Lisa McMillan is the manager of the Georgian College web team and self proclaimed social networking addict.
While working, she spends most of her time mixing things up, making IT wish she didn't work there, and trying desperately to design the college site and make it usable. Her team is top notch. You'd want to steal them from her, but she won't let you.
In her spare time she plays with her iPhone, her macbookpro, and her cats. She is also slowly becoming an expert RockBand guitar player.
You probably know her as @lisamac, but she's going by @lisawantscake after the infamous hacking incident of '09. Make friends with her. She likes you already.
I use a service called Evernote to fulfill my pack-rat and archiving needs. Evernote is a service “in the cloud” that you can dump notes, documents, photos, and tweets into for future access from any computer with Internet access. (Jennifer Van Grove also talks about it in openforum.com
We have hand picked the 25 most badass Personal finance websites in 5 key categories Debt Reduction, Frugality, Retirement, Taxes, Investing, Money Deals, Banking and Credit Cards, Religious Finance, Life School and Money.
Popular Canada Coupon Codes
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Once you’ve invoiced a client and received payment, what do you do with your money? The typical answer is that it goes into your bank account, along with any other income you earn from employers or through other sources. It’s a simple approach, allowing you to spend your money without any problems. But that doesn’t mean that it is quite as simple when it comes to keeping your books.
Separating Your Business and Personal Finances
I know a woman who works part time in retail, as well as selling her artwork and taking on freelance graphic design projects. All of her income goes into one bank account, which she uses to buy art supplies, pay her student loans and give her tax preparer a headache.
In order to determine just how much of her spending is for business expenses (and therefore tax deductible), she has to go through her records transaction by transaction to determine whether each one was personal or for her freelance business. If nothing else, that process takes up a lot of time she could be spending on finding new clients or painting.
There are a couple of options when it comes to separating out your expenses. You can keep meticulous records, maybe augmenting your own record-keeping skills with an application like Mint. But that requires you to keep track of information on top of what you’re doing to keep your invoices up to date.
There is an alternative: open a separate bank account for your business.
Business Bank Accounts
I have a business bank account at the same bank where I have my personal account. My business account is free, assuming I meet some very basic requirements every month. I deposit all of my income from freelancing into that account and pay for any business expenses out of it — which means that any time I need to look at tax deductions or business expenses, it’s just a matter of looking at my bank statement.
There’s only one non-business expense I pay out of my business account: my paycheck. Once a month, I move the money I need to pay my personal expenses into my personal account. This approach has actually made it easier for me to manage my finances overall. I have a better idea of what my cash flow looks like and it’s easier to budget for my personal expenses.
Making the Switch
Not every freelancer needs a separate business bank account. While it’s important to handle your paperwork professionally no matter what type of freelancer you are, the fact is that it isn’t quite as important if most of your income comes from an employer. If you automatically have payroll taxes deducted from your paycheck for the majority of your income, your business tax deductions are probably going to be relatively small — making the paperwork necessary to claim them less important.
But if the majority of your money comes from freelancing, good records become vital to managing your income and keeping your tax return from becoming a major burden. My friend, the artist, made the switch to two bank accounts when she — or rather, her accountant — realized that more than 50 percent of her income was was reported on 1099s. Your situation may differ: it’s not always a case of how much of your income comes from freelancing, but how much you’ll need to pay taxes on.
Because every freelancer’s situation is different, it’s best to consult an accountant about how your finances are set up. A good accountant can make your money management easier, and may even be able to provide advise like which banks in your area may be your best options.
Tags: Finances
Win at the credit scoring game
To get the best deal on a loan, you need some new strategies to bump up your score - and keep it there.
What Money readers are asking about their credit scores.CDs & Money Market
MMA 1.16% $10K MMA 1.17% 6 month CD 1.24% 1 yr CD 1.60% 5 yr CD 2.62% (Money Magazine) -- Borrowing money today requires impressing an increasingly hard-to-please crowd. With creditors of all kinds more cautious than ever, you need an A+ application to land the best terms -- and that means an A+ credit score, the number lenders use to judge your risk of default.
The most commonly used credit scoring system, called FICO, rates people from a very risky 300 to a pristine 850. And right now we're in the middle of a credit score crunch: "You need a 750 or better today to have the same treatment you got with a 700 two years ago," says John Ulzheimer, president of consumer education at Credit.com.
John D'Onofrio, CEO of Autoloandaily.com, seconds that: "Two years ago a 680 was enough to get a great car loan rate. Today it's often the minimum to qualify at all."
Think you're still in the clear? Don't be so sure. Lenders have been making changes that could cause your score to slip from excellent to average. Improve and protect your number with these strategies:
Learn your score. You have three FICO scores, based on your credit reports at the three credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. The numbers tend to be in the same ballpark, so pony up $16 to get one representative score at myfico.com. You can get an estimate free at Creditkarma.com. But the FICO score gives you a better sense of what lenders see.
Scout for mistakes. Your scores are only as good as the information they're based on. And a third of people who've pulled their reports have found errors, according to a Zogby poll. That's good reason to read your report.
When you buy your FICO score, you'll get a copy of the report it was based on. Get gratis histories from the other bureaus via annualcreditreport.com (you're entitled to one free from each bureau every 12 months).
Spot an error? Request a correction, following the instructions on the bureau's website. Let's say the size of a credit line was misstated or an account was mistakenly marked delinquent. Getting the error fixed could raise your score as much as 200 points, says Ulzheimer, who has also worked for Equifax and FICO.
Never, ever be late. As you'll see in the pie chart on the right, the biggest chunk of your credit score comes from your payment history. Just one late payment can shave 100 points off a 750-plus credit score, says Ulzheimer. Lenders can't tattle on you to the bureaus until you're 30 days past due, adds credit expert Gerri Detweiler. But don't risk it. For all your bills, enter recurring due-date reminders on your computer calendar.
Missed a payment? Get back on track within the next 30 days, and you should "get back the lion's share" of points lost, Ulzheimer says. More than 90 days late? The damage can stick for years. If it was a one-off lapse, call your issuer and plea for a good-will adjustment to your credit report. (It's a long shot.)
Remember the magic 20%. The second-biggest factor in your score is how much you owe vs. how much credit has been extended to you. The part of this that's easiest to finesse is your credit card utilization rate, or your total card balances compared with your total credit limits, as well as each card's balance relative to its limit.
Example: If you've charged $5,000 on cards and have $50,000 in credit, your rate is 10%. For the best score today, 10% is ideal, but you can probably creep up to 20% and keep a high rating.
Unfortunately, with banks lowering credit limits and canceling unused cards, it's harder to maintain such a low percentage. In the previous example, if your available credit is cut to $20,000, your rate shoots to 25%. That could sink your score by as much as 50 points, says Ulzheimer. The lesson: Know your limits, watch for changes, and stay under 20% on each card and in total (0% if you'll be applying for a loan soon).
Already above 20%? Paying down debt is the obvious way to lower your utilization rate, but another strategy is to apply for an additional credit card to increase your overall credit limit. That may cause you to lose a few points in the short term -- so don't do it if you're about to apply for a mortgage -- but it should pay off in the long run.
Keep oldest cards in play. As noted, credit issuers these days are eagerly canceling cards that are not in use. Besides reducing your limit and increasing your utilization ratio, having an account closed can hurt you in another way, especially if it's among your older ones.
See, 15% of your score rides on the length of your credit history. The longer you ably manage revolving debt, the better you look. So don't cancel your oldest cards. And don't let them get canceled on you: Move a recurring charge to each so they stay active.
Already ditched or been ditched? A new card (see previous) can help with your utilization rate, but there's little you can do to help the "history" component of your score, except to keep other old accounts in use.
Accept fate on the rest. There are other factors involved in your score, but they're not so easy to manipulate. For example, 10% is based on how well you manage a mix of credit types, such as mortgages, car loans, and credit cards. But you don't want to go out and, say, finance a car just for a score boost; besides, you can easily get 750-plus with just a few well-tended credit cards.
Along the same lines, 10% is based on "new credit," but the effects of a new application can be positive or negative, depending on your history.
In other words, if you want to be among the crème de la credit crème, accept what you can't change, and focus on what you can.
I have earned $119,725.45 from Amazon Associates Program since I began using it as a way to make money online late in 2003. Around half of that amount was made within the last 12 months.
In this post I want to share what I’ve learned along the way on how to make money with Amazon.
Weightwatchers.ca is having a promotion where you can save 25% if you sign up for their 3 month membership. It’s actually a pretty good deal. A one month membership will cost you $61.50 but with this promotion a 3 month membership will only cost $79. This seems to be a great deal for anyone looking to shed a couple of pounds and save money in the process.
Check out Weightwatchers website for more info and all the details.
Monday, July 13, 2009
How to Save $1,000 & More on Moving Costs: Tips From Relocation.com
A while ago, I ran a piece with moving tips from Myscha of Wise Bread. Here is a guest post from the folks at Relocation. com:
"With moving season in full swing this month putting moving services in higher demand, the costs can add up quickly. Relocation.com , a leading online consumer resource for moving services, shared five tips that can help consumers save more than $1,000 on their move.To calculate the estimated savings, Relocation.com looked at a hypothetical move from New York to Los Angeles with 7,500 pounds of household goods, which is roughly the size of a three-bedroom house. Depending on the moving companies and the services required, the costs will vary. However, according to the Relocation.com moving calculator, someone moving this distance with this amount of goods would average $6,500 in moving costs. These numbers serve as a general guide for a typical move.
1. Be Flexible on Dates – Save $300 to $600Many moves take place at the end or beginning of the month, or on Fridays or Mondays. Consumers who are able to move on “off” days might be able to work a deal with a moving company.Here’s how to do it: Once the movers have come to the home to give a moving estimate, tell them the move date is flexible if it can save some money. If they are full on the weekends, they might have room in a truck that's going out during the week. The same goes for the destination: If delivery times can be flexible, ask the movers if that could cut some costs.For the ultimate money saver, schedule the move outside of peak moving season, which takes place June, July and August. Inquire about any seasonal discounts.
2. Get Rid of 10 Percent of Belongings – Save $250 to $400
The less that needs to be moved, the less it will cost, and the fewer headaches to be had. Here are a few simple ways to determine what belongings can be shed:Only pack the items that have been used in the past year. If something hasn’t been used in the past 12 months, it probably won’t be used again – and there’s no point to have to pay to move it.As each room is packed, have two plastic bins – a 'definite' throwaway bin and a 'maybe' throwaway bin. When the room is finished, throw out everything in the ‘definite’ bin, make a decision on the ‘maybe’ items and then move on to the next room.For clothes, in the months before the move, divide a clothing rod between ‘must-move’ and ‘not-to-move’ clothes. Which is which? After an item of clothing is worn and washed, put it on the 'must-move' side of the closet. When it’s time to pack, get rid of all the clothes on the 'not-to-move' side of the rod.
3. Don’t Use Packers to Pack Everything – Save $400-$600
Many consider packing an all or nothing thing: Either you pack everything yourself, or the moving company packs everything. In fact, companies can do what is called a partial-pack, which can save some money.Roughly 50 percent of what needs to be packed is breakable, such as dishes and glassware. Let the movers take care of these items, since they are the most difficult to pack safely. In addition, moving insurance usually will not cover items that are not packed by professionals, unless there's clear damage to the outside of the moving box.The other half – items that won’t break, such as clothes, toys and books – can be packed into boxes relatively easily and don’t require special handling or supplies. Not using packers for these items can save big bucks; it just requires some extra time and work.
4. Disconnect It – Save $150-$200
If the moving company provides any third-party moving services to handle disconnecting electronics and appliances, the cost of these services will be passed on to the consumer. Eliminate these extra fees altogether by taking the D.I.Y. route. Learn how to safely dismantle any electronics systems and how to disconnect/connect appliances. The estimated savings are based on the cost of using a third-party disconnection/connection service.
5. Avoid Moving Large, Breakable Items – Save $200-$300There are certain items a moving company won't move without special crating, such as glass tables, flat-screen TVs and specialty artwork such as pottery or big oil paintings. Here are some options to cut down on the need for special, more expensive crating:Glass items, such as shelves or tables, are generally cheap to replace compared to how much it costs to ship them. Consider the costs of moving them versus buying a similar type of shelf or tabletop at the new home.
For a flat-panel TV, the least expensive method is packing it in the box it came in. If that’s not an option, search online for boxes designed specifically for TVs, which contain special foam inserts for extra protection.
If it’s a long-distance move, fragile or valuable items can also be packed in the car. Or, rent a separate small moving van or a trailer in which to tow them. It will cost more for this, but the greater peace of mind about damages might be worth it. If there are enough items that would require crating by the moving company anyway, the costs might break even.
