6 Tips on How to Spend and Save at the Same Time

by | Apr 12, 2011

The following is a guest post by Andrea Woroch

Spending money to save money doesn’t seem like a logical concept, but if you know what you’re doing then it can be a smart way to stretch your budget. The trick to this strategy is to only buy what you need and what you planned on purchasing anyway. Take toilet paper for example. Toilet paper doesn’t spoil and often costs less when bought in bulk, so it’s worth stocking up on to reap the savings overtime, as long as you have the storage space.

Read on for more ways you can spend money and save at the same time. (more…)

Earned Income Tax Credits & The Single Parent

by | Apr 9, 2011

Something wicked and dreaded is coming this way – American tax day. With the deadline to file so close at hand – April 18th, to be exact – all taxpayers and especially single parents are crunching numbers and eagerly awaiting refund checks.

Luckily for us, the digital age has simplified the process of tax preparation with automated prompts, efile software, and accessible information. It’s now entirely feasible for someone who isn’t financially canny to file for tax credits and list deductions without consulting (read: paying) a pro.

However easy it might be to file a tax return, it’s tougher to deal with the individuals with whom you may share a dependent. Single parents have it rough on all sides and money is no exception, which is why every single parent needs to know about the Earned Income Tax Credit, or EITC.

The maximum EITC credit depends on your income and the number of children you are claiming for the credit. The IRS maximum credits are:

* If you made less than $35,535 and have 1 qualifying child : $3,050 maximum
* If you made less than $40,363 and have 2 qualifying children: $5,036 maximum
* If you made less than $43,352 and have 3 or more qualifying children: $5,666 maximum

Even if you aren’t claiming the child on your taxes, you may claim them for the EITC. Single parents have to tread this part of the deal with caution because a child can only be claimed for the EITC by one tax payer, period. This can be a somewhat sticky situation for parents with joint custody. If you share parenting time and duties equally, who gets the money? Tax time just got uglier.

In a somewhat endearing gesture to seem humane, the IRS offers a few solutions, or “tie-breaker rules”:

* If only one parent is blood-related, the biological parent can claim the EITC.
* The parent that made more money, or Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) can claim the EITC.

Still seem unfair to you? There are other possibilities that the IRS does not officially endorse, too, but can work when the “tie-breaker rules” leave you in the dark:

* Investigate how much EITC credit money each parent would qualify for; whichever parent would be awarded the most in credit money should file for the EITC. Split the EITC down the middle, just as you do with parenting responsibilities.
* Make a tax schedule that allows one parent to file for the EITC one year, and the other in the following year.
* Whichever parent doesn’t claim the child on their basic tax forms should file for the credit.
* Consider dividing the credit money into thirds each year, placing one third into a savings account that will help pay for college when the time comes.

At the heart of all of this is your child – the American government wants to ease the financial burden of parents who might not otherwise be able to afford necessities such as shoes, vitamins, or school supplies. What’s in the best interest of your little dependent?

Rae Alton is a content specialist and marketer from Greensboro, NC. She is thrilled to be a guest contributor with RichSingleMomma.com and can be found on twitter @raezin1984.

Three Types Of Life Insurance Coverage You Do Not Need

by | Mar 3, 2011

This is a guest post by Hank Coleman who is a staff writer at Online Insurance Quotes.

There are many unscrupulous insurance sales people in the market that prey on people’s fears in order to get them to buy insurance they do not need. Far too often, consumers buy insurance policies for coverage that squanders their insurance premiums a few dollars a month. Many additional policy features that are offered by insurance companies such as cancer insurance, accidental death insurance, and insurance for minor children are unneeded, have a very low probability of occurrence, and often duplicate insurance coverage that you already have through your family’s main life insurance policy. (more…)

Living the Balanced Life

by | Mar 2, 2011

Family life is always in flux, and sometimes these changes can be subtle, or take place over time. It is easy to say that we all need to achieve balance in our lives, but it can be hard to do-especially when we think balance means spending equal time in each area of life. Mothers can’t comprehend how to achieve balance with just one child, let alone three or four. Likewise, career people often feel that they are too busy to achieve balance-that their job controls too much of their time.

Once you know your Core Desires and understand what balance really is, you’ll more readily attain it. A balanced life should be the kind of a life where you have achieved a high level of harmony and satisfaction in all areas-at the same time.

A person who seeks wealth at the expense of family relationships, health, or peace of mind is not only not living a balanced life but is being robbed of the great joy to be found in the areas being ignored. The reverse can also be true. People who are so focused on family that they can’t-or won’t-do what it takes to earn the money needed to support the lifestyle they want are living an unbalanced life. These are people who are so focused on other things that they end up ignoring the most important people in their lives-their families.

You cannot achieve balance by seeing life as a matter of set hours devoted to all areas. By trying to give equal time, you quickly run out of hours. When you do the math, you’ll find you sleep about eight hours out of twenty-four. If you work, your job requires at least eight hours, leaving you just eight hours to focus on family, spiritual, and mental well-being. No wonder most of us try to cram so
much into the weekends.

Achieving daily-or even weekly-balance is very difficult for most people. However, you can certainly achieve balance over a fifteen- to thirty-day time frame. It is not only possible, but also very rewarding and important. If, in that period of time, you find any of your Core Desires in any area of life unfulfilled, you give them the attention needed to fill that particular cup.

When you are hungry, you eat. When your heart aches or longs for fulfillment in any area, do something about it. Whenever you feel that something important in your life is missing, that’s a signal you are overlooking one of your Core Desires.

Balance means that we are getting whatever we want in all areas of life. Living with a deficit for a prolonged period always results in unhappiness, discontent, depression, burnout, stress, and continually thinking the grass is greener on the other side of the fence.

Because your children grow up and become adults before you know it, you must make the transition with them-treating them appropriately by recognizing when your job of parenting is over and offering advice only upon request. As your own parents age, you may find yourself in reverse roles. So flexibility, giving, sharing, patience, and forgiveness are all keys to success in long-lasting, bountiful, and fulfilling family relationships.

Author’s Bio

Jack M. Zufelt is a bestselling author and has achieved worldwide recognition for teaching people the true cause of all achievement. His life’s mission is to impart the truth about-and dispel the myths surrounding-success and achievement. Want to achieve better results? How about live a fuller life with more happiness, joy, and satisfaction? Discover Jack’s DNA of Success and live the life you’ve always wanted… Click Here -> http://www.DNAofSuccess.com

Post new comment (To Earn User Points for your post, please Login to your account) Your name:

View the Original article

How to Achieve Your Financial Desires

by | Mar 1, 2011

I went from a low income to being in the top 0.5 percent in the nation in earnings in less than two years-and I only have a high school education. I am living proof that the lack of a formal education is not a hindrance to high income or happiness. I was driven by a Core Desire to make money because I hated being broke and I loved what money would give me. These are the real reasons people make money. Many different vehicles exist to make money, but it’s your desire to make money that will drive you to success in that area.

Knowing that the power of the Conquering Force does not allow weaknesses or a lack of current ability to keep you from achieving and succeeding, you can face your financial fears and doubts.

First, let’s get clear on what you must do-and become-to create the kind of income or financial freedom you want. It’s more than just doing the right things or being involved in a good opportunity. You must have or acquire the right paradigm about yourself. When you acquire the proper self-paradigm, you will find that making money is not so hard if you desire it. Many say they want it, but they resist making the necessary changes.

If you truly have a Core Desire to improve your financial situation, you will achieve it. That is why there are so many rags-to-riches stories. People with little if any past success, experience, skills, money, education, or social connections have achieved incredible incomes, because they acquire critical paradigms of themselves.

When you combine three things-a Core Desire for more income, the Success Attitude, and a proper self-paradigm- your financial security is a foregone conclusion. You may get a new job at a much higher salary, get a promotion in your current employment, or start your own business. It’s only a matter of time before the results will be there.

But you should realize that your Core Desires regarding money are usually not the money itself, or the things that money can buy. Rather, they always have to do with the feelings you have when you aren’t living from paycheck to paycheck. You must be honest about your Core Desires and recognize them for what they are. For example, many people want to own and drive a Mercedes, not only because it is one of the safest cars on the road but also because it projects an image that enhances the ego.

Thoughts about money dominate our culture, and they can be either pleasant or disturbing. Most of the daily news today directly concerns money matters. Scan the headlines for yourself. I call this “hard money news.” Although you are exposed daily to such items, you may be unaware of how often money is in your thoughts.

It seems that love and money make the world go ’round. Our fascination with money goes far back in time.

Money can be the root of evil or the seed of much good. You need money to support and feed yourself, to get a college education, to help others, to donate to churches and charities, and to raise children. It takes money to be a philanthropist and leave an endowment to support something you believe in.

Money cannot make you happy, but it can rid you of many things that make you unhappy. To make a lot of money and to prosper are not selfish acts. It is an intelligent and caring person’s responsibility to use his or her Conquering Force to achieve prosperity.

Money will always be an important part of your life, whether you like it or not. Money determines, in most instances, the quality of your life. You can suffer the miseries of financial problems, or you can use your Conquering Force to solve those problems.

According to U. S. News & World Report, today’s typical middle-class family actually has less money to spend now than it did more than a decade ago. Most people suffer from some conditions that hurt their capacity to accumulate wealth. About 95 percent of retired people are financially dependent; most are dependent on family, friends, or charity and find they must continue working-whether they
like it or not.

Far too many people live from day to day, from paycheck to paycheck. They are just surviving, without the joy that can come from adequate prosperity. Most adults consider money problems their biggest cause of stress. The constant worry about money is debilitating. Worrying provides no known benefit and cannot change what will happen tomorrow-but it can weaken your faith, cripple your actions, destroy your peace of mind, and make you feel powerless.

Money issues are a major reason for the breakup of marriages. Money problems affect us all at one time or another, and many of us all the time. Since money problems can ruin our health, cause distress in our personal relationships and our careers, and destroy our happiness and our lifestyles, financial fitness should be a Core Desire for everyone.

Everyone with a Core Desire for financial fitness can achieve it. Financial fitness means being content with your financial life, not wanting for anything, and being free of pressing financial problems. If financial problems are inflicting distress or harm on you or your family, you are not financially fit.

Suppose that I have a crystal ball and can accurately foretell your financial future. You come to me and tell me you want to earn a hundred thousand dollars a year, a sixty- thousand-dollar increase over your current salary. Your Core Desire is to be financially independent, free of debt, own your home outright, and come and go as you please.

I look into my crystal ball and say, “You’ll have exactly what you want. Your income will be a hundred thousand a year, and you’ll be doing what you love to do. But it will take you thirty-nine months to accomplish this. In the meantime, you’ll have many rough experiences. You’ll start two different businesses, and they’ll both fail. You’ll invest fifty-six thousand dollars of borrowed money, and you’ll lose it. You will almost lose your home and your spouse to divorce because you will fight constantly about money. You will struggle to provide the basics, like food and shelter, for your family. Your self-esteem will suffer, but you won’t give up.

“During the course of those failures and struggles, you will meet the right people, who will teach you things you need to know. This will provide the impetus for you to go into a third business. Your third business will struggle before it begins making money. However, after six months your income will exceed five thousand dollars a month. From there, your business will grow faster than you can imagine. After three years you will be earning over a hundred thousand a year, you won’t fight with your mate over money, and you and she will be closer than ever.”

If you knew this prediction was accurate, would you start now? Even knowing that you would face failure twice in the first two years? Even knowing you would have family problems and financial worries? You would probably say, “I want to get started right away.”

Author’s Bio

Jack M. Zufelt is a bestselling author and has achieved worldwide recognition for teaching people the true cause of all achievement. His life’s mission is to impart the truth about-and dispel the myths surrounding-success and achievement. Want to achieve better results? How about live a fuller life with more happiness, joy, and satisfaction? Discover Jack’s DNA of Success and live the life you’ve always wanted… Click Here -> http://www.DNAofSuccess.com

View the Original article

Are You Limiting Your Thinking

by | Feb 21, 2011

The more interesting and enlightening you are, the more people will welcome you into their lives and the more opportunity will abound.

Learning is not limited to going to school or getting a degree. It’s surprising that many people stop feeding their minds after a certain point. For some, that point is high school graduation; for others, it’s graduating from college. A large university once took a survey of its recent graduates and found that 90 percent hadn’t read a single book since they’d left the university.

Once, while traveling in France for our twenty-fifth anniversary, Marci and I met a couple celebrating their fiftieth anniversary. The couple were in their late seventies, retired, and traveled to someplace new in the world each month. They enrolled in courses at their local university to learn more about each country, and then they traveled to see firsthand what they had been studying.

It is important to share your hard-won knowledge with those who want to learn what you know. Once you attain a body of knowledge or understanding in a specific area, you’ll be considered selfish if you only use that information for your own benefit. Share your knowledge with others and be free from that limitation.

Ignorance is expensive in all areas of life, so don’t put- or keep-yourself in a box of limited thinking. If you feel that you’re boxed in, decide now to think outside the box with the help of your mentors. Your Conquering Force can shatter any limitations you have put upon yourself. Whatever you heart desires can set you free.

Just before I was to conduct a segment of a financial planning seminar, the seminar leader, a brilliant man with a Ph.D. in finance, approached me. He asked me for some background information in order to introduce me properly. He knew who I was but didn’t know my academic background. He asked, “Where did you go to school?”

I replied, “Monument Valley High School.” Thinking I was joking, he chuckled. “No, I mean where did you go to college?” “I didn’t go to college,” I told him.

He was shocked. He was also worried about his reputation, since the audience was there by his personal invitation. Seeing that he was upset, I suggested that he concentrate on my accomplishments rather than my academic background.

After I completed my presentation, the man approached me and said, “I’ve been teaching financial principles for twenty years, and I have a doctorate in finance. You only have a high school education and you are making more money than I am. Something is wrong here. Will you tell me what you think it is?” He was interested in learning from me because it was his Core Desire to earn more money.

“You’re not using your knowledge and credentials to create income, you’re using them to teach. Teaching is an honorable profession,” I told him, “but not if you’re interested in making a lot of money.”

Author’s Bio

Jack M. Zufelt is a bestselling author and has achieved worldwide recognition for teaching people the true cause of all achievement. His life’s mission is to impart the truth about-and dispel the myths surrounding-success and achievement. Want to achieve better results? How about live a fuller life with more happiness, joy, and satisfaction? Discover Jack’s DNA of Success and live the life you’ve always wanted… Click Here -> http://www.DNAofSuccess.com

Post new comment (To Earn User Points for your post, please Login to your account) Your name:

View the Original article