Subscribe to Fiscal Musings |  Subscribe by Email

By now the economic stimulus rebate checks are old news, and many if not most people have already gotten theirs. I, on the other hand, have been waiting for our check to arrive in the mail. For the 2007 tax year we actually owed money instead of getting a refund so we weren’t going to get the rebate via direct deposit, and we have to wait on a paper check.

According to the IRS’s schedule, which is based on social security numbers, we are supposed to get our check by June 6th. Well, today we finally got something in the mail from the IRS that had Stimulus written on the back flap. I was excited to finally be able to cash the check and put it to use, but to my surprise, what I got from the IRS still wasn’t a check.

It was simply another correspondence saying that we’re entitled to $1200 and that we should get the check by June 6th. I don’t understand why they took the time and spent the money to send me this on June 2nd. They should have just sent the check. So we’ll continue to wait for our stimulus check to arrive and hope that it eventually gets here.

 Subscribe to Fiscal Musings | Digg This! | Stumble it!

Using A Cash Advance

No matter what your financial situation is, you could at some point find yourself needing a Cash Advance or other short term financing. Maybe your refrigerator goes out suddenly or there’s a family medical emergency that you’re unprepared for. If you find yourself in this situation, then you can always look to Payday Loans in order to take care of a short financing need.

While these types of loans are available, it’s important to use them responsibly and only for very short term needs. You’ll want to explore all of your available financing options, but these can be used if need be.

 Subscribe to Fiscal Musings | Digg This! | Stumble it!

Anyone Can Invest… Really

“How do you find the money to invest in the stock market and various other things?”

This question, or many variations of it, is something that I get asked every once and a while. It’s no secret that I love to invest, and it’s probably why I get the question. But as you can probably guess by the question, it’s usually asked by people who don’t think that they are able to invest or who think that you can only invest if you’ve already got a certain amount of money.

So let me shed some light on how I and anyone can find the money to invest in whatever they’d like to. Most people get paid on some sort of regular schedule, be it weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. With this type of income it can be difficult to find a lump sum with which to invest, and many people will therefore just put it off, telling themselves that they’ll invest when they have the money.

If this is the attitude that you’re taking though, it’ll probably be a very long time before you start investing, if you ever do. If you want something to happen, you’re going to have to make it happen.

First of all, you need to realize that there are many types of investments that don’t require a large lump sum to get started. Many online brokerage accounts can be opened for less than a thousand dollars. I happen to use Scottrade for my Roth IRA and the account can be started for just $500. After that, you can make deposits of whatever amount you’d like.

Now, even though you can start investing in things that don’t take a lot of money to get started, it doesn’t mean that you should shy away from other types of investments that may take a larger amount to get into. In order to invest a lump sum, you’re going to need to accumulate a lump sum. It’s that simple. Just set up another savings account either with your bank or online, and begin adding to it with every paycheck or other income that you receive. At first it’s just a savings account, but it’s from this account that you’ll eventually be able to pull from to make those larger investments.

No matter what you’re financial situation is, it’s possible for you to invest. You obviously won’t be able to do everything at once, but as you begin to accumulate, more and more opportunities will begin to present themselves. So instead of wondering how other people are able to invest and you’re not, start making the small changes and taking the little steps forward that will allow you to invest as well.

 Subscribe to Fiscal Musings | Digg This! | Stumble it!

If you’re looking to purchase real estate in Manhattanor in some other area of New York, then you can check out Prudential Douglas Elliman. Whenever I start looking for homes in a new area it can be difficult to find a website that’s easy to use where you can search through all the listings. At this site you can easily search for homes that fit your specific criteria and in your target neighborhoods. It’s simple to navigate and you can then easily get in touch with a professional to help you once you’ve found what you’re looking for. So check them out if you’re looking for any real estate in the New York area.

 Subscribe to Fiscal Musings | Digg This! | Stumble it!

Various Opportunities Post MBA

I ran across an article from Fortune about the 25 Most Desirable MBA Employers, and since I’m going back to to school this fall to get my MBA, I naturally had some sort of interest in it. If you’d like to know where I’m going to school and why, you can check out this article.

Even though in the long term I’d like to start and run my own company, I thought I’d at least browse through this list of possible employers for MBA graduates to see what is out there. Not surprisingly, Google tops the list with it’s long list of perks such as onsite laundry and tuition reimbursement. I’ve also heard that you get free lunches as well with them.

There are also a variety of investment banks and consulting firms on the list, but I’m not all that interested in them since I don’t really have the desire to put in 70 hour weeks all the time. A few of the other companies topping the list are Apple, Walt Disney, Nike, Coca-Cola, and BMW. And I’ll be honest, I think I would really enjoy working for someone like BMW, at least for a little while.

It’s interesting to see a list of the many different companies that MBA grads would like to work, but mostly what I got out of the article was a realization of the many different opportunities that are available. There are many different industries and types of companies all operating in various business environments. I’ll have to eventually pick just one, but I haven’t narrowed down exactly what I’d like to eventually do just yet.

 Subscribe to Fiscal Musings | Digg This! | Stumble it!

Businessuites is an interesting company that provides office suites that can be leased for really any length of time. They provide fully furnished offices as well as optional administrative services and it’s on a pay per use basis. You can lease Dallas Office Space as well as other locations in Texas, Nevada, Maryland and Virginia. So, depending on your business needs as a private professional or any other type of business professional you can use their executive suites to accommodate them.

 Subscribe to Fiscal Musings | Digg This! | Stumble it!

I thought I’d throw out a reminder that all Entertainment Books are still only $9.99!

I’ve already ordered one as a gift for someone and am going to order another one for myself. A couple friends of mine have also ordered them, and I had the chance to take a look through the one for my area. There are a lot of great discounts and coupons in there, most of them 50% off or buy one get one free offers. It’ll definitely pay for itself after just using one or two coupons. Take a look at their website linked above and you can even browse the offers online before you buy it.

I also had seen a commercial for Sonic Drive-In where they were advertising their regular shakes for just 99 cents. We stopped by the other night and both got chocolate shakes which were actually pretty decently sized for a promotional offer. So with just some spare change we had, it was something fun to get that hardly cost anything at all. So they’re something else that I would recommend as we head on into summer.

 Subscribe to Fiscal Musings | Digg This! | Stumble it!
ss_blog_claim=9601e5641d29c3d7a70a78cdaf8e9bc9