One of the biggest pieces of advice that you will see when it comes to improving your financial situation is that you should pick up a side hustle - some sort of a second job to supplement your income.  The general wisdom is that it's easier to make more money than it is to reduce your expenses by the same amount. I'm a big fan of the small side hustle.  There are plenty of people out there looking to hire people for small gigs, everything … [Read more...]

I was awarded a mid-year bonus at work and it recently hit my bank account.  After taxes, it ended up being a little under half of one of my paychecks, so not a world-changing amount, but also not an insignificant amount.  Now I have to decide the best use for the money. Save It The common advice you hear is to immediately put your entire bonus into savings.  After all, it's not money that I anticipated receiving, so putting it all into savings … [Read more...]

Now that it is February, many of us have received our first paychecks for the year, with the changes from the new tax bill in effect. Have you taken a look at your latest paycheck to see if there have been any changes? Though the talking points from Congress seem to indicate that most of us should be seeing an increase in our take-home pay, your paycheck may not have gone up.  Your health insurance premiums may have increased (I know mine … [Read more...]

No matter how much you plan, sometimes you just find yourself in a financial pinch.  Let's say you suddenly need some car repairs and you find you're $200 short and need cash fast.  How can you make 200 dollars in one day? Sell Your Stuff Unless you are extremely minimalist, you probably have some stuff you can get rid of.  List some items on online sales sites, such as Craigslist or other neighborhood sales lists.  You're looking to make money … [Read more...]