Revocable versus Irrevocable Trusts
An intervivos trust — a trust you set up that goes into effect while you’re still alive — can be either revocable, meaning that you can change your mind, or irrevocable [more…]
Creating a Job Estimate with QuickBooks 2005
QuickBooks Pro and QuickBooks Premier have a feature that's very interesting for businesses that do jobs or projects for their customers: contractors, consultants, engineers, architects, and so on. QuickBooks [more…]
Handling Payroll with QuickBooks 2003
If you want to use QuickBooks for payroll because you want to save money, aren't scared of a little paperwork, or maybe want the extra flexibility that comes with doing it yourself, you need to sign up [more…]
How to Decide Whether to Refinance a Fixed-Rate Mortgage
If you have a fixed-rate mortgage and interest rates drop, you may want to refinance the same mortgage loan to reduce your monthly payments. The following table shows monthly payments for 15- and 30-year [more…]
What Debt Collectors Can’t Do to Recover Your Debts
Knowing what debt collectors cannot do to collect a debt from you may help you deal with and protect you from their approaches to debt collection.
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act [more…]
Running through the Setup Interview for QuickBooks Simple Start
After you know what entity form your business will use and have the QuickBooks Simple Start software installed, you're ready to set up the QuickBooks data file. The data file is the container that QuickBooks [more…]
How to Stage Your Kitchen for Home Showings
Staging a kitchen for house tours calls for cleaning up clutter; painting walls; making appliances sparkle; and completing repairs and updates. Natural touches - like flowers or fresh fruit - can attract [more…]How Roth IRAs Differ from Regular IRAs
Roth IRAs allow you to place money in a long-term savings plan and defer income tax on the amount you invest and the investments earnings. Roth IRAs allow an annual contribution of up to [more…]
What to Expect from Debt Collection against Your Unpaid Bills
Laws govern what debt collectors can do if you fall behind on an unsecured debt. If a debt collector sues you, you will be notified of the lawsuit via a summons [more…]
Making a Checking Account Deposit with QuickBooks 2005
You can't write checks unless you deposit some money in your checking account. You didn't know that? Well, the next time you're taking your exercise in the prison yard, give it some serious thought. From [more…]
Filing for Personal Bankruptcy as Chapter 7 or Chapter 13
The founders of the United States foresaw that honest people might suffer severe economic misfortune or make poor choices. So, they provided for bankruptcy in the U.S. Constitution. [more…]
Developing Strategies for Trading Stock
Categorizing the phases of the market enables you to adjust your trading strategies based on current market conditions. The idea: Trade aggressively when you're confident in your market assessment, but [more…]
Tax Rules for Selling Your Home
Until recently, if you purchased a home, you were required to keep track of the original cost and the cost of improvements to the home for tax purposes. Then, when you sold the home, if you made a profit [more…]
How to Fix Air Leaks around Your Home
Air leaks mean excessive energy loss — and cost. Summer or winter, you don’t want your house to leak air, especially when you spend your hard-earned dollars warming or cooling it. [more…]
529 College Savings Plan Contribution Limits
Contributing to a 529 plan may seem quite simple — you write the check or get the money automatically withdrawn from your checking account, and those funds get deposited into the 529 plan. [more…]
How to Plan Meals Economically
Whether you’re feeding yourself or a family, mealtimes present a challenge when you want to be economical without sacrificing your favorites. You want tasty meals that everyone will enjoy and that won’t [more…]
How to Stay Warm during Winter for Less Money
If your heating bills are getting you down, consider these suggestions for keeping your home warm without breaking the bank. Stay cozy-warm and still save money on your heating bills: [more…]
Using Audit Trails in QuickBooks
If you decide to allow multiple users access to the QuickBooks data file, you may want to turn on the QuickBooks Audit Trail feature. The Audit Trail feature lets you keep a record of who makes what changes [more…]
How to Get Out of Debt
If you’re living with a large debt, putting together a budget — an itemized account of income and expenses — is only the first step to getting your financial house in order. You may need to take some bold [more…]
Identifying the Most Desirable Home Features
Home buyers are looking for energy efficiency when they shop for houses, along with upgraded features, such as specialty rooms. Lots of storage throughout the house attracts potential home buyers, who [more…]Buying an Owner-Occupied HUD Home
First-time buyers often finance their homes through the federal government, primarily by way of FHA-insured loans. When the property owner fails to make mortgage payments on the property, FHA initiates [more…]
How to Use Quicken to Track Your Loans
Quicken has the ability to keep track of all of your loans — not just how much you owe, but how much you pay each month, how much of that payment is interest, and how much of that payment reduces the amount [more…]
The Types of Bankruptcy
If you’re filing for bankruptcy, your basic choice is between a bankruptcy that doesn’t involve any type of repayment plan (Chapter 7 bankruptcy) and one that does [more…]
Batch-Printing Invoices with Quickbooks 2006
If you want to print invoices in a batch in QuickBooks 2006, you need to mark the To Be Printed check box that appears in the lower-left corner of the Create Invoices window. This check mark tells QuickBooks [more…]
Taking Steady Investment First Steps
Before you invest in anything, you first must make sure that you have a strong economic foundation. If you don't, your situation is like building a brick house on shifting sand. You need to ensure that [more…]
