Cariduitku

UN crime chief says drug money flowed into banks

2009-01-26T14:14:00.000+07:00

The United Nations' crime and drug watchdog has indications that money made in illicit drug trade has been used to keep banks afloat in the global financial crisis, its head was quoted as saying on Sunday.

Vienna-based UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa said in an interview released by Austrian weekly Profil that drug money often became the only available capital when the crisis spiralled out of control last year.

"In many instances, drug money is currently the only liquid investment capital," Costa was quoted as saying by Profil. "In the second half of 2008, liquidity was the banking system's main problem and hence liquid capital became an important factor."

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime had found evidence that "interbank loans were funded by money that originated from drug trade and other illegal activities," Costa was quoted as saying. There were "signs that some banks were rescued in that way."

Profil said Costa declined to identify countries or banks which may have received drug money and gave no indication how much cash might be involved. He only said Austria was not on top of his list, Profil said. (Reporting by Boris Groendahl; Editing by Charles Dick)

Not Using It Could Kill Your Business!

2008-12-23T18:56:00.000+07:00

Creativity.

This is one virtue a site must possess to lead the race in the ruthless competition in the Internet based business. With so many competition and rivalry going on, every method of marketing must be employed and utilized.

It doesn’t matter if you have a killer product or a fantastically designed website, if people don’t know that you exist, it doesn’t matter, and you are not going to make it big. Worse of all, you business could just get killed.

While there are so many methods and schemes used by so many e-commerce sites today, there are still some of those that can help you with an extra boost in the popularity ratings. One of these is the so called Viral Marketing.

While the term Viral easily depicts a virus, a word very much dreaded by all computer owners, it is not what it seems. You do not actually use a computer virus to spread your business; on the contrary it just might kill you. Everyone has had enough of all those pop up ads and spywares.

Viral Marketing Overview

Viral Marketing also known otherwise as Viral Advertising is a marketing technique used to build the public awareness of one’s product or company. They use many forms of media to reach out to the public without actually promoting the product by riding on in other forms of addictive means that could get a person hooked and be obliged or amused to actually pass it on, with the product or company advertisement along with it.

In a nutshell, companies ride on the idea that if people like the content of a media they will pass it on to their friends and family. They sponsor the certain media, such as a cool flash game, funny video, amusing story and such, which one may pass on to another with the company brand or logo or the products description or any other content to help promote the company or its product.

Viral marketing has become a popular means of advertising and marketing because they are relatively low cost. To avoid being tagged as spam mail, viral marketing counts on the eagerness of one person to pas on the product. If a person sees the name of the person they know as the sender, they won’t block it and open it as well.

Many companies offer incentives such as discounts and rebates when they help in spreading their viral marketing. They rely on the number of recipients a viral marketing gets from one person in determining the amount or number of incentive they can be attributed with.

Using Viral Marketing to your advantage

The main and foremost advantage of viral marketing is that you get a lot of publicity and public awareness about your site and your company. You get to generate a flow of traffic that are potential customers. With a little ingenuity and imagination, plus some incentives or prizes, you can reach out to a great number of people and announce your existence.

Most every site and companies are catching on to the effectivity of Viral Marketing and Advertising. Not using it could kill your business. Along with other schemes and methods in promoting your site, like Search Engine Optimization and such, viral marketing could easily push you ahead in the rating games.

Viral Marketing could be a sneaky way to get people to know about you and your company. You get them to pass your advertisement along. They are also very low cost that not investing in it could be downright a business suicide. All it takes is a great idea, a good addicting game, a funny story many ideas are still out there. Create a gossip or a buzz, many movies are promoted by using scandals and gossips to make them moiré popular. Remember the movie “The Blair Witch Project”?

Many big companies have tried viral marketing and have had many success stories with it. A classic example is Microsoft’s Hotmail. They were the first known big company to utilize the scheme and it has worked wonders for them.

Now it’s your turn to use viral marketing to work wonders for you. Act now and reap the benefits Viral Marketing will provide for you and your sales figures.

3 Necessary Tools for the High Rolling Affiliate Marketer

2008-12-11T00:18:00.000+07:00

What does it take to become a successful Affiliate Marketer? What are the ingredients of an affiliate marketing success story? Is there a shortcut to Affiliate Marketing glory? All these questions play around in the minds of affiliate marketers who want to make it big in this business.
Although affiliate marketing is touted as one of the easiest and most effective ways to earn money online, it is not as easy as it sounds. The wise affiliate marketer plans every action and executes it the best way he can. He should also maximize the potential to earn by utilizing the right tools necessary for a successful Affiliate Marketing business. We have consulted some of the most successful affiliate marketers in the business and below are the top three necessary tools for a successful affiliate marketing business.

Important Tool #1: Your Own Website

The most important and indispensable tool in Affiliate Marketing is your own website. The first step in any successful affiliate marketing business is building a good, credible and professional looking website. Your website is the jump off point of all your marketing efforts. Thus, you must first build a user-friendly website, which will appeal to your prospects and encourage them to click on the links to the products and service you are promoting and make a purchase. Therefore, you must first concentrate your efforts in building a website that will cater to what your prospects need.

The most important thing you should consider is that almost all web users go online to look for information, not necessarily to go and buy something. Above all else, make your website full of original, relevant and useful content. People will love articles that are appealing and helpful. Keep in mind that, in the internet, content is still king and good quality content will not only build your credibility, it can also help you achieve a higher search engine ranking. By posting relevant and useful articles, you establish yourself as a credible expert in the field, making you a more trustworthy endorser of the product or service you promote. Establishing a good reputation is a good step in building up a loyal consumer base.

Important Tool #2: Incentives

Competition is extremely tight in the internet world. You must always be one-step ahead of your rivals to ensure that you capture a significant share of your target market. Therefore, you must use every possible means to encourage people not only to visit your site but also to click and proceed to the websites of the products and services you are promoting. Building an opt-in email list is one of the best ways to gather prospects. Offer a newsletter or an e-zine. Better yet, offer incentives to your prospects to encourage them to subscribe to your newsletters. You can present free softwares, access to exclusive services and other freebies that will be helpful to your prospects.

Important Tool #3: Link Popularity

The importance of driving highly targeted traffic to your website cannot be emphasized enough. The all-important web traffic is at the top of the list of the most important entities in the internet world. Attracting people to your site should be the first step you should carry out. Do everything to achieve a high search engine ranking. Link Popularity is one of the factors that search engines use to determine search engine rankings. Therefore, to enhance your link popularity, you must launch an aggressive reciprocal link campaign.

One of the best ways to do this – at no cost at all – is by submitting articles, with your website's link at the resource box, to e-zines and free article sites. You will not only gain exposure, you will also have the opportunity to advertise for free, just include a link back to your site. The more sites you submit your articles to, the better your link popularity is. Make your articles original, relevant and useful so that more websites will pick it up and post it.

These are but three of the many tools that an affiliate marketer can use to maximize earning potential. The possibilities are endless and are limited only by your imagination, creativity, resourcefulness and determination. You can always explore other ideas and adapt other strategies, which you think might help you become a high rolling affiliate marketer.

Don't Make These Common 4 Affiliate Mistakes!

2008-12-10T08:17:00.000+07:00

Myths concerning affiliate marketing are appealing and attractive. People who do not know the entire system the wrong way round are prone to believing that it is something capable of giving them great fortune overnight. Stories concerning affiliates who earn tremendous amounts of money swim in their heads, and while these stories are as true as they can be, there are those who believe that they are going to have the same fortune once they indulge in this particular business.

It is true enough that affiliate marketing is financially rewarding. People who have gone through everything to be able to succeed in this business are reaping the seeds that they untiringly sowed. Many of them enjoy the kind of existence that was not possible for them to have had under ordinary circumstances. Having gone through the A-Z of affiliate marketing, however, these people are the ones who know that while such business is lucrative, there is absolutely no easy money in it.

Ignorance of this fact is one of the main reasons why there are people who fail miserably in the internet business. There are those who believe in myths concerning the easy money involved in systems such as affiliate marketing. They do not know that there are those who have wasted time, effort and too many resources in trying to pursue the life of ease that they believe this business will give them. And so they go into affiliate marketing armed with nothing but myths and fantastical notions of wealth swimming in their consciousness, never realizing that they bound to make mistakes that would prove to be their downfall.

What may be the reason why in businesses such as affiliate marketing, many are called but few are chosen? Perhaps the answer lies on the fact that many affiliates make mistakes that result from their ignorance of facts concerning how the entire business runs. Affiliate marketing is not as simple as an affiliate promoting a merchant's wares through his website and getting paid for it. It is also about knowing the market and the customers at hand.

Discovering what the most common mistakes affiliates make can perhaps dispel the gloom about myths surrounding affiliate marketing by correcting some wrong notions about it. It might also be able to make those concerned understand that like any other business, there are dos and donts involved in this one if they want to make each of their steps count. The first common mistake affiliates make is their lack of knowledge concerning principles involved in their business. This refers to the affiliate's knowledge of search engines in particular.

Affiliate marketing involves advertising, and advertising through the internet could not have been better without the existence of search engines. What every affiliate has to do is to make these search engines his best friend through studying search engine optimization closely. This way, he is able to know what to do in connection with building a better website to ultimately use for his business.

The second is that affiliates make the mistake of stuffing their sites with banners that do not provide enough information about the product at hand. The best way to battle this mistake is to provide good content hand-in-hand with such banners. It is important for customers to know and understand the features of a product, and good content will be able to help them realize this goal.

The third is that there are affiliates who make the mistake of promoting only one product. Consequently, customers are not given enough options to choose from. There is also the risk of generating fewer sales as compared to having more options for customers ponder about. It is always better to give them a few better alternatives than to give them only one.

The fourth is that there are affiliates who make the mistake of promoting too many products. As a result, customers are confused and end up beyond making a choice. It is perhaps good to give them only the best choices. This is because it is ultimately up to them to judge which one is the best for them to patronize.

All in all, affiliates that are doomed to fail in this business are those who do not exert enough effort to understand everything involved in the industry that they are in. Knowing their path step by careful step will prove to be beneficial to them, as there is no other way to succeed than to go through any path slowly but surely.

Finding Hot Selling Products to Sell

2008-12-09T00:14:00.000+07:00

In order to locate products that sell online, we need to understand what people already want to buy. Finding a good choice of idea or product is always accompanied by interfacing the demand for the product in the current market and the level of competition or market share that the product will be having in the long run.

"What should I sell? What products are hot selling? These are the questions most people are trying to find an answer in order for them to make the definite decision. And if we really wjavascript:void(0)
Publish Postant to know the answer to this question, our only choice is to do some research. There are all kinds of twists along the road that may lead you to think you have a high-demand idea. We must be able to understand and satisfy the need, wants and expectations of our customers on a certain product that they're trying to buy. This three are called the basic needs or minimum requirements in a purchase. Needs are the basic reasons or the minimum requirements consumers are looking for in a product or service. They are called the qualifying or "gatekeeper" dimensions in a purchase. Wants are the determining dimensions among many choices. Expectations, on the other hand, are values or intangibles associated with a product or service. Expectations are actually part of "wants" but they become extremely important when products or services are not differentiated.

For example, in reading a logic book, university students look for the following: Relevant logic concepts use of simple language, easy to understand and affordable prices. These similar ideas can be applied to Internet Sales as well. After all, the Internet is just another place to sell products. The basic concept of demand is the same there as it is anywhere else, and has been all the time.

Now, the second thing that must be considered in finding "hot" products to sell are the level of competition or the market shares do your product will have. Market share or level of competition means the ratio of your brand sales versus the total market sales. While companies would naturally define its target competitors, it is actually the consumers who ultimately decide the competitive frame, or the list related products or services that consumers consider when exercising their purchasing power. We must therefore choose the market segment where we can have a potential leadership or at least a strong challenger role. Because the overriding objective of getting into this business is not just to satisfy the needs and wants of our customers but to do so profitably better than his competition. Otherwise, our competition will end up satisfying the customers better than our own interest.

Third factor to be considered in finding hot selling products is finding out the general interest level about the product. General interest in a product helps us to gauge where our demand and competition numbers fall into the big picture. Simply saying, if there isn't much demand for the product, and there isn't much competition, it would seem that it might not be good a good put up for sale. But the research doesn't stop here; there is one last thing to be considered to exactly find the hot selling products that you've been looking for. We must also learn how others are advertising those products. If there are a good number of them doing so, it may mean that it's a good product to get into. Coming to the last phase of the process is analyzing and evaluating all the information that has been collected. We have to look at all of the data we have collected on demand, competition, and advertising, and make decision as how they all balance out.

And here are several factors or aspects that must be measured: (a) not enough demand means not enough people are going to buy (b) too much competition means not enough of a profit to go around (c) too much advertising drives up the price of pay per click ads, and competition as well (d) not enough general interest, combined with low demand, means there may not be a good market even if there is competition trying to make the sales.

How to Set Yourself Apart From Other Affiliates

2008-12-08T12:13:00.000+07:00

Considered today as one of the best and easiest way to earn some money, affiliate marketing is now attracting many people to represent themselves in this type of business. But as competition is getting a bit bigger, you may need some ways to distinguish yourself from the rest of the affiliate marketers. For the major reason that many of your competitors including you are promoting the exact same program, in the exact same zone or on the exact same websites perhaps. Now here are some tips that you may consider in order for you to stay in this business and have the chance to outwit and outplay other competitors of yours.

The first thing is for you to have your own website. It is very essential for you to have your own website in considering affiliate marketing as your professional career. Secondly, potential customers primarily go to websites in order for them to search and sometimes purchase items they were looking for. For the same reason that it is much easier to remember than a certain URL that you may be using and you can just point to your visitors the affiliate page in your website.

Another thing to remember is to have your own ad. A lot of times affiliates marketers have published the same ad two or three times done by advertisers. In this case, you may email the owner of your affiliate program asking that you make your own ads. This way, people may not become immune to ads, because sometimes seeing the same ads over and over again, may just make your potential customers to just skip it all together. Besides, your primarily purpose is to attract or encourage people to click and read your ads and be curios enough to click through your website.

Step three, have some products of your won which are only available through your website. Once you have your website going, it is important to have some products or services that your customers can't find with other affiliate's site. You want your customers to keep coming to your site and the best way to do that is to have something on your site that they can't find on others. Being an affiliate marketer we must then choose a certain market segment where you can have a potential leadership or at least a strong challenger role.

The fourth step is to build a strong relationship with people who already buy your product. Now, in order for you as the marketer to fully answer the query of your potential customers, it is best to try and buy the product by yourself. With this particular notion, you can better sell the product that you are trying to market. You can share to your potential customers what a great experience you had with the product, and this can make them interested enough to buy the product. You may also be able to provide a support if necessary or you may provide a confident tutorial or steps on how to use the product that you are trying to market based on your personal experience. Entailing this idea is to be totally honest about the product that you are trying to market. If you find out that the program you were promoting is a scam, stop promoting it and inform your readers about it. This will help you build credibility with your lists.

We all make mistakes and admitting your mistake will boost your reader's confidence in you. Lastly, don't try to market everything you see. With services such as click bank, it is easy to become overwhelmed and try to market everything in the click bank marketplace. That is not a good idea. It's better to focus on one market and market products that they would want. This is called niche marketing.

Try also to promote a certain product, which conforms to the specifications measured through indications of customer-satisfaction, rather than indicators of self-gratification. It is the customer who decides what to buy and not the company or the affiliate marketer. The company simply produces products catering to the needs and wants of their chosen market segment.

Today, different types of business are emerging from all over the world in a multinational level to reign supreme on their specific market segment that they are trying to dominate, and affiliate marketing is one of them. Affiliate marketing is definitely here to stay and it can become a great way to earn extra or even part time income. However, it won't happen overnight. Like everything else in life, you're going to have to put a lot of hard work into it. Good luck to you in your new venture.

How You Can Become a Super Affiliate

2008-12-07T00:30:00.000+07:00

The humdrum existence of going to the office day after day doing the usual 9-5 shift is a trying task for those who have lived all their lives doing so. This is why the convenience of doing work at home under amazingly flexible working hours is a dazzling prospect to them. Doing work at home that is as fulfilling as having a career working for a computer on the 19th floor of a skyscraper is already a possibility in these modern times. This is because the jungle-like network that is the internet has given birth to a business that has given some people practically new lives doing nothing but so.

This particular business allows people to work at home under flexible working hours. There is no boss to scream around putting pressure on everyone about the deadline at hand. There is no clutter of messy paperwork that needs to be completed the soonest possible time. Conveniences such as these are experienced by those who are into affiliate marketing, the newest way to earn money without having to go through all sorts of routine found in regular employment.

Those who have been in the business long enough can attest to the fact that it is a lucrative business indeed, one that can actually give people things that they could not possibly possess or experience under ordinary circumstances.

The business called affiliate marketing involves an affiliate's promotion of a merchant's website. Here the website owned by the affiliate is made to advertise and market the website of the merchant through the affiliate program that they run. Whenever someone clicks on the merchant's website promoted by the one owned by the affiliate, the affiliate is given a commission. This is in recognition of his effort in helping the merchant make a sale.

The system involved in affiliate marketing seems easy, but it also takes a lot of diligence and perseverance for one to be able to penetrate it thoroughly. Those who want to get into this type of business should possess the necessary skills to be able tread through the industry with confidence and self-assurance. Still, other factors are needed by one to be able to really break in. Knowledge about the business at hand is very important as it dictates the actions that are to be done by people who are into it.

The leading figure in affiliate marketing is the super affiliate. He is basically an e-mail marketer who collects large databases of e-mail addresses through newsletters. Super affiliates are also those who know the business even better than affiliate managers as a result of their knowledge about the affiliate marketing industry inside out. Those who want to be super affiliates should know that becoming a super affiliate is not easy, because it takes a lot to be able to master the marketing craft.

Becoming a super affiliate means having one's own website and autoresponder. These tools will help a lot in one's facilitation of the business. Building one's own list is another. Creating a loyal customer base and taking care of it is one secret that successful super affiliates have. Making good customer relations is also important if one wants to be a super affiliate to reckon with.

Continuing to market to the people on one's list is another must if one wants to succeed as a super affiliate. Sending out quality content in lieu of ads is an advantage as products are marketed better whenever enough information is given about them.

Building traffic to one's own site is also one of the most essential points in the affiliate marketing business. Making one's affiliate links his own business will allow him to build a strong relationship with his customers, enabling him to market to them over and over again.

The most important thing one should remember if he wants to become a super affiliate is to treat affiliate marketing as a business first and foremost. If he is capable of doing this, then he will never have to go back to the humdrum existence of working the 9-5 shift. A career as a super affiliate in the business which will change his life forever could possibly take that unexciting job's place.

Fox in the money with "Secret Millionaire" bow

2008-12-06T00:04:00.001+07:00

LOS ANGELES, Fox's new reality effort "Secret Millionaire" performed much better than expected Wednesday, suggesting that the short-run altruistic series could have a future on the network.

The evening's two episodes of "Millionaire" averaged 7.4 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research. Although not a huge number, the premiere was only modestly promoted and aired in December -- when new programs typically have a tough time attracting audiences -- so Fox's expectations were low. The show is considered a softhearted departure from the network's usual reality brand of more competition-oriented and envelope-pushing fare.

There's four more episodes of "Millionaire" left to air in the coming weeks, and Fox likely will get its promotional machine rolling to see if it can turn a December effort into a returning show.

Also during the 9 p.m. hour, NBC's "Life" averaged 8.2 million viewers, followed by 7.8 million for ABC's "Private Practice," and 7 million for CBS' inaugural telecast of the Grammy nominations.

Never miss the game !

2008-11-09T02:16:00.002+07:00

As a Football maniac I never miss one of my favorite games, but the problem is I can not always stand and see the game live, luckily now there is a provider for this matter to support.
I just heard that one of the largest beer company just launch their Carlsberg web-tv, still need more you may visit Partofthegame.tv and I also suggest to take a look at web tv.

www.partofthegame.tv

Money Making Tips

2008-10-29T13:38:00.000+07:00

Affiliate marketing is all about getting paid for selling products you don’t own and not going to jail for it. Someone else goes through all of the trouble to develop software programs, service, or digital content products. They’ll do all the work then you collect the money!

Affiliate marketing is a revenue sharing arrangement between the product developer, known as the affiliate merchant, and the affiliate marketer who is anyone that’s willing to promote the sale of product by advertising the product using any type of legal means available.
The relationship will allow the affiliate merchant to grow their revenue by paying only for the advertising that results in a sale. The affiliate marketer will profit by making a percentage on a sale that he does not have to manage after the sale.

Getting paid

Getting paid all depends upon how the affiliate program is set up. Some merchants will run their own affiliate program. They’ll have special types of software that assigns each affiliate marketer a special link that’s used in promoting the product. The software will track sales of every marketer and the merchant will pay the commission on a periodic basis using either paypal ">PayPal or another method of payment.

Selecting products or services

Your income is directly tied to how well your selected product or service sells, and the size of the commission you earn, which makes it very important that you choose carefully when it comes to choosing the affiliate merchant you’ll be partnering with.

Choose programs that you aren’t embarrassed to promote and programs that you’ll feel comfortable recommending to your family and friends if they were to ask you about it.

You’ll do much better if you promote products that you fully understand and are already familiar with. This way, you’ll be able to write better ads without having to strain yourself coming up with the right things to say.

You should only promote products and services for companies who have gone through the trouble to provide you with training programs and sales aids such as banners and other marketing materials that you can either use directly or model the one you own after.

Be on the lookout for programs with commission rates no less than 50%. You should give preference to programs that pay commission on multiple levels, which means you’ll also have to earn commissions on sales made by people who buy the products through your link then go on and become affiliates themselves later on.

How To make money Online

2008-10-28T16:16:00.001+07:00

People use the Internet not only to gather information or as a communication medium, but also to market their products or services and thus, to make money. People try different ways to make money online, but they hardly get any success. By understanding the reason as to why they fail in their attempt to make money online and by looking at some proven ways of making money, we can effectively earn money online.

Lets first look at what we could do to make money online. We need to understand that the Internet is not a magical place or some sort of money- making machine. But it does provides the cheapest way to communicate with lot of people. It helps you in reaching out to millions of people who are using the Internet daily, and the number is growing.

In business, if you want to grow and make more money, you have to market your product or service quite well. In other words, you should try to make people aware of your business. This is where the Internet comes into play. As it provides cheapest way to communicate, it becomes an excellent medium to market your business. Considering this, if we want to make money, we can conclude that it would be a better option to have a business first and then use the Internet to market it make money online.

You can start a business to provide others with some kind of service, or to create and sell your product or to market other people’s product. Let’s look at how you can start with a service-oriented business. In service-oriented business, you have to sell your skills. For example, if you know how to develop software, then you can become a freelance software developer.

Another good example for making money is if you are good at writing articles, then you can become freelance writer and make money by writing and selling your articles. There are lots of freelancing websites on the net where people post different projects. You need to register as freelancer and then bid on the projects. In this way, you can start making money quickly. Some people use a different approach. Instead of bidding on projects posted by others, they either develop some software or write an e-book and later on, market it online and make money. In this way, initially you need to spend some time in creating your own product and then you need to focus entirely on marketing. The more you market, the more number of people will buy your product and more money you will make.

In the third approach for making money online, you don’t have to develop any product or sell your skills. You just need to help others in marketing their products and in return, they will give you some commission on every sale. This is known as affiliate marketing. The more products you market, the more you can make money. No matter which approach you would choose to start your business, you must understand that, if you want to make money online, you have to work hard. Think about which could be the best approach for you. You can also start with more than one type of business at a time. For example, while acting as a freelance writer, you can also write articles to market products created by others. So start working now to make money online now.

Constant money drain

2008-10-15T16:24:00.000+07:00

CATRIONA MCGOLDRICK didn't have a holiday this year. She might consider this the least of her worries 12 months after getting her breast cancer diagnosis - which came six months after her 82-year-old mother died with the same condition.

But after undergoing surgery, 16 weeks of chemotherapy sessions and seven weeks of Monday-Friday radiotherapy treatments, a holiday might be just what Catriona, her husband and their five-year-old daughter need.

The McGoldricks didn't get away due to the heavy financial price of being sick. Catriona (44) from Coolaney, Co Sligo qualified for a medical card "by the skin of my teeth" as a cancer patient but despite not having to pay for GP visits, drugs and transport to Galway for treatment, she was surprised at the constant drain of money.

"When you are having radiotherapy you have to get special creams and shampoos which are very expensive," she said. "I had to buy new clothes - you put on weight with the steroids. Of course you also have to buy new bras after surgery."

And while she jokes about how much she saved on hairdressing bills after losing her hair following chemotherapy, she said some people have to pay for a wig and she spent €70 on scarves and bandanas which are necessary to stay warm especially in bed.

But one of the main burdens on the family finances was the cost of childcare when she was having treatment. "My husband's employers were very good to him and he was there when I was having surgery and my first chemo sessions but you can't keep taking time off."

Just before her diagnosis, Catriona had been doing a childcare course but has had to postpone her plans so the family is still reliant on one income.

A leading member of the Save Sligo Cancer Services lobby group, Catriona is particularly scathing about the fact that some patients have to pay €12.50 to take the mini bus from Sligo to Galway for radiotherapy.

She was a passenger when the bus's air conditioning broke down during the now forgotten heat wave in May. "We were all burned from the radiotherapy and we were sick and it was 30 degrees on the bus," said Catriona. "Of course we were promised a more suitable bus but I just got a call last week saying funding had been allocated. No doubt the bus itself will roll around just in time for the election next year."

10 reasons you're not rich

2008-10-14T16:04:00.002+07:00

Many people assume they aren't rich because they don't earn enough money. If I only earned a little more, I could save and invest better, they say.

The problem with that theory is they were probably making exactly the same argument before their last several raises. Becoming a millionaire has less to do with how much you make, it's how you treat money in your daily life.

The list of reasons you may not be rich doesn't end at 10. Caring what your neighbors think, not being patient, having bad habits, not having goals, not being prepared, trying to make a quick buck, relying on others to handle your money, investing in things you don't understand, being financially afraid and ignoring your finances.

---- Here are 10 more possible reasons you aren't rich: -----

You care what your car looks like: A car is a means of transportation to get from one place to another, but many people don't view it that way. Instead, they consider it a reflection of themselves and spend money every two years or so to impress others instead of driving the car for its entire useful life and investing the money saved.

You feel entitlement: If you believe you deserve to live a certain lifestyle, have certain things and spend a certain amount before you have earned to live that way, you will have to borrow money. That large chunk of debt will keep you from building wealth.

You lack diversification: There is a reason one of the oldest pieces of financial advice is to not keep all your eggs in a single basket. Having a diversified investment portfolio makes it much less likely that wealth will suddenly disappear.

You started too late: The magic of compound interest works best over long periods of time. If you find you're always saying there will be time to save and invest in a couple more years, you'll wake up one day to find retirement is just around the corner and there is still nothing in your retirement account.

You don't do what you enjoy: While your job doesn't necessarily need to be your dream job, you need to enjoy it. If you choose a job you don't like just for the money, you'll likely spend all that extra cash trying to relieve the stress of doing work you hate.

You don't like to learn: You may have assumed that once you graduated from college, there was no need to study or learn. That attitude might be enough to get you your first job or keep you employed, but it will never make you rich. A willingness to learn to improve your career and finances are essential if you want to eventually become wealthy.

You buy things you don't use: Take a look around your house, in the closets, basement, attic and garage and see if there are a lot of things you haven't used in the past year. If there are, chances are that all those things you purchased were wasted money that could have been used to increase your net worth.

You don't understand value: You buy things for any number of reasons besides the value that the purchase brings to you. This is not limited to those who feel the need to buy the most expensive items, but can also apply to those who always purchase the cheapest goods. Rarely are either the best value, and it's only when you learn to purchase good value that you have money left over to invest for your future.

Your house is too big: When you buy a house that is bigger than you can afford or need, you end up spending extra money on longer debt payments, increased taxes, higher upkeep and more things to fill it. Some people will try to argue that the increased value of the house makes it a good investment, but the truth is that unless you are willing to downgrade your living standards, which most people are not, it will never be a liquid asset or money that you can ever use and enjoy.

You fail to take advantage of opportunities: There has probably been more than one occasion where you heard about someone who has made it big and thought to yourself, ""I could have thought of that."" There are plenty of opportunities if you have the will and determination to keep your eyes open.

Tips for applying a credit card with no credit card history

2008-10-10T13:55:00.002+07:00

For a new appliances, applying a credit card is harder from it seems. This is the way things work in the world of consumer credit. Lenders are sometime too careful for opening account for appliances with no credit history. With no credit crd, rent a car, or shop online is not as easy as if we have a credit card.
Many major companies won’t accept your appliances form without a credit history, but worry not, some smaller ones will. No matter what card you will get, your main goal is to build a good credit history, not just a credit card. Use your card as you wish but make sure to make al payments on time. Some companies only look at your employment history, your address and housing; they may use this for fill in your minimum requirement. Or if you are a credit union member, or are eligible for membership, see on what their card terms are. Although they are no giving the cards easily, but they will have more relaxed conditions for registered member. It’s very worth to join and make sure you have one in your area.
If you are a student, then the best card for you is a student credit card. Student credit card is the best way to build up your credit history for future upon your graduation. The most important thing is to be wise using this opportunity. Because students tends to lose control when they have money in their palm. If you have a good history already, apply for a credit card that accepted across the world like AMEX Corporate Credit Cards or CITI credit cards will be easy for you.

Reduces your worries for better educational

2008-09-23T13:43:00.005+07:00

Reduces your worries for better educational

Now days it’s easy to get a high quality school, with all their facility and good ambience and environment. Mostly it will surprising us when come out with budgeting.

For other country and well manage country this is not a really problem, several solution already provide by the government, for parent that has an education planning will not worried, many of well known school offering their program to support it needs such as student loans, scholarship, college loans etc.

Wise spending habits to reduce our money worries and we also can improve our lifestyle while at school. There is a great need by joint this program one of the favorite program is called Private Student Loans are specialized education loans based on your credit history and income and should only be considered after all federal loans, grants and scholarships have been exhausted. Lenders typically give better terms for better credit history. Many lenders also allow cosigners which may help you qualify for better rates. It would help to ensure that more students are getting the resources they need to go to college and pursue a future career.

One of the student that has already know the benefit of this program ever tell a story to us that nothing to lose to try this Private Student Loans as long as we have all the qualification. Although many student did not has an extensive credit story they may need a credit worthy consigner to increase the chances on getting the loans Well….no worries at all for us who need a better educational with limited budget.

Why It's Important to Follow Budgeting Guideline

2008-09-23T08:45:00.002+07:00

Creditors use budgeting guidelines when reviewing and approving credit. If your debt exceeds the financial communities recommended guidelines, then you have a higher risk of credit applications being denied. Plus, you will pay more interest since you will be perceived as a higher risk.

Getting, and keeping, your debt in line with recommended guidelines, is an important step in debt relief and debt recovery. Use the following guidelines to review the items in your budget, and make special note of expenses that are out of line:

Housing 35% - Mortgage or rent, taxes, repairs, improvements, insurance, and utilities
Transportation 20% - Monthly payments, gas, oil, repairs, insurance, parking & public transportation
Debt Budget 15% - Credit cards, personal loans, student loans & other debt payments
All other expenses 20% - Food, insurance, prescriptions, doctor & dentist bills, clothing & personal
Investments & Savings Budget 10% - Stocks, bonds, cash reserves, art, etc.

Next to each item that is out of line, make notes as to why you think they are out of line with recommended guidelines. Be honest, be brutal, but write it down. It is the only way to ensure that you consciously accept the reasons for your debt problem so that you can fix it permanently. Remember, debt relief is a temporary solution, only you can make debt problems disappear for good.

If you find one guideline percentage to be more than you need, or less than you need for your personal situation, feel free to take from one to give to another. Keep in mind though, you want to eventually get your debt budget down to, or below, that 15% recommended guideline. That has to be your primary goal if you are using Budgeting Guidelines for debt relief.

US to assist money market funds

2008-09-22T08:36:00.001+07:00

The US Treasury rushed to the aid of ailing money market funds yesterday, saying it would offer a blanket guarantee on these funds as it attempted to prevent the spillover of the financial -crisis to the $3,400bn sector.

The Federal Reserve announ-ced two further programmes to help these funds.

The US central bank said it would lend funds via intermediary banks of up to $230bn (£126bn) in return for high-quality asset-backed commercial paper collateral.

It would also take on up to $69bn of short-term bills issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and held by money market funds.

The Fed loans against the asset-backed paper are non-recourse loans, meaning the US central bank is taking on more risk than usual, because it does not have any claim on the other assets of the institution.

These extreme measures followed mounting fears that retail investors in the sector, which saw a $170bn decline in the week to Thursday, could be starting to panic and might withdraw funds on a large scale.

Fear of mass redemptions had already forced money market fund managers to try to dump assets in an effort to raise cash and free themselves of any apparently risky paper.

This in turn had helped push down the yield on short-term government bills to levels last seen half a -century ago, while pushing borrowing rates on even slightly riskier debt up -dramatically.

Traders worried that money market funds would abandon the asset-backed commercial paper market, leaving issuers unable to roll over funding for credit card receivables, car loans and the like.

Moreover, because all the funds were trying to get rid of the same types of asset at the same time, there was a danger of a "fire sale" that would push down prices and potentially force otherwise healthy funds to "break the buck", returning investors less than 100 cents in the dollar.

In establishing the temporary guarantee programme for the US money market mutual fund industry, the Treasury tapped the Exchange Stabilisation Fund, which was established by the Gold Reserve Act of 1934 in response to the Great Depression. Treasury will charge funds a fee to participate in the programme.

George W. Bush, the president, approved the use of existing authorities by Hank Paulson, the Treasury secretary, to make available the assets of the Exchange Stabilisation Fund for up to $50bn to guarantee the payment as necessary.

Effective way to Cut Everyday Shopping

2008-08-20T12:00:00.003+07:00

Did you know that the Consumer Reports Money Lab was freshly studying ways to cut recurrent outlay and they are reporting that it is possible for consumers to save up to $500 per month — even when gas and food prices are taken up?

Savings shown are Consumer Reports estimates based on what a choice of consumers especially exhaust and can perhaps save. Actual savings will depend on individual circumstances.

Optimize life indemnity — $110

Life-coverage premiums have dropped significantly since the 1990s. It would categorically pay to replace a statement bought years ago with a new one. Don’t scratch an remaining course of action until a new one is in housing.

Shop brisk for food — $200

Making similar choices at the grocery depository and when eating out can net regular savings from $130 to $255. The regular family of four can cut their grocery bill by $190 a month by shifting to a lower-cost mix of foods.

How to do it: Plan menus around sales of vigorous frightened, fish, meat, dairy and produce and be sure to use those orts. Stop ordering expensive ready meals. Eat more low-priced, high-sustenance foods such as beans and potatoes. Try out the repository brands and sign up for store deduction cards.

Stop paying bank fees — $25

Banks together something like $39 billion in account fees and penalties last year. That figures out to nigh on $28 per month per household. With planning, it’s possible to pay nothing.

How to do it: Bank at considerable institutions that high numbers of ATMs in close at hand locations. Shop for free checking and with judgment adheres to provisions for a bottom balance, direct accretion or another conditions to avoid period fees.

Call up phone savings — $35

It’s possible to net savings from $15 a month for expensive callers to $55 per month for arduous users.

How to do it: Look at few months’ phone bills to see how many minutes are typically used on landline and wireless calls. Comparison-shop among cellular examination providers, the local phone company and the link TV company. Don’t buy more assistance than you need.

Pay off standing cards — $65

Most consumers who carry a balance owe $2,200. This worth they pay 15.2 percent in every twelve months significance charges. Cut this and save $28 per month. About 15 % of consumers carry balances of $10,000 or more and they could save $125 per month if they paid off their debt.

How to do it: Stop using your cards and pay more than the maximum compulsory each month until it’s paid off. If you’re strapped for cash use your incentive check, service station sales or get a part time job.

Find cheaper auto cover — $65

Many people have stayed with the same auto broker for 15 years or more. Depending on your individual profile and where you live, you powerfulness be able to save hundreds a month by supermarket run around.

Bali Dream Home

2008-08-12T15:41:00.000+07:00

If you are looking some place beautiful and exotic to live with your family, or just planning to do a long-term investment, you really must consider choosing one of the most beautiful places in Indonesia, Bali. Many people will agree with me, if someone has visited Bali once, they will eventually return because Bali doesn’t easily drift away from people’s mind. It just tore our conscious and seduces us like ambrosia. The aura is calling upon us, the locals are inviting us and the Bali is waiting for us.

To Live on Bali is everyone’s dream. But never have thought that living on Bali will be hard to find a home. Because of its popularity many investor spending their money to build a real estate recently. There are varieties of home for you to choose as there are many homes for sale in Bali as well as Homes for sale in Louisville.

Investing on Bali is a prosperous decision. Because of this reason :

If you have a home and live there, there are unlimited opportunities to entrepreneurship.
If you have a home but don’t live there, you can rent it for annual income.
If you have a home for rent and you still have another home, just wait for 2-3 years and the price will skyrocket.

So, what about you? Ready for making any investment?

Exotic Home Investment

2008-08-12T15:38:00.000+07:00

Investing money on a home is a good choice. The price is increasing from time to time; it will be doubled before you know. But be picky person when planning to put your money in it. You want to make a profit from this investment not the other way, don’t you? So to keep the plan is going smoothly, first you must conduct a research about the city plan, predict the land prosperity and find the trustworthy real estate partner.

Investing not limited to distance, what I mean is investing across country is a good idea to. Indonesia, China or boulder Colorado real estate is a good choice. Instead of buying a small home on downtown, will be much better if you build your dream home on a suburban. Some local real estate agencies will help you picking the right one.

Investing on a home is totally different from buying a home. There is much more to consider, plan carefully, ask a help from the expert. Don’t be reckless as this is involving a risk, you won’t get rid the risk but you can predict to suppress it.

Solving a Legal Problem

2008-08-11T15:18:00.003+07:00

Legal problem is a confusing subject for most people. Even if it just a minor problem but when involving a legal matter, will be more complicating you will never imagined. You will spend some money for hiring a lawyer, but you will lose most of your time. It will take years for some cases. What a tiresome, even if you have a spare time to do this, you just tired and get sick of it eventually. Believe me; dealing with above matter is hard, especially if you are facing it alone. You just gathered stressful, uncomforted life.

Hiring Attorney is a good option to help you through solving the problem. You must choose the one that trustworthy and able to represented you most of time. Louisville attorney is one that you can trust. For USA citizen especially Kentucky residents, Bullock & Coffman’s are a good choice. No matter what upon you, they will help you with everything they got.
They have a wide area of practice, as they are formed by talented, well educated and friendly legal helper. This is a list of their practice:

Business Law
Civil Litigation
Personal Injury
Equine Law
Criminal Law
Family Law
Employment Law
Real Estate
Immigration
Information Technology
Debt Collection
And still many more…

Choosing The Best Real Estate Agent for You

2008-07-21T09:52:00.002+07:00

If you have been thinking about purchasing a real estate property for personal use or as an investment, you’ll need to hire the services of a real estate investor. If you play to finance your home through a bank or other lender, you’ll more than likely need to get the property appraised first. Banks and most lenders want to know the value of the home for your protection, as well as make sure that the home they are financing is worth the total amount of money that you take on the loan.

In most cases, the appraisal indicates that the home does indeed meet or exceed the asking price. In some cases however, the appraisal will come back saying that the home is worth less than the selling price. If this is the case, the buyer normally has to either drop the deal or try to negotiate with the seller to get a price that meets the appraisal.

For those very reasons, a real estate appraiser is very important. When you are dealing with a home, one appraisal can make a deal or break it. Even though you may not be financing your purchase through a lender or the bank, you should still make an effort to get the home appraised and find out the true value. You should also make a point to find the best appraiser that you can afford. If you hire an appraiser who isn’t that experienced, you’ll pay for it later when you discover that the property isn’t worth what you paid for it.

If you have a real estate agent, he or she will more than likely be able to make a recommendation. Paradise Valley Real Estate is one that maybe you want to contact. Keep in mind that this doesn’t mean the recommendation is the best; it’s just someone who your agent works with. To ensure that you get the right appraisal on your home you’ll need to find yourself an appraiser who is capable of completing the job.

When you look for your real estate appraiser, you should look for someone who comes highly recommended. You can ask family and friends for their opinions, or search local papers, even the Internet. If you take your time and search for the best real estate appraiser that you can find – you’ll normally get an appraisal that is right on target.

School Uniform matching with your desire

2008-07-18T12:59:00.006+07:00

Uniform is a cloth that used for express discipline, ranks, and equality. In military a private’s uniform is different from the general, so we clear to identify who has the highest rank. In school world, uniform is used for equality. So there wont be a social lag, a poor student is no different than the rich one, because they wear a same uniform.

In my country School Uniform is absolute. From kindergarten, elementary school, junior and high school. Even on private school, the student wearing a uniform. Only on private school, the uniform is slightly different; usually the uniform has a motives, stripes or square. For some state school uniform also become one of crucial point to level up, if student do not aware of this they will staying on class for another year. There is one shopping online store I found when I was surfing on the internet. They have a enormous collection of uniform, for adult and boys size, for work or school uniform, You can buy online as according to desire and budget your money.

Uniform also express one’s personality. Because if one wearing the uniform neatly so people who look at the student unconsciously think that he or she is a precedent student, by faultlessly dressed. In other hand people will think badly on boys or girls that wear uniform at rampart.

The Money Secret

2008-07-09T19:55:00.004+07:00

Will you conceptualise the money underground?

The secret is as old as measure itself, and no total of money can set its quality. The poor who undergo it cognize financial warrant; the wealthy who disdain it end life as paupers.

In this pragmatical and life-changing aggregation, Rob Parsons takes a examine at one of the most imperative redbrick crises - extant with uncontrollable debt. In a hard-hitting but verifying way, he gives aid, not just in ascension out, but also in module what it is that encourages group to smoldering on commendation.

You will riches this good nightlong after you tally finished the antepenultimate diplomat. If you are in debt it instrument help you out, if you are financially firm it will meliorate you be statesmanly with your money, and if you regain that nobody could believe the sheer sadness of financial somesthesia, then 'The Money Secret' give beautify your person.

Perfect Cash Advance Services

2008-07-04T20:03:00.002+07:00

Once upon a time there was a family. Father, mother and 2 little kids. One day, the older brother has gone sick and must be taken to the Hospital. She had a lung cancer and must be operated immediately. Times like these are the hardest moment for Parents, they will face extremely extra expense, but i'm sure they wont be mind spending for the children. The problem is, not all the parents can afford the medication for special treatment. The cost will be going skyrocket for special condition.

For that problem, now there is several Companies to help you through a to face an unforeseen expense. One of the most popular solution is Cash Advances. It is as easy as it said, if you are qualified with their requirement then you will accept the money immediately, and repayment amount will automatically deducted from your account on your next payday. Online Cash Advance is much more smpler, fill the form, then submit it, then you will receive a reply from the lender, no fax cash advance.

For stories above, the parents can come to nerby Service Office or visit the website just for i.e. perfectcashadvamce.com. Then read the requirement, do everything online. Thats it, it will solve the problem, the kids will pass through operation and family's financial still remain stable. You don't need to worry about mailing anything in, forgetting to repay, or even any other late fees because it is automatically. It is very convinience to follow service like cash advance.

The requirement are common, but this is to help you prepare and consider :

Have a steady source income.
At least 18+ years.
Have a bank account that has direct deposit enabled.

Credit Repair "to get back to right track"

2008-06-27T09:11:00.005+07:00

With personal debt at an all-time high, a number of individuals have found that they have overextended themselves and have become immersed in debt. If you have a problem with the credit or still a problem until now, you better to take a credit repair to get back to right track.

Most of the credit repair purposes are to solve the credit problem from the past. A lot of credit repair services varieties are widespread in the country; provide us from credit counseling and debt negotiation to debt consolidation loans and even budgeting advice.

Common Types of Credit Repair
As mentioned above, to repair credit can take several different forms. Credit counseling services provide assistance with the budgeting (Money Management) and repayment of your debts, and offer advice on simple ways to improve your credit without additional loans especially money loan. They also often provide debt negotiation, which is the working out of a settlement with your creditors so that you only have to repay a portion of your original debt within a certain timeframe and to prevent you for having experience a bad credit repair.

Debt consolidation loans are also used for the purposes of credit repair, allowing you to take out a loan in order to pay off outstanding debts and leaving you with a single monthly loan payment instead of several different payments.
Budgeting assistance services are also available to help you how to control the way that you spend you money and your personal finances.

SEO Web Design for Commercial Website With Money Based Purpose

2008-06-26T18:20:00.001+07:00

Knowing the truth and differences…
Stunning design, capabilities and Optimization…
The things above are very common on the Internet. It is very natural if you want to have a good website, but what good all of your effort if there nobody can reach it on the web?
A professional Seo Web Design’s first step to getting down the business is Find and Research the target market, keyword and competitors. But you must note that it was very easy to say than get it done, you will spend a lot of time just to do a research. Once we have the data we need, we can set our next objective, creating a presentable and trustworthy web.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
Is the synonym for a process of increasing the visitors (unique visitor) to our web, by having a high rank on search engine. Higher a web ranks equal greater chance that the site can be found by unique visitor. A good manageable and planned website design will also helps a search engine to crawl into the site and improve the probability the site will be ranked on top ten search engine search.
For those who planned to build a commercial website for Money Based Purpose, the main ideas are to offer a product, service or concept how to targeting a visitors to our website. An effective advertising and marketing tool are a must for your website if we want to make money out of it. Getting to the bottom, you must build a search engine friendly web position as high as possible for the best result.

A Primer on Dirty Money

2008-06-18T14:51:00.000+07:00

Why is there so much drug money moving on U.S. highways, and what happened to money-laundering through banks?
First, Mexican traffickers who've taken over distribution networks in the United States prefer to smuggle profits back in bulk cash. Second, it's gotten harder to move dirty money through the financial system since a government crackdown after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. According to veteran DEA agent Jack Riley: "The idea of money-laundering where a bunch of people in fancy suits are sitting around a table talking about moving their drug cash to a bank in the Bahamas and then over to Switzerland — we're not seeing that happen. What we're seeing is, the money's going back to Mexico the same way the drugs are — in the back of a car or in a concealed trap or in an 18-wheeler."

How much drug money is out there, and how much of it is law enforcement confiscating?
The Drug Enforcement Administration estimates $12 billion in drug profits is repatriated from the United States — the world's largest narcotics market — back to Latin America each year. Records with the Justice Department show that state law enforcement agencies seized $1.58 billion in 2007 alone, but that doesn't include the tens of millions of dollars that go through the state asset forfeiture programs — which are not tabulated in any central repository.

What is asset forfeiture?
Asset forfeiture is the confiscation of assets associated with the commission of a crime. It can be real estate, vehicles or currency. The federal law, passed in 1986, encourages police agencies to seize drug assets as a way to deny the narcotics cartels their profits and boost the crime-fighting budgets of the agencies.

The states all passed their own asset forfeiture laws, which in many ways mimic the federal statute.

What's the difference between criminal and civil forfeiture?
In criminal forfeiture, the taking of property is usually carried out after the owner is convicted of a crime. In civil forfeiture, the government seizes the property — in this case, the currency — without ever charging the person with a crime. The government must show by a preponderance of the evidence that the money is dirty; then it's up to the owner to prove that his cash is clean. To defend the money requires hiring a lawyer, who often charges more than the amount of the seized cash.

What are some of the rules of asset forfeiture?
Federal and state laws, in general, say that a law enforcement agency that seizes assets may not "supplant" its own budget with confiscated funds, nor should "the prospect of receiving forfeited funds … influence relative priorities of law enforcement agencies."

NPR has found examples, mainly in the South, in which both of these things have happened.

What can law enforcement agencies use seized assets for?
In general, they're supposed to be used for law enforcement purposes, such as equipment, training or first-year salaries. They are supposed to be a supplement to a police budget. Prosecutors can also use seized drug assets for the official purposes of their offices.

How Much Should You Save?

2008-06-18T14:34:00.001+07:00

If you're 40 or younger, it's tough to predict how much money you might need when retirement is decades away. A few key calculations, however, can help you make sure your savings plan is on track.

Saving Depends on Life Stage
Rebecca Pace, a Cincinnati-based financial planner and CPA, recommends putting aside at least 10 percent of your income when you're in your 20s and 30s -- and even more if you're single. "I wouldn't expect they could continue to add a lot to it while they're raising a family, but if they've put something aside early, it should continue to work for them until they can save again," she says.

Another good reason to save aggressively now: The younger you are when you start, the longer your money will have time to grow. This means you'll need to set aside a lot less to reach the same goal than if you waited just a few more years to get started.

For example, if you're 25, you only need to invest about $3,600 per year to end up with $1 million by the time you're 65 if your investments return 8 percent per year. But if you wait until you're 30 to start, you'll need to set aside about $5,400 per year to end up with the same $1 million at age 65. And starting at 40 requires $12,700 a year to reach the same magic $1 million. Finally, you'll need a whopping $34,000 per year to reach the same goal if you procrastinate until you're 50.

A recent study by T. Rowe Price reveals most people need to set aside at least 15 percent of their pretax salary for their investments to replace 50 percent or more of their current salary in retirement. This may be enough if you're getting an extra 20 percent or more of your preretirement income in Social Security and pension payouts. But you'll need to fill more of the gap yourself if you don't expect to receive a pension, if you live in an expensive area, or will still have a mortgage or other housing payment after retirement.

How to Afford to Save
The reality is that it isn't always easy to set aside money for retirement when you're nowhere near your peak income and just trying to pay your regular bills. The good news: You have plenty of help. The IRS and most employers kick in some money, so you can set aside a substantial amount of money without taking much of a hit in your paycheck.

For example, if your employer matches 50 cents on the dollar for up to 6 percent of your salary and you earn $40,000, you'd get the maximum match if you contribute $2,400 in a 401k. In that case, you'd get $1,200 from your employer, bringing your total contribution up to $3,600.

And that $2,400 doesn't lower your paycheck dollar for dollar either, since you're investing the money pretax. If you're in the 25 percent bracket, investing $2,400 would reduce your take-home pay by only $1,800 for the year. So it actually would cost you just $150 per month to end up with a $3,600 contribution every year. Start at age 30, and you'd have about $670,000 by age 65.

If you can also afford to invest $200 per month in a Roth IRA, your total savings rate would rise to 15 percent of your $40,000 salary. Continue to invest that much for 35 years, and you could end up with more than $440,000 at age 65, totally tax-free under Roth rules. Add the two together, and you'd have more than $1.1 million for retirement.

Trick Yourself into Saving
Even with all these benefits, you may not initially be able to afford to save 15 percent of your salary. And you shouldn't be setting aside that much until you cover your other bases first -- keeping three to six months' worth of living expenses in an emergency fund so you don't have to raid your retirement account (and pay steep penalties) if unexpected expenses crop up. It's also essential to pay off high-interest credit card debt first so you don't waste money on monthly interest charges.

But once you've met these obligations, the best way to maximize your money is to get it into savings before you can spend it. With a 401k, the money is subtracted from your paycheck before you see it.

You can also make automatic investments into a Roth IRA. Even just $100 per month can add up to $1,200 a year. And if you're 30 now, keep saving at that pace for the next 35 years and your investments earn 8 percent annually, you'll have about $220,000 tax-free by the time you're 65.

While you'll still need to increase your savings rate when you can afford to, these examples demonstrate it's never too early to start. And it's easy to increase your savings rate whenever you get a raise, bonus, tax refund, gift or any other form of extra money. When you're used to living on less, it's easy to invest the extra cash before you can spend it.

Money Secret ...

2008-06-17T15:16:00.006+07:00

I am a money magnet
Everything I touch turn to gold
I have more riches than King Solomon's mines
Money fall like an avalanche over Me
There is more money being printed for me right now
I am receiving money making ideas every day
I am receiving unexpected checks in the mail
I have more than enough money for everything I want
I have my dream home
I have the best of everything
I am grateful and celebrate every day
I know then I ask for what I want
No matter what it is that I want
No matter how impossible it may seem
If I believe and know it is mine
The answer must be ...

Make Money Online

2008-06-17T14:31:00.001+07:00

Make Money Online is the quest that we have embarked in. Blogger Unleashed was created with the intent to provide a teachable and duplicable way to actually Make Money Online versus the huge crop of worthless “Make Money Online” blogs that are not based on actually teaching you to Make Money Online but for them to Make Money Online while selling you worthless subscriptions or ebooks.

In order to Make Money Online you must have a solid work plan and execute that work plan. The problem is most people are totally clueless what is that work plan and even worst how to executed. Most of the things that people have learned either by reading the worthless crap on “Make Money Online” blogs or by buying the ebooks these same worthless bloggers have sold them is wrong. The only intention of that information is to keep them coming back so they can push the next magic bullet ebook or subscription based program that will guarantee the opportunity to Make Money Online.

At Blogger Unleashed you will find a complete different take on how to actually Make Money Online you will not find here a magic bullet or the ebook you need to buy to get the information that will finally unveil the secret code to Make Money Online. Instead you will find that in order to Make Money Online you need some basic core principles combined with some really hard work, you can attain your goals of making a living from the net.

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Follow the Money, if You Can

2008-06-16T14:40:00.002+07:00

New Yorkers are consumed these days by their elected officials’ expense accounts.

We’ve learned that while former Gov. Eliot Spitzer spent a fortune hiring high-priced prostitutes, he frugally dispatched one woman from New York to an assignation at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington on the cheaper regional train instead of splurging on the Acela. Gov. David Paterson just got around to reimbursing his campaign’s American Express platinum card account for two stays, five years or more ago, at a Days Inn on the Upper West Side — a hotel where he carried on an extramarital affair and was billed $253 for two nights (compared to the Mayflower, where the cheapest double starts at more than $400).

Full details of these transactions and others may yet yield a trove of additional insights into the character of the two governors. But, meanwhile, another public official has all but gotten a free pass over one aspect of his personal finances: Nobody outside Michael Bloomberg’s tight inner circle knows how much he spent not running for president.

We don’t know how much his non-campaign cost.

We don’t know who got paid — or for doing what.

Nor, under the law, are we entitled to.

Campaign financing experts say Bloomberg is under no legal obligation to disclose his expenses because, as a self-made billionaire, he never solicited contributions from anybody else. He never formally declared that he was even exploring, much less embarking on, a presidential campaign.

Now, nobody is claiming that Bloomberg spent his money improperly.

But if a byword of accountability is to follow the money, where does nondisclosure leave us in a year when we’ve parsed the campaign financing filings of the other candidates even to compare what they’ve spent on doughnuts?

If you are what you eat, or what you wear, aren’t you also what you spend?

With Bloomberg, we’re talking about a guy who invested $160 million on his two mayoral campaigns, more than either Hillary Rodham Clinton or Barack Obama reported spending so far on running for president.

We’re talking about a guy who recently gave $500,000 to Albany Republicans — ostensibly to help them retain their tenuous grip on the State Senate, but, perhaps, also as an unspoken incentive to approve the mayor’s congestion pricing charge for motorists entering Manhattan.

What’s $500,000 to Bloomberg?

That’s how much extra he spent in a single afternoon — on Election Day 2001 — when last-minute polling suggested he needed to galvanize every one of his potential supporters.

To Bloomberg, spending $500,000 is comparable to a measly millionaire shelling out a mere $100. That much would buy you a dozen drives into Manhattan once congestion pricing is imposed, but not even a full night at a Days Inn.

The mayor has sort of revealed the recipients of his generous and influential philanthropy. But when I asked Stu Loeser, his spokesman, for an accounting of Bloomberg’s national political expenses, he replied: “No thanks. We decline to comment.”

Campaigning is expensive.

It was humanizing to hear that in 2001, when Bloomberg was still trailing his chief mayoral rival by double digits, he confided to his pollster: “I’m already in this race for $20 million. When do I start to move?”

Four years later, Bloomberg barely winced when his re-election campaign invested more than $10 million on developing a computerized database that included sophisticated psychological profiles of New York City voters.

After that election, a spokesman responded to criticism of Bloomberg’s record campaign budget by suggesting that the mayor had gone beyond the legal requirements in revealing what he spent.

“The Bloomberg campaign is disclosing the same financial information, in the same publicly accessible format, as all other campaigns,” the spokesman said, “even though we are not accepting taxpayer money.”

In 2005, though, unlike 2001, Bloomberg was required to make such disclosures to the city’s Campaign Finance Board.

If, as his spokesman seemed to suggest, he was voluntarily doing the public a favor back then, why not now?

How much money do you need to be happy?

2008-06-16T14:28:00.000+07:00

How much money buys happiness? A wide body of research suggests the number is approximately forty thousand dollars a year. Daniel Gilbert, professor of psychology at Harvard University, says once you have enough money to meet basic needs – food, shelter, but not necessarily cable —incremental increases have little effect on your happiness.

Aaron Karo, comedian and author of the forthcoming book, Ruminations on Twentysomething Life, responds to the number with, “If you want to draw a line in the sand, happiness is having enough money so you don’t have to move back in with your parents.”

To someone who just spent four years in college living off nine-thousand-dollar loan stipends, an increase to forty thousand means a lot – moving from poverty to middle class. But it’s a one-time rush. After you hit the forty-thousand-dollar-range money never gives you that surge in happiness again.

Twentysomethings who are looking for happiness from their careers will benefit from research about their parents’ choices. Richard Easterlin, professor of economics at University of Southern California says previous generations have proven that our desires adjust to our income. “At all levels of income, the typical response is that one needs 20% more to be happy.” Once you have basic needs met, the axiom is true: more money does not make more happiness.

So then one asks, what does matter? The big factors in determining happiness levels are satisfaction with your job and social relationships. And in case you found yourself slipping back to thoughts of salary, according to Easterlin, “How much pleasure people get from their job is independent of how much it pays.”

Unfortunately, people are not good at picking a job that will make them happy. Gilbert found that people are ill equipped to imagine what their life would be like in a given job, and the advice they get from other people is bad, (typified by some version of “You should do what I did.”)

Gilbert recommends going into a career where people are happy. But don’t ask them if their career makes them happy, because most people will say yes; they have a vested interest in convincing themselves they are happy. Instead, try out a few different professions before you settle on one. For college students, Gilbert envisions this happening with part-time jobs and internships at the cost of “giving up a few keggers and a trip to Florida over spring break.” But even if you wait until you enter the workforce, it makes sense to switch from one entry-level job to another; no seniority and scant experience means you have little to lose. So it’s an ideal time to figure out what will make you happy: Use a series of jobs to observe different professions at close range to see if YOU think they make people happy.

It’s simple, proven advice, but few people take it because they think they are unique and their experience in a career will be different. Get over that. You are not unique, you are basically just like everyone else. Gilbert can, in the course of five minutes, rattle off ten reasons why people think they are unique but they are not. For example: We spend our lives finding differences between people to choose teachers, band mates and spouses, so our perception of peoples’ differences is exaggerated… And then Gilbert gets to grapes: “If you spend seven years studying the differences between grapes, no two will look the same to you, but really a grape is a grape.”

So your first step is to stop thinking you’re a special case. Take Gilbert’s advice and choose a career based on your assessment of other people in that career. You next step is to focus on social relationships, because in terms of happiness, job satisfaction is very important but social relationships are most important.

And by social relations, most researchers mean sex – with one, consistent partner. So consider giving your career aspirations a little less weight than you give your aspirations for sex. For those of you who like a tangible goal, David Blanchflower, professor of economics at Dartmouth College says, “Going from sex once a month to sex once a week creates a big jump in happiness. And then the diminishing returns begin to set in.” He adds, to the joy of all who are underemployed, “It’s true that money impacts which person you marry, but money doesn’t impact the amount of sex you have.”

Maybe all this research simply justifies the twentysomething tendency to hold a series of entry-level jobs and put off having children. Says Karo: “All we really want is to get paid and get laid.”

We Don't Need Your Money

2008-05-27T18:25:00.001+07:00

The National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI) was started by Bill Gates, Michael Dell and other technology titans concerned about the declining performance of American students in math and science. The public-private partnership funds efforts to increase the number of students taking advanced placement courses in those subjects. But thanks to the Washington Education Association, a teachers union, the initiative's recent efforts in Washington state have been torpedoed.

Earlier this month NMSI announced that a $13.2 million grant slated for Washington state was being scrapped. Why? The contract ran afoul of the union's collective bargaining agreement. NMSI wanted to compensate teachers directly and include extra pay based on how well students performed on AP exams. But under the teacher contracts, the union is the exclusive agent for negotiating teacher pay and union officials refused to compromise. They were willing to turn away free money for their teacher members rather than abide this kind of merit pay.

State Representative Bill Fromhold, who was helping to administer the grant, told the Seattle Times, "We worked hard to try to find middle ground." But in the end, he said, "we got caught in the middle of the grant requirements and collective bargaining laws in the state of Washington that have to be followed."

Other heavily unionized states, such as Massachusetts and Connecticut, were able to reach agreements and will receive the math and science money notwithstanding similar bargaining agreements. And while the Washington union is spurning millions of dollars in grant money, it's also suing the state for the alleged inadequate funding of public schools. Hmmm. Could it be that union chiefs care more about protecting their monopoly than what students are learning?

5 tips on finding the best wedding ring for your money

2008-05-27T18:16:00.004+07:00

“WILL you be part of my life?”

I resoundingly replied, “Yes, I will spend the rest of my life with you.”

While it was a breeze to say “Yes” to a life-changing decision, looking for the engagement ring that I wanted was not.

Even if you’re not a big fan of jewelry like I am, you still need to do your homework. Here’s what you need to know when shopping for an engagement or wedding ring:

1. Set a budget. Your soon-to-be bride may not be too keen about wearing an expensive ring but as Robin said, from centuries back, a ring (usually a diamond ring) traditionally serves as a betrothal gift to the bride and that traditionally, the price tag is equated to the kind of love he has for his bride.

I ended turning down most prospective rings because they were too pricey even if discounted. There is a rule of thumb that says an ideal budget for a ring is worth two months’ salary. Eventually, though, the guy will eventually determine how much he is willing to shell out.

2. Know the 4 C’s. Know the basics if you’re planning to get a diamond ring: cut, color, clarity and carat. According to Tiffany and Co., the diamond’s cut will determine its defining characteristic – so check for angle and size and the shape; round remains classy, but for variety, you may opt for emerald, heart, oval, marquise, pear, or princess cut).

The most valuable color is white or colorless, and graded “D” by jewelers. To check the clarity, examine the ring through a jeweler’s loupe or magnifying glass, and when the stone is graded SI1 [Slightly Included 1] or better (best and most expensive is IF, or Internally Flawless; worst is I3 or Imperfect 3], then your pick is fine. Finding the right carat for your budget is important so ask for stones than the next carat [example: 0.9 instead of 1], since this almost indiscernible difference can lead to significant savings.

In our case, Robin was on the lookout for a simple yet classy ring. He was first considering a round cut diamond. When I later became pro-active in our search, I leaned more toward a princess cut.

3. Pick the band. According to Suarez Wedding Rings Web site (www.suarezweddingrings.com), white gold is trendier than the traditional yellow gold and not as rare looking as rose gold. It is more affordable than platinum, an extremely white metal that is harder and more expensive than gold or any other metal at that.

White gold is recommended for stone settings other than yellow. You may opt for 24-karat gold, but you can save more by opting for gold of lesser karat. Since gold by nature is soft and malleable, generally losing its shape over time, cleaning and maintaining your engagement and wedding ring might eventually become a real expense. While we had different ideas regarding the stone, Robin and I settled for an 18K white gold band.

4.Shop around. Don’t settle for just the popular jewelry stores. You have to search both mom-and-pop jewelry stores and jewelry chains. The latter, of course, command higher prices because of their name and years in the industry. We found our ring at a less popular store, which has the accreditations required and follows global guidelines (the Philippines follows the International Gemological Institute guide on diamond clarity). Most stores we checked also offered discounts, but the smaller—and more eager—stores will give in to the customer’s (reasonable) demands.

When we got the discounted amount, I asked if they could just waive the excess P2,500 since it’s the only ring of its kind left and we truly came back for it after checking out all the other stores. So they waived it and my fiancé gave me an approving smile for sealing the sale at a more reasonable amount.

5. Don’t buy alone. For men, bring a companion when buying jewelry – someone who knows your ladylove’s preferences. If you decide to go with your fiancée, you may lose the surprise element and the romanticism, but it can be worth it. Looking for a ring together is an exercise in mutual decision-making, involving money at that. Buying the engagement ring gave us an idea how we are going to work together as a couple in the near future.

Love of money 'a danger'

2008-05-26T18:25:00.000+07:00

AN ANGLICAN PRIEST is warning that the love and worship of money and the desire to get rich can be tempting and lead many people down the wrong path.

Reverend Canon Wayne Issacs told his congregation that included members of the Royal Barbados Police Force at St Paul's Anglican Church Sunday that a person could not serve God and Mammon (wealth regarded as an evil influence) together.

"The two cannot live in peaceful coexistence," he said at a service to mark the start of Police Week celebrations and which was also attended by Prime Minister David Thompson, Attorney-General Freundel Stuart, Commissioner of Police Darwin Dottin and the heads of other organisations.

The priest, who noted that money could be a good servant or a bad master, said that without it the Government could not carry out its programmes and people could not take care of their needs.

However, money became an evil when it was not used to serve the interest of God.

"There are three evils about materialism – greed, the desire to get rich and the worship of money have been the downfall of many persons. These three lead to corruption and dishonesty in both the public and private life and cause many to fall in disgrace. These three evils . . . cause us to compromise our principles. . . .

"Our national security is endangered when people with whom we place our confidence allow greed to make them slaves of materialism . . .," he continued.

Issacs added that the desire to get rich was responsible for some of the social problems facing Barbadian society today such as people involved in selling drugs.

"The desire to get rich is a factor that causes some persons to overcharge for services," the canon added.

He warned that people spent so much time trying to make money that at the end of the day, salvation was lost to them and they were sometimes miserable and discontented.

Modern Money Laundering

2008-05-12T19:30:00.003+07:00

The other thing sometimes called money laundering is when you have some big lump of cash that you'd rather not have people find out about. Sometimes it's an effort to keep the money from the tax man (literally the opposite of classic money laundering), other times the goal is to keep it from coming to the attention of someone else who might feel like they have some claim to the money--an ex-spouse, a creditor, the guy who owns the land where you found the bag of gold coins in the culvert.

In this kind of money laundering, the point is to make the money disappear. This is the sort of money laundering where you might make use of foreign banks, shell companies, and so on.

There are two parts to these strategies. First, you need to make the money disappear. Second, you need to make it reappear in some gradual fashion that doesn't bring it to the attention of whoever you're trying to hide it from.
Disappearing the money

The easiest way to disappear the money, especially if it's already cash (as opposed to, let's say, silver bullion or a winning lottery ticket) is to just stash it in a safety deposit box. You miss out on any investment income, but it's safe and you know where to find it.

If you really want to be able to invest the money, get it overseas. If it's an amount that you can just carry with you, buy a vacation package to the Cayman Islands or visit your family roots in Europe and take a little side trip to Switzerland or Austria or Liechtenstein.

There are plenty of fancy, complex ways to get the money overseas, that mostly require an accomplice. The most basic is an invoice scam. Establish a business that imports or exports something. Meet with your customer or supplier and arrange with him to either over-pay or under-bill, and then to have your counterpart deposit (most of) the excess into your foreign bank account. An ongoing scheme is good, because the guy knows that the lucrative cash flow will stop if you find out the money isn't getting deposited as it should, but you can also work this as a one-shot deal if your counterpart can be trusted.

Banks used to help their good customers get money discretely overseas, but nowadays there are a bunch of laws against such things, and bankers are particularly averse to going to jail for their customers. Expect them to refused to get involved and to rat you out.
Reappearing the money

Now we're basically back into classic money laundering territory.

If you stashed a duffel bag full of cash it in a safety deposit box (or under your bed), all you need to do is pull out a few bills now and then when you're heading out for a night on the town. You can raise your standard of living modestly. Alternatively, you could increase the amount that's going into your 401(k) and then use the cash to keep your standard of living about the same--gradually turning the hidden money into above-board money.

If you've got the money overseas somewhere, bring it back in some way that makes it legit. The easiest would be to create an overseas company that then hires you to do something. You do whatever it is and send an invoice whenever you want some cash. You can also reverse the invoice scam that let you get the money overseas in the first place--now you under-pay (or over-bill), while making up the difference out of your foreign bank account. A third option is a fake loan where you "borrow" the money and then simply fail to pay the money back.
Instant disappear-reappear cycles

If you can't wait to reappear the money gradually, and the amount involved isn't too big, you can always use a simple casino scam. Go to a casino and buy some chips. Do a little low-risk gambling. (For example, bet each chip, one at a time, on red. Do that 20 or 30 times and you'll have about the same amount you started with.) Get a few more chips and repeat. Play a few different games (blackjack, craps, slots). Ideally, go to several different casinos and repeat the whole process there. Eventually, cash in all your chips and go home with a story about how you won a bunch of money at roulette. Pay taxes on your winnings.

Financial Shock

2008-05-09T20:51:00.002+07:00

Financial Shock is a kind of anxiety that results from being unfamiliar with the currency, exchange rates, prices, and standard of living of a foreign country. It manifests itself in a variety of ways. Undoubtedly, the most common aspect of financial shock is one's utter unfamiliarity with the money. It looks and feels different and has a seemingly nebulous value. Thus, it can feel like you are trading your dollars in on Monopoly money when you go to the bank. At the same time, there is another related aspect of financial shock that can overtake you; namely, the feelings that "the prices here are exorbitant!" and "everything is cheaper back in the (good old) US of A!" And though these feelings may not be totally groundless, until you have become comfortable with a new currency and have developed a strong "feel" for it, you will have to dismiss them as symptoms of financial shock.

Moreover, there is the matter of perceiving standards of living; for even though you may soon feel comfortable dealing with a foreign currency, it will not be until you can put the standard of living from which you came and the standard of living where you are or will be, into its proper perspective, that you will be able to understand the true value of the "foreign" currency with which you are dealing.

For instance, in a country where the standard of living is considerably lower than it is in the US, equivalent amounts of money (dollars to pounds, francs, cedis or pesos) at the bank are not necessarily equivalent in terms of their "real" value. In fact, because a foreign national may earn only half as much (on the average) as an American does, the equivalent value of the currency is worth far more to him in "real" terms than it is to you. Therefore, no matter how you find prices to be abroad, they may be easier for you to afford than for the local populace. This has developed the "Ugly American" image, the traveler who has too much money and throws it around. Finally, there is a last symptom of financial shock that you need to be cautioned against. It doesn't happen to everyone; nor can it be predicted. And though its causes are many: "funny money," exchange rates, floating dollar values, etc. In any case, the end result is fairly basic. It is known as "abandoning reason to the wind and spending money like crazy," and those individuals who succumb to this temptation are going to encounter the most awful financial shock of all -- going broke in a foreign country!

Money fund assets rise

2008-05-09T20:43:00.001+07:00

NEW YORK — Total money market mutual fund assets rose by $54.01 billion to $3.472 trillion for the week, the Investment Company Institute said Thursday.

Assets of the nation's retail money market mutual funds rose by $5.99 billion in the latest week to $1.238 trillion.

Assets of taxable money market funds in the retail category rose by $544 million to $941.19 billion for the week ended Wednesday, the Washington-based mutual fund trade group said. Tax-exempt fund assets rose by $5.45 billion to $297.01 billion.

Assets of institutional money market funds rose by $48.02 billion to $2.234 trillion for the same period. Among institutional funds, taxable money market fund assets rose by $34.38 billion to $2.037 trillion; assets of tax-exempt funds rose by $13.64 billion to $197.46 billion.

The seven-day average yield on money market mutual funds fell in the week ended Tuesday to 1.95 percent from 2.01 percent the previous week, said Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet Inc. in Westboro, Mass. The 30-day average yield fell to 2.05 percent from 2.12 percent, according to Money Fund Report.

The seven-day compounded yield fell to 1.97 percent from 2.03 percent the previous week, and the 30-day compounded yield fell to 2.08 percent from 2.14 percent, Money Fund Report said.

The average maturity of the portfolios held by money funds was 46 days, unchanged from last week, said Money Fund.

The online service Bankrate.com said its survey of 100 leading commercial banks, savings and loan associations and savings banks in the nation's 10 largest markets showed the annual percentage yield available on money market accounts rose to 0.66 percent as of Wednesday from 0.64 percent a week earlier.

The North Palm Beach, Fla.-based unit of Bankrate Inc. said the annual percentage yield available on interest-bearing checking accounts was unchanged from last week at 0.21 percent.

Bankrate.com said the annual percentage yield was 1.85 percent on six-month certificates of deposit, up from 1.84 percent the previous week. Yields were 2.00 percent on one-year CDs, up from 1.99 percent; 2.13 percent on 2 1/2-year CDs, up from 2.11 percent; and 2.83 percent on five-year CDs, up from 2.79 percent.

Old world Greek Money and coins

2008-03-26T12:57:00.000+07:00

Money in kind of coins is as odd as sounds one of the principal reasons for the technological revolution that started in the Ionian Greek islands. It abstracted the value of commodities or objects in change and helped to start an original style of conceptual thought. It too was significant for political changes: from the patrician to the structure of tyrants (frequently affluent persons) and so to the parliamentary structure.

Money Basics

2008-02-08T13:52:00.000+07:00

Money plays a key character in our lives, still no one can be completely available of misconceptions about it. This clause deals with simply a few fundamental ideas, but it should assist to increase a whole agreement of what money is and how it works.

Two Kinds of Money
Money is a nominal that is widely accepted as a medium of change. The nominal can be tangible like a coin or tone, or intangible like a bank deposit. If the nominal is redeemable on need into an invaluable commodity like gold, the nominal is known as commodity money. The change value of commodity money varies, but is usually greater than its value as a commodity. A precious alloy coin is merely a nominal possibly redeemable into the bullion that comprises it.

If the tokens are intrinsically superfluous and inconvertible, the regime must empower them with a particular position to have them workable as money. Such tokens are known as fiat money. Except for collector’s items, all government-issued tokens today are fiat money. One must therefore avoid thinking in terms of commodity money to understand modern money.

In the era of commodity money, the issuer was constrained by the demand to have an adequate supply of the underlying commodity. There is no such restraint in the lawsuit of fiat money. The value of fiat money thus depends on the policies and actions of the issuer, usually the key bank of a nation. The rest of this essay applies to the monetary structure of the U. S. and not inevitably to new countries.

Fiat Money as a Tax Credit.
The general approval of the regime’s fiat money derives from its position as lawful tender and from the fact that it is required in payment of federal taxes. Those who have no taxation liability have cause to develop fiat money because it is of value to those who do. Thus fiat money can be viewed as a taxation recognition, which will be used as a medium of change as long as the regime widely enforces taxation assemblage.

Base Money.
Fiat money held by the personal sector is known as the monetary home, which we will relate to as home money.

The Fed issues home money when it buys securities from the world for its own portfolio, mainly Treasury debt. It pays by merely creating a deposit at the Federal Reserve Bank for the vendor’s own bank. This is known as monetizing the debt.

Bank Money.
Banks produce deposits, known as bank money, when they release loans by merely crediting the borrower’s account with an original deposit. The overall sum of bank money increases when a bank issues a loan. When a loan is paid away, that sum of bank money vanishes.

The value of bank money is based on the hope that it can be converted on need into home money at par. Current rules expect a bank to have reserves of home money equivalent to at least 10% 0f its dealings deposits. Reserves can be held in any combination of hurdle cash and deposit at the Fed. There is no required stockpile for new bank liabilities, such as savings accounts or certificates of deposit.

Controlling the Price of Reserves.
Even if there were no stockpile demand, a bank would get to have sufficient reserves at the Fed to wrap its depositors' checks, and sufficient hurdle cash to play the need for withdrawals by depositors. The demand for reserves therefore creates an involved interbank marketplace in which banks loan or adopt reserves among themselves. The stake pace on these short-term transactions is called the Fed funds pace.

The Fed steers the Fed funds pace toward its objective through its available marketplace operations. These affect buying or selling securities in the available marketplace to make or drain structure reserves as needed to balance the supply and need at its objective for the Fed funds pace.

Any bank in better standing and with sufficient collateral can adopt on a short-term ground at the Fed’s rebate window. The stake pace the Fed charges is 100 ground points above its objective pace for Fed funds. With that large a spread, the discount window is used by banks to cover temporary liquidity problems rather than as a source of reserves to back further lending.

The Fed's Reactive Role.
Why does the Fed control the price of reserves rather than the quantity? The answer is that targeting the quantity risks endangering the liquidity of the banking system. For example, an increase in cash holdings by the public drains vault cash from the banking system. Unless the Fed responded by injecting reserves, one or more banks might be unable to meet either the reserve requirements or the withdrawal demands of its depositors.

Targeting the price of reserves is also more effective in controlling the volatility in the Fed funds rate, and thus the interest rate banks must charge on their loans. Firms cannot plan efficiently when the price of credit is subject to large and unpredictable variations.

As a result of the Fed’s focus on price, the bank money supply will vary with demand. It expands or contracts according to whatever factors influence private sector borrowing. Thus the Fed plays an essentially reactive role, adding or draining reserves as needed for bank liquidity and to hold the Fed funds rate on target.

Limiting Bank Lending.
Since the stockpile ratio demand doesn’t truly hinder bank lending, what prevents a bank from responding to any and all loan demands? The response is that every bank must too comply with a fairness capital demand. This is a complicated formula that rates a bank’s assets by danger, and requires that its capital surpass a sure fraction of its risk-weighted assets.

A bank can have into problem by creating overly many assets through lending. A bank with inadequate capital comparative to its assets will be placed under oversight by its regulator who may so require to okay any original lending.

Limiting Money Supply Growth.
Another significant doubt is what limits the bank money supply from growing overly? Banks are in the job of selling recognition. If a creditworthy borrower is ready to repay the bank’s rank, the bank will usually have the loan still if it must adopt the required reserves after the fact. The only defense against the creation of an excessive supply of bank money is for the Fed to increase the price of reserves to the point that it slows net demand.

The Fed’s fundamental monetary policy challenge is to hold the supply of bank money in rational equilibrium with the needs of producers and the accessibility of goods and services. That calls for a good trade of knowledge about the economy as easily as accomplishment in interpreting the information. Mismanagement of the cost of reserves can promptly push the economy away course towards inflation or recession. This is a hard chore, and the Fed has made its percentage of mistakes over the years that are normally apparent simply in retrospect.

Money Box

2008-02-08T08:39:00.002+07:00

Add coins at your own risk: only by smashing the glass can they be retrieved. As you watch your money literally build up, you will be torn between the desire to save more or cash in. With money rapidly disappearing into plastic cards and online transactions, the physical presence of ‘In Case of Emergency' money box will make you think more carefully before you decide to splash out. What will be your moment of need?

Make Money from a Content Website

2008-01-23T17:35:00.000+07:00

There are essentially five ways that you can make money from your content using the SubHub website publishing solution.

Advertising
Affiliate Marketing
Ecommerce
Subscription
Participation

Advertising

Advertising is the simplest way to generate revenues from content.
You no longer have to sell the advertising space on your site, you can simply sign up to an ad network, integrate the ads into your site and wait for the money to roll in. The most popular ad network is Google Adsense, but there are many more that are growing in popularity.

Alternatively, you can sell your own advertising or site sponsorship so you don’t have to share the revenue with the ad networks.

SubHub’s platform enables easy integration of both ad networks and your own ads.

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is halfway between advertising and ecommerce.
You place links or ads on your website. If one of your site visitors clicks on the link, goes through to a third party merchant site AND makes a purchase, you get paid a commission on the sale. Commissions vary depending on the value and quantity of products sold.

You can easily imbed affiliate links and ads into SubHub pages.

Ecommerce

You can sell physical and digital products from your site.
Most content sites have the potential to make good revenue from selling ebooks, reports, white papers, research, podcasts and other downloadable products. Many also sell physical goods that they either stock and ship themselves, or they just take the orders for a third party merchant to fulfil.

SubHub has ecommerce functionality built into the platform to enable you to sell both digital and physical products.

Subscription

Charging access to premium content is one of the most profitable ways you can build a sustainable online business.
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50 ways to save money....

2007-12-11T18:04:00.001+07:00

BRITISH credit card holders now owe an average of £2,200 on their plastic and with retailers reporting a slump in sales not seen for two decades, it is clear that shoppers are reining in their spending. In short, it's payback time.

To clear a debt of £2,200 on a card that attracts an interest rate of around 15% will take more than two years assuming a monthly repayment of £100. There are, however, plenty of simple ways to make significant savings on your regular spending that could clear the debt many times over in less than a year.

Here are This is Money's top 50 money-saving tips.

1. Change your attitude to your mortgage
The most expensive item you are ever likely to buy is your home. If you're not in the privileged position to pay cash, make sure the loan you use to finance it is the best available. For example, if you are paying your lender's full standard variable rate (SVR) you are probably paying hundreds of pounds a year more than you need to. There are thousands of deals to choose from and while it is vital to check the small print for hidden catches, this is a relatively easy way to save a lot of money. Remember: loyalty to your bank benefits your bank, not you. Even better, if you can afford to make overpayments on your mortgage, you'll clear your debt several years early and make massive savings. For example, if you borrow £100,000 at 6% over 25 years, you'll pay it back at £643 a month. The total charge for credit will be £93,000. But if you can overpay by £100 a month you'll clear the loan in less than 19 years, giving you 6 years of mortgage-free living and saving a staggering £25,000 in interest.
Saving: £1,000s
Links: This is Money mortgage finder; mortgage calculators; mortgage guides

2. Clear your credit card debt
One of the golden rules of financial planning is to clear your most expensive debts first, in other words your credit cards. OK, credit cards offer a convenient way to pay for goods and services but if you can't clear the balance every month, consider a low-cost loan as an alternative. Do the sums: a credit card debt (APR 15%) of £2,200 over three years will cost £545 in interest. A loan at 6% will cost £209. A saving of £336.
Saving: £100s
Link: This is Money credit card finder

3. Cut the cost of your fuel bills
As the global demand for power threatens to outstrip supply, prices are rising. But that doesn't mean you need to be ripped off. The domestic market for fuel is a competitive one and you can change supplier with a few clicks of the mouse. Your new supplier will take care of the formalities - you just pay less every month.
Saving: £100
Link: Slash your fuel bills with This is Money

4. Consider installing a water meter
We take our tap water for granted. And why not? The companies behind the supply exist to make a profit, we pay them to supply water and have every right to expect it to flow from our taps. But if it doesn't rain, supply runs dry and the price goes up. So you may want to consider the possibility of installing a meter. If you have a big home with few occupants you may be surprised to learn you could halve your annual bill.
Saving: £100s
Link: uSwitch.com water calculator

5. Cut your home phone bills
BT may seem to behave like a monopoly but it most definitely is not one. If you must use your phone there are scores of cheaper alternatives from cable companies that package your telephone, television and even broadband internet access to low-cost dial-up services that give you access to cheaper calls using your existing BT line.
Saving: £100
Link: Cut your phone bills with This is Money

6. Consider a pay-as-you go mobile
Ask yourself this: is your mobile phone absolutely necessary? If the answer is yes, then ask yourself whether you really need all those minutes and texts that come as part of your package. If you hand over £50 a month to your mobile phone company, that's £600 a year – or around £1,000 of your gross salary. But you can buy a pay-as-you-go phone for as little as £30 and only pay for the odd call as and when you need to.
Saving: £100s
Links: Easymobile; Orange

7. Make a shopping list
Food shopping forms a significant part of our monthly outgoings and the supermarket is where the bulk of the money is spent. Tesco takes £1 in every £8 spent by UK shoppers. But be warned, stores spend a small fortune studying ways of making us part with more of our money than we would otherwise intend to. Have you ever wondered why your favourite song is playing in the background as you navigate the aisles? Have you even noticed the background music? Possibly not, but you will have noticed at the checkout that the bill is often more than expected. To circumvent this, simply make a shopping list. Dig out the cookery books, plan a few meals and only buy what you need.
Saving: £10 a week = £520 a year
Link: Tesco

8. When was the last time you went to the market?
One way to beat the supermarkets - that is, to eat healthily for less - is to use your local market stall. Lower overheads should mean lower prices. At the time of writing, cherries were on sale in Asda for £2.99 for 400g, the equivalent at the local market was going for just over £1.
Saving: £100+

9. Consider own-brand goods
You can buy a tin of Asda own-brand baked beans for 14p and a loaf bread at Asda, Tesco or Sainsbury's for 19p. Enough said.
Saving: £100
Link: Asda, Sainsbury's

10. Don't buy designer labels
Celebrities are given expensive clothes to wear. You're not. At the end of the day, and let's face it you may only wear the outfit once, can you justify paying hundreds of pounds over the odds because a top designer has had his or her name sewn on the label? And can you honestly say you can tell the difference at a distance between a £600 designer bag and a £9.99 one from the market? Think about it.
Saving: £100s
Link: Prada - note the total lack of prices

11. Sell your clutter on eBay
Take this quick test: You're at home. Open a cupboard. Look inside. If it's full of clothes you haven't worn, or 'good ideas a the time' you haven't used, for, let's say, three years - you don't need them. So why not sell them to someone else who does? Ebay, the online auction house, has opened individual sellers to a world of buyers. And you can flog anything for the cost of a small commission. Tip: you may want to buy a few items first to build up your rating as a respectable eBayer before you start selling.
Income: Will depend on what's in your cupboard
Links: www.eBaybay.co.uk; 'I'm making money from eBay'

12. Use your talent to earn extra cash
Let's face it, if you're not a pop star by the time you reach your 20s you're never going to be. But you may be able to use your talent as a guitarist to teach other wannabes the rudiments of the 12-bar blues.
Income: It's not unreasonable to charge £20 an hour

13. Do DIY
We're a nation of obsessive DIYers and for around £100 you can take a course at your local adult education college to improve the skills needed to tackle most household repairs. If the college runs plumbing courses you could soon be on track to wiping out costly call-out charges and extra insurance policies once and for all.
Saving: £100+

14. Shop around for the cheapest household insurance
Unless you drive – car insurance is mandatory - you don't need insurance. But it's strongly advisable. Can you afford to foot the bill if your house burns down? Probably not. Similarly, can you afford to pay over the odds for the same policy available elsewhere because you can't be bothered to shop around? Possibly, but it's not advisable. The internet has made finding cheaper insurance easy and you can compare hundreds of policies in minutes.
Saving: £100s
Link: This is Money's insurance finder

15. Don't automatically renew annual travel insurance
If your annual holiday insurance policy is about to expire and you don't have a holiday booked, DON'T renew the policy. You're handing your money over to cover an eventuality that won't happen. You wouldn't have car insurance if you didn't own a car. Simply restart the cover again the next time you book a trip.
Saving: £50
Link: This is Money's travel insurance finder

16. Choose cheaper breakdown insurance
The breakdown sector is dominated by big names such as the AA and RAC. But being towed home if your car breaks down is just another form of insurance like any other and there are scores of cheaper alternatives.
Saving: Up to £100 a year
Link: This is Money's breakdown insurance finder

17. Are you paying too much for your life insurance?
We're living longer. As a result the cost of insuring the unthinkable is getting cheaper all the time. If you were sold a policy when you took out or mortgage you may have been under too much stress to shop around. You could be missing a trick.
Saving: £100
Link: This is Money's life insurance finder

18. Book early
Low-cost airlines have created a market in holidays for people prepared to fly to any destination provided it's cheap. You can benefit from this too. Just remember, only a few seats on each flight are sold at bargain-basement prices and once they're sold, the prices rise. So book early.
Saving: £100
Link: Skyscanner - the air fares comparison site

19. Book your own 'package' holiday online
The popularity of High Street travel agents is waning as more and more people warm to the benefits of researching and putting together their own holidays on the internet. If your holiday consists of flights, accommodation, transfers and possibly car hire, then take this test. Order a brochure from a leading holiday company and work out the price of your holiday including all the complicated supplements. Now go online and, starting with the flights, try to put the same package together.
Saving: £100+
Links: This is flights, HotelClub.co.uk, Shuttle Direct, Holiday Autos

20. Learn to say 'no'
It's easy to capitulate to the demands of a screaming child in a packed Woolworths on a Saturday afternoon. But don't do it. Similarly, how often does a 'swift half' after work turn into a £40 drinking session? Saying 'no' a few times a year will do wonders for your bank account.
Saving: £100

23. Don't pay full price for theatre or theme park tickets
If you are prepared to tolerate the unwieldy website and hit-and-miss customer service, lastminute.com regularly boasts some amazing deals for London's theatres and the nation's theme parks. At the time of writing you can see top West End show The Producers plus a two-course meal for less than £20 a head, a saving of £60 per person, and tickets for Chessington World of Adventures cost from £12, a saving of nearly £50 for a day out for a family of four.
Saving: £100s
Link: www.lastminute.com

24. Beat the ticket touts
Ticket touts earn their living by getting hold of tickets that are 'otherwise unavailable'. Well, here's the news: they are available to everyone when they first go on sale. You just need to know when they go on sale. Simply sign up to for the free ticket alert newsletters from the main agents to ensure that you're first in the queue.
Saving: £100s
Links: Ticketline; Ticketmaster

25. Stop trying to keep up with the Joneses
Trying to keep up appearances is little more than a costly illness. Remember, you cannot judge someone by what they have because you don't know how they got it. Chances are they're in more debt than you are.
Saving: £1,000s
Link: This is Money's guide to getting out of debt

26. Trade down your car
So, you bought an American sports utility vehicle (SUV) that nets 15 miles to the gallon on a whim. Obviously we're all very impressed – especially by the personalised number plate. But can you honestly justify the ongoing expense? If not, get rid of it. Then visit a car supermarket, where you can choose from thousands of cars at knock-down prices. If you're a true money saver, consider an ex-rental model which you can pick up for a fraction of the cost of a new one.
Saving: £1,000s
Links: Daily Mail find a car service; Cargiant

27. Ask yourself: do I really need this?
Imagine the scenario. It's lunchtime and you've got an hour to kill. You find yourself in a department store and there's a sale on. You pick up a beautifully packaged selection of barbecue tools and associated garden paraphernalia. And it's half price. Now, stop! Ask yourself: Do I really need this? Exactly. Now, put it down and walk away.
Saving: £100
Link: This is Money's money savers' guides

28. Walk/cycle to the station/work
It maybe a bit of hippie notion to many people but it's free.
Saving: £100
Link: Cycle Campaign Network

29. Get off the station before your usual stop and walk
We may be creatures of habit but isn't it worth tinkering with the routine if it's costing more than £50 a month in unnecessary fares?
Saving: £100
Link: Living Streets

30. Cut down your drinking
A few beers after work a few nights a week is a financially debilitating state of affairs. Set limits and stick to them.
Saving: £100s
Link: Calculator: Pleasures v treasures

31. Pack up smoking
Never mind the health implications, the guilt and the smell, your 20-a-day habit is costing you nearly £2,000 a year. Pack it in.
Saving: Nearly £2,000
Link: Givingupsmoking.co.uk

32. Cancel your gym membership
If you pay your £40 a month by direct debit and you use the gym three times a week, great. If not, cancel your membership immediately. You'll soon save enough to buy your own bike and, if you're so inclined, a rowing machine. Consider running home from work three times a week. It's free.
Saving: £100s
Link: Compare prices for rowing machines on Kelkoo

33. Use your library
The local library is a mecca for the money saver. You'll never need to buy another cookbook, guidebook or lifestyle manual again and if you can bear to wait a few weeks in the queue for the latest blockbuster, you never need to buy books again. CDs and videos are great value too.
Saving: £100
Link: www.whichbook.net - find a book and check if it's available at your local library

34. The three-for-two trick
Now, there's a lot to be said for buy-one-get-one-free deals, especially if they pass the 'Do I really need this?' test. Then there's three-for-twos; a particularly cynical way of stores to entice shoppers to buy an extra item they would not otherwise buy. The 'offer' is always priced into the deal so do your sums and shop around.
Saving: It's a principle at stake here
Link: Discuss deals and scams with other readers

35. Buy clothes and presents in the sales
So you need a new suit and the one you like comes in at a cool £300. Wait! The chances are that you can pick it up in the sale – and there's always a sale just around the corner – for £150. The same applies for birthday and Christmas presents. Buy in bulk in the sales and you not only save money, but you enjoy stress-free pre-Christmases and no last-minute birthday worries.
Saving: £100s

37. The Christmas lottery
Instead of trying to buy a present for every relative in your family, consider getting together beforehand and picking one name from the hat. You then buy one thoughtful gift for that one person rather than attempting to please everyone at considerable cost. Everyone gets a present, everyone saves money.
Saving: £100

38. The National Lottery – it won't be you!
The odds of winning the Lotto jackpot are stacked 14m to 1 against each ticket. Some highly organised syndicates buy 14,000 tickets a week, which reduces the odds to 1,000 to 1 - but that's no guarantee of a win. For the rest of us, the difference to the odds between buying, say, 10 tickets and one is so insignificant that you should limit yourself to the one and save the extra money in a Cash mini Isa.
Saving: £100
Link: Are you sitting on a winning ticket?

39. Use your Isa allowances
If you're not already aware, you can save up to £3,000 a year in a tax-free savings account called an Isa (for the more financially savvy there's also a stocks and shares Isa). It means you don't pay any tax on the interest accrued so, if you have spare cash in your current account, this is the difference between earning next to no interest and up to £150 a year.
Saving: £100+
Link: Best Isa rates

40. Claim your benefits and tax credits
There was once a certain stigma in Britain attached to claiming benefits. Well, not any more. The Government has put benefits at the heart of the family budget and it's your money so make sure you're claiming it. That includes Child Benefit, Working Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit and other employee-related tax benefits.
Saving: £100s
Link: Confused? Ask a This is Money Expert

41. How saving £50 a month now can save you £120 next year
Do you pay your insurance premiums by monthly instalments? If you do, then consider this: you are probably being charged a premium of between 15% and 20% for the privilege. In other words, if your home and car insurance bill for the year is £600, you're paying up to £120 a year in interest by paying monthly. If you are in a position this year to save up for next year's premiums in advance, you can save money by paying the whole lot in one go.
Saving: £100+
Link: This is Money's best savings rates

42. Do you need all those TV channels?
Britain is switching to digital-only television and time is running out for you to choose your new digital TV provider. The choice is already bewildering and with telephone-based services now being launched it's going to get more complicated. Packages range from full the monty, including every sports and movie channel costing around £50 a month, down to Freeview, which is free. Choose wisely.
Saving: £100+

43. Bin the ready meals
If TV chefs such as Ainsley Harriott can knock up a meal from a bag of random groceries including an aubergine and a packet of sultanas – so can you. Ready meals may be convenient, but preparing your own food saves money. A visit to your library will reveal scores of books dedicated to cooking proper meals in minutes.
Saving: £100+

44. Take up a money-saving hobby
Hobbies not only open your mind to new experiences but they also take up your time – important if you would otherwise spend it in the pub drinking away your hard-earned money. If a painting takes 20 hours to complete, and you normally get through a pint an hour. That's a saving of a least 40 quid a picture. Think about it. Get painting. Go fishing.
Saving: £100+

45. Avoid the payment protection racket
Banks and other lenders are selling expensive insurance policies to cover loan repayments to people who don't need it. Don't be a victim of the hard-sell.
Saving: £100

46. Avoid extended warranties
Electrical goods are more reliable than ever. If your new radio won't last three years perhaps it's not worth buying in the first place. Think about it: how many times has your fridge broken down in the last five years? And do you really need the hassle of claiming for repairs to a £15 toaster?
Saving: £100
Link: Read our guide to extended warranties

47. Shop online
The internet is gradually taking over. Online grocery shopping is getting better all the time and there are plenty of comparison websites to help find the best prices for bigger items. Give it a try, unless of course you like fighting your way through supermarket crowds.
Saving: Your sanity
Links: Online grocery service rated; PriceRunner - price comparison site

48. The Citizen's Advice Bureau is your friend
If your debts are out of control please seek help immediately from your local CAB – their advisers can help you work out a sensible strategy to get you back on your feet.
Saving: It could save your life
Link: Find your local CAB

49. Have I missed any money-saving ideas?
You can now add your comments to the Money Saving Overflow
Link: Find out more at 50 more ways to save money

50. Save this article or send it to a friend
Use the links at the bottom of the page to send these money-saving tips to a friend or save it for yourself for later.

Created: July 2005
Last updated: August 2006

7 radical savings money

2007-12-11T17:52:00.000+07:00

To help curb the consumer in you, we've come up with a few of admittedly drastic savings strategies, along with some ballpark figures of their savings potential. (If you're looking for a real no-brainer way to save, arrange to have a certain amount of your paycheck automatically deposited into a savings account. Then, sit back and watch it grow.)

Hold the mother of all garage sales. Cast a critical eye on the stuff at the way back of your closets. If you haven't used it in six months, chances are you can do without. Same goes for all that junk in storage. (See "The hidden costs of too much stuff." ) Annual savings? Depends on how much junk you have, of course, but one coworker guessed he had at least $5,000 worth of stuff he could get rid of. I'd put my own garage sale potential down at around $1,000. Thats a good number.
Quit smoking. Pack-a-day habit? In Washington state, that's easily $5 a day -- or about $1,800 a year -- that can go right into your savings, not to mention what it saves you on insurance and health care.
Tame your driving addiction. In other words, carpool or use public transportation. This saves on gas, insurance and maintenance costs -- not to mention any money spent on aspirin. Using the IRS's 2002 mileage reimbursement rate of 36.5 cents per mile as a proxy for the cost of commuting, you could save $1,141 a year by driving half the time for 50 weeks a year (based on a 25-mile roundtrip commute). For an even more drastic approach, consider getting rid of your car if you live in the city. Some cities are now implementing progressive programs that allow you to have access to a car without the ownership hassles (e.g. "Flexcar" in Seattle, Portland and Washington, D.C. For more on Flexcar, see link at left.)
Buy used. The average consumer spends about $1,750 a year on clothing and its upkeep, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' most recent Consumer Expenditure Survey. You can potentially cut that in half by shopping at consignment shops and auctions, though the life of the goods may be less than buying new. To account for that, the annual savings may only amount to 25%, or $437.
Become a homebody. At just over $1,800 a year on average, entertainment spending has a way of quickly eating through the best-planned budgets. Consider the library for books, music and movies. Eat out less often. The average person spent $2,276 a year on eating out in 2002. Try cutting your spending in half on both areas for annual savings more than $1,900.
Cut your housing expenses. While a move across the tracks may save some money, moves are expensive in themselves. Consider renting out a room. The average housing costs per person in 2000 were just over $13,200. In metropolitan areas such as Seattle, rooms easily go for $400 a month. Figure about $20 of that goes to increases in utility costs, and you've still got an annual savings of more than $4,000 before any income taxes.
Cut up your credit cards. Build an emergency fund first to handle most unexpected expenses. This allows you to become your own lending agency. (OK, if you're chicken, try cutting up all but one.) Credit cards can be a cash-flow management tool, but paying only the minimum will keep you in debt for years. If you're the average American with at least one credit card, you probably have close to $8,523 in credit card debt, according to industry research group CardWeb.com. At an average APR of 14.4%, it could cost you as much as $1,100 a year in interest alone. By simply waiting until you've saved enough money to make purchases, you could eliminate those interest payments entirely.

If you're really ambitious and follow all the above tips, you could be looking at savings of nearly $12,000 a year. Figuring you can invest it at the historical rate of return at 10% your savings will start to compound nicely -- and rapidly.

Money Terms

2007-10-08T14:59:00.000+07:00

account - a record of money a person deposits into a bank.

alloy - a metal formed by fusing two or more metals.

ATM(automated teller machine) - a computer furnished by a bank for its customers. This computer takes the place of a bank teller so that customers may deposit and withdraw money with out having to enter the bank. They may also use it when the bank is closed. ATM's are usually found mounted on the wall or in a small building outside the bank.

bartering - to trade without using money.

Bureau of Engraving and Printing - the United States facility that makes paper money.

checking - an account on which the depositor may draw checks.

circulate - to move or pass from person to person or from place to place.

commemorative - a coin or bill made in memory of historical events.

Continental Congress - a governing body of people that consisted of delegates from the first U.S. colonies. They first met in Philadelphia on September 5, 1774. There were 56 delegates from 12 colonies in attendance. They met out of a desire to unify the colonies. The First Continental Congress existed from 1774 - 1775. The Second Continental Congress existed from 1775 - 1781.

continentals - a type of paper money.

counterfeit - to make a copy of in order to deceive.

currency - money that is used by a country such as the United States.

denomination - a number that expresses the value of a coin or bill. A one dollar bill and a five dollar bill represent two denominations.

deposit - placing money in a bank or other place for safekeeping.

depositor - a person who deposits money.

dollar - the standard unit of money in the United States that is equal to one hundred cents.

doubloons - a former Spanish coin.

engrave - to cut or carve.

Federal Reserve Bank - the central banking organization of the United States.

Federal Reserves Notes - a type of paper money created after the Federal Reserve Act of 1913. These are the same bills we use today.

greenbacks - U.S. paper money issued in 1861 to finance the Civil War. The back of the bills
were green, so people called them "greenbacks."

foreign - from another country other than the U.S.

income - payment in money for services or work, or from property or investments.

interest - money paid for the use of borrowing money, or money that the bank pays a customer for putting money into their bank.

issue - the act of sending or giving out.

lend - to give the temporary use of money on the condition of repayment and at a set rate of
interest.

minting - the act of making money out of metal.

money - coins and paper currency issued by a government for payment of debts and for purchase of goods and services.

mutilated - to cut up, destroy, or alter radically.

numismatist - a person who collects and studies coins and paper money or medals.

pence - a British term meaning more than one penny.

peso - the unit of money in Mexico.

piastres - a former Spanish silver coin.

pieces of eight - obsolete (out of date) Spanish silver coin.

pygg - type of dense orange clay.

shillings - a former coin of the United Kingdom.

savings account - an account at a bank on which interest is usually paid and from which
withdrawals can be made.

transaction - to carry through or bring about.

treason - the betrayal of one's country.

U.S. Dept. of Treasury - the department that has charge of the income and expenses of a country.

U.S. Government promissory - a written promise to pay a stated sum of money to a certain person at a certain time.

U.S. Government Securities - a stock or bond certificate.

U.S. Mint - a place where money is coined by public authority.

U.S. Secret Service - a division of the U.S. Treasury Department that protects the president and enforces federal laws against counterfeiting U.S. currency and bonds.

wampum - beads of shells strung in strands and used by American Indians as money.

withdraw - to take out.

Bank Negara Money Museum

2007-09-07T13:16:00.000+07:00

Housed within the Central Bank building, the Bank Negara Money Museum serves as a repository for the country's numismatic heritage.

Bank Negara Malaysia started issuing its own currency in 1967 and since 1979, it has been purchasing coins sporadically with the objective of setting up its own Money Museum.

Furthermore, as the Bank regularly receives many visitors each year, including school children and VIPs, the Bank felt it would also be desirable to display its collection and preserve the national heritage by having a public museum to show the evolution of money in the country from early to modern times.

The plan to have an authoritative depository for the Bank's growing numismatic collection became a reality with the opening of the Money Museum on 5 April 1989.

It was officially opened by Datin Seri Dr Siti Hasmah Mohamed Ali, wife of the Malaysian Prime Minister, Dato' Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad, in conjunction with the thirtieth Anniversary of Bank Negara Malaysia.

An important aim of the museum is to disseminate knowledge pertaining to the evolution of Malaysian currency through its exhibitions and publications.

Coins, currency notes, tokens and other artifacts are displayed at the museum.

Chinese Money Symbol - Cai

2007-09-07T13:10:00.001+07:00

A very popular chinese symbol called Cai which means wealth and money. A lot of people use it as a good luck money symbol.

Make Money Online!

2007-09-07T12:48:00.000+07:00

So you are ready to make money?!

anyone can join! no restriction! enjoy and promote your lense! Economics offers various definitions for money, though it is now commonly defined by the functions attached to any good or token that functions in trade as a medium of exchange, store of value, and unit of account. Some authors explicitly require money to be a standard of deferred payment, too. In common usage, money refers more specifically to currency, particularly the many circulating currencies with legal tender status conferred by a national state; deposit accounts denominated in such currencies are also considered part of the money supply, although these characteristics are historically comparatively recent. Other older functions a money may possess are a means of rationing access to scarce resources, and a means of accumulating power of command over others.

Meletakkan uang logam di sudut rumah

2007-08-08T16:50:00.000+07:00

Jangan lupa untuk meletakkan uang logam yang berjumlah sebanyak 168 buah di sudut rumah baru anda. Ingat tidak boleh lebih juga tidak boleh kurang, jumlah total yang dimaksud bukan harganya, namun jumlah dari logam itu sendiri, yakni 168 buah. Setelah meletakkan logam tersebut selama 1 minggu lamanya, boleh meminta semua penghuni rumah yang ada memungut uang tersebut bersama-sama dan memasukkannya kedalam celengan yang terbuat dari bambu. Hal ini berfungsi untuk menyatukan semua keberuntungan dan kemakmuran ke dalam rumah baru.

Uang

2007-05-01T18:47:00.004+07:00

Dalam ilmu ekonomi tradisional didefinisikan sebagai setiap alat tukar yang dapat diterima secara umum. Alat tukar itu berupa benda apa saja yang dapat diterima oleh setiap orang di masyarakat dalam proses pertukaran barang dan jasa. Dalam ilmu ekonomi modern, uang didefinisikan sebagai sesuatu yang tersedia dan secara umum diterima sebagai alat pembayaran bagi pembelian barang-barang dan jasa-jasa serta kekayaan berharga lainnya serta untuk pembayaran utang.[1] Beberapa ahli juga menyebutkan fungsi uang sebagai alat penunda pembayaran.[2]
Keberadaan uang menyediakan alternatif transaksi yang lebih mudah daripada barter, yang lebih kompleks, tidak efesien, dan kurang cocok digunakan dalam sistem ekonomi modern karena membutuhkan orang yang memiliki keinginan yang sama untuk melakukan pertukaran, dan juga kesulitan dalam menentukan nilai. Efesiensi yang didapatkan dengan menggunakan uang pada akhirnya akan mendorong perdagangan dan pembagian tenaga kerja, yang kemudian akan meningkatkan produktifitas dan kemakmuran.

Pada awalnya di Indonesia, uang —dalam hal ini uang kartal— diterbitkan oleh pemerintah Republik Indonesia. Namun sejak dikeluarkannya UU No. 13 tahun 1968 pasal 26 ayat 1, hak pemerintah untuk mencetak uang dicabut. Pemerintah kemudian menetapkan Bank Sentral, Bank Indonesia, sebagai satu-satunya lembaga yang berhak menciptakan uang kartal. Hak untuk menciptakan uang itu disebut dengan hak oktroi.