Broke Buying

Whether you realize it or not, car insurance is expensive. It does not matter what kind of driving record you have or what kind of car you drive. You are going to pay a lot for your automotive coverage. If you start comparing insurance rates online, you may wonder if it is even necessary for you to get some kind of coverage. Is it really worth the hassle and a huge chunk of your software engineer salary? The information below should show you just what you can get out of your insurance policy so you can determine if it is worth the money.

The Purpose of Car Insurance
Your insurance will be there to pay for damage in an accident that you are at fault in. Car repairs can cost thousands of dollars, and so can medical bills. This all depends on the severity of the wreck in question, but the good news is that you will not have to pay for any of that if you have the right insurance coverage in place. Most people only think of their cars when it comes to an accident, but you can be financially responsible for a lot of other damage as well. Your insurance will protect you from this.

The Laws behind Car Insurance
It is illegal to run without some form of auto insurance on your car. Thus you may need coverage in general to drive within the confines of the law. If you have an FR44 or an SR22 on file, you will need coverage to fulfill the requirements that the forms have. Otherwise the state you live in can suspend your driver’s license and vehicle registration. They can also prevent you from tagging your car and doing other things that would be necessary to allow you to drive. Thus you need to pay for your insurance if you want to be a legal driver in your state.

The Security with Car Insurance
When you have proper car insurance on your vehicle, you feel safer on the road. This is the same theory as having a warranty on your phone or overdraft forgiveness at the bank. There is a sense of security in this setup that you can’t get with anything else. You don’t have to worry about being involved with a car accident because you know you will be covered if that happens. You shouldn’t drive erratically because of this, but it is nice to know. You will feel much more relaxed behind the wheel if you know that you have insurance on your car.

The Alternative to Car Insurance
When you think about all of the problems that could happen with your car on a day to day basis, the alternative to car insurance doesn’t look promising. In this case, you could end up in jail, in debt, and without a way to pay for the damage to your vehicle. Is that what you really want? It seems to me that you would be much better off just paying for a policy every month.

The Conclusion of My Rambling
Even though you have to spend a little bit of money each month on car insurance, it is well worth it in the end. It provides you with protection while you are on the road, and it also ensures that you will not have to pay a ton of money if you are involved in a car accident. If you shop around a little bit, you should be able to find an affordable policy for you. Just make sure that you stay up to date with it when you do.

One of the biggest expenses you can come across on a tight budget is the cost of food. Groceries, take-out, buffets, and everything else cost a lot of money, but you have to be willing to pay for some of it in order to survive. Lucky for you, there are tons of meals you can eat at home for less than $5 per person. This will require you to cook a little bit, but you don’t have to learn how to become a chef just to save money on your food. Here are some quick meals you can make at home for less than $5.

Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Grilled cheese sandwiches are really easy to make, and they are incredibly cheap too. You can buy a loaf of bread, a pound of really nice cheese from the deli, a tub of butter for the bread, and some ham or bacon to go into the sandwich for less than $15. Then you’ll probably be able to make 10-20 sandwiches with the supplies, which equates to about $1.50 per meal. Add a can of soup or a bag of chips, and you’re all set. I eat this a lot even when I’m not on a budget, just because it tastes so darn good. You will have to test it out for yourself and see what you think.

Pizza and Breadsticks

Buying pizza from Pizza Hut or someplace else like that will cost a minimum of $10, and that’s just for the pizza itself. If you want breadsticks or anything else, expect to pay $15-$20. If you eat pizza at home though, you don’t have to pay nearly that much. You can buy really nice Red Baron pizzas in individual sizes for less than $3, and then you can get some Farm Fresh mozzarella sticks for $1 to throw in the oven. If you don’t want that, you could get a loaf of French bread from the bakery for $2 or so and make your own garlic toast at home. The only way you’d spend a lot of money at this is if you bought a really big frozen pizza, but that should still end up being less than $5 per serving. We’ll assume that you wouldn’t eat a whole pizza by yourself

Beef and Rice

5 Minute Rice only costs a couple bucks for a huge box of it, and it will feed you countless times over. If you can make some of that and a can of beefy soup, you could have a great meal all in one. Just pour the soup on a bed of rice and chow down. You may even have room in the budget for a salad or something else along those lines. Make some toast to put everything on, or buy some canned green beans to munch no. Whatever you do, I guarantee it will be delicious.

Frito Chili Pie

Frito chili pie is one of my favorite dishes, and it doesn’t cost much at all to make. You may spend a lot if you make the chili from scratch, but it shouldn’t set you back if you buy something in a can. Get some shredded cheese, a bag of Fritos, and a can of chili to make the pie. Cook the chili first, and then pour it on a set of Fritos. Immediately put the cheese on top of that and let it melt for a few minutes. Then eat and enjoy! You won’t really need any other sides for the dish, but you could make hotdogs or burgers if you want. It just depends on how much money you have left.

Check out some of the options listed above, and you should be well on your way to a cheap and delicious meal right at home.

Just about every college student has a cell phone of some sort. I have had one since I was 14, and I think it would be really hard to make it through life in the present day without one. If you have a phone or are planning to get one in the near future, you may be worried about how you will possibly pay for minutes when you’re just living on financial aid every semester. Luckily, there are a few things you can do to save money on your cell phone plan and still get the communication opportunities you need in life. Here are some tips that should help you lower your cell phone payments for years to come.

Know What You Need

What you want and what you need are two different things. I want a phone that can make dinner and clean my house for me, but I only need a phone that can make incoming and outgoing calls. You may be set on getting a phone with full internet access and 4G hotspot capabilities, but all you really need is something with minutes and texting opportunities. You may not even need that much. Think about how many minutes and text messages you will logically go through a month, and then you can choose a phone and a plan from there. You don’t always need the bells and whistles if you’re living on a tight budget from the start.

Consider a Basic Phone

If you decide to buy a smart phone, you are going to have to pay for a data package. This is something that you will do whether you use the features of the phone or not. Some people think they can have the awesomeness of a Droid or an iPhone without having to pay $30 a month for internet access. That is not the case though. At the end of the day, you have to pay for a data plan if you have a smart phone. Cutting that out by using a basic phone will save you close to $400 a year, which is enough to buy a new phone entirely if you wanted to. Keep that in mind before you sign up for something you can’t afford.

Basic phones typically come free with two year contracts, so you could also look forward to not having to pay for a phone this way. You may have to pay for one of the high end basic phones, but the really simple models should not cost you a dime when you sign a contract.

Check out a Family and Friends Plan

My husband and I don’t socialize a lot because we work at home. Thus we don’t have a ton of people that we need to call throughout the month. Nevertheless, my husband talks to his mother several times a day, which can rack up thousands of minutes a month in some cases. We have a family and friends plan though, which allows us to add up to 10 numbers to our account that we can call for free. Instead of paying for the minutes he talks to his mom, we just have to pay for the 500 or so minutes we use for everything else. If you can find a plan like that, you may save a lot of money in the end.

Talk to your wireless service provider and see if there are any discounts you may be missing out on. Hopefully the two of you together can find some way to cut corners and get your bill within your budget.

Most people don’t think about shopping for Christmas presents at this time of the year. The holidays are months and months away, so why would you even need to think about shopping before October or November? Some of the best sales of the year happen early on, when stores are trying to get rid of their holiday inventories and move on to newer items to sell. If you catch those sales now, you will have all the gifts you need for Christmas this December. Here are a few tips to help you get through your early bird Christmas shopping. The right timing could save you a ton of money in the long run.

Create a Spending Limit for Yourself

Chances are you are still trying to recover financially from this past Christmas, so you may not have much money to spend on this Christmas at this time. If you buy your gifts throughout the year though, you can avoid having to pay for all of the items at one time. Instead, you can just buy one item at a time every month and eventually have a stockpile of gifts to give out to people. Before you can do all of this though, you need to know what your budget is. How much money can you logically spend each month on Christmas presents? Assess your parole officer salary and figure out what sort of budget you have to work with. That will dictate the kinds of sales you need to be looking for.

Scope out Holiday Sales

You can find great sales on gifts for various holidays throughout the year. You don’t have to necessarily wait until Christmas. For instance, you can find really great deals on outdoor grills around the 4th of July (in America) because everyone is going to be outside barbecuing. If you have someone in your life that you think could really use an outdoor grill, you could buy one at that time and just hold onto it. There are tons of themed sales that follow those same lines, so try to be on the lookout whenever a holiday comes around. That may be the perfect time for you to buy Christmas gifts.

Ask about Seasonal Inventory Changes

Every store has seasons, where they change out one set of inventory and try to replace it with another set. If you can catch stores during these times, you can usually find some really great clearance priced items. The stuff that the stores are getting rid of isn’t necessarily bad, outdated, or unattractive. It just isn’t the latest stock the store has. Companies are willing to drop prices just to get these items out of the valuable space they need for new inventory. This could signify a great opportunity for you to save.

Buy One Get One

You may be able to catch a break with buy one get one sales throughout the year. If you buy an item that you only need one of, you could give the free one to someone else during the holidays. You always see those commercials on TV offering a second version of an item “for free” if you pay separate processing and handling. Hopefully you can find a deal along those lines to save you money on Christmas gifts. It all depends on where your opportunities lie at any given time.

It may not seem like a wise idea to shop for Christmas presents now, but it could allow you to get everything you need without blowing your budget in December. Take the time to look for great sales and reasonable prices, and you will have no trouble stocking up for the winter.

If you have creditors calling your phone at all hours of the night, you need to find a way to eliminate your debt and get back to a manageable financial status. You could try to pay off all your debts on your own, but that will likely take a long time to do. Rather than sacrificing years of your life to the creditors you owe money to, you should look into debt settlement to reduce your financial burdens and the stress that goes along with them. Listed below are some of the many benefits that come along with debt settlement. Read on to see what this debt relief opportunity could do for you.

Reduced Monthly Payments

The purpose of debt settlement is to reduce the amount of money you have to pay to each of your creditors. If you owe a total of $30,000 to credit card companies and lending institutions, a debt help group could try to help you get that number below $10,000 in total. They do this by speaking with your debt collectors and negotiating special deals on your behalf. They can get your monthly loan payments down to a management state so you do not have to worry about falling into debt in the future. All you have to do is pay off the new, reduced settlement that you have and you will be debt free in no time.

Minimal Commitments

Sometimes debt settlement efforts will be combined with debt consolidation to produce one or two low monthly payments to cover all of your debts. Rather than sending out money to 10 or 15 creditors in a month, all you will have to do is send a payment to one or two. This will make it easier for you to remember to keep up with your payments, which will improve your credit over time. The less you have to remember, the more success you will have paying off your debt.

Instant Relief

The second you get involved with a debt settlement plan, you will feel a sense of relief about your monetary status. Instead of being stressed out every day because you cannot possibly cover your bills, you can get excited about the fact that you will be able to pay off your debt in a short period of time. This will help you focus on the matters that are most important in life, like your family and your job. Your worries will fade with every passing settlement payment.

Future Freedom

The biggest benefit of all is the fact that you will have an achievable method of paying off your debt. You will be able to make payments toward your debt that will actually get rid of debt levels over time. When you send the last payment to the bank, you will be able to use your money the way you want to again. You no longer have to stress about the creditors calling your home every night. In order to achieve this euphoric feeling, you simply have to stick with the debt settlement schedule that you set for yourself.

Conclusion

Debt settlement may not be the first thing you think about as a college student on a budget, but it is something that you will probably come across at one point or another. If you take the time to learn about this process now, you will be able to get through your settlement a lot easier than you would going in blind. Take the information above to heart, and you will be better off in the end.

A good pair of sheepskin boots can be a fashion staple in your wardrobe for years and years. Seeing that it is winter in America right now, I thought it would be fitting to write an article about how to properly care for a pair of these oh-so-warm shoes. No matter what your personal style may be or what kinds of activities you do in a day, you can enjoy the benefits of sheepskin footwear year round. The key to ensuring the longevity of your sheepskin shoes is to take care of them properly so you can get the most out of the money you invest in them. These shoes can be quite durable if you take care of them properly, so you just have to make sure you know how to get the most out of your boots. Here are some care tips that should help you do that.

Treat Them with Water Repellant

One of the first things you need to do when you get your sheepskin boots is treat them with water repellant. There are many brands of this on the market, so you simply have to find one that is going to work well with your shoes. Coating a good but not too heavy layer of this repellant over the shoes should make your boots less susceptible to stains and other issues that may come up later on. Fleece will naturally fleck away water, but this will give it the extra protection it needs to stay looking its best. Luckily, a good repellant won’t cost much of your LVN salary, and it will make a big difference in the longevity of your shoes.

Clean off the Stains

If you get a light stain on your sheepskin boots, you can usually get that out with a wet cloth. Dab it lightly over the area to absorb any liquid on the surface, and avoid rubbing it too much in case that just smears the stain. If you have a deeper set stain, you may also use cleaner built for suede or leather to get it out. These materials are similar to sheepskin in terms of consistency, and their cleaners should be able to provide you with the thorough cleaning you need.

If you want to actually wash the sheepskin boots, you need to make sure that you do not put them in the washing machine. This can destroy the fabric and cause your boots to lose their shape. Instead of doing this, you should wash the shoes in warm or cold water all by hand. You can use a mild detergent that is made for wool to do this, or you could even use light hand soap. Pat the shoes down to dry and then leave them to dry with the air. Proper care is all you need to enhance the longevity of your favorite shoes.

Store Them in a Safe Place

Make sure you put your shoes away on a high shelf whenever you aren’t wearing them so you don’t have to worry about getting them damaged in the future. You shouldn’t have to worry about that much if you have a clean house, but you never know what kind of bugs may be lurking around for a nice, warm place to sleep. Do anything you can to make sure your shoes aren’t their residence of choice. If you take proper care of your sheepskin boots from the start, you should be able to wear them for years at a time. Think about that as winter continues to pass so you can get the most out of your wardrobe investment.

I absolutely love Italian food, and I am willing to spend just about anything to get my hands on it. Most people think that all Italian food is really expensive, but that is not always the case. Over the past few years, I have learned that small Italian restaurants often have cheaper food than fast food restaurants, and it tastes a whole lot better than the crap they call food at McDonald’s. Before you rule out pasta and bread altogether, you need to realize how great of a deal you can get with small Italian restaurants in your town. Here are some reasons why you may want to go to one of these restaurants the next time you decide to eat out.

Friendly Service

Small restaurants almost always have great service to look forward to, especially if they have been around for a while. We have a small Italian place in my home town that my husband and I go to all the time, and the owners there always greet us when we come into the door. They compliment our cars, talk to us about our lives, and truly go the extra mile to make sure we are happy customers. I can’t say that about most other restaurants that I visit. If you truly want to be treated like a king or queen, this is the place to be.

Low Prices

If you assume that Italian restaurants are going to charge a lot of money, you might miss out on a great meal for a really low price. Sure, you may spend $10 if you get the ultimate pasta platter of doom, but there are tons of menu items in most small Italian restaurants that are less than $5. The place I go to here has $3.95 lunch specials, so I can get bread, salad, and a pasta dish for less than the price of a Big Mac. The food is delicious, and it is definitely a great value. You might be surprised by how affordable it is when you delve into it.

Quicker Meal Times

I don’t know about you, but I hate having to wait a long time for food. I worked at Red Lobster a long time ago, and we used to have a 12 minute rule with food. That is the amount of time it was supposed to take for the customer to place the order, the server to put the order to come in, the cook to make the order, and the server to deliver the order to the table. Did that ever happen? Nope, but it should have. You should not have to wait hours on end just to get a simple meal. A little bit of efficiency is all it takes to get food out on time. That is what I love about small Italian restaurants. Even in the midst of a large crowd, the food still comes out quickly. That allows you to get back to work right away to get the most out of your pay check every week.

Fresh Food

In most little Italian restaurants, the food is always fresh. You don’t have to worry about eating meat that has been frozen for eight years, and you don’t have to worry about eating something that may not be healthy for you. This might not save you money, but it can give you peace of mind about what you are eating. Even if you don’t like Italian food, you should really think about giving one of these little restaurants a try. You might be surprised by how much you like it in the end.

If you are looking for an easy way to save money in college, why not think about using cash whenever you make a purchase? This may not sound like a savings solution, but it definitely can be. Most people nowadays use credit cards to pay for their purchases because they are easier to keep track of. They are also safer as a whole because you can always report a stolen card if you need to. You can’t always get back cash if you lose it. Nevertheless, you can learn a lot about money management if you spend cash rather than use a debit or credit card. Let’s take a look at some of the good that could come about from using cash for your purchases.

Saving the Coins

One of the easiest ways to start saving money is to put all of your coins into a special savings jar. Don’t spend them. Only use the bills when you go out. My husband and I used to do that, and we would eventually use the money for gas or something when we were waiting to get paid. If you let the coins pile up, you can rack up a good $50 or so pretty quickly. My mother saved $700 for me this way when I was a little kid, and that is what helped me decorate my dorm when I got to college. If you start putting your coins away, you will be able to develop a healthy savings account in no time at all.

Seeing the Money

It is easy to overdraft your account when you just have to swipe a card to make a purchase. Even people who keep track of their bank transactions are subject to surprises when they spend money on a card. If you have cash in hand, you can get a clear perspective of how much you have to spend and how much you actually spend on a daily basis. Once you start seeing $100 bills flying out of your hand, you will rethink that pair of shoes you think you desperately have to have.

Hiding a Backup

If you have cash to spend, you can put away $20 or so just for a backup. A friend of mine actually puts money like that in random picture frames in her home, just so she has some money on a rainy day. You could theoretically do the same thing with a savings account at a bank, but most people have ATM cards for their savings accounts nowadays. That sort of defeats the purpose of saving money because you have really easy access to it. If you can start putting aside $5 a paycheck into a random spot in your house, you may be able to amass a fortune over time.

The Plastic Alternative

If you don’t like the idea of carrying cash around with you, there are still some things you can do to help you save money. You could adjust your check book so that you have an extra $50 in your account, and you will eventually get to a point where you forget that money exists. In other words, you may have $150 in your account but your check book only says you have $100. If you can start thinking that you have $50 less than you actually have, you will not have to worry if an unexpected charge comes out. This is something my mother in law has done for years, and it is the only way she has figured out how to successfully keep track of her money without an issue. You can use this or one of the options above to help you save money at Penn Foster College.

A lot of people do not get refund checks at the end of the tax season. They get debt instead. I have actually been one of those people because I am self-employed. The first year I worked, I did not realize that self-employed people have to pay twice as much in taxes as other people do. I amassed a lot of money in tax debt that I am still trying to pay off. If you have the same kind of debt, you will soon realize that making minimal payments on it won’t cut it. You have to take out chunks of it at a time or it will never go away. In this article, I will share some of my experiences with tax debt so you can figure out why yours may not be going away.

Installment Fees

The IRS charges you a fee for making installment plans, rather than paying off a debt all at once. If you decide to pay month by month, you may see $50 or more just in installment fees, let alone the money you actually owe for your debt itself. I have a simple $62 payment to make a month, but I get charged $115 a month for having an installment plan and not paying off my tax debt. That means that my debt is actually growing in size, not shrinking. If you look at your tax payments closely, you may see that you are in the same boat.

Interest Rates

Even though your tax debt is not a loan per se, it is in the sense that you owe money back for something you shouldn’t have. With every loan comes that word we all love to hate – interest. The interest rate on your tax debt may not be incredibly high, but it is still something that will factor into your ability to pay off the debt. The government is going to collect its money first, and then it will start applying money toward your balance. If you do not get enough money flowing into the account, you may never be able to pay off the principle.

New Year, New Debt

Another reason why you may not be seeing a decrease in your tax debt is because you get a new chunk of it every year. That is what happened to a friend of mine, and it eventually just became too overwhelming. If you have a couple thousand dollars building up every year, it does not take long to start a pile of debt that you just cannot pay off. That is why it is always best to pay off tax debt within a year so that you don’t have to add another round of it to your bills.

How to Avoid Tax Debt

If you work for a regular old company, you can always ask for more money to be taken out of your check than the company already takes out. I used to ask for $5 to be taken out of every paycheck back when I worked for “the man,” and it at least gave me a chance at a refund when the tax season hit. My stepfather gets thousands of dollars back a year just from doing little things like that. You should definitely look into your options.

If you are self employed, you need to consider paying tax predictions every three months. You can basically set up a plan with a tax accountant that allows you to pay off your tax debt early, and then you don’t have to worry about shelling out 15% of your earnings to the government come April. If you plan ahead well enough, you should be able to get rid of your tax debt.

Most people know what their monthly bills are, but then they fail to examine the money they spend beyond their bills. You have to be able to budget your expenses on a weekly and monthly basis, but that may be hard to do if you don’t know what you are spending. When you really sit down to think about all of the things you spend money on in a month, you may be surprised by just how much money you are throwing away for no reason. By looking at all of that now, you can correct the problems and hopefully save some money in the long run. The tips below will help you examine your expenses closely so you can see if there is any room for adjustments in the budget.

Food Costs

Once of the biggest places that people spend money unknowingly is on food. My husband and I get Chick-Fil-A for breakfast every morning. And I used to get a drink with my meals. That cost roughly $1 extra, which turned out to be almost $30 in a month (they’re not open on Sundays). Over the course of a year, that is a staggering $360 I was paying just on a drink for breakfast. I now drink water instead. If you think about how much money you spend eating out and buying last minute food, you may be surprised by the amount of money you are literally eating away. Hopefully that will allow you to change some of your habits to eat cheaper.

Drinks and Cigarettes

If you are a smoker or a partier, you may be shocked to see just how much you spend on cigarettes and booze in a month. You could be shelling out a huge chunk of your police officer salary on smokes alone if you take more than one puff a day. My mother in law and her husband recently assessed their bills, and they found out that they were spending hundreds of dollars on cigarettes a year. They made a vow to cut way back on that, and they are hoping to actually stop smoking as a result. You may want to think about holding back as well if your drinking or smoking is starting to affect your ability to pay your bills.

Gas

The fuel you put in your car may not seem like it takes up that much of your budget, but it really does. If you like to go on a lot of joy rides, you probably eat through significantly more fuel than you think. My husband and I get a $50 gas card from Walmart each week, and we make sure that lasts. We usually try to save as much of that money as we can, depending on the price of gas and the amount of driving we have to do in a week. What’s great about that process though is that it provides us with some backup money in case we’re waiting a few days to get paid. We have a little but on the card to use as needed, and that ensures that we stay on budget. You have to figure out a way to minimize your own fuel costs and stay on budget in your own life as well.

With a little self-control and a clear vision of how you are spending your money, you should be able to adjust your spending habits to reduce your monthly expenses. Take a good look at the books and you will be able to make the right decisions about how to use your money.

Ever since the TLC show Extreme Couponing came out, the idea of saving a ton of money with coupons has become a dream and a goal for a lot of people. While it is possible to significantly reduce the amount of money you pay for items via coupons, the fact is that extreme couponing may not work for everyone. There are several factors that go into determining how much money you can save with this process, and you may just have limited options in your area. Before you get your hopes up about buying $1,218.00 worth of groceries for $24.58, you may want to realize what you can actually do with coupons. Here is an overview of some of the factors that go into extreme couponing so you can determine if you even have the option to do it.

Double Value Coupon Days

One of the main ways that extreme couponers save money is by doubling the value of their coupons during certain days of the month. You may or may not have a grocery store in your area that offers double coupon days. In some areas of the country, stores that do offer double value days only allow you to double a coupon’s value up to $1. That may limit the amount of money you can save. You can still reduce the price you pay for groceries and household items, but you may not be able to get as much money off as you would want to.

Coupon Matchups

Another key method that extreme couponers use to save money is matching up coupons to store sales to double the savings. If Kleenex tissues are on sale for $2 a box and you have a coupon that allows you to save $1 when you buy two of them, you could potentially get each box for $1.50. That is at least the theory behind coupon matchups, but it doesn’t always work. Some stores will only allow you to use coupons on full priced items, so you may not be able to double up on the savings. You either have to choose the coupon price or the sale price – not both. As frustrating as that may be, it is smart business on the store’s part. They’re just trying to make something out of every transaction.

Printable and Downloadable Coupons

Some stores will not take coupons that you print off the web. That could significantly cut down on your savings, because then all you have to rely on is the set of coupon inserts that you happen to get in the local newspaper. If you don’t find anything you like in those ads, you might not be able to save much money at all. The same theory goes for downloadable coupons as some stores do not offer savings cards. This may not limit your savings a lot, but it will put some limitation on you. You just have to look over the coupon policies for stores in your area to see what your options are.

So, Does Extreme Couponing Really Work?

Yes and no. For a lot of places, the theories used in extreme couponing can in fact help you save a bunch of money on groceries and household items. For some though, stores just don’t allow shoppers to save as much money as they would have liked to. You can at least take some of the savings principles from extreme couponers and try to apply them to your shopping trips. Any money saved is better than money spent for no reason. With the right opportunities and a savvy way of saving, you should be on your way to growing your bank account in no time.

If you feel like you aren’t making the best use of your time, you may think about picking up some extra work on top of your day to day job. For those of you who have a talent for writing, this may mean getting work as a freelance writer. I actually make a living as a full time writer online, but most people don’t have the patience to do this day in and day out. Thus for some, freelancing is nothing more than a side project to make some extra money to cover the bills. Here is a brief overview of freelance writing so you can get a feel for how the job works. Then you can determine if it would be a good way for you to make some cash on the side.

What Do Freelance Writers Do?

Freelance writers online work alongside web developers and internet marketers to create content for websites and marketing campaigns. Every word that you read on the web had to come from someone writing it down, and in many cases, that person was a freelance writer. I manage 50+ blogs on the web at the moment, and I also develop content for various websites as they come up. What you do in this line or work will just depend on the clients you pick up and the kinds of jobs you want to do.

How Much Money Do Freelance Writers Make?

It is hard to say how much money freelancers make because every freelancer is a little different. In this line of work, you can choose to either work by the hour or work by the article. I prefer working by the article because I’m a very fast writer, but slower writers typically like the guarantee of hourly work. You may make $8 an hour as a writer, or you may make $60+ (no exaggeration). It just depends on how good you are at your job and how much work you do in a week. You may not always make the equivalent of a paralegal salary, but you could certainly make a decent income in this industry.

How to Find Freelance Writing Jobs

There are plenty of places to find work online as a freelance writer. It just depends on what you want to do and how much money you want to make. Here are some of my favorite sites to pull work from, along with a brief description of what each site has to offer:

• oDesk: Bid on jobs from clients all across the nation and get guaranteed payment every time.
• TextBroker: Pick up articles to do one at a time and get paid based on the quality of your writing.
• TheContentAuthority: Select from a list of articles to write and get paid on a weekly basis through PayPal.
• Craigslist: Go to the “jobs” and “gigs” sections for different parts of the country and look for virtual employees that want to work with you. See Using Craigslist to Find Work in College for more information.
• Fiverr: Post jobs you would be willing to do for $5 and pick up clients looking to pay just that.

If you want to see a more extensive list of sites I have used in the past, check out Top 10 Websites for Writing Jobs Online. You should also look at Top 10 Online Jobs for College Students if you don’t think writing is the right line of work for you. With the right exploration of the job opportunities on the internet, you should have no trouble finding a way to make some extra money in your spare time.

The holidays have a tendency to wipe out bank accounts, leaving you with very few options to pay the bills when January rolls around. If you are now stuck with little money to pay your bills on time, you need to find a way to make up for holiday expenses. There are a few ways to raise a little extra money for yourself at this time of year, so don’t assume you have to fall into total debt just because you had to spend a lot on the holidays. You just have to know what your financial options are. Here is a look at some of the ways you may go about replenishing your bank account.

Work Extra Hours

The first of the year is a big time for a lot of businesses, especially in the retail world. This is the time when everyone is coming in to catch all the after-holiday savings and return any of the gifts they did not want. If you want to work a few extra hours a week, your boss could probably use the help right now. Assuming you are a college student, you could still rack up a hefty paycheck to help you cover your holiday expenses. See if there is any way you could pull a few hours, and you may be able to pay your bills on time.

Sell Extra Gifts

It is terrible to suggest that you should sell your Christmas gifts, but in some cases, that’s what you have to do. I always ask for cash to avoid having to return any of my gifts, but I still get people who will give me shirts that are 80 times too big or video games I won’t even bother to look at. If you are in the same boat, you could consider returning or selling the gifts to get money back for your bills. If you don’t have a receipt for an item, you will probably only be able to get store credit for it. Just keep that in mind before you process any returns.

Use Extra Money

If you happened to get some money for Christmas, you may be able to use that to replace what you lost. That seems to be the cycle for me every year. I spend a grand on presents for other people and then get a grand back in cash. Then I’m essentially right back where I started. In some cases, people won’t give you as much money as you spent on them, so you will still have to make up some of the cash somewhere. Nevertheless, it may be nice to use at least some of your newfound money to cover any expenses you are struggling with at the moment.

Request Extra Time

Most bill companies understand that the beginning of the year is rough for their customers. That is why they offer skip-a-payment programs and payment plans to help people get back on their feet. You may be able to get an extension on your loans to help you cut down on some of the costs right away, and then you can make up the money over time. You may just need another month to get by until you can catch up completely.

Get Extra Loans

In a worst case scenario, you can get a small loan to pay off over time. You could work with a payday loan company to get a high interest loan, or you could see if you have any options with a bank. As long as you can pay the loan back over time, this could be a great way to replace the money you lost over the holidays.

New Year’s Day is right around the corner now, and it is about time for you to start planning your budget for next year. You may not think much will change in the next few months, but it could happen. Rather than getting hit with a curve ball, you might as well start planning now. Having a budget in place for the new year will help you pay your bills on time and get the things you want most in life. Here are some tips to help you make your administrative assistant salary go as far as it can this coming year.

Plan for Bill Changes

A lot of companies use the new year as an excuse to raise their prices for services. You may want to speak with your cable company, utility providers, phone company, insurance company, and any other billers that you have to make sure that there are no changes coming up this next year. My father in law is picking up an extra $125 a month next year just in billing increases. His income, however, is only bumping up $40 a month. Thus he has to plan now for the sacrifices he will make later. Otherwise he’s going to run out of money very quickly. You have to do the same for your own bills to ensure you spend your money wisely.

Check for Income Increases

If you have a raise coming up in the near future, you will need to plan that into your budget. This may be hard to figure out if you’re a regular-old-worker, but it won’t be hard if you get assistance from the government. If you are living on social security, disability, workman’s comp, welfare, or anything else along those lines, see if there is an increase in your rates coming up in the near future. Then you can determine if you will have enough money to cover the bills.

Prepare to Cut Back

This would be a good time to start planning cut backs for next year. Think about some creative ways you could possibly save money. Perhaps you could invest some money in energy efficient appliances to save money on your utilities. You may try adjusting the temperatures in your home to reduce the heat or air that you have to use. Whatever the case may be, you need to plan to make some sort of sacrifices for the future. If you develop saving habits now, you will be much better off in your financial future.

Make a Savings Plan

You need to start working some sort of savings into your budget. Even if you only put away $10 a month, that’s $120 extra that you could have at the end of the year. It may not pay for much, but it gives you something to fall back on. Out some money away in a CD or have some money automatically drafted out of your paychecks. Just do whatever it takes to start building a savings account for your future.

Conclusion

You may be one of those go-with-the-flow budgeters that just plans things as they come, but you need to get your mind into future-planning mode. By planning your budget out now, you will have a better chance of managing your money for next year. Think about how much you will have to spend and find ways to work within those limitations. Speak to an accountant if you have to just to get an idea of what you should do. With the right help and a good goal in place, you should be all set for next year.

Paying the bills is tough at any time of year, but it can be especially difficult around the holidays. If you’re already strapped for money, how can you possibly come up with an extra grand for Christmas presents? The solution for that may lie in bill forgiveness. Every year, banks and creditors offer special payment arrangements to allow you to skip your payments for this month. This could free up a lot of money for you to spend on Christmas. Of course, there is a catch to this process that you need to understand before you get your hopes up. Let’s break down skip-a-payment programs a little further so you can figure out if it is right for you.

How Skip-a-Payment Works

You don’t actually get to skip a payment through bill forgiveness because the payment will be tacked onto the end of your loan. This may clear up some money for you now, but it will lead to more interest that you have to pay in the future. Most of these programs will still require you to pay the interest on your loan or credit card, so you won’t be able to get out of a full payment. You will just have less to pay. Regardless of all that though, this could be a great opportunity to help you get money for Christmas.

Companies That Provide Bill Forgiveness

If you have a loan at a bank, you will most likely be able to skip your December or January payment. Most banks will require that you have a loan for at least 12 months before you do this, and they will require that your account is in good standing prior to the skip. Assuming you have kept up with your payments for a year, you could talk to your bank to see what your options are.

The same theory applies to auto loans with dealerships or financial institutions. I have a Mustang that is ironically financed with Toyota Financial Services at the moment, and I know I could skip up to two payments a year if I needed to. You could talk to your auto lender and see if you could potentially do something like that on your vehicle.

Companies That Do Not Provide Bill Forgiveness

There are some companies that will not provide bill forgiveness at all. For instance, you will most likely have to pay your rent no matter where you are. That same theory applies to your utilities, phone bills, cable, internet, insurance, and more. Anything that you pay on a monthly usage basis will have to be taken care of this month. You may be able to get a slight extension for your payments, but that will only be for a couple weeks max. you will have to talk to your bill providers to see what your options are.

Pros and Cons of Skipping Payments

Bill forgiveness can free up some of your medical assistant salary to use on gifts, but it will also require you to make more payments in the future. You have to weigh out the pros and cons of that to determine what would be the best option for you. Do you need to save money now, or would you prefer to save money then? Whatever the case may be, you should at least keep this option in mind. It may not be for everyone, but it could be just the help you need to get through the holiday season. Then you can get back to your normal billing schedule for the remainder of the year.

If you have recently moved into an apartment, you may not have the luxury of a washer and dryer to call your own. Some apartments have them already installed, but others expect you to buy your own. You may be tempted to continually go to the Laundromat to do your laundry, but that may not work to your advantage. In some cases, washers and dryers are totally worth the money. Before you bawl in sorrow about spending what little money you have on a washer and dryer, you need to realize all the benefits that may lie in store for you. Here are some of those benefits to keep in mind.

Financial Savings

Washer and dryers literally pay for themselves over time, but it may be hard to see that at first. Think about the amount of money that you spend every time you got to a laundry mat. Then figure out what that equates to on a monthly and yearly basis. My husband and I figured out that we were spending about $400 a year on laundry fees whenever we lived in the dorms, and that was when prices were fairly cheap. You may be spending $600+ a year just washing and drying your clothes. If you invest in a good washer and dryer, you will have it paid off with that money in less than two years. Then every year of use after that is just money in the bank.

Convenience

No one likes having to go to a separate place to do laundry. Even if you have a laundry facility in your apartment complex, you still have to go through the process of taking your dirty clothes into a public area to wash and fold. Not only is this embarrassing, but it can be a bit of a hassle. With your own washer and dryer, you can go over to your laundry room and do all of your laundry in the privacy of your home. If you feel like washing clothes at 2 AM when you’re wearing nothing but your footy pajamas, so be it.

There is also something to be said about the ease of access when you need to get a stain out immediately. Rather than letting it set in over night, you can take care of the problem right when it happens. That could save you from having to replace your favorite piece of clothing, or it could at least ensure that your clothes look clean in the midst of your clumsiness.

Getting Affordable Washers and Dryers

If you are now convinced that washers and dryers are worthy of your tattoo artist salary, you need to figure out how to get a cheap set to use. Try looking for a lightly used set on Craigslist, or search for clearance deals in stores around you. You can usually find a special price on washers and dryers if you look around enough.

If you need something to use temporarily in the mean time, you may want to look at the stuff they have to offer at Aaron’s and Rent-A-Center. I actually get a really nice washer and dryer from Rent-A-Center that I’ve been using for two years. The machines are from the Cabrio collection from Whirlpool, and they are absolutely fantastic. I highly recommend them for you.

Check out some of the different washers and dryers available for you and see if any of them will suit your needs. The money you spend for them now will come back to you tenfold in the future. I guarantee it.

Having no money sucks, but it especially sucks when you need to buy a bunch of Christmas presents and you can’t. Rather than throwing a temper tantrum or freaking out beyond belief, you just need to put your creative hat on. You can make gifts for Christmas without having to spend much money at all, and most of the time, those gifts go over better than material objects. If you’re scrounging by week to week to pay the bills, the tips below will help you give Christmas gifts without taking out more student loans. You can still make your Christmas enjoyable, even if you don’t have a software engineer salary to rely on.

The Gift of Free Labor

You may be amazed by how much people appreciate getting good old elbow grease for Christmas. I’m not talking about actually collecting the grease from your elbow for a few months. That’s just plain gross. By this, I’m referring to work in place of giving someone Christmas gifts. Offer to put up your relatives’ Christmas decorations or help a friend fix his or her car. By putting out a little labor, you can make up for your lack of money.

Sometimes this is actually much more helpful than a gift you might have gotten a person. I would rather have a snow shoveled driveway than another tacky striped sweater myself, and I know I’m not alone. You may be surprised by just how much people like getting Christmas gifts in the form of free labor. Give it a try and see if it works for you.

Poems and Songs

If you’re looking for a gift for that special someone in your life, you may have success with a simple poem or song. This is especially true for men because women are more susceptible to mushy-gushy charm. One of the best gifts my husband ever gave me was a poem he wrote for me, and I still know the words to it to this day. You could use something like this in your favor if you just put your mind in the right place. Write from the heart, and your loved one is sure to respond to it.

Compromises

You may have friends out there that are just as broke as you are. Why not confront them about it to save both of you from spending money you don’t have? A friend of mine did this once, and he basically said, “Hey, I don’t have much money, and I’m not going to like anything you get me. Let’s cut the crap and just spare the gifts this year – ‘kay?” As frank as that was, it spared both of us from having to buy gifts for the other person. I certainly appreciated the honesty and the savings that came from it. You could work out the same kind of compromise with people in your life, and then you would be able to avoid the stress of Christmas altogether.

Conclusion

Christmas is supposed to be a time to enjoy making memories with your family. It shouldn’t be something you stress about for weeks on end because you can’t afford to buy gifts. If you have very little money to work with, just think outside the box. The economy is crap right now anyway, so most people are struggling to make ends meet. Just make an effort to spend time with your family, and that can be a gift enough. We all may need to do that for a change. Maybe if we get over the hype of Christmas gifts, we can all learn to appreciate the holiday for what it truly is.

Once you move out on your own, you have the daunting weight of “the bills” on your shoulders at all times. One of the biggest bills you will come across in that regard involves the utilities (water, electricity, sewer, trash, gas, etc.). You may come from a well-off family where saving money n utilities really didn’t matter. Now, however, you need to do all you can to stretch your free scholarships as far as they can go. The tips below will help you cut back on your utilities to save you money from month to month.

Adjust the Temperature

You don’t need an ice-cold house in the summer, nor do you need an oven to live in during the winter. You should adjust the temperatures in your home to minimize the amount of money you spend on electricity and gas. My husband loves having a cold house, so we always have high bills in the summer and low bills in the winter. If you can deal with slightly hot or cold temperatures, you may be able to balance the utilities altogether. Try to open windows and blinds when you can to maintain your temperature, and only rely on the heater/air conditioner when you have to. You’d be surprised by how much money that could save you over time.

Install Energy Efficient Bulbs

Energy efficient light bulbs can be incredibly expensive, but they can save you tons of money over time. We spent $116 installing daylight energy saver bulbs in our house, and we’ve been using the same ones for two years now. These things last for forever, and they use 1/3 of the energy traditional bulbs use. If you can find a good sale on some of these, snag it up.

Time Your Showers

It is easy to sit in the shower for a lot longer than you should because the water feels so good. Nevertheless, you could be throwing money down the drain if you sit in thee too long. Get a clock to put in the bathroom, and put a time limit on yourself when you use the shower. That will ensure that you get in and out of the bathroom without using a ton of water along the way.

Unplug What You Can

Try to unplug your electrical equipment when you’re not using it. Even if something is turned completely off, it is drawing energy from the wall when it is plugged in. If you have everything in the living room on a power strip, unplug the power strip before you go to bed. Then all you have to do is plug it in the next morning. Do this with your coffee makers, toasters, hair dryers, phone chargers, and other items that you don’t use all day long. This could significantly cut down on the amount of money you spend on utilities each month.

Use the Dryer Back-to-Back

If you have to do multiple loads of laundry, try to time your drying time so that you get one load in right when another load gets done. That will save the dryer from having to reheat itself. You can do the same thing with your oven if you need to bake multiple dishes for one dinner. The more you can minimize the heat needed, the most you will minimize the bills you pay.

Think consciously every time you run the water, turn on a light, plug in an appliance, or flush the toilet. All of that usage adds up over time. You can save money and the environment at the same time if you cut down on the amount of resources you use. Conserve as much as you can, and you will ultimately have more money to spend each month.

It seems like every car insurance company claims to have the lowest prices around nowadays. Auto insurance is one of the many costs you will come across as a college student, so you need to learn what it takes to cut your insurance costs each month. If you want to get a low rate for your car insurance, you may be able to make some simple adjustments on your application to lower your payments every month. Here is a look at some of the easiest ways to reduce cost for your premiums.

Increase Your Deductible

You can usually get the cheapest car insurance for by increasing your deductible. This is supposed to be the amount of money that you have to pay out of pocket for your insurance coverage, so it is something that you may have to pay in time. If you have some money put aside in case that happens, you can get a high deductible without having to worry about potentially paying a lot of money later on. Raising your deductible will lower your monthly payments, and hopefully safe driving will prevent you from ever having to use your deductible for a car insurance claim.

Compare Prices

Another way you might find cheap car insurance for is by doing some comparison shopping online. This process involves entering some basic information online and finding out different prices you would pay for car insurance from different companies. In some cases, you may also want to compare different cars to see which ones are going to offer the lowest premiums possible. Then you will know what to buy if you are in search of a new vehicle. Quotes are simple tools that will help you weigh out your options easily, and they are all available right online.

Get Minimal Coverage

Another option you may consider for your insurance is to only get the amount of coverage that you are required to have. This may not be the amount of coverage that you will need if there is an accident, but it will give you some kind of financial support if you have to file an insurance claim. That way you will be able to save money every month you pay your premiums and still have a way to pay for an accident if you are in one. You can speak with your insurance company to find out what the minimum coverage is that you can carry. Then you need to figure out if it is enough to protect your medical assistant salary.

Limit Your Driving

You might be able to get the cheapest insurance by reducing the amount of miles you drive your car every year. If you can take public transportation or even ride the bus to and from work, you will be able to save money on car insurance because you will not be as likely to be driving in the first place. The less time you spend on the road, the more money you will be able to save on a monthly basis.

Purchase Coverage Online

Some people find the cheapest insurance by shopping online. It does not cost insurance companies much money to allow people to create a policy online, so they extend a discount to them as a way to entice more people to get a policy there. You can use this to your advantage when you start shopping around for insurance. If you dedicate enough of your time to finding a good policy, there should be no reason for you to go out of the boundaries of your budget for auto insurance. You will be covered in no time.

PS: Isn’t that picture hilarious? Ah, it made me giggle. Had to share.

Checks are becoming less used every day because people are going out and swiping their cards instead of writing out their payments by hand. Nevertheless, there comes a time when every person needs to write a check for something in their lives (even college students). Check printing as a whole can seem like a bit of a hassle because it costs money and has virtually been driven off the market. In reality though, you can print a check to keep track of on your own computer, and it only costs about four cents per check. The cost no longer becomes an issue, so you can happily write out checks if you so choose to. You don’t need to worry about them becoming obsolete. The guide below will explain what you need to do to print your checks right at home.

Check Toner

In order to print your own checks, you first need to know what checks are printed with so you can purchase all the equipment you need. Check printers uses special toner called MICR toner, which stands for Magnetic Ink Character Recognition. This toner has bits of iron oxide embedded into the ink that allow it to bubble when it’s looked at what check reader. This makes sure that whenever you print to check, the numbers will still be visible even if the ink fades. It also guarantees that if you happen to write on top of the numbers or something accidentally gets printed on top of them, the checks can still be valid.

Printers and Paper

Of course, you’re going to need a check printer. The most popular printer used for checks is the HP LaserJet. There are many other brands around, but none even come close to the LaserJet’s popularity. You will also need blank check paper to start off with, as well as the MICR toner to put inside the printer. You can print a check without this kind of toner, but it is strongly undvised. People who choose to print with regular ink run into the risk of potentially having their checks run manually, which can take more time than the check process already takes and could end up costing some fees. The easiest way to avoid this is to just suck it up and buy the magnetic ink. It’s not that much more expensive, and you’ll be far more pleased with the results.

Software and Templates

You’re probably going to want to buy some special software that will design your checks for you. You can theoretically upload your own images and put them on the checks, but it may be much easier to just use the templates that are ready provided within the system. After that, all you really need to do is follow the instructions of the software gives you, but in your information, and hit print. Try running a test before you actually print your first check so that you’re sure that the software and the printer are both working properly.

If you’re going to use checks to make your purchases, pay your bills, or keep track of your expenses, you might as well save yourself some money and print your own checks. The process is simple, and you might actually have a little fun along the way. Sure it might take a little extra time, but you’ll be saving 60% of your money by just printing the checks on your own. That’s the best way to make the most out of your FBI job salary. What could be better than that?

College students have parties. It just happens. If you’re getting ready to throw a party, one of the first things you have to prepare are the invitations. Most people go running to the card section of their local Wal-Mart, only to find generic invites staring them in the face. Those that aren’t generic have price tags fit for a queen without necessarily having the quality to match. In short, it’s hard to find what you actually want out of invitations these days, so why not make your own? The process is very, very simple, and in the end, you can have a look that is entirely unique to you. You may go with the ever-so-informal Facebook mass-invitation, but for the sake of this article, we’ll assume you want something a little more professional. Here’s a quick guide to making your own party invitations without having to pay the equivalent of an FBI agent salary.

Materials Needed:

• Printer
• Ink
• Cardstock
• Vellum (optional)
• Pens (for signing or decoration)
• Decorative ribbon, scissors, buttons, etc.

Step 1 – Look for Inspiration

Go online and check out the different invites around. If your party has a certain theme, try to find images along the way that will fit it. Clip art usually does the trick because it is simple, free of copyright (most of the time), and easily found. If you find an image that you like, you can focus the card around that look. You could do the same with a photo of yours, pulling colors from the image to use in the card and perhaps the party as a whole. The design opportunities are endless if you keep your eyes open.

Step 2 – Setup the Design Layout

There are certain programs you can buy or use that already have the process setup for card design. All you have to do is go in and customize the look. Then it’s print time. However, you can do the same thing with a regular copy of Microsoft Word or Paint. Turn the page so that it is in landscape format, and then set a tab right in the middle of the page so that it separates it into two equal halves. The left half will be the one you will be working with for both the front of the card and for the inside. The right hand side can be used for little symbols on the back if you’d like.

Step 3 – Design the Card

This is where you get to be creative. Using just that left half of the page, insert any images, borders, words or designs in that you’d like. Remember that one page represents the front of the card and the other represents the inside. Use funky fonts or whatever you want to really make your card pop. If you want to put a personalized message in each card, you can do so. You’ll just have to be printing things individually.

Step 4 – Print the Card

Load your printer with cardstock and print out just the first page so that all of the cards have a front to them. Then reload the printer so that the inside of the party invitation is printed on the reverse. If you want to have a vellum overlay of words, simply put vellum into the printer and allow it to thoroughly dry before apply it to the card. The ink doesn’t absorb into vellum as easily as it does cardstock.

Step 5 – Fold and Complete the Cards

Now all you have to do is fold the cards in half and add all the fun decorations you want to them. Stick your custom party invitations into envelopes and give them out to the masses.