Posts from — October 2009

Parents have an obligation to teach their children personal finance. They need to teach children how to save money, and how to refrain from spending it frivolously. They need to teach them exactly how difficult it can be to earn a dollar. That’s why it’s important for parents to know ways for kids to make money.

When kids make their own money, they’re more likely to think twice before spending it. They’re more likely to develop fiscal restraint.

One tried and true way for kids to make money is for them to get their own paper route. Running a paper route isn’t easy; kids will have to get up early to deliver their papers on time. They’ll spend some tedious hours wrapping rubber bands around the morning edition. But a paper route also teaches kids about responsibility. It also teaches them exactly how much hard work it can take to earn a couple of dollars.

Mowing neighborhood lawns is another good way for kids to make money. Again, mowing lawns can be hard work. But it might also give kids a sense of satisfaction. There’s just something more satisfying about a $5 bill that’s earned as opposed to one that’s merely given.

Kids can also make money by performing odd jobs around the neighborhood. During the winter, they can offer to shovel the neighbors’ sidewalks and driveways for $5 a pop. In the fall, they can offer to rake leaves at homes on the block.

Many neighbors might also have odd jobs. Kids might find themselves painting porch railings, walking dogs or pulling weeds for a bit of extra spending money.

You might also have your kids earn money for reaching certain accomplishments. Maybe you’ll pay your son $1 for every A he gets on his report card. Maybe you’ll boost your daughter’s weekly allowance if she aces her upcoming history test.

Of course, the weekly allowance is another good way for kids to make money. Parents just have to make sure that their children are actually earning their allowance money. Parents can create a chore list with specific prices attached to each job.

Bringing out the garbage after dinner might fetch $1. Sweeping the kitchen floors might bring in $5. And scrubbing the toilet might nab even more. This is another good way for parents to teach their children about how difficult it can be to earn a dollar or two.

Unfortunately, many children today grow up with out ever learning any financial lessons. This haunts them in their adult years, when they rack up staggering credit-card bills and miss their car payments.

As a parent, you owe it to your children to teach them money management skills. One of the best ways to do this is by setting up ways for kids to make money. Once they have jobs, kids will quickly learn that money is something to be saved, not wasted.

In today’s struggling economy, there is one profession in which people can still earn a solid income: freelance writing. There are several ways, in fact, that you can make money writing.

First, gather up the local newspapers and magazines in your community. You might be surprised at how many of them there are. The editors of these publications are constantly looking for content to fill their pages. You might be able to work for them as a stringer, covering nightly board meetings and writing feature stories for anywhere from $20 to $100 a pop.

Of course, many editors, even of the smallest community papers, won’t hire you on if you don’t have a journalism degree or past experience writing for magazines or newspapers. Fortunately, the Internet offers an endless stream of writing opportunities.

There are a countless number of Web sites out there. Someone has to write the content for these sites. Why shouldn’t that person be you?

Check out the online ads at craigslist.org. You might find a host of online writing jobs being advertised. The pay for these jobs often isn’t great. But the stories you’ll be writing might not take much research. If you can write well fast enough, you can make a solid monthly income by writing for online publishers.

There are other companies that will pay you blog for them. In fact, a growing number of freelance writers are working as ghost-bloggers for businesses owners, real estate agents, personal trainers, mortgage loan officers and any other group of professionals who want their own blogs. The reason is simple: Running a blog and filling it with daily content isn’t easy. Not everyone is cut out to be a writer. With some persistence, though, you can find plenty of blog owners who’ll pay you to fill their sites with content.

The best thing about a freelance writing career, is that you’re only limited by how hard you are willing to work. When you first start landing freelance-writing jobs, you’ll probably be making peanuts for your efforts. But these small jobs will give you experience and a byline.

You can take these to land bigger and more lucrative writing jobs. The editors at larger city newspapers are usually more than willing to hire writers with clips from smaller publications. Instead of making $50 a story, you might soon be earning $250, $500 or more for each freelance story you turn in.

Of course, just because there are opportunities, that doesn’t mean it’s easy to make money writing. You do need a talent for stringing words together. You will have to constantly scramble to find assignments. And you have to be able to meet sometimes tight deadlines.

But if you can do all this, the potential income you can earn from writing is unlimited.

Look around your home. Take a trip through your basement. Wade through the clutter in your garage. Do you have a lot of stuff sitting around that you haven’t touched in years? If so, you might be ready to make money on eBay.

eBay, of course, is the massive online auction site. Every day, people list their old golf clubs, books, battered furniture and abandoned clarinets on the site. And also every day, eager buyers bid big bucks on the chance to buy these folks’ treasures.

There’s no reason why you shouldn’t join the fun.

There are some strategies, though, that you should follow if you really want to make money on eBay. There are steps that you can take to increase the odds that you’ll receive good bids for your items.

First, brush up on your writing skills. Often, a description will sell an item. Make sure to accurately describe your item. And be sure, too, to hit on the high points. If you’re selling a box of comics that have barely been read, make sure to report that are in good or mint condition. This will make them more attractive to serious buyers.

If you’re selling an antique lamp that is truly one of a kind, make sure in your eBay description to mention that buyers won’t be able to find this particular home décor item in any store or from any other online retailer.

Remember, you’re selling here. You need to write a description that grabs the attention of shoppers and that drives home the positive features of what you’re selling, whether you’re trying to move collectible Richard Nixon plates or the collected novelty albums of Ray Stevens.

Of course, words alone can’t sell a product on eBay. You need strong visuals, too. That’s where your photo skills come in. Make sure to always include a photo of the item you are trying to sell. But make sure, too, that this photo shows of your item in its best possible light. You don’t want to submit a dark photo that doesn’t truly highlight your jewelry box’s ballerina artwork.

Make sure that your photos are large enough so that buyers can get a good look at what you’re selling. This will make them more comfortable, and will lead them to make higher bids. Remember, too, that the more photos that you can include the better. This makes buyers feel that you have nothing to hide.

Finally, be honest when selling your items. Don’t claim that something is an antique if it’s not. Don’t promise that the old board game you are selling has never been opened if half of its pieces are missing. If you get a reputation for being dishonest on eBay, your rating will drop. And it’s hard to attract good bids if you’re rated poorly by past customers.

The stock market has been nothing but unpredictable during the recession. That hasn’t stopped people from trying to earn easy money by tackling online stock day trading. But day trading isn’t something to be entered into lightly. There are certain strategies you need to follow, and pitfalls to avoid, if you want to learn how to make money trading.

The first and most important lesson is to do your research before you start any trading. You’ll never make money trading if you rely only on your own instincts. You need to read newspaper stories about the stocks you’d like to trade. You need to scan the Web on a regular basis for breaking news about the companies whose stocks you’ll be trading.

In short, you need to become an expert in the stocks you want to day trade. Otherwise, you’re gambling. And you don’t want to be a gambler when you’re trying to make money by trading.

Next, it’s important for novices to seek out help. A mentor can help you navigate the sometimes complex world of day trading. This mentor can help you avoid the most common pitfalls people experience with trading stocks. And your mentor can provide encouragement when all looks lost.

Who makes a good mentor? Look at your set of friends, family members and co-workers. Do you know anyone who regularly makes solid gains in the stock market? If so, tap their expertise. Their lessons can prove invaluable.

If you don’t know any day trading wizards in your circle of acquaintances, you might decide to hire a professional broker to help you make the best trading decisions. If this professional gives you sound advice, the investment you made in hiring him or her will quickly pay for itself. Just make sure that the financial pro with whom you work doesn’t charge what feel like exorbitant rates.

Next, make sure that you realize one thing: Past performance doesn’t dictate future performance. Just because a particular stock has been soaring for months, that doesn’t mean it won’t take a terrible tumble immediately after you invest in it. You can never accurately predict a stock’s future performance merely by looking at how well it’s done in the last three years.

Finally, never trust anyone who provides you with information that he or she says is a “sure thing.” The stock market is a tricky thing. No one really knows what’s going to happen with it from minute to minute. If someone is telling you that he or she can predict a stock’s future performance with certainly, don’t listen. That person is lying.

It is possible to make money trading. But it’s not for the faint of heart. You’ll need the patience to keep your dollars in a stock while it’s underperforming and the foresight to withdraw them when its reached its peak. This is a tall order. But for those who’ve mastered this balancing act, trading can be a steady way to make money.

In today’s economy, we’re all looking for extra sources of income. And why not? Businesses are laying people off. Others are shutting their doors. Most employees are too scared to even ask for a raise. But there are ways to bring in some extra income without a lot of work. You just need to learn how to make easy money.

For instance, you might try searching the Internet for paid online surveys. What could be easy than getting paid to give your opinion? Many of these surveys can be taken completely online and in minutes. It’s true that you won’t get rich. But you can make at least a bit of extra money that you can spend to take in a movie or buy a nice dinner.

If you’re not the survey type, look around your house for any old mobile phones that you’re no longer using. A growing number of companies are paying real money to people who send them their old phones. This has the added benefit of being environmentally friendly. By recycling your old cell phone, you’re keeping it out of your local landfill, where it might leak potentially dangerous chemicals into the soil. Search for “cell phone recycling” with your favorite online search engine. You’ll turn up dozens of online retailers eager to send you a bit of extra cash for your unwanted cell phone.

If you like animals, you might consider hiring yourself out to walk your neighbor’s pets when they’re away. You might be surprised at how much money your neighbors are willing to spend to make sure that their beloved pooches are treated right. You never know, this way to make easy money can turn into a pretty profitable service.

You might have an extra room in your house. For some real easy money, rent it out to a friend or relative who needs a place to stay. This is the very definition of passive income. Just make sure you and your renter are abiding by all local laws and have signed contracts stating exactly what everyone will be paying.

Do you have a lot of stuff sitting around your house? You might consider selling it at a garage sale or snapping some photos and listing your treasures for sale on eBay. You never know; a buyer with deep pockets may absolutely need that old bag of golf clubs that have been attracting cobwebs in your garage.

Do some online searching for mystery shopping gigs. They’re a bit hard to land, mainly because so many people would love to nab them, but what’s easier than getting paid to shop?

This is just a small list of some of the many ways you can make some easy money during the recession. Do some creative thinking of your own and come up with some of your own ways to make extra spending cash.

Also don’t forget the you can also making money on the internet. Using the web to make money allows for a variety of ways to earn cash online. Some ways will be rather quick and other will take some time, but all can be very succesfful.

Are you in need of help with you credit card debt? If you are like the millions of others who are financially struggling in this bad economy then chances are you are having problems with your debt and might be looking for help and some tips on the best way to pay or eliminate your credit card debt. Before we go over some tips let go over some things you need to be aware of when it comes to getting help with credit card debt.

Be Careful of Help With Credit Card Debt Companies

The airwaves are filled with advertisement from companies who promise to reduce or eliminate you credit card debt for a fee. A lot if not most of these companies will take your money and effectively do nothing to reduce your debt. The things they do can all be dome by yourself without the need to pay someone. You can call your credit card companies and work out a payment plan with them. It really is not that hard to do and many times the credit card company will work with you.

Self Help With Credit Card Debt

Here are some tips to you can use to help yourself with the credit card debt you may have.

First of all develop a budget for your family. This budget should include all the income that comes in and all the expenses you may have. Look to see where you can make some cuts and save some money. look at the amount you can pay towards debt and look hard and increasing that amount by sacrificing some things you may not need or do not need to have right away.

Contact the credit card companies and tell thing you are having problems pay your monthly bill. Explain to them why it difficult and ask them to work with you on a payment plan. This is really one of the best ways to get help with credit card debt. Talk to them and above all don’t wait until the credit card company has turned over your debt to a collection agency.

Learn to deal with debt collectors. Remember there are specific laws in how debt collectors can call you and talk to you. If you find you are being harassed send the debt collector a letter asking them to stop. By law they cannot continue to contact you if you have sent them a written request to cease.

We are in very tough economic times and more and more folks are having difficulty paying their debts, especially their credit card debt. Help with credit card debt is available you just need to use common sense.