I recently read that the key to financial success is to save more, make more and make wiser choices and decisions pertaining to your money. I would definitely save more if I were to make more money. However, I don’t. So, I think the key at this time is not to make more to save more. The key is to cut expenses and reorganize our expenses to fit our income, our economy and the unknown.
Here are 5 basic things that we overlook:
Give your car a check-up.
Finding yourself without transportation is not as painful as having to pay unexpected expenses to fix your car. Keep your car in good health. Do change your oil as requested by the car manufacturer, and make sure you give your car a good check up to identify early upcoming expenses.
Review your cell phone plan.
It is incredible how many people have cell phones with monthly plans that do not accurately represent their monthly usage. Don’t be a fool. If most of the months you are going over your minutes, it is time for an upgrade. At the end it is a money saver.
Get rid of your home phone.
This may sound crazy. But, my brother in law cancelled his home phone service because he realized that he really was not using it. Most people would call his cell phone first anyway, and he had a good cell phone plan that would allow him enough minutes to easily get by every month without having to pay for additional minutes. Because of this, he is now saving around $40 a month.
Cancel memberships that you do not need.
Magazines that you do not really read, that gym membership that you do not use, etc. Get rid of all of them and you will have extra money.
Do not go to the mall.
Okay, I know this will be a hard one, but every time I go to the mall, even if it is to just do window shopping, I always end up spending at least $20 either on food, coffee, magazines or things that I really do not need.
About two weeks ago a colleague of mine was laid off. I was really sad for her because I knew she was a single parent with two kids. I called her last night because I wanted to see how she was doing, and to my surprise I found out she was doing well after all. She told me she kind of suspected that she was going to be laid off, and in anticipation of that, she had set up a small Virtual Administrative Assistance office in her home!
A Virtual Assistant (VA) is an entrepreneur who works closely with a limited number of clients from home, communicating via the Internet, phone or fax. VA’s use outstanding administrative and organizational skills to handle a variety of projects such as bookkeeping, desktop publishing, research, meeting and travel planning, project management and public relations.
Here are the tips I got from my colleague:
1. Decide what services you are going to offer and to whom you would like to offer those services.
2. Name and register your business. It is really important to always have a legal entity before you conduct business. This will make sure that in case of any liability, your personal assets are protected. I absolutely recommend that you use an attorney to create the business for you.
3. Buy your equipment. You will need to have the basics: fax, telephone line, computer, printer, cell phone, computer programs, pens, pencils, papers and tons of sticky notes.
4. Have a Website. A website is a must in today’s internet era. Your clients will want to learn more about you, and having a website is a way for them to do that. You can have all the information that a client may need on your website, including your contact information.
5. Market yourself. This tough economy is making life difficult for many companies. Employers that are downsizing are looking to hire independent contractors, people that can do the work without the responsibility of having to pay benefits. Your marketing campaigns should include but not be limited to: cold call letters, postcards, newsletters, press releases, referral programs, ads in local news papers, etc. You can also bid for jobs at job market places such as Monster.com or Guru.com.
7. Do a good job. The only way to keep a client is to make sure to complete you tasks in a timely and friendly manner. As a VA, you must be very organized. Always send a thank you card to your clients after each new project. This will give you the opportunity to ask for referrals to their friends and family.
Last night we heard President Obama’s address to the American people. Some of the things that resonated from his speech were:
The Education Challenge:
“In a global economy where the most valuable skill you can sell is your knowledge, a good education is no longer just a pathway to opportunity – it is a prerequisite.”
President Obama made it clear that it was the responsibility of every American citizen to participate in the education of America’s children, and that it was the responsibility of every American to meet the challenge to strengthen America’s global presence. To the American youth, he stated, dropping out of school is not an option, “because that is not only quitting on yourself, but quitting on your country.”
Obama challenged parents as well. He asked mothers and fathers to become actively involved in their child’s education: to attend parent/teachers conferences, to help with homework, and to set aside time to stimulate the young minds. For without adult guidance and commitment, the seeds of opportunity could easily be uprooted.
The Energy Challenge:
“We know the country that harnesses the power of clean, renewable energy will lead the 21st century.”
President Obama accurately stated that to truly transform our economy, to make our economy independent of foreign oil, and to save the environment, America will need to make clean renewable energy the profitable kind of energy. To do this Obama proposed investing 15 billion dollars in wind power, solar energy, advanced biofuels and clean coal.
Obama noted that an important partner in meeting and conquering America’s energy challenge will be the automobile industry. The auto industry will be required to make drastic changes if it is to survive and to continue to complete globally.
The Health Care Challenge:
To reform health care, to make it more affordable for millions of Americans and their families, and for employers who provide heath care benefits for employees, is indeed going to be a great challenge for the Obama administration. However, the time for action is now. Congress can no longer just pay lip service to reform, it must act. For without health care reform, our budget deficit will be even greater in years to come.
What are your thoughts on President’s Obama address?
If you would like to read Obama’s entire speech, you can do so at the Huffington Post.com.
With all the lay-offs and downsizing happening over the past several months, many employees who had invested in their company’s 401(k) are left wondering about what to do with the 401(k) plan they invested in. Suze Orman, author of several books on personal finance offers the following advice in her book – The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous & Broke:
Do not cash out your 401(k).
Why, you are wondering shouldn’t you cash out? Now is the time when you could use the extra cash. Well, Suze says if you cash out now, you will pay an income tax penalty on that withdrawal, in addition you will also pay a 10 % penalty for making an early withdrawal. Finally, if you withdraw or cash out, you will no longer have that money working and growing for you for your retirement.
Do not leave the money where it is.
Again, you ask, why not? Well, if you leave the money in your old company’s plan, you will be limited by the funds offered in that plan. By rolling the money over into an IRA, you will be able to invest your money in anything you want.
If you recently got a new job, Suze also cautions against rolling over your 401(k) from your old employer plan to the new employer’s plan. Why? Again you will be limited by the funds offered in the new employer’s plan rather than being able to invest freely into funds of your choice.
Do an IRA rollover.
Suze suggests that this is the best possible move. Doing a traditional IRA rollover means that you can transfer your 401(k) balance out of your old employer’s plan into an IRA account that you set up at a discount brokerage firm or a no-load mutual fund company that has low expenses. The advantage to doing a roll-over into an IRA is that you will not incur any taxes or penalties. Why? Because you are simply moving your money from one tax-deferred retirement plan to another.
If you found this advice helpful and wanted to find out more, you can pick up a copy of Suze Orman’s book The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous & Broke, or watch her on CNBC-TV on Saturdays, check your local listings for air time.
Earlier last week, I wrote a post about how using certain internet social networking sites could be helpful to you in a job search. It has dawned on me, that while many of you are aware of Facebook and LinkedIn, you may be wondering what Twitter is all about.
is a fairly recently created medium that allows people to blog instantaneously with each other. Twitterers are only allowed to use up to a maximum of 140 characters to write their message. So, the messages or “tweets” as they are called are relatively short posts or bursts of conversation about what the Twitterer is doing at that moment.
This micro-blogging phenomenon has caught afire and now has approximately six million users. To post on Twitter one has to have an account. Within your account, you can then create your profile or bio. The next step after acquiring an account is to begin Twittering with others. Finding other Twitterers can be as simple as using a Twitter directory such as Twellow or JustTweetIt, or if you already know other users of Twitter, do a search for them and find and follow them. An advantage to using a directory is that it enables you to find other users with similar interests as yourself that you can begin to follow. As you become part of the conversation, you will find that others will also begin to follow you. For some additional tips and information on how to become an effective Twitterer, check out TwiTip.com.
With as many as six million people tweeting all day long on Twitter, you can see how important Twitter has become as a networking resource. As I mentioned in my earlier post - Job Hunting? Are You using Internet Social Networks as a Resource? – it was fascinating to read how several people were able to use their connections on Twitter to generate leads that landed them that new job.
So, if you are not currently a Twitterer, you might want to reconsider and give it a Twirl. You never know, the next “tweet” you encounter could be your next big opportunity!
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is a fairly recently created medium that allows people to blog instantaneously with each other. Twitterers are only allowed to use up to a maximum of 140 characters to write their message. So, the messages or “tweets” as they are called are relatively short posts or bursts of conversation about what the Twitterer is doing at that moment. 
