December 2018

The Importance of Adding Fun Money to Your Budget

The following is a guest post from Choncé, a budgeting guru, who chronicles her journey with balancing motherhood, a home-based business, and finances on her blog, My Debt Epiphany. If you’d like to submit a guest post to Money Q&A, be sure to check out our guest posting guidelines. In 2015, I made a horrible mistake. I chose to cut fun and entertainment money out of my budget. I was feeling overwhelmed with my debt. I owed $30,000 between my student loans and my car loan. My future husband (boyfriend at the time) owed about $20,000 which included student loan debt, credit card balances and a small car loan. I had just started budgeting and became obsessed with living frugally. People I … Read more

Military Blended Retirement System (BRS) Deadline Is December 31st, 2018! #BRSBlitz

by Hank Coleman

Note – The following post is part of a military personal finance bloggers #BRSBlitz education campaign and sponsored by USAA. All opinions are my own. Time is running out for members of the military to choose whether or not they want to opt into the new Blended Retirement System (BRS). In fact, you only have until midnight TOMORROW – December 31st, 2018 to choose the BRS over the current military retirement plan, which is called the High-3 Retirement Plan. The government created and officially started automatically enrolling new members in Blended Retirement System (BRS) on January 1st, 2018. But, if you joined before January 1st, 2018 and have less than 12 years of active duty service, you had the entire year of … Read more

Emergency Student Loans – The Finest Way Out to “I Need Money Now”

by Guest Contributor

Which is better a public or private college?

You have just conceded your school, wow congratulations! Definitely want to join the college for higher studies. If you want to start your career, you must hold a college degree in your hands. But nothing is easy to earn, as even studying in college is pretty posh. The average cost of a bachelor’s degree by a government university for four years is about 25000$-30000$. This figure rises to a large extent if you move towards private colleges/universities. Tuition dues are not only expensive, but students also have to grapple with many other expenses such as transportation, high living standards, daily needs, stationery, books etc. These expenses can leave college student strapped for cash. So a financial emergency can transpire anytime. … Read more

Steady App Review – How to Find Work and Get Paid for Side Hustles

by Hank Coleman

One of the best parts of the gig economy is that pretty much anyone with access to a smartphone and some useful skills can make money on the side without going through an extensive interview process. Whether you’re a working college student, full-time employee who needs to supplement their income, or a retiree who wants to find new ways to financially support yourself in your post-career golden years, you could find a wide variety of paying gigs through an innovative app called Steady. If you’ve been looking for opportunities to jump-start your finances with an additional income stream, then Steady might be just the app you’ve been waiting for. Steady App Review Available Gigs There are plenty of options out … Read more

RetirementBudgetCalculator.com Review – A Highly Customizable Retirement Calculator

by Hank Coleman

We all know how important it is to save enough money for retirement, but do you know how much is truly enough? Personal finance experts are divided when it comes to the magical number you should strive for. It honestly varies from person to person. The problem is that people often make misguided assumptions about retirement, such as “I’m too young to think about retirement planning yet,” “I have plenty of time to start saving,” and even “I deserve to travel and live life before hunkering down to plan for retirement.” The most important thing you should do is start saving for retirement early and worry about more precise calculations once you get the ball rolling on your savings strategy. … Read more

The Actions SME Owners Must Take to Stay Liquid

by Collaborative Poster

Business owners have one goal – make money. In the beginning, the goalposts move because it’s tough to keep your head above water. One mistake and the company may have to close its doors, physical and digital, to the public. Staying liquid is an essential part of launching a startup for the first couple of years. Without money in the bank or the ability to secure it from third-parties, the debts will rack up and creditors will demand their pound of flesh. Staying liquid is the answer, yet it isn’t straightforward. Here are the things you can do to try and make it a realistic possibility. Reduce Overheads Lowering the company’s expenses is one way to ensure there is more … Read more