Do you want to be an entrepreneur? I share 16 random lessons from entrepreneurship so that you don’t waste your time or energy on this journey.

The post 16 Lessons From 16 Years of Entrepreneurship That Will Help You Save Money and Time appeared first on Studenomics.

It’s that time of year again. The air is cool and the Election is in the rear-view mirror. That can only mean one thing when it comes to personal finance: time to start thinking about year-end tax planning. I’ll provide some commentary about year-end tax planning to consider, with headings corresponding to the timeframe required […]

How to Save More Easily with Challenges Saving a set amount from your pay comes easily to some, yet it can be challenging for others. You might never have been taught how to save, or maybe you simply find it boring. Some of us struggle with impulse control, some don’t make enough to pay all …

The post 9 Savings Challenges to Try Right Now appeared first on The Thrifty Issue.

Managing a changing pay schedule can be challenging, but with careful planning and the right strategies, you can stay in control of your finances.

The post How to Manage Changing Pay Schedules appeared first on The Budget Mom.

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The post Reduce tax on savings by parking cash in gilts [Members] appeared first on Monevator.

How to save money on a tight budget?

It may seem impossible for the 54% of Americans who live paycheck-to-paycheck or the nearly 40% of people earning $100,000 per year who are similarly strained. There is no shame in living this way, but you can fix your situation. By making some changes and thinking outside the box, you can have breathing room and reduce your stress.

Saving money may be more challenging when working with tight resources but with greater motivation. Many people have been where you are now and have transitioned to better ground.

Saving money is easier when you have a purpose, like setting financial goals. You may need motivation, determination, and perseverance to tackle any bad habits or mistakes you want to correct.

It may be challenging to make changes, but it is quite satisfying to discover that there are manageable costs to cut out of your budget. That’s the low-hanging fruit you can grab.  Having breathing room and being less financially stressed will feel good.

You can have more financial flexibility to take care of your current needs and plan for your future by saving money. That starts when you look at your current financial situation and realize you can start saving more money.

12 Ways To Save Money On A Tight Budget

1. Start With Budget And Examine Your Categories

If you don’t have a monthly budget yet, you need to create a budget using a type that fits your lifestyle. The 50/30/20 budget rule is often a rule of thumb to divide your after-tax income (i.e., take-home pay) into three broad spending categories:

• 50% go toward necessities.
• 30%  for your wants or discretionary spending.
• 20% is for savings you can allocate to pay down debt, emergency funds,  investing, and retirement.

However, it is a good idea to review all significant budget categories periodically. Looking at your incoming cashflows coming into your household (i.e., your total income) minus the monthly recurring bills reflects the basic living costs you need to pay.

Typically, housing, food (i.e., groceries and eating out), and transportation are our highest costs,  accounting for 63% of total household expenditures.   However, looking at all spending categories, you may find cutting small amounts that provide you with meaningful savings.

If the 50/30/20 budget doesn’t fit you, try other methods.

2. How Much Do You Spend on Subscription Services?

For example, you may be splurging on entertainment, especially streaming services, without realizing it. When you review your monthly bills, your Netflix bill doesn’t seem much, but we tolerate higher provider costs.

JD Power’s latest study showed that the average household had increased the number of streaming services we use to 4.5  with a monthly spend of $55 (compared to $39 just a year ago). These providers have not been shy to raise their prices given the higher demand for more services, despite more competition. It may be time for us to limit some of these services, especially if you still have traditional cable services.

It is not just your streaming services but all of your subscriptions that you should review. Look closely at your phone data plans, cloud storage, Apple,  Peloton, and other gym memberships, yoga, meditation, and such.

Cancel any paid subscriptions you no longer are using at home. Many trials we sign up for automatically convert into a paid subscription, and we miss the opportunity to decline the service. 

3. You Need An Emergency Fund

Having savings in an emergency fund for unforeseen events may seem counterintuitive in a tight-budget household that finds it challenging to save money. Almost 54% of Americans can’t pay for a $1000 emergency.

However, when emergencies arise, and you don’t have the funds, you are likely to reach for your credit card to pay for that car repair bill. That means you will find it difficult to pay that card bill in full and add to your growing balance in what becomes a vicious debt cycle. Build your emergency fund to an ample amount that can cover six months of your basic living expenses and feel more secure.

4. Pay Yourself First

Make savings a priority by paying yourself first. You may find it hard to allocate 20% of your take-home pay to savings. You can start with a smaller percentage, like 10%. Making savings a more significant amount will help you fulfill financial goals for buying a house, a car, going on vacation and investing in your future.

5. Automate Your Savings

One of the best ways to save money is to make it automatic. By automating your savings, you can allocate a certain percentage of your paycheck to a savings account or tax-advantaged accounts like retirement savings or a 529 college savings plan.

When you use pretax savings options for your 401K retirement, health savings (HSAs), and 529 accounts, you’ll be making these savings work for you, especially if you earn your employer’s 401K match contribution. Sign up for Acorns or other Roundup apps so that you can invest spare change to your investment account.

6. Spend Less Than Your Means

By tracking your spending each month, you may find that you spend well over what you earn. Your cost structure may be out of sync with your annual income.  That is a recipe for disaster in the long term.

Cut your spending so that you keep at a level below your take-home pay. Just because a common budget rule allocates 30% of after-tax income to your wants doesn’t mean you need to spend that amount. Save more of that money instead by reducing your debt, adding to your emergency fund, or invest in the stock market.

7. Grocery Shopping

You can save money when you go grocery shopping. Make sure you have a good shopping list and don’t go when you are hungry. Without doing that, you may find you overspent on things you don’t need.

The average household spent $8,169 on food (including dining out), or 9.9% of pretax income in 2019. Depending on your shopping habits, this is usually ripe (sorry for the pun!) for reduced spending. Grate your cheese, cut your fresh produce, always look for generic brands, and don’t bulk buy perishables.

Saving money on groceries through couponing or other methods will keep your budget in check.

8. Make More Meals At Home

It is healthier and cheaper to dine at home rather than going out to dinner every night. I lost a few pounds during the pandemic when we skipped eating out or ordering food. We used to eat out most nights, given our busy schedules for years until we had kids. 

When cooking, you tend to buy fresh produce and healthier food, and only the occasional Cheetos for my kids.  Mindful eating and spending go together very well. It doesn’t mean you can’t eat out but there are ways to do so on a budget. 

9. Shop Around And Negotiate More

When you review your monthly recurring bills, you assume that the rates you are paying are non-negotiable. That’s probably true for many, but not all of them. During the worst of the pandemic, many people lost their jobs and found themselves unable to pay their bills and were able to negotiate with their providers. You may have more bargaining power than you think.

It is a good idea to understand your monthly bills, what is the going rate for their services and their competitors. It is always an excellent time to do some comparison shopping.  Become a detective, review bills, and compare them to competitive prices you see online. We constantly find errors like on our medical or dental bills, which are particularly worth looking closely at. Besides errors, you may be paying higher prices for services you didn’t know you were paying for and don’t need.

Check out your car insurance premiums. If you and your family have good driving records, you may be due for a tick-down in price. Of course, if you just put your 17-year-old son on your insurance as we did, you may want to wait longer.

Your cable, TV, internet, and cellphone bills can be a costly part of your budget. Your providers face increased competition and may be more willing to reduce your prices than in the past or consider eliminating some services.

Negotiate your next lease, but only if you are a tenant in good standing with your landlord.

10. Comparison Shopping

Whether for groceries, a car, services, or non-essentials that you want, do comparison shopping. It is a very satisfying feeling to pay a lower price after looking around.

I enjoy the hunt for bargains almost as much as the item itself. On the other hand, my husband often is more of an impulsive shopper than I am.

As we are opposite ends of the shopping spectrum, we often clash when shopping for the household. I admit that I can go overboard with spending too much time looking for mattresses, for example, when we moved a couple of years ago. We spent too much time sleeping on borrowed Airbeds, so I nearly had a family revolt on my hands. Finally, we all ended up with excellent mattresses at great prices.

11. Better Handling of  Your Credit Cards

The convenience of a credit card often a double-edged sword. Credit cards can become toxic very quickly. They can cause overspending for things we buy impulsively and can’t afford to pay for them in full. If you are only paying the monthly minimum required, your issuers are happy to your detriment.

When you add debt to your balance at exorbitant interest rates, it becomes hard to manage, particularly if you are trying to save money on a tight budget. Pay these bills in full. If you are unable to do that, reduce your spending and pay for some things in cash.

Americans carry a lot of debt, not just on their credit cards which are incredibly costly. 20% of Americans use 50% of their income to repay debt. The more obligations you have, the less money you have to save for emergencies, retirement, or invest for the future.

12. Make Extra Money

It is often hard to save money from solely reducing your expenses. If you have spare time, you should consider making extra money so that you can contribute some of the added income to bulk up your savings.

Think about where your interests lie and what you like to do to inspire you to boost your income. You may be able to work online from home, use your car to become a driver, or leverage creativity and skills to write or be a proofreader.

Final Thoughts

It is a challenge to save money on a tight budget. However, it is doable with hard work and determination. We found 12 ways you can save money on a tight budget. By consistently saving money and making it work for you, you will have better financial flexibility for your future.

(Sorry guys, this post isn’t likely to be directly useful to you, but you can share these tips with the girls in your life and look really knowledgeable and respectful about girlie things.)

Makeup is one of those items that I have a love/hate relationship with. I love trying new colors, dolling up my best friend’s teenage daughter for prom, and goofing around with the girls for a spa night at home.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I can go weeks without wearing makeup and be perfectly happy; it’s not essential to my life. But it’s fun to be creative and play with color combinations and application techniques.

Makeup also holds great potential for a shopping addiction. Before I had kids (when I had considerably more spending money), I used to shop for makeup on a regular basis. I stopped shopping at the drugstore and began venturing into the department store’s line of more pricey products. The products were nice, but the price tag was outrageous. When my kids came along, I simply couldn’t afford to keep up. I learned how to make what I had last longer and how to spend significantly less on my makeup.

Here are eight of my top tips for saving money on makeup:

1. Start with skin care.

No amount of quality cosmetics will make up for basic skin issues. Dry skin, blemishes, enlarged pores, etc must be treated in order for your make up to wear well and look good. If the canvas is a poor quality, the makeup doesn’t matter. If you’re going to spend more on anything, splurge on a quality skin care kit and use it regularly.

2. Buy your pressed or loose powder a shade darker than usual and mix in a little talcum powder.

This makes your powder last much longer and doesn’t affect the overall look of your makeup.

3. Mix in a little quality moisturizer with your liquid foundation to make application smoother.

This also stretches how long your foundation will last since you’re essentially using less each day. This technique allows me to purchase a single bottle of high-quality foundation and make it last for 10-12 months.

4. Always apply cosmetics with a brush, not your fingers.

Applying foundation with your fingers means you’re wasting makeup on your hands that will be washed down the drain. Using a brush allows you to precisely apply the product exactly where you want it.

5. Shop for your favorite makeup regularly.

Popular drugstores like Rite Aid often have half-off sales to help clear out older inventory and make room for new products. You can stock up on the essentials at a fraction of the price during these sales. Sometimes you can even find a too-bright shade on clearance and mix it with a lighter shade you already own to make it useable.

6. Visit your local department store’s cosmetics counter for a complimentary make over.

Most companies don’t charge for this service (knowing you’re likely to buy something before you leave) and this a great way to get a fresh look for special occasions without investing in new cosmetics.

7. Experiment with color.

Many items, such as nail polish, blush, and eye shadow can be mixed to create new colors. This can result in a new favorite shade or a new look without spending a dime on additional colors.

8. Always use a setting product to hold your look in place.

Topcoat for your nails, lipstick treatments, and loose powder are wise investments since they prevent the need for touchups.

Even if you’re addicted to a pricey name brand cosmetics line, you can still save money by adding a few steps to your daily routine and being on the lookout for a good bargain.

What money-saving makeup tips have you found to be useful?

10 comment(s)

The post Beauty on a Budget: 7 Timeless Tips to Save Money on Makeup first appeared on MoneyNing.

Just the numbers really as I’m flat out at work and at home. Plus I’m exhausted. But holiday soon though, hence the ‘busyness’. And my wrist is better, though not 100%. Anyway, here goes for October! I saved 22% of … Continue reading →

The post October 2024 Savings, plus other updates appeared first on Quietly Saving.

The IRS recently published the annual inflation updates for 2025. If you have questions about a particular amount that I do not mention here, you can likely find it in the official IRS announcements:

• Rev. Proc. 2024-40 contains most inflation adjustment figures,
• Notice 2024-80 contains figures relating to retirement accounts, and
• Rev. Proc 2024-25 contains figures relating to health savings accounts (HSAs).

Single 2025 Tax Brackets

Married Filing Jointly 2025 Tax Brackets

Head of Household 2025 Tax Brackets

Married Filing Separately 2025 Tax Brackets

Standard Deduction Amounts

The 2025 standard deduction amounts are as follows:

• Single or married filing separately: $15,000
• Married filing jointly: $30,000
• Head of household: $22,500

The additional standard deduction for people who have reached age 65 (or who are blind) is $1,600 for each married taxpayer or $2,000 for unmarried taxpayers.

IRA Contribution Limits

The contribution limit for Roth IRA and traditional IRA accounts remains at $7,000.

The catch-up contribution limit for people age 50 remains at $1,000.

401(k), 403(b), 457(b) Contribution Limits

The salary deferral limit for 401(k) and other similar plans is increased to $23,500.

The catch-up contribution limit for 401(k) and other similar plans for people age 50 and over remains at $7,500. For people who turn 60, 61, 62, or 63 in 2025, the catch-up contribution limit is $11,250.

The maximum possible contribution for defined contribution plans (e.g., for a self-employed person with a sufficiently high income contributing to a solo 401(k)) is increased to $70,000.

Health Savings Account Contribution Limits

For 2025, the maximum HSA contribution for somebody with self-only coverage under a high deductible health plan is $4,300. The limit for somebody with family coverage under such a plan is $8,550.

The HSA catch-up contribution limit for people age 55 and over is not inflation adjusted, so it remains at $1,000.

Capital Gains and Qualified Dividends

For 2025, long-term capital gains and qualified dividends face the following tax rates:

• 0% tax rate if they fall below $96,700 of taxable income if married filing jointly, $64,750 if head of household, or $48,350 if filing as single or married filing separately.
• 15% tax rate if they fall above the 0% threshold but below $600,050 if married filing jointly, $566,700 if head of household, $533,400 if single, or $300,000 if married filing separately.
• 20% tax rate if they fall above the 15% threshold.

Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT)

The AMT exemption amount is increased to:

• $88,100 for single people and people filing as head of household,
• $137,000 for married people filing jointly, and
• $68,500 for married people filing separately.

Annual Gift Tax Exclusion

For 2025 the annual exclusion for gifts will be $19,000.

Estate Tax

The estate tax exclusion is increased to $13,990,000 per decedent.

Pass-Through Business Income

With respect to the 20% deduction for qualified pass-through income, for 2025, the threshold amount at which the “specified service trade or business” phaseout and the wage (or wage+property) limitations begin to kick in will be $394,600 for married taxpayers filing jointly and $197,300 for single taxpayers, people filing as head of household, and for married people filing separately.

What is the Best Age to Claim Social Security?

Read the answers to this question and several other Social Security questions in my latest book:

Disclaimer:Your subscription to this blog does not create a CPA-client or other professional services relationship between you and Michael Piper or between you and Simple Subjects, LLC. By subscribing, you explicitly agree not to hold Michael Piper or Simple Subjects, LLC liable in any way for damages arising from decisions you make based on the information available herein. Neither Michael Piper nor Simple Subjects, LLC makes any warranty as to the accuracy of any information contained in this communication. The information contained herein is for informational and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. On financial matters for which assistance is needed, I strongly urge you to meet with a professional advisor who (unlike me) has a professional relationship with you and who (again, unlike me) knows the relevant details of your situation.

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The Economic Impact of Daylight Saving Time: Why Permanent Standard Time Makes Financial Sense

Did you know Benjamin Franklin first proposed daylight saving time in 1784, but it was first implemented during World War I as a way to conserve coal. The Uniform Time Act of 1966 standardized daylight saving time across the United States. The energy crisis of the 1970s prompted further changes, and the law has been modified several times since then, most recently in 2007 when Daylight Savings Time was extended to run from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November. 

So, you know how this twice-a-year ritual of changing our clocks for Daylight Saving Time, or DST can mess with our sleep schedules? Pro Tip: I remember which way to change the clock by thinking: Spring Forward & Fall Back. Anyway, this concept can also have a big impact on our economy and personal finances too. As more and more states think about giving up Daylight Savings Time and sticking to Permanent Standard time, it’s important to understand how this affects our wallets.

The Hidden Costs of Changing Our Clocks

Most of us don’t even think much about the cost of changing our clocks for Daylight Savings Time. Interestingly enough, it’s actually pretty significant. The spring transition alone costs the U.S. economy an estimated $434 million every year! This is because people lose productivity, get into accidents, and even spend more money on healthcare.

Not the Energy Savings We Expected

You might think that Daylight Savings Time can save energy, but that’s not actually the case. Weird right?! Studies have shown that it actually increases our energy use. For example, residential electricity use goes up by 1% during the Daylight Savings Time months. Things like air conditioning can go up because we have more daylight in the evening hours. I know, you may think 1% isn’t very much, well check this out. In the state of Indiana, for example, the statewide adoption of DST in 2006 led to a 1% increase in residential electricity bills, which cost households an extra $9 million every year! That’s crazy money!

Workplace Productivity Takes a Hit

I’ve always found it amazing that the Monday after the spring time change is a big day for productivity losses. People tend to get into more accidents, get sick, and even take more time off. This leads to an around a 40% increase in workplace injuries, and a 20% rise in employee cyberloafing. Yeah… just chillin at your cube not actually working. That’s a lot of lost time and money not only for employers, but also for the employees.

The Hidden Financial Burden of Healthcare Costs

You wouldn’t think that a time change could have this big of impact to our health. However, as we mentioned earlier, it can impact our safety, wellbeing and health. This can increase healthcare costs associated with Daylight Savings Time. Studies have shown that there are increases in the risk of heart attacks, strokes, and other health problems. All because of Daylight Savings and the time change! This can be a serious financial burden on our healthcare system.

Daylight Saving Time totally seems like a small thing, but it actually can have a big impact on our economy and personal finances. Maybe it’s time to rethink this practice and stick to permanent standard time. What are your thoughts?  Here’s how the change to permanent standard time could help us and our businesses:

• You’d save on energy costs because it would be more like the natural daylight pattern
• You’d save on heating and cooling costs
• This could save a family up to $100-200 per household per year
• Your employees would be happier and more productive because they’d have better sleep
• Your healthcare costs would go down because there would be fewer sleep-related health issues and fewer accident-related medical expenses
• Your transportation costs could go down because you’d use less fuel and have fewer traffic accidents

It is estimated that tons of industries would benefit from ending Daylight Savings Time. Businesses like retail, entertainment, healthcare, transportation, and logistics to name a few.

As we continue to evaluate the true costs of Daylight Savings Time, the case for permanent standard time grows stronger. By understanding the economic as well as the health impacts, we can make informed decisions about our financial future and support policies that promote both economic efficiency and public health. Remember to set those clocks back and keep those horns up, my friends!

The post Daylight Savings Time and Personal Finance appeared first on Heavy Metal Money.