Excelle

What is your happiness worth to you?   For many years I stayed in corporate jobs that looked great on paper. But, in reality they were a poor fit (and that's putting it lightly).  Yet, I had grown accustomed to the life they afforded me—the nice Manhattan apartment with a backyard (woohoo!), gym membership, weekly manicures, saving the requisite 10% in ...

So, have ya heard the economy is bad? Seriously, I wanted to encourage everyone to just take a deep breath. There are ways to survive this. This too shall pass. I have a few tips for saving a few bucks and cutting corners, but first let me share the following stories. Back in 1997, I was one year out of college ...

If you could ask ten wise women for advice on what to do (and what not to do) with your money, what would they say? They might offer the ten financial tips below, culled from our wise and money-smart contributors. 1. Saving For Retirement Is a Must Unless you don’t mind eating cat food in your old age, you have to ...

As unemployment continues to rise, everyone is looking for other ways to bring in some money while still searching for another job.  Although a job is the conventional way to earn money, sometimes you need to think outside the box or search outside your comfort zone in order to try something new and bring in a little bit of money ...

by Nicole Crimaldi, founder of MsCareerGirl.com It’s a Friday afternoon and you are walking home from work. You’ve had a super stressful week at work. Not only are your superiors on you about a plethora of issues at work, your best friend cancelled on your girls night and you are in a fight with your boyfriend. Enter . You walk past ...

by Dawn Yerger As a mother and a business woman working for herself, I’ve always been fascinated with people who make money every minute of the day, including when they are fast asleep. Sounds pretty nice doesn’t it? Since I am an entrepreneur and business professional coach, I enjoy helping my clients create more freedom in their lives. One of the ...

Finance and having fun can fit together, it just takes some creativity. Of course, some strategies are more fun than others. Example of a lame way? When I was a financial consultant, I’d perch a bowl of candy on my desk as a consolation for those who dreaded coming to see me to talk retirement goals. “Wish this were more fun? ...

Inquisitive entrepreneurs and small business owners can find inspiring insights and common sense answers from two industry pros on MainStreet. Each week Dani Babb, a small business expert and the dean of Andrew Jackson University’s College of Business in Hoover, Ala., and Dr. John Rutledge, the chairman of private equity investment firm Rutledge Capital, offer their advice to scores of entrepreneurs ...

With the unemployment rate careening toward 9% and companies doling out forced furloughs and pay cuts, the search is on for alternative sources of revenue. The good news is that you don’t need to look beyond your own workbench, sewing kit or crafts closet to find it. More and more people are finding that with a bit of cultivation, a favorite ...

Knowing how long to keep an important financial document is the key to maintaining your personal security as well as managing clutter. Some documents can be shredded after short periods of time, while others should be kept indefinitely. Here’s a handy guide to help you figure out what to keep and what to shred, beginning with the short-lived documents: Keep for ...

Budgeting isn't always easy - but it doesn't have to be impossible. And it's worth it. You'll live with less worry now, and endure less headache later on. Luckily, the Geezeo blog has come up with some basic money management strategies that are as simple as ABC. Follow their guidelines to squash your debt, start saving, and stop wasting money. ...

While no one request is guaranteed to change the course of your career, business, relationships, or life, any single request can. Requests have the potential to make a profound difference to the quality of your life and your ability to achieve the success you want. Sure, just because you ask for something doesn’t guarantee that you will get it. But not ...

Overspending is easy to do. Everyone falls for it every now and again because sometimes you just feel the need to spend. However, there may be things that trigger our overspending even when we know that we are on a budget and cannot really afford to spend money. 1) Stress – Work, family, friends, sickness, money…all these things (and many more) ...

Working from home sounds like the perfect gig. What’s not to like about videoconferencing in your slippers, ditching the daily commute, and getting out from under your boss’s watchful eye? Plenty, actually. Take it from someone who’s freelanced for four years, working from home may sound like a dream (all right, in some ways it is), but before you want to ...

We are creatures of habit, and nowhere is this more true than in our homes. You might be following in mom’s footsteps, emulating the way your college roommate handled domestic chores, or listening to the advice of one too many TV advertisements, but it’s possible that some of your cooking, cleaning, and shopping practices could be dumping money and toxic chemicals ...

Everyone can learn to adjust to cutting back, be it through a local ski trip instead of Vail or the Alps, waiting for the Black Friday sale to buy that flat screen TV for 30 percent off, or opting for a classic purse you can coordinate with year-round instead of a seasonal designer bag. But real savings don’t start with the ...

The current economic climate doesn’t exactly lend itself to asking for a raise. With all the talk of bailouts, budget cuts and layoffs (not to mention undue bonuses), many an employee is wary of asking for more money. But what if you deserve a raise? According to some experts, you are in luck. Now could actually be the best time to ...

“It’s not polite to talk about money.” That old chestnut may still be true at a dinner party, but at some point a girl’s gotta know her industry’s standards to make sure she’s getting a fair deal. If you can’t bring yourself to ask around, don’t sweat it. Instead, log on and check out one of the many salary sites that ...

When we asked Monster readers what they’d be most likely to splurge on if they got a big salary bump — a new car, wardrobe or home entertainment technology — the car topped the list with 51 percent of the votes, followed by the wardrobe with 30 percent and the home entertainment center at 18 percent. But quite a few readers ...

To help lighten the blow of Tax Day across the nation, various dining establishments and retailers are offering consumers freebies, deals and discounts — just for today!Here are a few we dug up, but be on the look out for local deals in your area! • Chick-fil-A is offering a “Tax Relief Day Special” that, according to a SmartMoney.com article, ...