policy on the bond. If the bond issuer can’t pay the buyers (or, in other words, they default), then the issuer of the credit default swap will pay the bond buyer a certain amount. So it’s really just an insurance policy. The fact that such a derivative came into existence shows the level of “creativity” that the financial world had.
Credit default swap is at the center of the financial crisis because it allows people to bet against the rising prices of housing market. The people were betting that the bubble would burst, and if they were right then they would win a big time (at the expense of the credit default swap issuer).
Long story short, they won. The bubble burst and the world experiences a big financial crisis.
Nobody wants to have a personal financial crisis. Everybody wants to have enough financially and even more if possible. Unfortunately, the fact is that many people do get caught in such a crisis. It’s a sad story that happen to many people.
The question is: how can we avoid such a thing from happening in our lives? What can we do to avoid a personal financial crisis?
While there is no one silver bullet for this problem, there are several things you can do.
First of all, you should avoid debt whenever possible. Of course, there are necessary ones such as mortgage and student loan, but avoid unproductive debt as much as possible. This is especially true for debt that you use to buy consumer things such as refrigerator, TV, and the likes. True, those stuff could increase the quality of your life. But they aren’t absolutely necessary. If buying them means you get into debt, I would say that you should resist the temptation to buy them.
This is one reason why having a credit card could be dangerous. A credit card gives you an easy way to spend the money you don’t have. If you can control your credit card expenses so that it doesn’t exceed your monthly income then it’s good. But otherwise, it might be a good thing to dispose the cards you have. In such a situation, it’s better to use a debit card than a credit card. Why? Because using a debit card means that you spend only the money you actually have. It won’t take you into debt.
After you take care of the debts, you should start saving a portion of your income toward an emergency fund. Bad things could happen in your life and the last thing you want is losing your job without having enough money to support your (and your family’s) life. There are different opinions about how much emergency fund is enough, but in general you should have at least three month’s worth of living expenses in your emergency fund. If possible, take it up to six months to give you extra cushion in bad times.
The third thing to do is to learn to invest. Investing is important for the long-term health of your personal finance. This is especially true because of the compounding effect that you can have through investment. Say you save $5,000 this year. In 20 years that amount would be much, much higher thanks to the compounding effect. So the rule of thumb here is to start as early as you can. Time is your friend and the more time you have to grow your investment the more your will get.
Those are the basics of personal finance to help you avoid a personal financial crisis in your life. By applying the tips above, you will be able to have a healthy personal finance that allows you to live a happy life.
Do you want to have a successful career? I’m sure everyone will answer yes to this question. Everyone wants to be successful in their career. The problem is, how can we have a successful career?
While someone can approach this question in many different ways, I’d like to discuss one way that I’m sure can help you be successful in your career. It’s following your passion. Let me explain it.
Many people work just because they have to. They don’t enjoy what they do. They prefer to do something else if they could, but, because they need the money, they have no choice but to stay in their current occupation. Do you think this kind of people can be successful in their career? Maybe. But most likely they won’t. It’s simple to see the reason: they don’t enjoy what they’re doing so there’s no way for them to go the extra mile.
Now contrast this with those who really love their job. They do their work not because they must but because they actually enjoy it. For these people, working doesn’t feel like a chore. In fact, for many of them working is fun.
Since they enjoy what they are doing, it’s easy for them to go the extra mile in their work. They are willing to spend more time to perfect their craft. They are glad to dig deeper into their field to absorb new techniques and knowledge. They are happy to connect and learn from other people in their field.
By doing that, they naturally will advance in their career. They won’t just stay where they are. Instead, they will go further than most other people. They pay the price more and because of that they are very likely to also gain more.
So, as you can see, following your passion is a good way to have a successful career. And not only will you have a successful career, but also you will enjoy your time working. Isn’t that a good way to live?
Do you want to have fresh ideas for your business? I’m sure most people will answer yes. After all, isn’t it great if you can have a lot of potential ideas that you can implement? The problem, of course, is it isn’t easy to get those fresh ideas. Often we are limited only to our small worlds which makes it difficult to think about something fresh.
One simple think you can do to combat this is reading business magazines. I started this habit only recently by I can already feel the benefits.
The main benefit of reading business magazines is it helps me know about the world outside of my own worlds. I get knowledge about how other people are doing and what work (or don’t work) for them. Often it gives me information about certain form of business that I didn’t even know existed.
Reading business magazines help me see the diversity and richness of the business world. I tend to see business only from my perspective and my way of doing things. But reading the magazines make me realize that there are many ways (often better ways) to do things.
To be effective, don’t just read the magazines, but also think actively as you read them. If you just read the magazines passively you won’t learn much. But if you think actively as you read, there are many lessons and ideas you can get.
You can do this by trying to connect whatever you read to your own business and situation. Find ways to apply what you read to improve your business. Find the clever things other people do that you may adopt. Doing this will give fresh ideas and fresh perspective to do something new in your own business.
One final benefit of reading business magazines is it encourages you to do better because you realize how fast the world around you is moving. Without reading them, you might think that you already do well which makes you satisfied with your current situation. But by reading the magazines you will know that other people have done better than you and – as a result – you need to move faster.
All in all, there are a lot of benefits you can get from reading the magazines. You will become a more well-rounded person. You will see things in a new perspective.
Have you ever heard about micropreneurship? If you don’t, then you’re not alone. There are many people who have never heard about it. It’s actually a relatively recent trend in the business world where you can build a business only by yourself. Or, in other words, micropreneurship means doing a one-person business.
As Thomas Friedman wrote in his book The World Is Flat, the 21st century is marked with the rise of individuals. While in the previous centuries the main actors were countries and in recent decades the main actors were multinational companies, in the 21st centuries the main actors are individuals.
This is a phenomenon that’s become possible thanks to the rise of the Internet. The Internet has become a key enabler that allows all these things to happen. Go back to micropreneurship. Why is it possible? Because:
The term micropreneur itself is popularized by Rob Walling. In his case, he is running a software business that – thanks the Internet – can be run by one person by taking advantage of virtual assistants. But this concept isn’t limited just to software business, of course. Anything that can take advantage of the two characteristics above can be a good candidate for micropreneurship.
If you are interested in being your own boss and control your own time, micropreneurship is something you should consider. Of course, there are drawbacks to it just like any other forms of career. For example, you won’t get regular and fixed income stream as you would if you take a 9-to-5 job. Also the ups and downs of the business depends entirely on you. But there is also one big advantage: freedom. You don’t have to be worry about getting fired by your boss. Also you are in control of your own time.
It’s you who must decide whether or not you want to become a micropreneur. But, unlike in previous decades, the option is there for you to take.