Julian’s Success Story: How Going $42,000 in Debt was the Greatest Decision I’ve Ever Made
Julian Hayes II is a fitness and lifestyle coach and writer based out of Nashville, Tennessee. He is the creator of 206 Fitness. Why 206? Not only is 206 one of his nicknames, but there are also 206 bones in the body. He believes anyone can achieve the body they’ve always wanted while still living a fun and adventurous life. Read more about him and download his free ebook on how to achieve the body you’ve always wanted while owning life at 206fitness.com and connect with him on Facebook & Twitter…
You Want It. You Buy It. You Forget It.
Note: This is a post from Joan Otto, Man Vs. Debt community manager. Read more about Joan.Two summers ago, while visiting an art museum in Washington, D.C., we came upon an exhibit in the process of being installed. Huge letters and swaths of red, black and white covered every square inch of wall and floor.When I saw it, I took the photo above, hoping it would serve as a reminder to go back and see the finished exhibit and revisit the phrases plastered throughout.WHOSE VALUES?FORGET EVERYTHING.YOU WANT IT. YOU BUY IT. YOU FORGET IT.And while I haven’t gotten back to see the final installation of Belief+Doubt (I hope to – …
Business and Hustling Lessons from the WWE Network
Note: This is a post from Joan Otto, Man Vs. Debt community manager. Read more about Joan.You guys are going to think I spend my Sunday afternoons watching America’s best not-exactly-a-sport sports, between today’s post and the one from last month about 4 Personal-Finance Lessons from NASCAR!I spent THIS Sunday watching… you guessed it… WrestleMania 30, thanks to my roommate’s subscription to the WWE Network, which I admit I watch with rather startling frequency.The funny part is, …
The Report from the Three-Year Mark: Joan’s Mid-April Financial Update
Note: This is a post from Joan Otto, Man Vs. Debt community manager. Read more about Joan.It’s official: I’ve been tracking my debt for exactly three years.While I didn’t post my first financial update on Man Vs. Debt until a year later, I first sat down and wrote my detailed list of debts – the one you see listed on my Joan’s Finances page – on April 14, 2011.Taking inventory and facing what …
Flipping My First House – 8 Weeks…and Continuing
My friend Joshua has decided to try his hand at flipping houses. He wanted to write about his house flip, and I wanted to learn from it, so I invited him to publish his experiences here. If you haven’t yet read the first two posts, I have provided the links below so you can catch up!Post 1: Flipping My First HousePost 2: Flipping My First House – 5 Weeks InThe Past 3 Weeks…Even the best laid plans sometimes don’t work out, but that is no reason to give up on them. I had the goal of finishing my flip house in eight weeks. That just simply isn’t going to happen. This doesn’t mean that my project is a failure, it just means …
Still Growing in Popularity – Goals Update #17
Whew! It seems like every week is crazier than the last, and this past week has certainly been no different. I traveled to New York on a business trip a week and a half ago, and since then my article, “9 Things the Rich Do That the Poor Do Not” was picked up by Business Insider, and then because of it’s popularity was set up as a featured article on their site! All in all, that article had over 191,000 views and…
21 Things I Always Get From the Dollar Tree
Over the course of my adulthood, I have slowly discovered the amazingness of the dollar store. An item that typically costs $4 or $5 at another retail establishment might only cost $1 at the dollar store. After a few of these purchases, the savings could really add up! So why not just put a list together of the things we should be purchasing from the dollar store?Before I dive into my list of 21 things I always get from the Dollar Tree, I want to make a very important note. All dollar stores are not created equal. In addition to the Dollar Tree, you might…
Top 5 Reasons People Go Bankrupt And How to Avoid It
Many people struggle with managing their money. Sometimes, there just isn’t enough to go around. In fact, over 900,000 Americans filed for bankruptcy in 2014. You might think that those who file for bankruptcy are irresponsible spenders. That’s certainly some , but in reality many people are not excessive over-spenders. They’re simply unable to respond to unfortunate events.According to a 2010 study, the top 5 reasons why people file for bankruptcy are:Medical expenses (42{0e584ec94eaa64d073763ee1dc286a1f4d0f941424b1448bbfd01af7d90f9475})Job loss …
How to Become a Freelance Writer in 30 Days or Less (and Make $4,000 a Month)
I don’t often focus on the fact that I’m a freelance business writer, but that’s how I started my entrepreneurial career. I’ve since leveraged that into a business that brings in more money than my accounting day job used to. If you’re thinking of diving into the freelance writing space, or have recently started down that path, this is without a doubt a viable way to make a full-time living. Since learning how to become …
How to Be More Productive: The Best Tools for Creative Freelancers
After spending several years as a self-employed solopreneur myself, and working with a team of 3-4 people, we’ve tested out lots of different tools and apps to help streamline our business process. This has helped us learn how to be more productive as well as earn more money in less time. From managing our financial goals, to working with clients, to balancing everything on the go, our desire is to work smarter not harder. Likewise, your big goals probably include growing your online business, building a bigger and…
How to Budget With Irregular Income When You’re Self-Employed
I was recently a featured guest on the weekly Money Crashers Tweetchat (#mcchat), where the topic was all about Budgeting With Irregular Income. I regularly get questions related to this subject in my inbox, and on all my social media accounts. It’s something we all deal with as freelancers and business owners. It’s tough to balance finding new work, getting paid, and figuring out where your money should be spent. The worst part about having irregular income is that you never know …
Make Tax Season Less Painful: 5 Things to Reduce Stress
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of E*TRADE for IZEA. As always opinions are 100{0e584ec94eaa64d073763ee1dc286a1f4d0f941424b1448bbfd01af7d90f9475} mine and never influenced by any brand. Tax season is a topic we love to hate. Nothing feels worse than working hard all year long only to end up with several hours of tax prep, followed by a large tax bill. As business owners our taxes aren’t quite as simple as they used to be when we were employees with a W-2 from our jobs. Our business and knowledge of success continues to grow and because of this we’ve become investors too (even if we’re in the beginning stages). We see the importance of investing in…
Quarterly Income Report: How I Made $17,655 From Blogging (Q1)
At the beginning of 2015 I made a decision to focus less on client work and more on turning my blog into a sustainable business. After months of dealing with inconsistent income and taking on a bit of business debt, I decided I needed to take back control of my income by leveraging this blog. Mind you that I didn’t say “pimp out this blog” which is what a lot of freelancers do in order to make a living online. I’ve carefully crafted this platform over the …
What Happens if You Miss the Tax Return Deadline?
This post is part of the TaxACT #BeatTheDeadline blog tour which shares tips on how to make tax time a smooth and easy process before the April 15 deadline. TaxACT provides the tools and guidance to help you confidently file taxes easy and fast. Do your own taxes today at TaxACT. You got this. The tax return deadline is quickly approaching, so if you haven’t filed your taxes yet, you still have a bit of time (but not much!). I’m basically reminding myself of this because I still haven’t filed my taxes yet. Gasp! I know right?! The main reason I haven’t filed yet isn’t for…
How to Quit Your Job Without Burning Bridges
This post is from new Careful Cents contributor Kayla, who owns the blog ShoeaholicNoMore. Over the next six months she’s sharing journey to quitting her job and taking the leap into self-employment. Resigning from my very secure, but very boring, full-time job is something I’ve been thinking about constantly for the past few months, ever since I started freelancing online in July 2014. But before I talk about how to quit your job with grace and not burn bridges, let me back up a little bit and introduce myself. I’m Kayla, a full-time credit analyst at an agricultural lender in rural Kansas, a part-…
How to Choose the Best Business Checking Account as a Freelancer
As a self-employed freelancer, most of my financial business is done online or with mobile apps. But choosing the best business checking account can be daunting. Plus, you want to make sure you don’t spend extra money on fees. I’ve seen the benefits of technology and how going digital makes me more productive and streamlines my life. Oddly enough though, many consumers and small business owners (about half) still bank at traditional banks! It’s time you embrace technology and the benefits it offers, by finding the best business checking account. Some solopreneurs …
How to Find Affordable Health Insurance When You’re Self-Employed
So you missed the health insurance deadline and had to pay a penalty on your tax return? Don’t worry, you still have options — some of which are actually affordable. If you’re like me, you are probably procrastinating on applying for health insurance because you just don’t think you can afford the $400+ premiums per month. (Depending on your state and whether or not you’re single or married, your premium may be more or …
Get 20{0e584ec94eaa64d073763ee1dc286a1f4d0f941424b1448bbfd01af7d90f9475} Off Uber with Capital One
Uber just got a lot cheaper — 20{0e584ec94eaa64d073763ee1dc286a1f4d0f941424b1448bbfd01af7d90f9475} cheaper — for Capital One Quicksilver or QuicksilverOne cardholders. Now through next April, cardholders will get 20{0e584ec94eaa64d073763ee1dc286a1f4d0f941424b1448bbfd01af7d90f9475} back on all Uber rides, on top of the 1.5{0e584ec94eaa64d073763ee1dc286a1f4d0f941424b1448bbfd01af7d90f9475} cash back they already earn with their card. There is no need to sign up! Just pay with your…
Is It Time to Dip Into Your Emergency Fund?
One of the most important things you can do for your financial security is to build an emergency fund. Unfortunately, many Americans aren’t prepared with a fund that they can tap in the event of a financial emergency. The Americans that do have an emergency fund, though, might not know when to tap into it. It’s easy to feel as though any setback is an emergency. Another temptation is the fact that you have a large amount of money sitting there, and it seems like you could do something better with it…
Re-Evaluating Your Financial Priorities
Note: This is a post from Joan Otto, Man Vs. Debt community manager. Read more about Joan.Since I shared my report from the three-year mark of my battle against debt, I’ve been amazed at the kind words from so many members of the Man Vs. Debt community. From comments to Twitter messages to emails, it’s really reaffirmed my commitment to pushing forward and – even if it’s more eventually than I’d like – ending up debt-free and staying that way for life.That said, opening up about my slower-than-expected progress has also forced me …
9 Things You Should Be Embarrassed to Finance
Our grandparents’ generation never financed anything. In fact, it was considered stupid. If, in 1950, you told your neighbor that you got a super low interest rate on your brand new car, they would have looked at you like you were on fire. Cash was the method of choice for almost every purchase – even houses! Don’t believe me? According to a study performed at the University of Pennsylvania, in 1949, the average debt on a person’s house was approximately 20{0e584ec94eaa64d073763ee1dc286a1f4d0f941424b1448bbfd01af7d90f9475} …
How to Price Client Work and Charge What You’re Worth
One of the most difficult aspects of starting your own business is figuring out pricing — heck this is even tough when you’re an established solopreneur looking to increase your rates. You want to get paid, but you also need some experience under your belt, so you may be willing to charge less than you ideally want. On one hand, I think everyone needs to pay their dues and work their way up. It’s rare that you can come out of the gate commanding such high prices — after all, a lot of business is about supply and demand. However, I think starting out working for low wages can make it that much harder to work your way…
10 Ways to Save $100 This Week
This post is part of America Saves Week. Money is like a cake. When you get that delicious dessert, it can be tempting to eat it all at once. But if you do, you’ll end up with a stomachache, that sugarcoated feeling on your teeth, and perhaps most importantly — no cake for later. Similarly, if you spend all of your money, you’ll probably end up regretting your splurges — and wishing you had some funds sitting in the bank. Often, savings strategies are obvious — you set a big piece of cake aside, and it’s there waiting for…
Do You Have To Quit Your Job To Be Financially Successful?
One of the themes that seems to circulate is that in order to find true financial success, you have to start your own business with the idea of eventually quitting your day job. While many of us like the idea of working from home (often in our pajamas), a home business isn’t for everyone. Indeed, there are plenty of people who are just fine working for “the man” — and that’s ok. Do You Really Want to Quit Your Job? My husband teaches a couple of online courses for a local university each semester. The reality is that, if he …