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Instituting more eco-friendly practices in your home can not only improve your health but also help save you money, experts say. “Your ecosystem is your home. It’s where you sleep, eat and live,” says eco-friendly designer Robin Wilson and CEO of Robin Wilson Home. “Green is a marketing term that became diluted. Eco-friendly is more honest.” Whether it’s scented candles, household cleaning products or paint, many products commonly found under sinks and in cabinets contain chemicals that can be harmful to your health and the environment. To help make a home more environmentally friendly, homeowners can buy organic products or [...]

Psychiatrists say that realizing that you have a problem is the first step towards solving it. Maybe, but in my financial experience, what comes after recognizing the problem is more important. After all, there’s no shortage of people who will tell you, loud and clear, when you have financial troubles. Overdue bill notices will come in, your checking account will be overdrafted, credit cards will be denied because you’ve reached your limit, you’ll be turned down for a loan, etc. So, when it comes to money, realizing you have a problem isn’t very difficult. It’s solving the problem that seems [...]

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As a certified public accountant and former Internal Revenue Service agent, I know firsthand the thrills that come along with a tax audit. And more importantly, I understand the eerie feeling when the IRS determines your business owes tax money. The IRS audits only a small percentage of tax returns. But if your business is one of the lucky few, understanding the appropriate steps to take will determine whether or not your outcome is favorable. First, it is essential to understand how a tax return is selected for audit. There are many reasons a tax return could be chosen for [...]

I have a bad habit of losing my smartphone. My friends often call me on my land line to tell me that my cell phone is sitting on their kitchen counter or that they picked it up at the soccer field where I left it. But after recently installing a mobile payment application that’s connected to my credit card, I realized that the stakes are now much higher than just missing an important phone call. Since I am hoping that I will have a tablet under the tree this year, giving me yet another item to worry about, I began [...]

Should you pay to promote your Facebook posts? Consider advice from small business owners who have done it. Social networking giant Facebook rolled out a new feature in May 2012, aimed at helping you boost your social power by offering the option to promote your posts to the site. Essentially, a promoted post allows you to pay a small fee (typically around $ 10, but it varies based on the number of fans your business page has) for a post to be broadcast to a larger audience of users. But should you pay to promote your Facebook posts? Is it [...]

Though graduation might not seem that long ago, the six-month grace period on federal student loans is ending this month for many Class of 2012 grads and now it’s time to start making  monthly loan repayments. According to a report by the Institute for College Access and Success’s Project on Student Debt, the average student loan debt for Class of 2011 borrowers rose to about $ 26,500, a 5% increase from about $ 25,350 the previous year.  With a new post-collegiate lifestyle and expenses, it’s important for grads to keep track of their spending and create a monthly budget that [...]

The End of Plastic? If you thought your phone was indispensable now, just wait until the holidays. A wave of new smartphone technologies promises to make a staple of the season — gift cards — easier to use than ever. It’s all about lightening your load. Nobody wants to fuss with a deck of half-used gift cards when they hit the mall. So innovators have developed new ways to remove the clutter and boost customer loyalty along the way. Smartphones, for example, can now store and access gift cards. They’ll also let you send gift cards to others using email, [...]

Applying to college can be an intimidating and challenging process. Students worry about how they will measure up against their peers and if they will stand out from the crowd of thousands of other applicants. Yet, they often forget one of the most basic truths: We are all individuals with unique experiences, personalities and education goals. College admissions officials want students to express this individuality and authenticity because it helps them identify the best candidates for their schools. While SAT/ACT test scores and GPAs are a baseline measurement of academic aptitude, there are other ways students can showcase their talents, [...]

Clicking for Bucks It pays to cast your financial net online, where possibilities abound. Monetizing your expertise — whether in social networking or transcribing — is one way to make money while sitting at your computer at home. But others also are popping up, such as taking online surveys or even predicting election results. The good part: You don’t have to pay a dime. And with some sites, you can start to make money online immediately. Most of these gigs are small, steady streams of cash. But they can add up to steady earnings over time. To avoid scams, forget [...]