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It appears that in both the U.S. and Britain, unemployment numbers are still up while earnings increases are still down.  Although the stock market is bouncing around and seeming to tend towards going up some days and down others, the unemployment numbers suggest that the economy is still not quite making the recovery that everyone is hoping it will make. However, although the unemployment numbers are discouraging, hearing news like Obama’s plan to provide opportunities for training/education money to unemployed parties seems like one of the better solutions I have heard. (more…)

From watching the stock market and listening to all the different projections being batted about, its really hard to know what is going on with our economy today. Some days things are up, other days they are tumbling back down, and some analysts are predicting the Dow a 11,000 while others say its going  back to the $3200 range… So, I guess perhaps the general consensus about the economy, recession, and recovery, seems to be that there is no consensus and it is too early to form an opinion?  (more…)

On July 29, the minimum wage in the United States going to rise from $6.55 an hour to $7.25 an hour.  Minimum wage in the UK is also set to rise, although there the minimum wage is set by age group and differs for adults over 22 (an interesting and valuable idea, I think, since it makes sense to have different and higher wage requirements for those who are supporting a family on their paycheck than those working for pocket change or weekend spending money).  Much attention has been paid to whether it is in fact possible to support a family while working a minimum wage job in America (Nickel and Dimed, Waging a Living are 2 examples that come to mind).  However, although the question seems to have been analyzed to death, I figure I might as well ask it again.  (more…)

I mentioned in a previous post that my ex boyfriend is having some money management difficulties now that we have broken up. One thing he seems to be doing again, as he did years ago, is taking cash advances on his credit cards to cover expenses like rent and other credit card bills.  This is one of the worst possible things that you can do- the interest rates are extremely high and typically credit card companies apply payments to lower interest rate items first (although I believe this is changing with the new consumer protection laws), so it is especially problematic if you take cash advances on a credit card where you already owe a balance. (more…)

I had written on this blog in the past about how I was getting out of debt, and I also mentioned that the person who was my significant other at the time had a great deal of debt as well.  Now that he is no longer my significant other, I am still doing fairly well at getting out of debt.  I spend almost nothing, and I have increased my income a fair amount over the past two months in order to make larger debt payments.  My ex, on the other hand, is not doing well.  He had been very responsible when were together, but I saw him the other day and he was talking about buying expensive electronics, and even worse- he has started spending money on cigarettes and other mind-altering habits that provide little in the way of benefit and a lot in the way of cost.  He is in even more debt than I am, and he was doing so well at getting it paid off when we were together, that I honestly just don’t know what he is thinking.  The only possibilities that really come to mind are that he is either unable to stay motivated on his own, he doesn’t know how, or he is in complete denial of his situation (which is not a great one)… (more…)

This past few months, I have really been trying to develop my freelance writing career.  I have almost achieved the point now where I am making decent enough money to be satisfied- but I am definitely working a lot.  If I took a different sort of job- out of the house, doing something I find tedious and boring- I could make in 7 or 8 hours what I make in 10 or even 12 hours.  But, to me, I’d rather work a little longer than have to go to work at a job I don’t love and sit there all day doing tedious nonsense.   I don’t even mind working this extra hours, because my schedule is my own and I can be flexible about when I work them.  The tradeoff is an easy one to make.  I imagine it would be a little more of a question for those with youngs kids or other families that they don’t want to spend additional time away from- would the tradeoff still be worth it then, to spend twice as long working at something you love for the same money?

Earn $25+ from Lending Club to start investing when you sign up through this link (Please note- that link is my referral link).  Lending Club gives you a free $25, which you can lend on any one of the many available loans.  It only takes a second to sign up and pick a loan.  Then, the loan gets paid back w/ interest over time… so you will end up earning $25 plus interest but you just can’t get the money out right away, you have to wait until the loan is paid back.

It is a really gret deal- I earned a bonus when I signed up and invested it and I’ve already made $6 in interest for doing nothing!

I hope everyone is having a nice holiday.  As we remember those brave soldiers who gave their lives for the country, it is a good day to ask ourselves if we are making all the appropriate sacrifices for the greater good.  Are we foregoing temporary pleasures for our long term financial success?  Are we placing a higher premium on the needs of our family and loved ones than on our quest to increase our net worth?  Are we giving to those less fortunate than ourselves, even if we too are struggling?  If not, why not?

For me, memorial day always signals the true start of summer- warm days, and sunshine are coming

I have 4 now… 3 of them I opened to get free stuff.  I only really use 2 of them (and that is because I need to keep 2 paypal addresses separate and you can’t have the same bank account for 2 different paypal accounts).  Still, I have to remember to check the others periodically to make sure that there is no problem with them (no random fees, etc.)  I really just need to close the accounts, but for some reason that seems like it takes so much effort, even though it really doesn’t (hopefully!)…

My dad is getting ready to retire in October (he is really, really ready- he has a countdown calendar on his desk).  He is lucky, though, because he worked for the government for 20 years and as such he gets a pretty nice government pension.  Its a good thing too, because he did not follow conventional advice and move his 401K into safer investments even though he is close to retirement age, and, well, I think we all know where that story is going and he lost a lot of money along with the rest of the world.  (more…)