Financial Solution News

The response to the gas gift card giveaway was simply amazing. If you haven’t joined yet, I suggest you go over there and give yourself a chance to win a free $50 gas gift card! The winner will be announced on August 18th, 2008!
Some readers also asked where the gift cards come from so I will share with everyone here. The gas gift cards come courtesy of my credit card reward points. As a salesperson, I have a lot of travel expenses which allowed me to rack up a ton of reward points. So I figured I will just give them away to my loyal readers!
Almost all credit cards are offering reward points now. As long as you pay the balance off every month, using a credit card that gives rewards for gas purchases is like getting a discount every time we are at […]

Original post by MoneyNing

Most of us have a job where hard work is expected and necessary.  We offer our knowledge and/or labor to the company we work for in order to get recognition, satisfaction and compensation in return.  Although this is the way most people make money, the minute we stop working, the income stops.
On the other hand, a popular idea that floats around the internet is passive income.  The idea of it is that money is being earned with or without our involvement.  Once it’s set up, the recurring income will come continuously.
Anyone can quickly see why this idea is popular.  Here are three extremely good advantages:
Provides Freedom
If your passive income is higher than your living expenses, then you free yourself from the daily grind of working for someone at least 8 hours a day.  You can enjoy your life and do what you want, while earning enough money to sustain your […]

Original post by MoneyNing

Unlike the rest of the world, owning a car in most parts of the western world is required.  Without it, most of us can never get to work nor go to many other places for that matter.
We have public transportation too.  Like everywhere else, there are trains, buses and metros.  It’s just that the routes cover so little of the area that it is impractical for most of us.  So over at this side of the pond, many of us are used to calling car expenses a necessity.
As a frugal minded person, there is no need to be upset because we cannot eliminate this expense.  We can still drastically reduce the money we spend on a car by making financially sound decisions.  Here are a few areas to look out for.
When to Replace Your Car
The easy answer is to drive the car until it no longer functions but for most […]

Original post by MoneyNing

Once in a while, we will read an article that asks us to sell what we don’t need.  The benefits are obvious because we can get some cash for the items that is otherwise sitting in our house and taking up space.  While this is great advice, perhaps an even better advice is to stop buying anything that we don’t need!
Now, I know how hard this is as I’m a victim of impulse buying too.  We tell ourselves how much we really need it and eventually we end up taking it home.  Lately, I’ve started to do a combination of the following which seems to be helping.
Setup a Buy Period of the Month
When I really want something, I will tell myself over and over again why I want it and why it is so important for me.  I will go to a store and look at the actual merchandise, and […]

Original post by MoneyNing

Once in a while, we will read an article that asks us to sell what we don’t need.  The benefits are obvious because we can get some cash for the items that is otherwise sitting in our house and taking up space.  While this is great advice, perhaps an even better advice is to stop buying anything that we don’t need!
Now, I know how hard this is as I’m a victim of impulse buying too.  We tell ourselves how much we really need it and eventually we end up taking it home.  Lately, I’ve started to do a combination of the following which seems to be helping.
Setup a Buy Period of the Month
When I really want something, I will tell myself over and over again why I want it and why it is so important for me.  I will go to a store and look at the actual merchandise, and […]

Original post by MoneyNing

Speaking about different sales tax, I also remember an interesting experience I had one time when I bought something from Macys’ (department store) from another state and returned the product in Orange County that I want to share.
I don’t quite remember what it was that I bought, but when I returned the product to Macys’, the cashier actually gave me more money than I’ve bought it for! I remember asking why there was a discrepancy and the manager came over to explain that they had to return the product in their own state’s tax laws. Since I bought the merchandise at a lower sales tax state, I was making money off this purchase as I paid a lower sales tax originally and got more money back on the return.
So if every store does this, I can theoretically make money because I can always buy something from a lower […]

Original post by MoneyNing

While I was traveling in Raleigh, North Carolina, I bought a wireless mouse at the Apple Store to work with my Macbook Pro. It wasn’t until I heard the cashier tell me the total did I realized the sales tax was different than where I live (Southern California). I checked the receipt, and there in big letters were Tax@6.75%: $4.66.
I used to live in the border of Orange County and Los Angeles County, where the sales tax was 7.75% and 8.25% respectively. I remember thinking about our geographic location before we purchased anything because it was possible that we can pay less if we went to another location close by.
Now you might be thinking that 7.75% and 6.75% is only a difference of 1%, but if I bought my Macbook Pro in North Carolina, I could’ve saved myself $20. Sure it still wasn’t much but I […]

Original post by MoneyNing

As some of you know, I love to golf (which is a very expensive hobby by the way) and always want to buy a ton of stuff. The latest toy that I wanted was a laser range finder and the one I wanted is sold everywhere for $299.99.
I know that Golfsmith (a golf specialty retail store) regularly has 15% off email promotions, so I decided to try calling the sales hot line to see if I can get one emailed to me to make an order at a discount. The call didn’t start off well because I called the 1-800 number and was put on hold. About 15 minutes later, someone picked up the phone and this is how the call went…

Me: Hi, I know that there are 15% off coupons being circulated but I really want to buy a laser range finder today. Is there […]

Original post by MoneyNing

Saving more money, a goal we should all have. Sometimes, it is quite difficult to ignore our desire to want that new thing. We can all relate. Whether it is that golf club, new pair of shoes, or the TV, they all seem to reach out to us and say “You know you cannot live without me… Bring me home today”.
Once in a while, we can temporary talk us out of the wish but let’s just say that we just cannot do it this time. We have decided that the new product is exactly what we need and we won’t be denied until we get one. Then what?
At this point, all is not lost. We just have to understand and appreciate our impulses and desires and still try to maximize our savings.
Take my desire to always want that cup of Starbucks coffee. […]

Original post by MoneyNing

Today is Friday and it means that the weekend is approaching. For almost all of us, this is the happiest day of the work week. It gets even better when lunch starts because after we come back, we start thinking about how we will enjoy our time for the next two days.
Sometimes we get so excited though that we over commit ourselves. I remember one time when I played golf, then went to lunch with a group of friends, have tea with my co-workers, enjoyed dinner with someone else and still went for a drink after dinner. I remember that it was very tiring, not to mention that it was extremely expensive to do all those activities.
There is really no need to go to so many places and do so much in such a short period of time. We go out to have fun, and […]

Original post by MoneyNing