Whether we admit it or not, many of us have mixed the word hate in the same sentence as our job at one point or another. Sometimes, it’s after a long argument with the boss. Other times, it’s caused by the hopeless feeling when a month long project is expected to be completed by Friday.
With the economy the way it is, it’s even easier to feel down about your career. Chances are good that someone in the office is in deep financial trouble. The added stress more than likely caused additional tension in work relationships, and tension just leads to more despair.
If this sounds familiar, know that complaining to people around you is the last thing you should do because it doesn’t change the situation one bit. Instead, here’s a list of more productive actions you can take.
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Sometimes, the timely smack in the head is what we need. That’s why it’s nice to read this guest post from Adrienne, who gives us some commonly known anecdote to our problem of not saving enough. We’ve all read the money saving tips, but how many of us really practice them on a daily basis?
These are bad times financially; people are losing jobs they’ve held for years and suitable alternative employment is hard to come by. All you can do is make ends meet and avoiding to get into more debt seems like an accomplishment in itself. So when people talk of saving money, you’re ready with your sarcastic look – “How on earth am I supposed to save when I hardly have enough to get by each day?” But, saving money is so important that there’s no excuse even if your income dropped a bit. The good part is that you can do it as long as you focus on the task. Here are a few high level suggestions to get you started:
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The personal finance community always talk about online savings accounts but seldom, if ever, does anyone inquire about the actual institution that readers use. Why only listen to one of us talk about a particular offering when everyone on the face of this planet have experiences with them? Today, let’s find out by asking.
Which online bank (if any) do you use for your savings? Are you using it out of convenience or is it because you think the online savings account you use is the best out there?
Of course, it wouldn’t be fair for me to pose the question and not share, so let me share my online savings history.
Disclaimer: I have accounts with a ton of banks, but these are online savings accounts that I actually deposited a meaningful amount for a certain period of time.
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When you go out to dinner with friends, one of you will inevitably request to pay the total with a credit card. Sometimes, it’s due to a legitimate reason like not having cash but more and more, it’s due to more selfish ones – rewards or an interest free loan with 0% purchase credit cards.
How do you feel about that?
Some even take it a step further and try to expense these dinners as business entertainment to deduct taxes. Never mind that it’s ILLEGAL, but what about the moral issues? Chances are, someone who does this a) isn’t going to tell you about it and b) is not going to share the “profits” with the group. What if they use 0% balance transfer credit cards? Does that change things?
Let me ask you: Do you have any ideas in dealing with this so everyone feels better and fairly treated? Is this even a problem with your group of friends?
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Off and on, I’ve been thinking about buying a rental property but for some strange reason, the idea of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT) never crossed my radar. Over the weekend, a conversation with a former coworker sparked my interest in this sector again, and this time, I decided to compare a rental property with REIT. After a bit of research, let me share with you what I learned.
First, The Real Estate Conversation
Over the past year, one of my co-worker bought an income property for $140,000. According to him, he is getting $1,500+ in rent a month and after calculating all the association, property taxes and such, he is getting a 9% return on investment. With a strong cash flow like that, he can afford to wait until prices of housing finally go back to a normal upward trajectory, which is rather impressive. (now you know why I was interested…)
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The book that I wrote, The Little Budget Travel Book, is out as you know, but many of you have some questions and emailing me for answers. Here are some of the more common ones for those of you wondering the same thing.
Note: This is already circulated within the frugal newsletter. If you read this already, don’t worry because you are not imaging things 🙂
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