So many gifts to give, and so little time to go and shop for them!  Doesn’t that seem like the mantra these days? 

I know that I sometimes feel overwhelmed when having to shop for gifts for friends and family, and I (while not sounding like a jerk) wished there was another way to go about doing it.

Giftcards Do Make Great Gifts

That is why I love giftcards.  Many old fashioned individuals view them as a bit of a cop out, but I actually think that giftcards do make great gifts.

The biggest reason: the individual can go and buy what they would like.  Like I mentioned – the traditional cop out is that “you should shop for a gift to make it personal”.  However, my giftcard gift is personal.  I know that my best friend loves shopping at Nordstrom.  So, I get them a giftcard there.  Yes, I could have bought them a shirt and they could return it, but now the gift receiver has an additional hassle of having to return the item to get what they want.  With a giftcard, they can just buy what they want on the first go-round.

Second, I know that  I personally like receiving giftcards, and many other people do too.  So, that old rules don’t necessarily apply any more – giftcards do make great gifts.

Alternatives for Those Receiving Giftcards

However, just because giftcards make great gifts doesn’t mean that the actual card you receive is a great gift.  Maybe you got a giftcard to a place you never shop, or maybe your aunt from another part of the country sent you a giftcard for a store that doesn’t have shops in your area.

If this happens to you, you can do what I do, and just use a service to sell giftcards.  There are many places online where you can sell back your giftcards and get cash for them.  That way, you still get the value of the gift, but you can actually use it for something worthwhile to you.

Depending on the site, the process is pretty simply: enter your card number, confirm you method of payment, and you’re done.  A quick and painless alternative for a giftcard you wouldn’t use!

Saving for retirement can be difficult.  With the recent increases in the cost of gas and groceries and other basics combined with a loss of income because of the economy (or a lack of raises over the last few years), saving for retirement can seem like a goal that is out of reach.  Retirement can end up on your list of things to do when you have more money.  The problem is that day often never comes because there is always something else vying for your money.

If you have trouble saving for your retirement that may be 30 or 40 years away, you are not alone.  CNN Money recently reported, “About 49% of Americans say they aren’t contributing to any retirement plan, according to a new survey conducted by LIMRA, a trade association for the financial services industry.”

If you are having trouble finding money to save for your retirement, try these tactics:

1. Have the money automatically withdrawn from your paycheck.  Dedicate a portion of your salary to fund your retirement.  If money is very tight, you may only want to put 1% aside, but if you are making $3,000 a month, one percent is $30 a month.  True, you won’t be putting aside enough to fund your full retirement, but in a year, you will have $360 saved, which is more than you may have had previously.  You will find that you don’t even miss the money, and your retirement savings can grow with little effort on your part.
2. Save your change.  Make an attempt to pay cash for your purchases and save your change.  You will likely end up with at least $1 to $2 a day.  Save this every day, and you now have an additional $30 to $60 to put in your retirement each month.
3. Curb your lifestyle and save the difference.  If you spend $100 for groceries every week, or approximately $400 a month, designate one week to eat from the pantry and eat all of the extra food you have in your freezer and cupboard.  While you may still have to buy staples such as fruits and vegetables, you could save $50 a month by eating from the pantry.
4. Create an alternative income stream.  Find something you enjoy and find a way to make money from it.  For instance, let’s say you love taking photographs.  Upload some of your photos to some of the photo sharing sites and make a small residual income each month from bloggers and others who have websites and use your photos.  Without much effort, you should be able to make at least $25 a month (and much more than that if you have uploaded several hundred of your photos).

Saving for retirement is difficult.  You must motivate yourself to save for an event that is decades away, while money is very tight now.  However, if you just make the simple steps outlined above, you will have a minimum of $135 a month to save.  That is $1,620 a year for retirement.  This won’t fully fund your retirement, but it will give you a start until your financial situation improves.

**Photo by 401K**

Mother’s Day is right around the corner, which means it is time to start thinking about Mother’s Day gifts.  While moms frequently get a meal in bed, dinner out and flowers for Mother’s Day, maybe this year you could give her something different that she will remember for years to come.

Experience gifts are a perfect way to show your mother both how much you love her and how much you know her and her tastes and interests.  (If you don’t know your mother’s tastes and interests, you might want to stick with giving her flowers.)  If you give her the gift of experience, she is likely to remember it for years to come.

For instance, my grandmother always wanted to ride a hot air balloon.  Finally, in her seventies, one of her children arranged for her to go on a hot air balloon ride, and it was an experience she never forgot.  Would she remember the flowers she was given one particular year or the dinner out?  Probably not.  But she never forgot that hot air balloon ride.

An experience gift is the gift that keeps giving.

Make a list of things that your mother has always wanted to do.  Perhaps it is flying a small plane, skydiving, getting a massage or taking a gourmet cooking class.  Come up with the top three experiences you know she would enjoy.

If her experience is something mainstream such as the three listed above, you probably don’t have to pay full price for the experience.  Sign up for all of the social deal sites such as Groupon, Living Social, Mamasource, and Daily Deals, to name a few.  You will be sent an e-mail every day giving the deals for the day.  Chances are good that one of the three you have chosen for your mother will be offered in the next few weeks on one of the sites.

If you can’t find what you need from the daily deal sites, you can look on several other sites including Lifesta, Deals Go Round, CoupRecoup, Dealigee, and City Pockets.  These sites sell deals that others bought but decided that they didn’t want to use.  (By the way, on the off chance that your mother doesn’t want the experience that you bought her, she can change in that skydiving deal voucher for something more tame, like a day at the spa.)  Wealth Informatics wrote a complete post on reselling vouchers that explains the process in more detail.

If your mom is content with flowers and a meal out, you can give her that.  However, she may just want something more.  An experience gift is a gift that she is likely to remember for years to come.  You can take advantage of daily deal sites to make her experience a bit easier on your wallet, and she can always trade in the deal if it turns out to be something she doesn’t want.  Moms do a lot for their kids throughout their life; take the time to thank her this year by doing something to treat her in a unique way.

In this troubled economic slump we find ourselves in, it’s not uncommon to feel ambivalent or confused about how to best handle a savings, no matter how big or small.  Fear of losing what we’ve worked so hard to save is often a sure cause for static immobility, and a failure to take beneficial and rewarding action with our money; I know, because I’ve been there personally.  Until recently I was one of those unfortunate souls immobilized by the fear of losing my family’s savings.

Yes, leaving your money in a risk-free, yet relatively yield-free account or other financial position ensures that you won’t lose any money; but it also ensures that you won’t gain any substantial interest with that hard-earned savings either.  But there really are a few great options out there that are more risk free than most people realize, making it a shame to leave your savings sitting idly by collecting dust and pennies.

Utilizing the option of money market accounts in particular can be a great ticket to gaining you and your family much-needed money and simultaneously affording you the freedom to use that money when and how you please.  In my case, it’s done just that, and be a true God-send toward our future financial freedom.  Before considering a money market account, it’s important to understand exactly what they are.

Unlike CDs, or, certificates of deposit, money market accounts are essentially checking accounts that operate like mutual funds.

What that means is that the money you place in these accounts will be invested in short term instruments that offer higher annual percentage yields than standard savings accounts or CDs, while also maintaining safer investment options than most long-term mutual funds do. Money market accounts attempt to keep share prices of these options above or equal to at least a dollar a share.

The big kicker is that they also operate as a checking account, allowing you to take money out as you see fit, unlike most CD options, which specify that you must leave the sum alone until it has reached maturation to receive the set interest percentage.

What I’ve found so personally great about these accounts is that almost every financial institution or bank offers some type of money market account, with usually great interest rates.  My personal Discover Bank money market rates were too good to pass up, although there are plenty of similarly great options out there as well.  Having banked over an extra $3,000 dollars with my account by doing virtually nothing over the past year, I can’t stress how worthwhile looking into these accounts can be if you’ve got a current savings sitting idly by.  Do your research, check out the options, and watch the savings pile up: your family, and your bank account, will thank you soon enough.

**Photo by Tax Credits on Flickr**

Are you in debt (besides the mortgage)?  Do you have thousands of dollars worth of student loan debt and/or credit card debt?  If you are struggling to make your payments, one of the best things you can do is to stop using credit and begin to use cash.

I know, I know, in today’s world, who uses cash?  If you use cash, you have to actually walk into the gas station to pay for your gas rather than just swiping your card at the pump.  More importantly, you have to remember to actually carry cash.  After years of using credit cards to pay for all of your purchases, it may be difficult to remember to bring cash when you leave the house.

While there are certainly inconveniences to using cash for all of your purchases, the rewards will be great.

Let’s be honest; many people who have credit card debt will have it for the majority of their lives.  They will continue to use their cards each month, paying off only what they charged that month, or worse, only the minimum payment they have to make.  There is no end in sight.

However, if you quit using the cards, get back in touch with your spending patterns by using cash and only buying what you can afford, you will be in a better position to pay off your debts more quickly.

Let’s say you currently owe $12,000 on a credit card at 11.99% interest.  If you only make the minimum balance on the credit card (2% of the balance), you will be debt free in 25 years, 11 months!  If, instead, you take this month’s minimum payment of $240 and pay that same amount every month, you will be credit card debt free in 5 years and 9 months.  If you can ramp up your payment and pay $60 more a month, making a payment of $300 each month, you will be credit card debt free in 4 years 3 months.

Yes, extra payments help you pay off the credit card faster, but even if you do nothing more than make the same payment your are making now and quit adding any new credit card charges, you will be credit card debt free in less than six years.

You will be off the endless credit cycle.

If you find using cash to be too difficult in some situations, consider using a debit card when you need to reserve a hotel room or pay for a purchase online.  However, learning to not spend more than you make is vital.  Not incurring new debt as well as making the same payment you are making now for the life of the loan will get you out of debt.  Even if you do nothing more than that, you will be debt free in a few years.  Isn’t it worth it to revert to cash for awhile until you no longer owe?  Think of the financial freedom you will have.

I will be inconvenienced by using cash any day if it means I will one day no longer be inconvenienced by debt and limited cash flow.

When you see your friends buying nice things such as a new car or a second home, do you automatically think that they have gone deep into debt for the purchase or do you secretly envy them and think they must have come into some money?  Do you think, some people have all the luck or some people have it so easy?  Maybe rather than feeling sorry for yourself or resentful of others, you should take a hard look at your own spending habits.

Recently, I was watching a rerun of the King of Queens.  In this episode, “Home Cheapo”, Carrie and Doug are envious of their friends, Deacon and Kelly, who have just bought a beautiful vacation home.  Carrie and Doug run through all of the ways Deacon and Kelly must have been able to afford the home including that they suddenly came into money.  Finally, they decide that Deacon and Kelly can afford the home because Carrie and Doug have been paying for Deacon and Kelly’s share whenever they go out together, which isn’t exactly true.

After much feuding between the couples, Deacon and Kelly finally share that they were able to buy the home because they cut their expenses, stopped going out to eat and saved their money for quite awhile.  This leads Carrie and Doug to look at their own spending such as Carrie’s trips to get her nails done and Doug’s beer drinking and food eating habits.  They suddenly begin to see that all of the money they have used to pamper and treat themselves could have been used in a better way, such as Deacon and Kelly have done by buying a vacation home.

In our society where many, many people overspend, it is easy to see someone buy something nice that we would like and just say that they must be deeply in debt.  This might be true.  But it also might be true that they are sacrificing and saving.

There is nothing wrong with buying little treats for yourself throughout the week such as coffee out, lunches out, trips to restaurants, and concert tickets, to name a few.  But, keep in mind, when you make these choices, you may be unconsciously making another choice.  These little treats that you don’t even remember spending the money on a week later may be why you can’t buy a second home (or even a first home) or why you can’t take that trip to Europe that you have always dreamed of or why you can’t reach whatever other big dream you have.

Saving for important, memorable things such as a house or a trip is hard.  You have to constantly delay gratification, and let’s face it, humans aren’t good at that.  It is much easier to treat yourself with little purchases throughout the day and week.  Just know that you are then sacrificing bigger dreams.  You are living like Carrie and Doug, who were jealous and bitter in this episode, rather than Deacon and Kelly who were willing to sacrifice short-term to get something they wanted long-term.

It’s no secret that the rising cost of petrol is putting increased pressure on motorists at the moment, with many of them looking for ways to reduce their monthly fuel bill. There are various methods of cutting the cost of petrol, even if the government has so far refused to reduce fuel duty to help the public keep control of their finances more effectively.

Recent predictions from the Ernst & Young ITEM Club suggest that the cost of a tank of petrol could top 100 pounds by 2015, leaving families to foot an even greater bill during these tough times. Downsize your vehicle: There are many benefits to driving a smaller vehicle, not least because they tend to be much more efficient than their gas-guzzling counterparts. A British Car Auctions (BCA) survey recently found that 27 per cent of motorists will be in search of better fuel economy from their next vehicle, which may see a surge in demand for smaller cars. Tim Naylor from the BCA commented: We are already seeing demand for these cars outstrip supply, which means rising prices for low mileage, good quality stock.

Other benefits to running a smaller vehicle include reductions in car insurance costs, as companies often look favourably on those with more efficient cars. Scrap the second car, it is not uncommon for families to have two or more vehicles at their disposal – but is more than one really necessary? Families could benefit from weighing up whether the second or third vehicle is essential, which can severely reduce outgoings month after month. One party may be able to use public transport to get to and from work, which is something worth considering by those who are really struggling to make ends meet.

The BCA’s Tim Naylor reveals that the number of two-car households has declined by five per cent over the past 12 months alone – a trend that is likely to continue. Update to a newer model Motorists who do have the cash to upgrade their existing car to a newer model could find it saves them cash in the long run. This, however, is only likely to be beneficial for particularly old cars. Manufacturers are constantly providing new technology to cut their customers emissions, while reducing their petrol usage at the same time. Car showrooms are required to demonstrate how fuel efficient each new car is with an A to G rating. A indicates the most economical car, while G is the worst. Aside from saving money on petrol, drivers of downsized vehicles will also find their road tax is cut, which in itself can reduce outgoings year on year.

Consider alternative fuels, an increasing number of vehicles are now reaching the market that run off a range of more efficient fuels. Biofuels and LPG are used to power some cars, while others run off electricity. It is likely to be the case that these become more mainstream over the coming years, as both manufacturers and consumers alike recognise the need for vehicles to reduce their impact on the environment. Petrol or diesel? Many drivers will have a preference for either petrol or diesel vehicles, which could affect how much they spend on fuel in an average month. Petrol engines are generally less fuel efficient than their diesel counterparts and produce more CO2. Diesel engines, on the other hand, give off more air pollutants that contribute to poor air quality in towns and cities. In some cases, diesel cars will be fitted with a diesel particulate filter that helps to eradicate some of these pollutants.

**Photo by micah.d**

Guest Post comes from Financial Money Tips. Written by co-founder Kolton Green. Be sure you follow them on Twitter or like them on Facebook.

No doubt you have heard that you should never mix money and family. With that in mind you can imagine some of the warnings we were given when we decided to go into business together as brothers. And after our first two business ventures had failed, these warning messages seemed to be just pointing and laughing at us.

It was one thing to try to go into business as brothers and have it fail, but to give it another shot at running a business that dealt with finance was more than some people could comprehend. Thankfully we didn’t listen to those naysayers. Those people are the ones that don’t have faith or any positive thoughts on achieving business success. Our background helped us to learn to never give up and so even in the face of failure we jumped in and did just that and found success. What started out as a blog to help others find their way financially, ended up changing our lives.

Finding Success

We never expected things to take of like they did or for us to learn so much along the way. We are by no means an ultimate authority on financial topics, but we have watched where the pitfalls are; often only after falling into them ourselves. We work really hard to help other people avoid those same mistakes before they fall into them.

At this point in our careers we still plan to create many more assets for ourselves. The ultimate goal is to get involved with other investments, business, and real estate ventures. The goal is to create many more passive income streams and get to a point where we can just sit back and let the money do all of the work for us. I mean, that is the ultimate goal for most people, right?

So that is what we do. We offer a platform for people to see, discover, and share the best steps to take in their own lives, which will lead them towards reaching their goals. And it has been an amazing process to see it happen over and over again.

Part of the success has been related to the fact that our blog is so open. We want people to comment on postings. We want to start conversations (and even heated debates) about personal finance. If there is one thing we have learned it’s that there isn’t just one right way to do things. The more reader input our blog receives, the more we know that we are helping people find a way to their own financial goals.

How It Started

At the ages of 21 and 24 we started Financial Money Tips. We come from a Mormon family in Colorado and much of our upbringing is what inspired us to do this work and start this blog. We both have a drive and desire to help others. We were both involved with competitive sports and being athletes set a competitive standard in our lives. We both learned to never give up on our goals and that you are going to fail some of the time, there is no way to avoid it. Without that foundation we would never have been able to get involved in investing and business like we have.

Financial Money Tips wasn’t where we started in business. After taking a few college courses in business and finance we figured our time was better spent starting our own business and being entrepreneurs, rather than students. First we created a baseball bat company, which failed. Then we started a mobile waterless car wash, which failed.

These business failures were important. They taught us the value of research, planning, and finding answers before jumping in. They taught us how to lose money and recover from that loss. They taught us how to do things right. These failures have given us a confidence in our skills because we have learned from our mistakes and it had made us better business owners.

Moving Forward From Failure

Moving forward from those failures, we realized that there were probably thousands of other people making the same mistakes, asking the same questions, and wondering exactly how to best proceed in their own financial searches. And so, we found ourselves creating a blog to help show others the way, never expecting that it would help us to find the way at the same time.

Our website describes us as “regular joes” and that is what makes our platform so powerful. We are “regular joes” and what we have gone through helps others avoid the mistakes that we have made.

The theme of our business has always been “Self-education will make you a fortune” and that is truly what makes our blog so powerful. It is a system to help people increase their knowledge on financial issues, business planning, investing, and entrepreneurship. Not all of the information comes from us, not remotely! In fact, if it wasn’t for our readers and the people willing to share their own successes and failures, our site wouldn’t be nearly as powerful.

As a child, you may have played the game of LIFE and enjoyed those moments you get an unexpected windfall.  The same can happen in real life.  A few years ago, many Americans got an unexpected windfall when President Bush offered a tax rebate to a majority of U.S. citizens.  Some people get an unexpected windfall when they get a larger tax return than they were expecting or a relative dies and leaves them an inheritance.

If you get an unexpected windfall, it is important to have a plan to decide what to do with the money before you spend any of it.  In addition, if it is a large windfall, you may want to put the money in the bank and not spend any of it until you have had a few weeks (or months) to decide the best way to utilize the money.

Here are a few ideas how to use an unexpected windfall:

1. Pay down debt.  Many Americans have “bad” debt such as credit card debt.  If that is true for you, take some or all of the money and pay down your debt.  Doing so will increase your monthly cash flow and reduce the amount of money you are losing to interest payments.
2. Bulk up your emergency fund.  Some experts now recommend that families have up to 8 months in an emergency fund.  An unexpected windfall can help you reach this goal.
3. Pay monthly expenses for the entire year.  Many organizations you pay monthly such as your child’s school (if he is in private school), afterschool daycare, sports organizations and others will give you a discount if you can pay the entire year upfront.  For example, my child takes dance class, and I received a 10% discount by paying for the entire year upfront in September.  Not only will paying for the entire year perhaps give you a discount, but it again frees up monthly cash flow.
4. Invest in yourself.  If you have not completed your college degree or you are looking to get your Master’s, an unexpected windfall may help you do that.  Investing in yourself can help extend the power of your windfall because you will probably make more money through the years thanks to improving yourself now.
5. Pay down your house.  The last few years have reminded many Americans that the safest financial move is to have your house paid in full.  If you unexpectedly lose your job, you don’t have to worry about also losing your home due to foreclosure.  If the market reduces the value of your home, you are somewhat insulated from that because the home is already paid for.
6. Put money in your retirement fund.  If your retirement is less than it should be for your age, consider using the windfall to bulk up your retirement accounts.

Of course, if you receive a large windfall, it is always best to speak with a professional to make a sound plan for how to use the money.  If it is a smaller windfall, your natural instinct may be to first think of ways you will spend it.  Instead, think of ways you can invest in yourself and your future and make your finances more secure.

Photo courtesy of Tax Credits via Flickr.

One of the struggles of small businesses is trying to make your business appear as professional as the large businesses you potentially compete against.

Without breaking the marketing bank, there are a lot of strategies you can use to make your small business look more professional, and help you gain credibility with your customers.

Get a Website and Email

First, your small business needs a website that matches the brand of your business and can be a place that potential customers go to research more about you.  Second, you should get an email address attached to this site to give more professionalism.  Think of how Sam@gmail.com looks, versus Sam@smallbusinessxyz.com looks.  Customers do pick up on these small things, so be aware and deliver a brand appearance from start to finish.

Get a Dedicated Phone Number

Many potential customers still prefer calling someone to just emailing back and forth.  As such, you need to have a number that works for customers.  Getting an 800 number can help with this, since it is toll free for your customers, and it adds a look of professionalism you can get with having a local area code number.

Anyone can buy an 800 number.  You can buy 0800 numbers at 08 Direct, or other places online pretty easily.

Get Branded Business Cards

How do you plan on getting your customers to remember you after you meet them?  You need business cards.  Make sure that your business cards have your name, your website and email, and your 800 number so that your client can get in touch with you in a number of ways.  Also, make sure that they match the theme of your website.  You want to present a brand image across all media platforms.

Get a PO Box

Finally, you may want to consider getting a PO Box, especially if you run a home based business.  This not only gives a professional look to your business, but it can provide a little bit more security for documents being sent through the mail.

**Photo by mioi**