Nurturing, even when you wouldn’t have it any other way, can be tiring.
Sara is over two weeks old already, and I can’t believe how tired I am. I knew beforehand that there will be sleepless nights, but nothing prepares you like real world conditions. I actually just woke up, but I thought I had more energy when I went to bed. Everyone tells me that it gets better after 3 months, and hearing that makes me feel better. So today, let me repay the favor and tell you this:
Frugal living can be tiring sometimes, but it gets better and easier with time. At first, you need a conscious effort to save. Eventually though, decisions seem to become second nature and pretty soon, you will be scratching your head and wondering why other people need to spend the way they do. Emma and I always ask ourselves whether we are being a little too frugal (no doubt everyone’s comments about our lifestyle contribute to this), but our discussion always ends with “but we are happy being the way we are”. And… isn’t that the end goal? To be happy?
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On the surface, it seems like owning a business only makes your personal finances more complicated. You have to deal with more paperwork when tax season rolls around and you have to keep books for your business. But while the financial paperwork does increase, having a business of your own can make a big difference in your personal finances in a positive way.
Tax Breaks
As a business owner, there are often opportunities to reduce your tax burden. Business expenses are tax deductible and, if your business is based on something you’d be doing anyway, you may even be able to deduct purchases you’d make whether or not you run a business. You do want to be sure that such an expense is actually necessary to the success of your business, so you can show proof when the IRS audits you.
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One of the things that many people wonder about is what accounts to invest in first. There are so many choices now, with online brokerages making it easy to open trading accounts. However, before you begin investing a great deal in a regular investment account, it’s a good idea to take stock of your tax advantaged options. Retirement accounts offer chances for you to reduce your tax liability while you save for the future, so money you want saved for long term should go there first.
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Mainstreet.com put together an interesting chart, detailing the top 10 states with the most millionaires. It’s ranked by percentage, and the results show that you will most likely meet a millionaire in Hawaii.
Reading these are always fun, so first, here are the numbers.
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Having an air conditioner can significantly increase your utility costs during the summer. Gone are the days of opening windows and putting up with the heat. Homes are usually built with central air incorporated unless you are fortunate enough to live in a cool and dry climate year round. If you want to save some money and still enjoy your air conditioner, here are some ideas.
Window Mounted Units
Contrary to popular opinion, bigger is not always better when it comes to air conditioning. Figure out the square footage of the room before you purchase, but take into consideration higher than normal ceilings and the amount of sunlight that enters from windows. A larger unit takes more energy to power.
If you have a fan in the room, use it even when the air conditioner is on. The fan helps circulate air in the room, cooling it more efficiently. Additionally, moving air feels cooler than still air, so you can get away with a higher temperature and still feel comfortable.
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Are you in debt but have never thought about paying it off faster by reducing your debt obligations? You should…
I am still on the edge about whether or not to do balance transfers. I have three credit card that have a total balance of $2037.84. I am wanting to it off completely within 6-8 months. My annual APR’S are 20.24%, 10.25%, and 22.90%.
I have no doubt that I will be able to pay off within 8 months and I always pay my cards on time.
I just can’t figure out how much I would pay for the transfer fee (whether it was 3% or 5%) and how much I would actually save with 0% interest on balance transfers.
Though the precise calculation needs a fair bit of specifics that aren’t provided here, we can make some assumptions and still make this exercise worth while. We will assume that the total balance is spread out on the three cards and therefore having an annual APR of 17.80% with a rough monthly interest rate of 1.48% (I know this isn’t technically correct, but this is adequate for making the point). We will further assume that Danielle, the reader, is going to pay an equal amount for 8 straight months to pay off the entire balance.
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