Business Generation

In my last post discussing Series I Savings Bonds as an investment, JQ asked if it made sense to put your emergency funds into Series I bonds because of the higher interest rates. With 12-month CD rates around 1%, the current 4.60% APY yield of Series I bonds look very attractive.

Series I Bonds cannot be redeemed within one year of being purchased and so you would have to build your ladder one rung at a time, starting at the one year mark. I would take one months savings and purchase a Series I Bond, thus starting the clock on that sum immediately. After each month, Id buy an additional months worth of Series I bonds until my ladder was complete. If you had $6,000 saved, Id buy a $500 Series I savings bonds each month for 12 months.

Why break it up into different rungs?

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There are many good reasons to start your own business from the independence it can bring to your lifestyle to the noble role you can play in helping to grow the economy, create jobs and opportunity and improve the world through a great product or service. In fact, the hardest part about becoming an entrepreneur is figuring out where to start. Whether you have some knowledge already or are going on a vague notion that this option may be for you, we hope this roundup will be a place to start. Good luck on your journey!

Self-development

Celebrating Independence Day with entrepreneurship. As July 4 approaches, serial entrepreneur Amy Lindgren suggests one way to declare independence in your own life may be to start your own business. Whether your ultimate goal is improved control over finances or over your own life and the way you live it, starting either a full-time or side business may be a possible answer.

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Many of the reader questions I receive are inquiries on how to pay off debt, most in regards to the optimal order to pay off the debts.

I have mentioned this before, but its worth repeating in most circumstances it is best to pay off debt in order from highest to lowest interest rate.  Put another way, if you have an auto loan at 10%, credit card 1 at 16%, and credit card 2 at 24% its usually best to repay credit card 2, credit card 1, then the auto loan.  This route should cost you the least amount of money.

Some exceptions to this rule can include losing motivation to repay highest interest debts because of large balances, or debt with tax deductible interest like student loans and mortgages.  If the balances on your high interest debts are quite large, they may take awhile to pay off, possibly several years or more.  If that will cause you to lose steam you should consider repaying your debt in order from smallest to largest balance as suggested in Dave Ramseys Financial Peace University.  Debt with tax deductible interest may be best left for last since it can reduce your tax burden but determining the order is always unique to each situation, so generalizations should be considered just that.

Whatever your circumstances, I encourage you to try repay debt using good old fashioned discipline and self-management before paying someone to help you pay it off but since many are beyond being able to help themselves lets consider some progressive options.

Sometimes youre better off consolidating a number of smaller debts into one.  Possible benefits of consolidation include lower interest rates and the simplicity of having fewer lenders.

I consolidated debt using Lending Club.  Read my Lending Club Review for details but in summary I consolidated an auto loan and 3 credit cards each with higher rates than my Lending Club loan.  You dont have to use peer lending to consolidate your debt, but its certainly a solid option.  Using Lending Club I repaid over $11,000 in just 7 short months the process would have taken much longer had I not consolidated.

If you can afford to repay debt but could use help organizing payments and determining who to pay first check out DebtGoal.  Before you consider using a full-fledged debt relief company, I encourage you to give their service a shot.  In short, DebtGoal is a DIY middle ground between self service debt management and full service debt management.

I am in the process of writing a full review of their product, but have already checked it out and feel comfortable endorsing it.  Using their service should save you far more each month than it costs, and right now theyre offering a free trial.

If you are in financial trouble and need professional help, be sure to choose your debt relief partner company carefully.  Ive been searching for a reputable debt relief services company for years and will confidently endorse a company once I find one I trust.  If you can manage your debt yourself, then do so, but if not debt relief services with the right company can be a solid option.

I highly recommend this free professional debt relief analysis to help you get a handle on things. This company

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I have a big bag of tricks I use to jumpstart my head when I’m in a writing drought. Reading the paper, making lists, pretending to stare out the window while I take a nap. . .

Sometimes it takes a while for something to float up at you, or sometimes, as with this cartoon, they jump out and hit you between the eyes.

combined with a bad sales graph pretty much writes itself. And I got to draw a cow! Win-win!

Recent reports and figures have recently shown how the cost of vehicle insurance cover in the UK is soaring, with premiums now thought to be a massive 30.8 percent higher than they were a year ago. This is especially troubling for drivers in the current climate because of the soaring cost of fuel, which is already financially crippling many drivers. The rocketing cost of insurance is an added problem to the many drivers who are now struggling to keep their cars on the road.

For many people these costs are unavoidable, because they need to use their cars to get to and from work in order to earn money but at the same time they are struggling to earn enough money to pay for the cost of running their cars. With many having their pay frozen and having to cope with other living cost increases too the financial pressure it getting too tough to handle.

For those that have seen their car insurance costs soar there are a number steps that they can take to try and reduce these costs.

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A big part of your family’s monthly budget goes to food. And food prices have been on the rise, following the rise of the price of gasoline somewhat closely. This is not good news, but there is some good news down the line. Because you might not have as much control over your mortgage, car insurance or even the amount you you spend on gas each month, but you do have a high degree of control over how much you’ll spend on your food budget. And this doesn’t mean that you’ll have to eat noodles for the whole month either, it just means that you’ll have to put some hours into planning the family meals. We’ve put our heads together and came up with a few tips on how you can get away with spending less on food without compromising the quality of the meals you put on your plate.

1. Take the ti

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