There are lots of things we do in life because we’ve been told they’re a good thing to do. One of those in my life is putting money into a 401K retirement plan. But what does that mean? How does it work? Lucky for you, the folks at HowStuffWorks.com have written a piece about it…

You did not study business nor major in economics, though we need the knowledge to understand What is economics – how does it relate to individuals, and how do production, distribution, and goods and services work? Understand this will give you some edges on business, investment etc. Here are some top resources to learn…

In office life, there’s the constant thrum of someone raising money through selling cookies, or collecting a few dollars for a baby shower, or a few more for someone’s 10 year anniversary at the company. It’s easy to give and receive money for these because you’re all in the same place. Sunil comes over and…

I was listening to Startup Nation’s podcast yesterday, and they featured Prosper, a website that’s the “eBay for peer-to-peer funding.” The idea seemed interesting, especially to someone forming a startup. The basic premise is that you can borrow money from a group of peers instead of through a bank. The peers are all investing…

Are you looking to simplify your life? Do you have financial issues? Are you still paying off debts with no end in sight? Hey, me too! Part of my methodology includes plugging expense holes, and shunting that money towards my debts. Here are eight expenses to cut and how: Make Your Own Morning Coffee- I…

At Oprah.com, financial experts David Bach, Jean Chatzky and Glinda Bridgforth offer a step-by-step action plan to help you get rid of your debt. The plan has 8 steps, and they concentrate on calculating your essential costs and cut back your excess costs – and stick to your spending plan! It is all about save…

Dumb Little Man has a really well thought-out and laid-out piece about how he handles banking. He says it’s not necessarily the “best” way to bank, but it’s his way. Of note in his system: 3 Bank Accounts- one for direct deposit, one each for his and his wife’s expenses. 2 Back-up/Emergency fund vehicles…

PearBudget is a free spreadsheet for budgeting and expense tracking. Simply enter your estimation of your spending every year, record your expenses with your receipts throughout the month – then it will give you a detail analysis automatically. It has pretty attractive design so you won’t get bored with it. One advantage is that you…

Because I’m dead center of trying to figure out my own personal financial Rubik’s Cube, and because I’ve been listening every day to the Financial Aid Podcast, I’ve had finance hacks on the brain. Besides, Graeme wanted me to talk about them, too. So, here goes 7 tips…

Spending is easy, saving is hard. Budgeting sometimes work for people, sometimes it just bears time. Richard Jenkins had experience, and by analyzing his spending pattern, he sees a solution. He determines to keep his comitted expenses at or below 60%. Then he plans his remaining 40% income on different type of spending: After analyzing our…

Chris Welch at InvestorGeeks shows us why renting may not be a bad idea. Normal perception shows paying mortgage for a house is better than renting – at least you could own the capital of the house progressively. However in this article, Chris runs through sometimes renting may not be a bad thing at all:…

There are lots of services out there that will do things on your behalf. You can drop your clothes off at the laundromat to get them washed and folded for you. You can purchase your groceries online and have them delivered to the house. You can pay people to mow your lawn and rake the…

Get Rich Slowly blog has a post on how to create an eBay auctions that has more money and bids than auctions with similar items. There are tips (13 of them!) on taking care of item title, description, what services should you offer etc: 5. Offer free shipping and delivery confirmation. You could charge for these…

JD over at Get Rich Slowly points us to this article on eating more of your meals at home. It’s got a mix of great tips, as well as further references to strengthen the idea further. There’s even a pizza recipe swiped from Terri’s mom. If you read personal finance blogs long enough, you’re…

Many people worries about retirement – The most frequently asked question should well be “how much should I really need?” Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine has a intensive article which answer this question. The article gives several examples with some solid suggestion on how to save your retirement funds: Young workers don’t need to get hung up…