by Kevin McKee
Some people love their tax returns. They feel like they are getting a bunch of free money from the government. Unfortunately it’s not free money; it’s your money! And if you’re getting a big tax return, that means you’ve been missing out on your money for as much as 16 months.
This is especially harmful for people who are living paycheck to paycheck. I’ve known people who have been slammed with huge late fees and interest payments because they didn’t have enough money, and then they get a $3,000 refund check the next year.
If you’re getting a $3,000 refund, that means you could have had about $250 of extra income every month last year. Instead you let Uncle Sam hold onto it.
Your goal should be to get the smallest refund possible. That way you get to spend your money as soon as you make it instead of letting the government hold onto it.
Friday, March 9, 2012
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Making Money as a Student
by markcuban
Every kid needs to make some money , right ? You want a job. You can’t get a job. You need experience. You got no experience. High School and College kid problems.
But fear not. Not every job has to be a career. Money plays. You don’t need brilliant ideas. Sometimes you just need to make some money for the summer. Or to pay for your braces. Or to pay for the phonebill your parents killed you on. Whatever you need cash for , its always a problem that needs solving.
To solve your big money problems, sometimes you only need to solve simple problems. Sometimes you just need to be creative. I’m going to give you 2 ideas any student going to any school can do to make more than minimum wage.
1. Shoelaces.
Say what ? Shoelaces. I said it.
I guarantee you that if you go to the parking lot of any high school or college football game with a bunch of shoelaces in team colors that you bought for 2 bucks a pop,and put up a sign and 2 chairs, you can make money. Not football season? . Go to where ever there are people in your community. Flea Market. Basketball Game. Dance recital. Wherever people who go to your school show up , you show up. You set up your sign and your chairs.
On the sign you put something like ” Get in the YourSchool spirit”. I will re lace your shoes with “YOURSCHOOL” color laces for $10 (small schools), $20 bucks (big schools with more drunk alums or lots of rich people). If you want to make it even more fun. You can add “I will lace them in 5 minutes or they are free”. If you are really enterprising, you can put up on the poster about 5 different ways to lace the shoes and charge a premium for anything but “Missionary” lacing.
Easy money. Guaranteed.
2. Become an expert in programming All in 1 tv remote controls. People are buying a single remote control to replace all the remotes they have. No one really wants to take the time to figure out all the options. No one wants to take the time to learn how to program the stupid remote. In fact it pisses them off that it takes far more time than they have to do something they bought the stupid remote to do.
To help solve everyone’s problem, go to a local electronics store and find out what remotes they sell. Go to the local Walmart, Target, Best Buy, etc, etc. if the grocery store sells remotes go there too. Find out what the most popular sellers are . How do you find out which are the most popular ? You ask someone.
Then , you become an expert in programming those remote controls. The worlds best expert. Once you know your shit. Go back to the store with business cards with your email/cell phone number on it and the following
Your Name
I will program any Remote Control for $20
I Have a Phd In Remote Control Programming
Cell #/Email/Website
Then you go to all the stores and tell them that their customers will be far happier if they send them to you to program the remote. You will program it exactly like they want it, connecting to any and all devices. All the store has to do is let you put up a stack of cards next to the remote control maybe a little sign. Then you give a sheepish grin to the manager of the electronics or remote control section of the store and tell them how this is really important to you and how you will do a great job. you promise. Then every couple days you go back to the store and talk to the salespeople who work there and remind them about your PHD in Remote Control Programming and how if they send you enough business, you might be able to spiff them a commission.
Then you damn well do a great job or some other kid is going to steal your remote control programming business
There you go. Easy breezy money. nothing fancy. Nothing complicated. Just some hard work , some customer service and the ability to be nice to people and thank them when they pay you and tip you.
Every kid needs to make some money , right ? You want a job. You can’t get a job. You need experience. You got no experience. High School and College kid problems.
But fear not. Not every job has to be a career. Money plays. You don’t need brilliant ideas. Sometimes you just need to make some money for the summer. Or to pay for your braces. Or to pay for the phonebill your parents killed you on. Whatever you need cash for , its always a problem that needs solving.
To solve your big money problems, sometimes you only need to solve simple problems. Sometimes you just need to be creative. I’m going to give you 2 ideas any student going to any school can do to make more than minimum wage.
1. Shoelaces.
Say what ? Shoelaces. I said it.
I guarantee you that if you go to the parking lot of any high school or college football game with a bunch of shoelaces in team colors that you bought for 2 bucks a pop,and put up a sign and 2 chairs, you can make money. Not football season? . Go to where ever there are people in your community. Flea Market. Basketball Game. Dance recital. Wherever people who go to your school show up , you show up. You set up your sign and your chairs.
On the sign you put something like ” Get in the YourSchool spirit”. I will re lace your shoes with “YOURSCHOOL” color laces for $10 (small schools), $20 bucks (big schools with more drunk alums or lots of rich people). If you want to make it even more fun. You can add “I will lace them in 5 minutes or they are free”. If you are really enterprising, you can put up on the poster about 5 different ways to lace the shoes and charge a premium for anything but “Missionary” lacing.
Easy money. Guaranteed.
2. Become an expert in programming All in 1 tv remote controls. People are buying a single remote control to replace all the remotes they have. No one really wants to take the time to figure out all the options. No one wants to take the time to learn how to program the stupid remote. In fact it pisses them off that it takes far more time than they have to do something they bought the stupid remote to do.
To help solve everyone’s problem, go to a local electronics store and find out what remotes they sell. Go to the local Walmart, Target, Best Buy, etc, etc. if the grocery store sells remotes go there too. Find out what the most popular sellers are . How do you find out which are the most popular ? You ask someone.
Then , you become an expert in programming those remote controls. The worlds best expert. Once you know your shit. Go back to the store with business cards with your email/cell phone number on it and the following
Your Name
I will program any Remote Control for $20
I Have a Phd In Remote Control Programming
Cell #/Email/Website
Then you go to all the stores and tell them that their customers will be far happier if they send them to you to program the remote. You will program it exactly like they want it, connecting to any and all devices. All the store has to do is let you put up a stack of cards next to the remote control maybe a little sign. Then you give a sheepish grin to the manager of the electronics or remote control section of the store and tell them how this is really important to you and how you will do a great job. you promise. Then every couple days you go back to the store and talk to the salespeople who work there and remind them about your PHD in Remote Control Programming and how if they send you enough business, you might be able to spiff them a commission.
Then you damn well do a great job or some other kid is going to steal your remote control programming business
There you go. Easy breezy money. nothing fancy. Nothing complicated. Just some hard work , some customer service and the ability to be nice to people and thank them when they pay you and tip you.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Use Peanut Butter, Toothpaste To Fix Scratched Discs
You don't need to throw away or replace a DVD just because it's scratched up. With some careful rehab, you can get the disc back into playing shape.You start by smoothing toothpaste over the disc, then layering a coat of peanut butter on top of that. Next, you wipe off the substances, leaving the remaining gunk to fill in the scratches.
After that, you apply a second coat of toothpaste and peanut butter, then place the disc in a container and pour soda and baking soda inside. After shaking it up and letting the disc sit for a while, you polish off the next layer of paste with a wet paper towel and your scratches should be gone.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Mason Jars Can Be Used as Mini Blender Jars
Perhaps this is why they call them “Blender Jars” — the thread on the bottom of the jar is the same as a mason jar. That means you can remove the blade assembly from your large blender jar and attach it to a mason jar for small recipes, quick smoothies, baby food, etc.If you’ve already got a blender, that’s just a few dollars in mason jars. Otherwise, you could shell out $50 for a magic bullet:
Monday, November 7, 2011
Saturday, September 10, 2011
R U on the National Do Not Call List?
To prevent unwanted calls, you can call the following number from your cell phone: 888-382-1222.
It is the National DO NOT CALL list It will only take a minute of your time.. It blocks your number for five (5) years. You must call from the cell phone number you want to have blocked. You cannot call from a different phone number.
HELP OTHERS BY PASSING THIS ON .. It takes about 20 seconds.
https://www.donotcall.gov/default.aspx
It is the National DO NOT CALL list It will only take a minute of your time.. It blocks your number for five (5) years. You must call from the cell phone number you want to have blocked. You cannot call from a different phone number.
HELP OTHERS BY PASSING THIS ON .. It takes about 20 seconds.
https://www.donotcall.gov/default.aspx
Friday, April 29, 2011
The truth about penny auctions
The truth about penny auctions
Q. Lately I've been seeing online ads for incredibly inexpensive gadgets. I'm talking about iPads and SLRs for less than $200. The site in the ads is called QuiBids. I've also seen similar ads for BidHere and a few others. The deals look fantastic, but I'm sure there's a catch. How can these sites offer such cheap products?
-Jim from Lexington, KY
A. These ads are all over the Internet, Jim. They promise the hottest gadgets at rock-bottom prices. But, as with many things online, they're not really quite what they seem. So you're smart to be skeptical.
The sites you mentioned run so-called penny auctions. What a cute name. It almost sounds like you're going to get the bargain of a lifetime. Penny auction sites have blossomed in the last few years. There are now more than a hundred of them online.
Let me explain how these auctions work. The site has an item that it is auctioning. The bidding starts at $0. Every bid only adds one or two cents to the price of the item. So you can have a hundred bids and still have a $1 item.
That's why you'll see ads for $50 iPads or $200 Macbooks. Even with thousands of bidders, the final price can be very low. As you might suspect, plenty of people are drawn to these sites.
Unfortunately, penny auctions aren't quite so cut-and-dried. There are several catches you should know about.
The first catch is that bids aren't free. Depending on the site, you'll pay between $.50 and $1 per bid. If you bid 20 times, you just paid the site $10 or $20.
Some sites are up-front about this charge. Other sites hide the bid fee behind chips or tokens. You don't really consider what you're spending.
Sites also differ in what happens after the bid. Many sites keep all the bid fees. Other sites let you apply some of the fees to future auctions. For example, you may be able to apply 20 percent of your bid fees to offset future bids. Sound nice? It's really just a trick to get you to come back and drop more cash.
You might also get a credit toward buying the object you were bidding on. Of course, you will be paying much more than you would elsewhere.
The second catch is the bidding process. There is no set time limit on the auctions. Whenever someone bids, it adds 15 seconds to the auction time.
That makes it easier to get caught in an unending bidding frenzy. What's the big deal, though? You're only bidding pennies, right? Oops, go back and look at the first catch again.
The third catch is that winning an auction doesn't win you the item. You've simply won the opportunity to buy the item at the auction's ending price. Typically, nothing you've put into the auction so far goes toward the purchase.
Here's an example. Let's say you have the final bid on an iPad 2 16GB Wi-Fi (retail $500). The closing bid price is $50. That means there were 5,000 bids at one penny per bid.
Let's say the bid fee was $1 per bid. First of all, the auction house just made $5,000. That's an important thing to keep in mind. These sites earn thousands from a single item.
Now let's say you bid 300 times in the auction, which isn't unreasonable. You've paid $300 in bid fees. To get the iPad, you now have to pay the $50 final purchase price.
That's a total cost of $350. Congratulations, you saved $150 on your iPad. That isn't quite the deal you were initially expecting, was it?
However, $150 is $150, right? That's still some savings. Doesn't that make it worth it?
Not really. The odds of actually winning are slim. It's like joining a high-stakes poker game. Expect to lose a lot of money before you win.
You may eventually win big, but you're going to lose money first. You just have to hope it balances out in the end.
It doesn't help that there are a lot of penny auction pros around. They have years of penny auction experience. They're like professional card sharks when it comes to bidding.
Plus, remember how I mentioned a bidding frenzy? What if you had unthinkingly made 500 bids on the iPad? Your total cost for the auction would have been $550. You'd be paying $50 over the iPad's retail price. Even winners can come out losers on these sites.
That's why many people compare penny auctions to gambling. It pushes the same buttons in your brain. People with addictive, risk-taking personalities should steer clear.
In fact, I recommend everyone steer clear of penny auctions. The overall risks aren't worth the eventual rewards. You will ultimately end up disappointed. You're better off spending your time searching price-comparison sites for the best deal.
Q. Lately I've been seeing online ads for incredibly inexpensive gadgets. I'm talking about iPads and SLRs for less than $200. The site in the ads is called QuiBids. I've also seen similar ads for BidHere and a few others. The deals look fantastic, but I'm sure there's a catch. How can these sites offer such cheap products?
-Jim from Lexington, KY
A. These ads are all over the Internet, Jim. They promise the hottest gadgets at rock-bottom prices. But, as with many things online, they're not really quite what they seem. So you're smart to be skeptical.
The sites you mentioned run so-called penny auctions. What a cute name. It almost sounds like you're going to get the bargain of a lifetime. Penny auction sites have blossomed in the last few years. There are now more than a hundred of them online.
Let me explain how these auctions work. The site has an item that it is auctioning. The bidding starts at $0. Every bid only adds one or two cents to the price of the item. So you can have a hundred bids and still have a $1 item.
That's why you'll see ads for $50 iPads or $200 Macbooks. Even with thousands of bidders, the final price can be very low. As you might suspect, plenty of people are drawn to these sites.
Unfortunately, penny auctions aren't quite so cut-and-dried. There are several catches you should know about.
The first catch is that bids aren't free. Depending on the site, you'll pay between $.50 and $1 per bid. If you bid 20 times, you just paid the site $10 or $20.
Some sites are up-front about this charge. Other sites hide the bid fee behind chips or tokens. You don't really consider what you're spending.
Sites also differ in what happens after the bid. Many sites keep all the bid fees. Other sites let you apply some of the fees to future auctions. For example, you may be able to apply 20 percent of your bid fees to offset future bids. Sound nice? It's really just a trick to get you to come back and drop more cash.
You might also get a credit toward buying the object you were bidding on. Of course, you will be paying much more than you would elsewhere.
The second catch is the bidding process. There is no set time limit on the auctions. Whenever someone bids, it adds 15 seconds to the auction time.
That makes it easier to get caught in an unending bidding frenzy. What's the big deal, though? You're only bidding pennies, right? Oops, go back and look at the first catch again.
The third catch is that winning an auction doesn't win you the item. You've simply won the opportunity to buy the item at the auction's ending price. Typically, nothing you've put into the auction so far goes toward the purchase.
Here's an example. Let's say you have the final bid on an iPad 2 16GB Wi-Fi (retail $500). The closing bid price is $50. That means there were 5,000 bids at one penny per bid.
Let's say the bid fee was $1 per bid. First of all, the auction house just made $5,000. That's an important thing to keep in mind. These sites earn thousands from a single item.
Now let's say you bid 300 times in the auction, which isn't unreasonable. You've paid $300 in bid fees. To get the iPad, you now have to pay the $50 final purchase price.
That's a total cost of $350. Congratulations, you saved $150 on your iPad. That isn't quite the deal you were initially expecting, was it?
However, $150 is $150, right? That's still some savings. Doesn't that make it worth it?
Not really. The odds of actually winning are slim. It's like joining a high-stakes poker game. Expect to lose a lot of money before you win.
You may eventually win big, but you're going to lose money first. You just have to hope it balances out in the end.
It doesn't help that there are a lot of penny auction pros around. They have years of penny auction experience. They're like professional card sharks when it comes to bidding.
Plus, remember how I mentioned a bidding frenzy? What if you had unthinkingly made 500 bids on the iPad? Your total cost for the auction would have been $550. You'd be paying $50 over the iPad's retail price. Even winners can come out losers on these sites.
That's why many people compare penny auctions to gambling. It pushes the same buttons in your brain. People with addictive, risk-taking personalities should steer clear.
In fact, I recommend everyone steer clear of penny auctions. The overall risks aren't worth the eventual rewards. You will ultimately end up disappointed. You're better off spending your time searching price-comparison sites for the best deal.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)