Did you know that it is perfectly legal for people to look through your garbage? 

It was ruled in California vs Greenwood, in January 1988. The court of appeals stated:

The Fourth Amendment does not prohibit the warrantless search and seizure of garbage left for collection outside the curtilage of a home.

For this reason, and the fact that criminals will search your garbage for personal information in order to steal from you, you need to destroy documents before throwing them away. 

Whether you work at home running your own home-based business or you telecommute as part of your job for another employer, you should know that there are certain tax deductions that you can take.  (And some that you can't.)

In fact, some people avoid taking home business deductions so as not to signal a tax audit.  However, if you follow the rules, then you will have no reason to worry.

For starters, check out these 12 Tax Deductions For Your Home Business.

I have seen an increased number of bankruptcy solicitations in my mailbox.  Actually, it has increased from nothing -- because I've never seen such solicitations before. It makes me wonder if someone knows something, I don't know about my financial status. 

My best guess for why I'm receiving all of these solicitations is because there may have been an increase in the number of bankruptcies filed in my area recently.  I know for a fact that there are 3 foreclosed homes in my subdivision. 

For the last 50 years, it has been a given that Americans will have a telephone in their homes. 

However, with the popularity of cell phones and Internet sites that allow you to talk online, it is likely that home phones may go the way of street corner pay phones soon. 

When it comes right down to it, home phones are really no more necessary than pay phones. 

Plus, home phones can easily cost a family $100 or more a month!

Being frugal has caused a bit of a side effect for me.  I seem to have developed a standard uniform for everyday dress. 

I am sure other frugal people can attest to this. 

For me, the frugal uniform consists of dressing primarily in comfortable black slacks and black or white shirts.  For others, it may mean wearing jeans and t-shirts.  I know a few frugal men who stick to gray and navy slacks with white shirts. 

Sometimes it is well worth it to have two incomes in a household.  Sometimes it is financially draining. 

In my life, I have realized something about time and money.  The fact is that sometimes time is more valuable than money. 

Here are some things you can do with your time that are more valuable than working a low-wage job. 

We used to use free programs like eFax for receiving faxes and FaxZero for sending faxes.

For a couple of years now, we've been using RingCentral instead. It's not free like eFax and FaxZero are. But, in our opinion, RingCentral is the best option for small business owners like us.

We use it all the time. Here's why...