October 2012 Archives - Personal Finance (MB)

The Story Of My Worst Job Ever: Part Three

May 17, 2019October 31, 2012 by Money Beagle

This is the third part of the story about my worst job ever. It started off as one post, but writing it got to be so long (and so therapeutic, even though these events happened seven years ago) that I decided to break it up. In the first part we talked about the process of finding and getting the job. Yesterday in part two we talked about how things only went down from there after some ‘changes in plans’ from when I was hired. When we last left, my frustration was to the point that I was kicking a computer bag in the middle of Staples.

Back To The Story

After the junior audit confusion, I was put back on to lead duty. One of the things auditors will do is re-audit something that had been audited in the past where improvement was needed. I was given this assignment, and found that the original audit from several years prior had been done by none other than Bridgette herself.

The Story Of My Worst Job Ever: Part Two

May 17, 2019October 30, 2012 by Money Beagle

Here is the second part chronicling my worst job ever. This job was not only a bad job because it didn’t work out, but it came pretty close to destroying a lot of parts of me that I have built over the years that led me to be successful at many jobs before and after. This job almost killed it.

Yesterday, I talked about how I came to get the job, including the interview process and the confidence that I could succeed even though I didn’t have the exact match of qualifications.

My First Day (aka The Day I Should Have Realized I Was Screwed)

My first day came and I was excited. The job was in a cool building, I was learning something new and I was ready to kick butt. I was looking forward to getting re-acquainted with the manager I’d interviewed with…and I did. For exactly one day.

Ways That Kids Can Learn Money Management Skills

May 17, 2019October 29, 2012 by Money Beagle

Rising student loan debt among young people has underscored the current need to teach children money management skills at a young age. Conscientious parents are exploring educational options for children of all ages that can help them to learn basic money management skills that will help them to succeed in the real world.

Even children as young as five years old can participate in businesslike activities that can help them learn how to budget finances. The proverbial lemonade stand, for instance, is an age-old tradition among young entrepreneurs who want to earn a bit of spending cash.

Although lemonade stands are no longer commonly seen gracing residential street corners, the basic economic principle remains the same. Providing goods and/or services to a willing market in a way that produces a profit is the basic premise of capitalism and one of the first economic lessons that every young person should learn.

The Story Of My Worst Job Ever: Part One

May 17, 2019October 29, 2012 by Money Beagle

Many months back I started going through the various jobs that I had. I figured it would be about a four part series, and I got through part one and part two, fully intending to hit the third and fourth part shortly thereafter.

Oops. Turned out I probably just didn’t want to talk about part three. And it also turns out that part three has multiple parts in itself. I think I waited to post it because it was a hard story to write. Why? Because for the first time in my life I failed at a job, and couple that with the fact that the company reneged on promises made at hire and I had a manager who I believe was just an awful person, and it was one of the darkest times of my entire life. Not just my career, but of my life.

Don’t Fall Into A Spiral Of Debt

May 17, 2019October 26, 2012 by Money Beagle

Paying high interest on credit cards is never a good strategy to building wealth and achieving positive personal finance goals. What is a high rate? These days, 25% is probably considered high.

If you find yourself in a high interest situation, hopefully you are trying to do something about it. Some people continue paying on the debt, hopefully whittling away the debt. Others try to take advantage of balance transfers for lower rate cards.

Regardless of your intent, getting out from underneath a high interest loan is key, because any dollar paid in interest is a dollar you no longer have. Reducing those dollars spent will help put them in your pocket instead.

One of the things that can come up that can really throw a monkey wrench in getting away from high interest credit cards is a situation in which you may not be able to pay even your minimum payment. This can have a long lasting effect on your credit as a late payment can cause your rates to go up even further and could add additional late fees to your account. In certain cases, say if your paycheck is coming a day or two later, it could make sense to look at a short term loan.

Keep in mind timing. Paying the loan off in a couple of days is costly, but can sometimes be less costly than a late fee.

Will The Stock Market Impact The Election?

May 17, 2019October 26, 2012 by Money Beagle

The stock market hasn’t done very well at all, and is down roughly 5% from it’s highs just in the last month with another day in the red shaping up for today (the S&P is trading around 1400, having fallen from roughly 1470 earlier this month).

I think another 4-5% before the election could be devastating to President Obama, and given how quickly we’ve shed the amount we have, a drop of that amount (or close to it) could definitely happen, especially with the way that the market has been trending down. It only takes a few tenths of a percentage points a day to add up to a pretty big drop.

Such a large drop would be roughly a double digit drop and would signify a pretty big warning sign about the economy. Since the stock market is forward looking (meaning the movement is largely centered upon what investors believe is going to happen down the line), this would be a very bad sign.

Fixing A Little Thing Is Easy And Can Keep You Happy

May 17, 2019October 25, 2012 by Money Beagle

Do you ever get sick of where you live? Not sick where you want to pack up and move, but just where it gets sort of….blah.

That happens every now and then.

Some people have a great fix for when this happens: They go through and make a big change.

That’s fine if you can afford it and in some cases, the changes really are justified, but other times, you really don’t need to make a change.

Last week, I was feeling that way about the house and I realized that something little was bothering me.

Even If Open Enrollment Hasn’t Started Yet, You Should Still Start Planning

May 17, 2019October 23, 2012 by Money Beagle

If you will be getting insurance coverage through your employer, chances are that open enrollment for next year is right around the corner.

Our time to enroll changes from year to year as the HR department negotiates and finalizes the rates for the upcoming year. What has tended to happen is that the bigger the increase for employees, the later they will announce open enrollment.

So, let’s hope our announcement comes soon!

Even if your employer hasn’t rolled out the details, you can still get started on your planning for next year. Here’s how.

You can look at how you did in 2012 and get an idea as to whether you picked the right plan. This can help lead what plan to choose for 2013.

You Can’t Succeed If You Don’t Put Yourself In A Position To

May 17, 2019October 22, 2012 by Money Beagle

This post uses some sports related analogy, but I promise, even you non-sports fans should continue reading as I think it’s a point that everybody should bring home.

In two days, my hometown Detroit Tigers will begin playing in the World Series. The team was last in the World Series six years ago, in 2006, when they lost to the St. Louis Cardinals. (Side note: I had tickets to a potential game seven in that series, but unfortunately, they lost in five). They haven’t won the World Series since 1984, and even though I was just ten at the time, I still remember them winning it as it was the first professional championship won by any of the Detroit teams since I’d been born.

This year, the Tigers have gotten here in somewhat dramatic fashion. Go back to the pre-season, and they were predicted by just about everybody to win the American League Central division. This was predicated on several ideas: The Tigers had Miguel Cabrera, arguably one of the best hitters in the game, had just signed Prince Fielder, had Justin Verlander, had lots of other great pitchers, and the general consensus was that most of the other teams in their division, well, kind of sucked.

Does Your Company Have A Business Savings Account?

May 17, 2019October 19, 2012 by Money Beagle

If you run a business or make financial decisions for your company, you may hear the term ‘business savings account’ and wonder if it is for you. There are many things to consider when making that decision.

First, to understand what a business savings account is, it’s essentially a place where businesses can store money during times where they have a comfortable amount of cash on hand.

Storing these funds in a business savings account can provide many opportunities, such as bearing interest, just like a personal savings account that most people are familiar with. They also provide safety and security, and many are insured so that the underlying government will guarantee your funds, something that is very important in these volatile economic times.