If you’re one of these people who walk around in a cloud of optimism thinking that nothing bad will ever happen to them, and that a safety net of $1,000 or so should suffice, I’ve got some bad news for you… You’re going to need A LOT more emergency cash. And I mean A LOT more than you think! Let me tell you what happened to us over the Christmas break. It’s a pretty funny story – funny for you to hear, but not funny to me at the time. All I can say is start saving! You never know when something like this is going to happen. But its inevitable that it will! Here’s my story… What Happened? On the last day of work before our official Christmas break started, I drove my wife’s GMC and noticed some pretty weird … [Read more...] about You’re Going to Need A LOT More Emergency Cash – Bad Things Will Happen!
How to Take a Vacation on a Budget without Breaking the Bank
The following is a post by David Bosier, a personal finance and money saving enthusiast with a background in the S&L industry. If you would like to write for My Money Design, please feel free to contact me. There’s nothing better than getting ready to go vacation. Soon you’ll have nothing to do but relax, play, eat, sleep, and explore. If you haven’t taken one in a long time, I can guess the reason why: Money! Hotels and airfare can add up really quickly. However, little do people know that it is actually pretty easy to take a vacation on a budget without spending an arm and leg. The trick is all in knowing where to find all those great extras and then using them to your advantage. How to Plan a Vacation on a … [Read more...] about How to Take a Vacation on a Budget without Breaking the Bank
Traditional vs Roth 401k – Is the Roth Really the Better Deal? Maybe Not!
Check this out. Recently my employer made a big announcement to our 401k plan: We now have the choice to save our money under a Roth option if we want to! If you already have a Roth IRA, then you’re probably already familiar with how this would work. As a quick refresher, the Roth option basically means that: Your contributions to the 401k will be invested using after tax money (i.e. you’ll pay your taxes now rather than later) Your money still grows tax free just like it did in a regular 401k When you finally retire, you DON’T pay any taxes. When you weigh a traditional vs Roth 401k, the Roth is considered to be a good thing for you and your money for a lot of reasons. By paying your taxes now, you’ll enjoy a tax free … [Read more...] about Traditional vs Roth 401k – Is the Roth Really the Better Deal? Maybe Not!
Niche Website Update 13 – NS3 May Be Lost But We Still Made $933 in Passive Income!
2013 finally came to a close, and when it did it closed a big development for me in terms of building new websites. Since I began this niche website initiative, we’ve grossed $2,300! That’s a lot of revenue for a side project! And in 2014, I’ll be looking to multiply that figure even further. I’ve learned so much about not only what it takes to create a brand new site, but also all the other things you also need to do and NOT do if you want it to be profitable. Because I’m looking to build quality over quantity, I have no problem focusing my efforts on only activities that will help promote these sites. We’ve already seen month over month growth from using this strategy, and I can’t wait to see how far up we can take it in the … [Read more...] about Niche Website Update 13 – NS3 May Be Lost But We Still Made $933 in Passive Income!
My ULTIMATE Plan for Becoming Financially Independent – December 2013 Update
For weeks I’ve been hinting at it, and at last I’ve finally put it all together! The end of the year and the beginning of the new one is the perfect time to sit down and revise your goals. So what better time than now to publish the latest edition of my ultimate plan for becoming financially independent! This is not a retirement plan you will find anywhere else. How can I make such a bold claim? Because my plan for financial independence does what no other plan on the web does – use real numbers to show just exactly how much money I plan to generate and how I will get there! … [Read more...] about My ULTIMATE Plan for Becoming Financially Independent – December 2013 Update
How the Things I Want for Christmas Are Different Now That I’m An Adult
I can’t believe how quickly Christmas snuck up on us. Can you? We celebrated the season a little early when we made my daughter’s No. 1 present on her list of things she wanted for Christmas come true: She got a kitten! (Actually it’s for the whole family). You should have seen her face when she picked one out and we told her yes to actually taking it home. I don’t think there’s anything else out there that could have compared. So while the love of an adorable little kitten was enough to keep my kids busy, my wife and I were still faced with the endless “what do you want?” “I don’t know, what do you want?” “I don’t know, what do you want?” routine. Every other day the two of us would say things to each other like “make me a list” … [Read more...] about How the Things I Want for Christmas Are Different Now That I’m An Adult
Getting Serious About Building Up My Multiple Streams of Income in 2014
2013 was a pretty big achievement for me as far as passive income goes. It wasn’t that long ago that I thought that taking advantage of a few free credit card offers or checking account promotions was the way to make some good money on the side. Little did I know, however, that through treating my blogging ambitions more like a business rather than a hobby that I would be able to make more money in a month than I made in a whole year using those methods! … [Read more...] about Getting Serious About Building Up My Multiple Streams of Income in 2014
Niche Website Update 12 – Getting Click-Bombed and Over $600 of Passive Income!
Can you believe the year is almost coming to a close? It seems like just the other day I was writing for the first time about which passive income idea I was going to actively pursue as my next great way to try to increase my side income. Obviously for me I felt that developing a niche site was the option that made the most sense. And so now here we are with almost one year down and three active sites moving along. This November our niche website portfolio had a lot of ups and a few downs. One big event that was a pretty big scare happened right on the first day! More on that story below. But luckily we ended the month with a record-breaking bang! And on that note, let's get down to it starting with the part of these updates … [Read more...] about Niche Website Update 12 – Getting Click-Bombed and Over $600 of Passive Income!
