Running a small business is a learning opportunity most of the time which, with proper planning, can result in an amazing life venture. You need to take your time at the planning stage to ensure that there’s a low likelihood of something going wrong. This is especially the case for the finances, for which you need to have a realistic budget. Keep reading to see four of the most common financial mistakes new small business owners make so that you have a good chance of avoiding them. 1. Not Having an Emergency Fund One of the main issues that business owners run into involves finances. This make ..read more

The movement of currency is a complex cycle that involves a number of different entities. So how does currency move? Well … it begins at federal facilities throughout the United States and follows an intricate path that takes it through banks, consumers, and businesses before the currency continues its journey through the cycle. When it comes to cash, a dollar bill — which gets the greatest use — has a lifespan of about six years and can travel farther than two miles a day and exchange hands more than 55 times a year. Electronic banking and payment methods, on the other hand, don’t involve phy ..read more

Finding reputable discount plumbers is easier than you think. I’m not a plumber. In fact, I’m not very handy around the house at all. If I can’t fix something with a hammer or screwdriver I prefer to pay somebody else to do the work. That’s why I decided to consider a professional plumber to reroute and install new plumbing hardware during our kitchen remodel. Of course, we needed estimates. After making several calls to local plumbers, the Honeybee presented me with three options: Plumber 1: $450 Plumber 2: $485 Plumber 3: $1085 (after applying a 10% discount) Obviously, despite that 10 ..read more

It’s time to sit back, relax and enjoy a little joe … Welcome to another rousing edition of Black Coffee, your off-beat weekly round-up of what’s been going on in the world of money and personal finance. I hope everybody had an enjoyable week. Without further ado, let’s get right to this week’s commentary … Investors are sometimes too busy looking for profits to notice where the truth ends and the deception begins. – Andrew Ross Sorkin Governments lie; bankers lie; even auditors sometimes lie. Gold tells the truth. – William Rees Mogg Credits and Debits Debit: Did you see this? Long-standi ..read more

The following was written by my late wife Elaine. She wrote a long book, a diary really, from which this is one passage: My Contribution What is now an enclosed “room” off the living room was just a roof over an open porch. We used it that way, but snow usually came from the west and blew toward the east, horizontally, through the porch (our own wind tunnel!) often blowing under the double doors to the living room. So I got the idea to have the porch closed in with glass windows and screens, and since Jonathan was a building contractor then, I asked him if he could put this project on his jobs ..read more

Here’s a frightening fact: a house fire breaks out in the US every 86 seconds. If you’ve ever experienced this kind of terrible and tragic event, then you know how overwhelming the aftermath can be. Homeowners whose property has been destroyed or damaged will look to their insurance company for financial relief. Unfortunately, they don’t always get the compensation they hope for. So it’s important to know how to file an insurance claim. With that in mind, here are the steps you need to take after a house fire to increase your chances of getting appropriate compensation for your insurance clai ..read more

There are many ads that can be seen from the sky. Sometimes it’s the only way to see them. Remember when daredevil skydiver Felix Baumgartner jumped from a perfectly good balloon more than 128,000 feet above Earth — and lived to tell about it? To give you an idea of just how high that is, commercial jet airplanes typically fly at an altitude between 30,000 and 40,000 feet. Naturally, one of the first things that crossed my mind was the impressive vantage point Felix must have enjoyed from such a high altitude; the view was surely as breathtaking as it was expansive. And although it’s probabl ..read more

It’s not a secret that the process of surrogacy can be a costly one, but it’s well worth it for people who want to be parents. That said, you can budget for the surrogacy process so that you get it done with minimal hassle from start to finish. Here are a few tips to make it easier for you to budget for the process and get the family that you desire without negatively impacting your lifestyle. Understand the Costs You need to begin by understanding the costs associated with surrogacy, of which there are a few. In fact, the overall cost can vary widely depending on a range of factors. Some of t ..read more

Inflation is a tax that doesn’t require legislative approval. In other words, inflation is taxation without representation. Let’s look at an example. Assume your savings account earns a very modest 3% interest. Whether that interest is taxed at 100% in a zero-inflationary environment, or earned tax-free with 3% inflation, the end result is identical. Considering the US is mired in over $100 trillion of debt and unfunded obligations, that’s especially convenient. The bottom line: Legislators know that imposing onerous taxes on the public is political suicide – so they’ll keep encouraging the Fe ..read more

How much have you budgeted for your upcoming nuptials? Hopefully, you’ve set aside about $30,119 because that’s the average cost of a wedding in the US. Yep! The total cost to get hitched has grown steadily over the years — and that’s without even factoring in the honeymoon! With that in mind, prudent couples look for ways to save on their wedding before the big day arrives. Before you begin making plans to elope in Las Vegas, check out these money-saving tips that will help you throw the wedding of the century without bottoming out your bank account: Wedding Venue Saving Strategy Venues are b ..read more