Single Occupancy: Saving for Your Rainy Day Travels
January 24, 2010 by melanien
Filed under Single Occupancy, Travel
One of the questions I’m asked most often from readers is, “How do you afford to travel?” Well, it’s not easy. We all have bills to pay, rent is always due and despite my best efforts, I still haven’t paid off my credit cards. But when it comes to travel, I’m smart about how and [...]
Curb Appeal: Quick Fixes Before Selling Your Home
May 3, 2009 by allison
Filed under Real Estate
It’s still a crazy time in the United States real estate market. There are neighborhoods where two or three houses on the block have been abandoned, and other neighborhoods where anxious buyers are bidding up home sale prices.
What does that mean for the single woman who needs to sell her home?
As I have said frequently [...]
How To Prepare for Lean Financial Times
Don’t worry, this isn’t another albeit generally amusing ad for Capital One credit cards.
But the bank’s signature slogan, “What’s in your wallet?” does, at this difficult time, raise an interesting question.
Typically in times of plenty, we think little about contingency and reserve funds. When times are lean, having some extra resources is just about all [...]
The Right Way to Do Your Taxes
April 5, 2009 by josieb
Filed under Editor's Picks, Personal Finances, money-page-feature
Oh yes, it is that time of year again, and if you don’t have your act together to file by midnight on April 15, do the smart thing… file an income tax extension.
This is relatively painless. The extension form takes just a couple of minutes to fill out. Form 4868, available at IRS.gov — Application [...]
Why First Home Buyers Should Purchase Now
March 30, 2009 by josieb
Filed under Money, Real Estate
If you’re waiting for church bells to ring and blue birds to land on your shoulder and twerp “Now is the time to jump into the real estate market,” you’re probably going to remain on the sidelines holding on for a very long time.
There never has been– nor is it likely that there ever will [...]
Identity Theft: How to Protect Yourself
In the course of a busy day, you may write a check at the grocery store, charge tickets to a ball game, rent a car, mail your tax returns, change service providers for your cell phone, or apply for a credit card. Chances are you don’t give these everyday transactions a second thought.
But an identity [...]
Don’t Know Much About Economy: Teens Have Low Financial IQs
March 9, 2009 by allison
Filed under Money, Personal Finances
In 1958 Sam Cooke wrote a hit song, Wonderful World, which bemoaned how high school students knew about love and lust, but little about history, biology, science and French. Now you can add “economics” to that long list of subjects that so many of us know so little about.
As recently reported in an article entitled, [...]
The New Part-Time Worker
February 23, 2009 by admin
Filed under Managing Your Career
In order to save money, some companies have cut employees’ hours, essentially moving full-time workers to part-time status. In other instances, people who had difficulty finding full-time employment have taken one or more part-time jobs.
But who exactly is the new part-time worker? Pay attention, because—if she isn’t you already—this might be your future status.
Then and [...]
Holiday Gifts for Staff and Boss
January 11, 2009 by admin
Filed under People Issues
Q. Help! I have to buy holiday gifts for the five people who work for me, plus my boss. My budget is extremely tight this year and I can’t afford much, but I don’t want to look cheap. Any ideas?
A. The expression “it’s the thought that counts” seems to have new meaning in the current [...]
Money Advice: The Business of Taking an Educated Guess
When I took on the job of being the money editor for SingleMindedWomen.com I had no idea that all eyes were about to shift to, as we say in the parlance of journalism, my beat. Nearly a year ago I did a piece asking if the downturn in such places as Starbucks and FedEx Kinko’s [...]
