Living Well with Bad Credit by Chris Balish and Geoff Williams is a very informative book on getting things done with a low credit score. Like my other book reviews, I just wanted to highlight a couple of chapters and let you decided if it’s something you’d be interested in to read.

Looking to rebuild your finances, check out this book!

Banking with Bad Credit

If you only read part of this book, this is a wonderful chapter to review. Balish and Williams show how the “unbanked” (around 20 million Americans) can get a basic checking account. Why is this important information? There are millions of dollars going to payday lenders and check cashing places, most of that could probably be better spent helping the worker.

It’s not easy depending on how bad your credit is, but Balish and Williams shows it’s not impossible.

Getting a Good Job with Bad Credit

If you’re deep in debt and need to dig yourself out, finding employment is probably top on your list. While you can cut expenses up to a point, building your income is an equally important and potentially more productive use of your time.

Balish and Williams goes over the touchy subject of bankruptcy and job interviews. The information in this chapter is definitely on topic with today’s economy and people’s finances being less than perfect.

My Take

I really enjoyed this book and want to recommend it. While this book isn”t for everyone, I think that this book can be a good resource for some readers as they get back on their feet. So many books talk about improving your credit score, but this book shows you what to do in the meantime.

Your Take

Do you think that this is something you’d be interested in? Did you know there was a book that covered this topic? When you finish reading the book, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

With many of my friends with iPhones and iPod Touches, I was looking at free and reasonable priced personal finance apps. I shared some mortgage apps some time ago and decided that it would be good to share some useful and popular personal finance apps.

There are some solid money apps on the iPhone.

• ATM Hunter (Free): If you’re out of town and need to find a ATM (preferably your own bank or credit union), you can use this app.
• BillMinder: This app reminds you of upcoming bills that you need to pay.
• Check Please Lite (Free): A free and handy tip calculator.
• Loan Calc: What If ?(99 cents): If you’re trying to run through different scenarios to see your best options, this is the app for you.
• Mint (Free): If you haven’t tried Mint online, you’ll re
• Pay Off Debt($2.99): This a handy tool that can help you track your debts and debt snowball.
• Shop Savvy(Free): A great app that allows you to price compare on times. I use it when I want to make an impulsive buy; many times I see that there is a much lower price elsewhere.
• Tipulator($1.99): A very useful tip app that can be useful when you have to split dinner with friends.

Your Thoughts on iPhone Apps

If you use iPhone apps, which ones have you’ve found helpful with budgeting and debt reduction?

Photo Credit: William Hook

It’s tax season again and that means finding a way for us to get it done easily and correctly. This year I’m reviewing Turbo Tax and I wanted to share some of my thoughts as I went through their program.

Entering Business & Personal Income

Turbo Tax made it really easy to get this information. It’s done in an interview style. As you go through the process, TurboTax will keep updating the amount of your refund (or taxes owed).

Looking at tax refund.....

Self Employed: After entering our personal information, I was prompted to enter my business income for 2009. Throughout the tax interview, Turbotax shows the amount of tax owed or the refund to expect at the top of the screen. It’s nice to have a running tab as you go through the process. I personally enjoyed seeing the refund amount.

W-2s and Personal Income: Filling out our personal income was easy with Turbo Tax and it took a few minutes.

Something that I liked with Turbo Tax this year was how simple it was to correct and fill in information. If you forget to fill in an amount, it will right away catch this and you can fix it. This avoids you pulling out the W-2 again much later. There is also a fantastic flag feature that you can use to book mark certain areas you need to look over again.

Tax Deductions and Credits

Once we entered information, Turbo Tax helped us with tax deductions and credits. The goal is to make sure you don’t miss a single deduction or tax credit. Turbo Tax will comb all the deductions and credits. I wanted to highlight just a few of the topics that Turbo Tax reviews with you.

Tax time is much easier with Turbo Tax.

Business Deductions: Turbo Tax reviewed my business information and inquired about certain expenses that I might be able to deduct, such as vehicle for business use.

Mortgage: Quicken asked if we owned a home in 2009 to interview and possibly pick up some deductions. Unfortunately we did not own a home in 2009.

Family: Many of the deductions and credits did not fit us and our circumstances, but I was impressed with how thorough the interview was. It covered:

• Child and Dependent Care
• Earned Income Credit
• Adoption Expenses

Cars and Personal Property: Did you know that some states you can deduct car registration fees, like California?

Live Community Feature

This by far is my favorite feature of Turbo Tax. They’ve collected thousands of questions over the past 3 years and created a resource that allows you to get the answer to some of your most common tax questions. Tax experts are moderators, checking to make sure the answers are correct so you’re not given bad information.

Grab a Copy of Turbo Tax

You can either purchase a desktop copy of turbo Tax by box or download,  or you can do all your taxes online. If you’re looking at another opinion, check out Matt Jabs’ wonderful Turbo Tax review on Debt Free Adventure.

Photo Credit: alancleaver_2000

Getting a tax refund can be a great thing or a bad deal depending on whom you speak to. Financial Samurai was sharing his take on tax refunds and I  agree with him. While some may complain you’re giving the government your money interest free, if the alternative is you spending the money on frivolous things , then it’s worth having it in a lump sum. For some people, having a tax refund motivates them to spend their money a little more seriously.

Consider using your tax refund to build your finances.

Maximize Your Tax Refund’s Potential

If you’re getting a big refund, look at it as a chance to improve your finances with a big shot.

Create a bare bones emergency fund. Before you do anything else, you should have a barebones emergency fund. How much is that? For most college students and new graduates, I say it’s somewhere between $500 and one month’s worth of essential expenses. You can build it up through out 2010 with automatic deposits.

Pay off a high interest credit card. If you’ve created an emergency fund and have some money left, then go ahead and pay off a credit card if you can or at least pay a big chunk off. Even if you only manage to pay off a small store credit card you’re giving yourself a big win. You can work on your debt snow ball during the rest of the year.

Deposit the remainder into a Roth IRA. Why should you care about a Roth IRA while you’re in college? Starting an IRA even with $500 has some big consequences thanks to the power of compounding interest.

Spend 20% on What You Want

Despite all the smart financial choices you can make, it doesn’t mean you can’t have some fun with it. You should keep 20% for yourself.  The catch is you have to wait a month before you use it.  Why?

Waiting at least a month can give you time to really figure out how you want to use the money. Do you want to travel? Do you want to save money for a TV? Do you want to donate that money to a charity or a family member dear to you that‘s in need?

Only you know what will give you the most fulfillment. Just don’t squander it away quickly.

Your Take

Which method do you prefer? If you like receiving a bigger tax refund, how do you spend it? What advice do you have for the size of a bare bones emergency fund?

Photo Credit: NickStarr

Just got back from our quick weekend getaway so I wanted to write a quick post on what I’m up to this week.

As I mentioned last month, one of my goals is support a charity in 2010 with money saved by not eating out for a week. I decided to start today and will not eat out the rest of the work week. This means I have to go ahead and plan out what I’m having ahead to avoid caving in to fast food chains by my job.

Today has gone well and while it wasn’t completely healthy, it was pretty good. You can join in and pick the charity you want to support that week, whether it’s time or money. I’d love to have you share some stories of the success you’ve had volunteering.