Personal Finance Advice

One of the biggest disgraces of the school system is that it often fails to teach basics that we all need for everyday life once we graduate. A prime example of this is basic personal finances. If we could get more students to graduate from high school with a basic understanding of how personal finances [...]

Years ago when I was first thinking about self-employment, one thing scared me above all others. Taxes. It sounds silly, but I was terrified of screwing it all up and ending up in jail. Estimated taxes, quarterly payments, and self-employment deductions freaked me out so badly that it almost seemed better to stay employed with [...]

If you’re someone who doesn’t have the time or sufficient knowledge of the tax code to prepare your own tax returns, you might be wondering how to find a quality professional to do your taxes. After all, just because someone will accept money in exchange for preparing a tax return doesn’t make them good at [...]

When thoughts turn to getting more cash every month, many people assume that they’ll have to take a second job. That may be true. If your financial situation is dire or if you have your heart set on some big ticket item, a second job may be the only way to get to the necessary [...]

I have mentioned my elder son, who tends to pursue a less than industrious path at times. In contrast, I also have a son who zealously protects every penny that he gets in the hope that he can purchase a condominium and become his brother’s landlord. As my thrifty son pointed out, he assumes that [...]

I have been walking regularly to many errands to save money on gas, wear-and-tear on the car, and to tamp down the urge to spend money on a gym membership. While an energizing and cleansing experience, these walks reveal unpleasant sights in my city: litter, leaves clogging street drains, and stray shopping carts. These are [...]

Now that back to school season is upon us, my state and many others are promoting their upcoming tax free weekends. These are the weekends where you can buy items from certain categories and escape the state and/or local sales taxes on those items. The rules vary by state, but typically the items you can [...]

It seems everything is taxable — even coupons! I never questioned the small print on the coupons I use, at least not the part about the customer paying sales tax. (I don’t understand why a manufacturer can say a coupon shouldn’t be doubled when it’s the retailer that makes a doubling offer, but that’s not [...]

“Falling housing market.” “Possible recession.” “Troubled economy.” These phrases have been buzzing around lately in the media. Real estate prices were going up and many people decided to buy more house than they could afford with unconventional mortgage terms. Now the house prices are falling in many areas and people can’t keep up with their [...]

Before money existed, people exchanged goods and services through bartering. Even after money became the logical solution to the problem of finding someone who could offer what you wanted and wanted what you had to offer, bartering remained a viable alternative way to do business. Today, as the Internet has enabled more would-be barterers to [...]

I recently stumbled upon the idea of a different tax system that some are advocating our country change to called The Fair Tax. I don’t know if my head has been in the sand about this or if many other people have never heard of it as well. It was an interesting concept to me [...]