Money & Finances

20 Legitimate Ways To Make Online Income

We're all looking for ways to make ends meet these days. Making additional income online is one of the best ways to do so, in my opinion.

However, there are a ton of scams out there that will quite simply drain your pocketbook if you don't know what you're doing. 

One of the main things to remember when it comes to making money is that money flows to you, not away from you. If the online job opportunity is asking you to spend money before being able to make money, then there's a 99.9% chance it's a scam.

Here are 20 scam-free ways to make money online:

• Amazon Mechanical Turk allows you to make money doing simple tasks. You won't make much more than a few dollars an hour, but it is a great way to save up enough to buy a book or movie you want.
• Sell your digital photos to stock photo websites.
• Sell your junk on eBay.
• Write web content such as articles.
• Write articles for magazines and other publications.
• Transcribe audio files for companies and individuals.
• Help individuals and companies by being a virtual assistant.
• Write articles for e-How.com.
• Create your own videos and promote affiliate products that you like.
• Write your own e-book that helps people answer a problem they have.
• Build a small website in your favorite niche. Add some Google AdSense and buy a domain name and you're set to go. Just add new content every so often.
• Help local businesses optimize their websites. 
• Teach yourself Wordpress and then charge to install plug-ins and update Wordpress blogs.
• Learn all you can about different software applications and then become the person that people go to for help with the application. You can charge by the hour in this case.
• Conduct your own interviews and then sell the interviews.
• Become a web geek, and offer to help people with installing online shopping carts and other applications for their websites.
• Try your hand at creating logos and designs and then enter contests. Remember though, competition is stiff and you only get paid if you win.
• Design and create your own Twitter backgrounds and e-covers.
• Submit others' websites and blog posts to social media websites.
• Edit audio files for individuals and companies.

3 Investing Tips That Will Save You Time and Money

Investing in the stock market is a risky venture right now with the economy being so bad, but there are many who are successfully navigating this rocky road right now. In order to be like them and be successful, there are 3 things you need to keep in mind:

• Understand the type of investor you are, and make your choices based on that rather than on what kind of investor someone else is.
• Think for yourself when it comes to making decisions about stock investments, and whether to buy or sell certain stocks. It's easy to get caught up in the hoopla when some big wig is screaming about how they think this stock or that stock is going to do well or fail.
• Research all stock tips before doing anything with your own investment practices. Don't rely on tips to steer you one way or the other, do your own research.

Dozens Of Free Budgeting Worksheets

If you've been trying to put together a budget but don't feel as if you've been very successful, one option might be to use some of the free budgeting worksheets that you can find online.

These budget worksheets can actually help you find money to save -- money that you might otherwise just be frittering away. That's easy to do if you don't really have a handle on your finances.

Here are several links to different budgeting worksheets to get you started:

• Free Budgeting Worksheets (Scroll to the bottom, there are several)
• 7 Free Printable Budgeting Worksheets
• Free Home Budget Worksheet
• Build a Budget Worksheet
• Personal Budget Worksheet
• Printable Budget Worksheets
• Online Budget Worksheet
• Personal Budget Worksheet Templates
• Free Financial Worksheets
• Household Budget Worksheet

Identity Theft Insurance - 9 Things You Need To Know Before You Buy It

Even if you've never had your identity stolen, there is always that very real fear that you could be the next victim of identity theft.

The FTC says that 9.3 million people are the victims of identity theft every year.

Many people purchase identity theft insurance with the hope that they will have peace of mind knowing that someone else is protecting their identity.

Before you purchase identity theft insurance, there are a few things you should know first.

For starters, some financial institutions provide identity theft insurance for FREE. Plus, there are other ways to protect yourself from identity theft without having to pay a thing!

Continue reading: Before You Buy Identity Theft Insurance...

3 Simple Tips For Saving Money During The Holidays

With the struggling economy, we're all looking for ways to save during the holiday season.

The cool thing is that you can save in ways other than just on gifts!

Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Make food serve double-duty as decorations. For example, winter squash, nuts, apples, and even herbs can be used as decorations before you use them in holiday recipes.
• Take care of yourself. The holidays are stressful for a lot of people, so take care of yourself by getting enough sleep and exercise. Also concentrate on eating healthy foods during the holidays. This will help to keep you stress free and keep you from getting sick as well!
• Use soy or beeswax candles during your holiday celebrations. They last longer -- which saves you money. Plus, they have the added benefit of smelling great!

5 Ways To Save Money Painlessly

Sometimes it feels like saving money is painful, I mean you try to cut back but it seems like you are always doing without something. The good news is there are things that you can do that make saving money as painless as possible.

Here are 5 easy ways to save money, and there are many more!

• Combine your cable, phone and internet into one bill.
• See if you can slow down your internet speed a bit. This doesn't mean you have to do without speed at all. But often slowing it down a tad can save you $15 dollars or so a month and you won't notice the change in speed!
• Consider buying a Mac computer that has been refurbished. For one thing, this will save you on repair and removal software, because Macs don't get viruses or malware or spyware the way PCs do.
• Convert your water heater to a gas water heater. Over the long haul, you will save money.
• Ask for a reduction in your home equity line of credit interest rate. One guy got his lowered by 50%. It all adds up!

15 Frugal Recipes Worth Trying

I'm always looking for ways to stretch my grocery bill, and new recipes to help me do it too! So, I decided the other day that I would see how many recipes that I could find that didn't cost much to make.  

Here's my list:

• Country Pie. Country pie only costs between $6 and $7 to make, and it can last a family of three for 2 days. Now that's frugal!
• Plain Muffins. I really like this one because she also tells you how to make whole wheat muffins, and some other additions that you can add to the recipe to change it a bit.
• Veg-Out Soup. I'm definitely going to trying this one. I love soup in the Fall!
• 6 Can Beef Stew. Another totally yummy recipe. I make one almost like this too, and it's cheap like $7 to make, oh and you can make it in your crockpot!
• Tomato Pie. Yum! I love tomatoes.
• Bacon Cheeseburger Rice. I can see this one being a bit healthier if you substitute brown rice for white instant rice which has no health value.
• Crock Pot Minestrone Soup. Another favorite of mine.
• Turkey Pot Pie. I like the woman's ingenuity in using biscuits instead of a pie crust on this one and it comes out to .30 a serving. Not bad if you're trying to save money!
• Banana Nut and Honey Breakfast Bagels.
• Frugal Roasted Red Potatoes.
• Super Simple Tuna Casserole.
• Easy Hamburger Casserole.
• Whole Chicken Recipe. This one also uses olive oil which as you know is much healthier than some of the other things used to season chicken with these days.
• Chicken and Rice.
• Chicken Marsala.

What To Look For When Buying Used Clothes To Save Money

Buying your clothing used isn't always as easy as you might think. In fact, if you don't know what you're doing, it's very easy to purchase clothes that end up finding closet space, but which you never wear.

Here are some tips on how to buy used clothing without getting taken:

• Choose pieces that are timeless. That means: avoid fad clothing. Thrift stores often end up with clothing that looks nearly brand new but was just a fad that burned out in a couple of months. Avoid this type of clothing and look for clothes that fit anytime and anywhere.
• Pay attention to an item's condition. If a garment has a couple of holes in it -- even if it only costs a dollar -- that would be a waste of money. And if you're thinking you'll just repair it before wearing... keep in ind that it would probably cost $10 or more for a seamstress to fix the item.
• Make sure it fits. Even if you are losing weight and you think you will be able to wear an item soon, don't buy clothing that doesn't fit right now. That's $5 or $10 you could save or use for something else.