Personal Finance Advice

I am frequently asked (and more often now that the economy is in the tank), “What can I do to generate some extra cash?” There are many ways to generate additional cash, some of them quicker than others. If you need a lot of cash, these tips alone probably won’t do it; few, if any, [...]

If you’re like me and you sell pretty much anything you don’t use anymore on eBay, then you do a lot of shipping. I hate to eat into my profit margin by paying for shipping supplies, though, so over the years I’ve found ways to minimize their cost. Whether you’re shipping things for your small [...]

In the current economy with layoffs, downsizing, and the flat-out lost job, there are a lot of professionals hoofing the street for a job as well as skilled laborers and unskilled workers. If all you’ve ever done is something as specific as, say, Title Insurance, how do you get the job at something “less” [...]

The summer of 1987 was a great summer for me. I was between the junior and senior years of college and had decided that I could give up the retail job that I had held since age 16. Instead, I took a job working at the Essex Institute (now the Peabody-Essex Museum) in [...]

Ambition is one of the elements that made the United States an economic powerhouse. The drive to work hard and succeed spawned innovation, efficiency, and opportunity. Over the course of time ambition was a characteristic of millions of Americans and put them in positive financial situations. What some may not have known, [...]

While at a networking event the other day, I couldn’t help but overhear a conversation between two guys. The first guy was complaining about how much he hated his job. He said he couldn’t stand the job, the people, the commute, the stress, the hours, or any of it. The only thing he liked was [...]

I recently mentioned Martha, my trash-exploring next door neighbor when I was a child. Martha always found creative ways to make money, whether it was through her yard sales, plant sales or barn-based general store. She made money on her crafts and her preserves. If she touched it, she found a way [...]

I grew up in a small town to the North of Boston, Massachusetts. When I was very young, it was the epitome of a quiet New England town with hundreds of years of history. My family lived next door to Martha and Dick T., a delightful couple who were somewhat older than [...]

AC/DC released their first album in 8 years on October 20th, 2008 and within a week, Black Ice hit number one on the Billboard Hard Rock chart. They have sold over 200 million albums worldwide. They were ranked number 4 in the “100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock” list from VH1 and 7th on MTV’s [...]

John and Jane Doe desperately want to be debt-free. They’ve sliced and diced their credit cards and cut their expenses until they’re living on next to nothing but macaroni and mooched meals off relatives. They recycle and reuse. They never go out like in the good old days and a night of fun is a [...]

I recently spoke with a friend who is heading to Walt Disney World soon. She was so excited because she has managed to amass $1,200 in cash and Disney gift cards by participating in several “Get Paid To” (GPT) programs and survey websites. This money will pay for the majority of her family’s spending while [...]

First off, we are in need of a coupon blogger to write at least 2 posts a week (more if desired). This is a paid blogging position, but it doesn’t pay a great deal. The position would likely only be of interest to someone who does a lot of couponing and would like to share [...]

In the previous article, I briefly described how I opened an internet Bakery. I didn’t go into the details on how I kept it running on a day to day basis or what products sold the best or even what kind of profits I made. Suffice it to say that my little domestic kitchen more [...]

At the beginning of this year, I was looking for a way to supplement our income. I do seasonal data processing and the spring season had not yet begun. I had prior experience with selling handmade jewelry on the internet and had all ready decided that I wanted to use the internet for my venue. [...]

A friend of mine recently told me her money secret. She has a modest job, yet always has the latest gadgets: flat screen TVs, home theater system, the works. She also recently had new carpet put in her basement and bought an air-hockey table for her rec room.
I finally asked her how on [...]

I grew up hearing my dad say “Most people don’t know how money works.” He is a Certified Financial Planner, and while there were a few drawbacks growing up the son of a financial planner (no Gameboy or frivolous purchases unless we had saved up for them in advance), it also had huge advantages. [...]

One of the most common wishes I hear from people is, “I wish I could work from home.” And the thought that almost always immediately follows that is, “But I don’t know what I could do or how to go about it.” Either that or I hear, “Poor me. There’s nothing that I can [...]

As children, we are often taught by our parents to do well in school, go to college and get a good job to succeed financially in life? We have all heard that being active and hard work will make us healthy and wealthy. But being an active participant isn’t always good for your financial health. [...]

If you’re reading this, chances are good that you have regular access to a computer and an Internet connection. You probably rely on your computer to accomplish a lot of things (and waste some time), but do you realize that computers and the Internet are some of the most powerful tools you can have in [...]

We’re searching for a new contributing writer for this blog. This is a paid position on a per article basis (it’s not a huge amount, but probably more than the average personal finance blogger is currently making). We will consider anyone who has an interest in writing about personal finances, but it will certainly help [...]