People who have a job right now may be afraid to give up that job because of the difficulties facing today’s job seekers. What do you do if you don’t want to give up your job but you’re not earning enough there? The answer is to get proactive about finding ways to earn more money from the job so that you don’t have to leave it but you can still pay your bills.

The best way to start earning more money from your job is probably to get more of an education than what you have. Go back to school and get an advanced degree in your field. Or get certified in something unique to set you apart from the competition in your industry. For example, someone in the business of building may take leed courses or do leed test prep in order to get leed certified. This gives you a specialty in environmentally-friendly building which makes you more of an asset to your company and may make them willing to pay you more in spite of the fact that raises aren’t too common right now.

If you can’t make more money by getting more education then you’ll have to get a bit creative. Is there anything you can sell in relation to your current job? For example, can you write ebooks about your work and sell them online? Brainstorm all of the ways to earn more money from your existing job since the truth is that right now you’re lucky to have it.

Technorati Tags: leed courses, leed test prep

I was able to take care of my auto loan recently when I made use of the great opportunity for debt consolidation and in doing so, got myself one step closer to my big life dream of being able to go out and hit the road to travel through the whole world. I think I will most likely want to start my many adventures that are about to come in the great land of down under, none other than the huge and famous Australia.

I have always been fascinated by all things that have to do with Australia, from their history to their culture and of course the lovely accents. Plus I think it would be a great place to learn to surf which is also something I have always wanted to be able to do and never quite seemed to have or make the time to be able to do it. If I do not end up going to Australia, my next plan of action would probably be to go down to Mexico instead. It is not nearly as far away from my friends and family and is cheaper to travel to and in than Australia would be, I think. But I guess we will just have to wait and see where the winds of fate decide to blow me next.

Technorati Tags: auto loan, debt consolidation, Mexico

Businesses of all sizes need to reduce their spending right now in order to maintain a profit. One of the biggest areas of spending for many types of businesses is printing costs. How can you reduce your printing costs without also reducing the amount of advertising that you do?

Here are some tips for saving money on printing:

• Do your printing in-house. This takes more time than sending it out to a copy shop but it could save you a lot of money if you have the right equipment and someone to do the job.
• Look for a cheaper printing company. Many people are paying more than they need to for printing services. See if you can find a cheap color copy place in your area that can do printing at a better rate than what you currently pay.
• Switch to black and white. You pay a lot less for each black and white copy that you make than you do for each color copy so consider changing the format of your printed text to a black-and-white version for awhile.
• Reduce waste. People often print way more than they need which is a waste of money. Reduce the amount of printing that you do so that there is absolutely no waste.

These small changes can allow you to keep printing the materials that your business needs printed without spending quite as much money.

Technorati Tags: black and white copy, cheap color copy

I recently heard that Google Checkout, Google’s answer to PayPal, is raising their fees.  Starting May 5, 2009, they will be the same as PayPal’s fees.

Not everyone is as familiar with Google Checkout as they are with PayPal, but those who know about Checkout probably understand that many poeple use it because they offer a less expensive alternative to PayPal’s high fees.  In fact, many online sellers started using Checkout because they offered rock-bottom fees in order to compete effectively with PayPal, a service that FAR more people are familiar with — and comfortable using.

Unfortunately, as many people noted in the above linked-to thread, if Google Checkout’s fees are exactly the same as PayPal’s, there is no longer any incentive to use Checkout.  More customers will be familiar with PayPal, and if they both cost exaclty the same, why bother creating confusion and hassle by offering two payment options?

Of course, if you used Google Checkout in order to rebel against PayPal’s policies, fees, and big-business attitudes, you will probably want to find a different alternative.  You could, of course, continue using Google Checkout.  But there are many other options, particularly if you are a high volume seller online.  For instance, you could get an ecommerce merchant account with a company that processes credit card transactions for you online.  You may also want to look into a check payment processing service, if you want to accept payment in that form.  There are many of these services to choose from, so be sure to research every merchant account provider you are considering to make sure that you get the best deal for you and your business!

Technorati Tags: check payment processing, ecommerce merchant account, Google Checkout, merchant account provider, PayPal

One of the coolest things about being a web writer is that it gives me the opportunity to continually learn about all different types of things that I probably wouldn’t otherwise ever come across. I do a lot of writing about money so most of what I’ve learned lately has been related to finance.

Here is a smattering of the things I’ve learned about money from research and writing in the past year:

• How to use a net present value calculator.
• What the requirements are for someone to qualify for a reverse home mortgage loan.
• How cost seg engineering can be applied to help people save money on their taxes.
• What the different ways are that people can choose to finance their plastic surgery.
• How to create a spreadsheet of credit card information to make payments more organized.
• Where to go on the web to read the latest news about money, credit and loans.
• What the different methods are of trying to pay down debt.
• How to avoid the trouble that can be caused by getting involved with a debt management company.

These are just a few of the things that I’ve learned this year because of my writing. Now if only I could learn how to make more and spend less!

Technorati Tags: cost seg engineering, net present value calculator