How to Lose Money Everyday in 80 Foolish Ways

August 10, 2011
By

As a personal finance reader, most of the time you have read various ways to save and earn more money. Sometimes it helps to know various different ways to lose your money too. The secret of saving lies more in how much you can save rather than on how much you can make. Knowing things that can qualify as ‘losing money’ can help you seal the leak. Do you really need these? Paying for gym membership Buying penny stocks Buying lotto/lottery tickets Buying dresses every week or every month Having daily coffee shot at Starbucks or other coffee joints Paying for week-end shopping spree Paying for magazine subscription if that magazine is not improving your life style or increasing earning potential Using car for short distance travel Not using comparison websites for car, hotel and flight reservation Not paying off full credit card balance every month Paying govt. using credit card, since they always charge service charge for credit cards Charging your loans on credit card Preparing shopping list after searching coupons and discounts, rather than the opposite Paying for fraudulent charges by not properly scrutinizing bills Drawing check before checking bank balance Buying software when alternative is available for free (ex. MS

Read more »


{ 35 Comments }

Things To Consider Before Creating Emergency Fund

August 9, 2011
By

This is a guest post from John Border, a fellow Yakezie, he is a banker and author of the blog Stock Market Basics You definitely need to have that liquid cash readily accessible for you needs like a sudden health issue, or loss of job or even unexpected expenses. That liquid cash is something that you will need to consciously build before you start putting money into some of the best investments that you have planned for the retirement. Size of the fund and the peace of mind The size of the emergency fund is something that you will need to define for yourself. Typically this fund should be equal to 3 to 6 months of income however, I do not think that is a fair calculation. The emergency fund should be based on some hard cold facts, like your monthly expenses. That you will be able to arrive at only if you have budget and you know how much goes out each month. If you are not budgeting, I would suggest that you start doing it right away else there is no way you will be build an accurate corpus of an emergency fund and I am sure that there

Read more »


{ 13 Comments }

How to Become Rich: Save 1hr Of Wage Per Day, Easy

August 8, 2011
By
How to Become Rich: Save 1hr Of Wage Per Day, Easy

There are two reasons people take up blogging, first, to educate others and second to educate themselves. My reader can tell how successful I am towards first point; I can tell you that my knowledge is growing by leaps and bounds. Since I took up writing a few months ago, I read numerous web sites and blogs; now a day I am reading books. I pick good reads from library to get self-educated on few things I am still unaware of. Today I had an amazing discovery that I want to share with you. This post is second in my ‘How to become rich’ series after the first post “Best way to become rich is by finding time to be rich“. What to do to become rich Easily You can be rich by just saving 1 hr of your wage every day. Spend rest of wage as per your wish. I want to thank David Bach for guiding me towards this simple calculation. Average hourly wage in America is $18.5 and by all means I will assume your hourly wage is more than $20. For calculation sake I will assume your wage to be $20 per hour. $20 per day by

Read more »


{ 23 Comments }

Seven Links At OCAAT

August 6, 2011
By

Blogging is so funny; there are so many activities going on in the world of blogging, such as Carnivals, Round-ups, guest posting, blog swap and now a new one, Seven Links Project. There are seven categories in this blog game and we have to nominate our best post that falls under the categories. It’s tough job to do, if you are asked to pick your best child, will you be able to do that? I was nominated by Retire By 40 and I have to take part in it to keep the spirit up in our blogging community. I will consider this as a round-up of my site. Your Most Beautiful Post Enjoy Life and Save Money by Taking staycation, I am sure most of you have missed it. Few very frugal staycation ideas have been mentioned and they all are beautiful family activities. I did decorate the post with three beautiful pictures. Follow the link and see how you can save vacation money when you decide to enjoy the surrounding. Your Most Controversial Post This one was not an easy pick, after a close fight between two posts, Do you need Netflix, I don’t wins. This post generated a lot of

Read more »


{ 13 Comments }

Stock Market Blues : I Have Started Buying Today

August 5, 2011
By

Statutory Warning: Stock market investment is the most risky investment possible. Stocks may lose its entire value, leaving you with no money and no future! (My version of the disclaimer) Saying the above warning let me confess that I started buying selective shares starting today. This is investment, not trading. I don’t trade stocks, I invest in stocks that means I buy and hold them for long-term. I do not follow Cramers of the world or for that matter any TV expert. I don’t go to alphas and fools for their advice either.  I believe only in Buffet and his philosophy. Buy when everybody is selling and sell when every body is buying For past few months I was waiting for this day, the day when Dow will be below 11,500 to buy some more stocks to add on to current portfolio. I invest 15% of my monthly saving in to stocks, and I save 50% of my salary, so I invest 7.5% of salary in stocks. I wasn’t buying any share since April and this money was sitting in checking account waiting for its turn to be picked up. My stock investment strategy might sound funny as I buy

Read more »


{ 19 Comments }

6 People To Befriend For Saving Money

August 4, 2011
By

The idea of writing on this topic came, the moment I heard that one of my friends gets her hair done for free, by her neighbor who happen to be a hair stylist by profession. She gives, in exchange, cake decorating lessons, although it’s not always give and take between them. There are certain things in our lives for which we depend on experts, we pay money for the services we otherwise can’t do our self. What could have happened had you gotten these services for free? You could have saved a fortune by now. Imagine you have your friends who are experts on areas like car servicing or hair stylists. So much money you spend every year on these  two items alone, what if you request them to take care of your car or your hair? I agree you should give something of equal value in return and why not pay them by something you are really good at? If you don’t have anything to offer, why don’t you learn something that can be valuable to them? Yes, I am talking about the ancient tradition of bartering, but, bartering of service rather than the goods. Here are the people you should befriend to

Read more »


{ 22 Comments }

Its American Express Serve vs PayPal In Digital Payment Landscape

August 3, 2011
By
Its American Express Serve vs PayPal In Digital Payment Landscape

Beware people at PayPal, Your dominance in person-to-person payment is now threatened. You now have competitors in Google wallet, visa and AMEX Serve, to name just the major ones. Mobile payment market is expected to grow to $640B by 2014 and big companies are working hard towards grabbing the largest pie of it. Advent of technology coupled with few fresh ideas resulted in mushrooming of start- ups in digital payment landscape. Companies with big fat wallet were quick to notice this opportunity and grabed the most potential ones. American Express grabbed a company called ‘Revolution Money’ and after the amalgamation the product, which went live in March, is called ‘Serve’.  At present PayPal captures the majority share in P2P payment, with nearest rivals not even close to it in terms of revenue. No wonder that the likes of Google, Visa and American Express are trying to enter in this lucrative and fastest growing payment industry. Since its launch, Serve has really grown bigger piggy backing on Amex’s muscle power and brand value. The recent news of serve tying up with Face Book, Patch.com, Foursquare, Sprint and most recently, Verizon wireless is customary to that fact. Why you should one ditch PayPal in favor

Read more »


{ 17 Comments }

Do You Need Store Credit Card? I Don’t

August 2, 2011
By

One of the life ruining financial decisions you could ever make is applying for store credit card. I know some people who fell for it and ended up giving out financial freedom. You must have heard credit cards are dangerous tools to play with (Not Always). If banks credit cards are pistols, store cards are assault rifles, the kind Arnold Schwarzenegger used in Terminator. How often you hear from the clerk at the counter offering you 10% off, 20% off or even 30% off just by applying for store card? Many of us do fall for this, actually $20 instant save on $100 shopping is too good to resist. Why you should never apply for store credit cards 1. They lower your credit score  - When opened within a short interval multiple store cards drastically reduce credit score. Personal stories on net reveals 30 -70 credit points loss. his loss may even result in paying one percentage point more interest rate on every loan you take. 2. They have unusually high APR – Store cards generally charge up to 20% APR, ridiculously higher than the cards offer by our banks. If you don’t pay in full every month, you will end up

Read more »


{ 39 Comments }

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in this web site are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”