According to the American Pet Products Association’s annual survey for 2011-12, 39% of Americans own at least one dog, and 33% own at least one cat. This survey also states that pet owners spend a little over $200 annually for routine veterinarian visits. I would like to show you 5 ways that you can save money on your pet bills.

1. Initial Purchase

Our family owned a pure-bred Collie that we got free from a breeder that was having trouble selling the last two from a litter. While in a pet store my daughter saw a notice on the bulletin board, “Free Collie Puppies” and we were on our way to the farm. That dog was one of the most loved pets we ever owned. There is no need to pay hundreds of dollars for your new addition. Dogs and cats can be had for free all over the world. If you want to have a little assurance of its health, adopt one from the local animal shelter. There, all animals are given a physical check-up from a veterinarian and receive all their immunizations.

Another thing to consider is size. A friend of mine, and former Labrador breeder, recently shared that when their last chocolate lab passes on (he is in poor health), they will never own another large-breed dog. She said the bills were just too much to keep up with. He requires several medications and because of his size, the monthly cost is just too much for them. Going from a Collie to a Miniature Pinscher, I would have to agree. We’ve never had to face monthly medication bills for our dogs, but the feed cost alone is enough to make me think long and hard before buying another 100-pound dog.

Lastly, if you want to save money on your pet, do not purchase one that requires regular grooming. Grooming bills for long-haired dogs and cats, or ones requiring specialized haircuts, are atrocious. Groomers in our area wanted $50 and up to take care of our Collie. We had a sheep owner give him a clip each spring for $10. The rest of the year, the kids brushed him out whenever he needed it.

2. Immunizations

Immunizations are a controversial topic when it comes to children. However, I don’t think that pet owners give it a second thought. The first thing I propose is that if you have convictions against immunizing your children, why immunize your dog or cat? That said, you can save money in this area. Breeders generally administer their own “puppy shots.” Except for rabies, all immunizations can be purchased from a pet or farm service store. If you’ve never given an animal a shot, have the breeder you purchase the pet from, or a friend or vet tech, show you how.

World Rabies Day is September 28. To save money on this vaccine, watch the paper for announcements from veterinarian offices, pet stores, or local animal clinics participating in giving free or reduced shots on this day.

3. Spay/Neutering

We currently own a Miniature Pinscher. Our veterinarian wanted well over $100 for neutering. I found a spay and neuter clinic that did it for $55. They also do check-ups and gave shots at reduced rates. But because my veterinarian is reasonably priced, doesn’t charge an extra fee for “office visit,” and is close to my home, I will stick with her for his annual check-ups. It pays to ask around, and make phone calls.

4. Food

I buy 4Health dog food for my MinPin at Tractor Supply. A 4 pound bag costs around $7 and lasts several months. Of course, this 7½ pound dynamo only eats a cup or two of food each day. I also stretch this ration with my own homemade pet food. A quick Internet search will turn up several sites with instructions for making your own healthy pet food. Generally, the ratio is 60% protein, 20% grain, 20% vegetables for a dog.

Because we raise our own meat chickens, and our boys hunt deer, we have access to a lot of meat scraps for free. I grind these scraps into burger and can them for the dog. If you do not have access to free meat like I do, try a butcher (or another homesteader/farmer) for scraps at a reduced rate.

5. Accessories

I cannot believe how much a dog or cat toy costs. It’s positively criminal to pay $5-10 for a little stuffed animal for your dog to chew to shreds in a matter of days. Fortunately, I have a little boy that loves to make his dog toys. He takes old clothing or scraps of fabric, cuts long strips and braids a length. The same thing can be purchased for good money in the pet aisle at the local superstore. We’ve also picked up stuffed animals, Frisbees, or balls at the thrift store for a quarter. Hanging an empty thread spool from a length of cord from the door knob has kept my mom’s cat busy for hours. Dog beds and cat scratching posts are other things that can be made from re-purposed materials.

So, if you’ve been putting off getting the boy a puppy because of the expense, I hope that you’ve got some ideas here to show you can do it for less—without sacrificing care.

If you have any other ways of saving money on pets, we’d love to hear about it in the comments!

Puppy image from Shutterstock

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As I write this article, I have exactly 32 other things to do that I’ve labeled high priority. In addition, I have 39 things to do that are medium priority. And, lingering toward the end of the list, I have 21 things to do that are low priority.

You might think that I’m overwhelmed. But guess what? I’m not. Here’s how you too can take your productivity to a whole new level while keeping your stress down.

These ideas will work whether you’re running a home-based business or simply trying to be more effective in life or work.

Why We Freak Out When There’s Stuff to Do

Understanding the root of stress is the first step toward getting rid of it. I believe a lot of our stress comes from the “unknowns” in our lives:

• We know we have a lot of email sitting in our inbox and think that the number of emails is what makes us feel overwhelmed. The lack of knowing what’s contained in those emails, however, is probably what’s keeping us overwhelmed. It’s an unknown.
• We have bills piled high on our desk and don’t know if we can pay them. That scares us. It’s an unknown.
• We are feeling tax time approaching and are not quite sure if we’ve done our accounting right. We don’t know if we’ll be able to find all our receipts and documentation. It’s an unknown, and it terrifies us!

All of us have unknowns in our lives. In fact, we always will. So what do we do about these unknowns? Do we run and hide? No! We’re fighters! We’re not giving up!

How to Calm Down and Get Back to Work

Get all of that stuff out of your head.

Have you heard of a neti pot? It’s something you can use to flush out your sinuses. Gross, yes. In a similar manner, the first step toward feeling better and less “congested” is to empty your head of all the tasks you’re trying to remember to do.

Cleanse your head by writing everything down you need to do in the future. Yes, everything you can think of. Some things you’ll be able to do right away, others you’ll need to do later. Some things are big projects, others are simple things like remembering to take the garbage out.

Now you can choose to prioritize your list if you like. But whatever you do, don’t make a I’ll-do-this-today list. If you make one of those, you’ll inevitably not do something on that list and feel horrible and discouraged when you have to move tasks to tomorrow.

I like David Allen’s concept of “Next” lists. Try making your list based on different contexts such as “things to do at home” or “things to do regarding work.”

Then you should take your list and prioritize it. Don’t make a big deal about this. Just prioritize loosely. Make sure that you include due dates for your list. It might help to get some task management software like Things for Mac to help you organize.

Do the most urgent and important things first.

Even though you may have prioritized your list, you might have to follow your gut when it comes to choosing what to do next. Generally, it’s best to choose a task from your next list that is high priority. But which high priority do you choose to accomplish first? That’s where you have to follow your instinct.

Dave Ramsey (mastermind behind the 7 Baby Steps), in his book EntreLeadership, talks about the difference between urgent and important tasks. Urgent tasks are those things that have to get done soon or they’ll die. Important tasks are those things that should get done because they hold a purpose. If any task is both urgent and important, you should do those tasks first.

Do the weekly review. Seriously.

Once a week, I review all of my items to make sure that I’m on track. The only time I review my entire list is once a week. Why? If I reviewed my list every day, it would overwhelm me. I, like you, have way too much on my plate and have to focus on the task at hand – not stressing over what I have coming up.

Focus on one task, complete, repeat.

If you’ve taken the advice above, you’re ready to focus on the task at hand, complete it, and then repeat the process.

There is a great power to focusing on one task at a time. Try it. You’ll be better able to focus now that you don’t have to remember everything you have coming up (it’s written out in a list).

After you complete your current task, go right to the next task – follow your gut – what do you need to accomplish next?

By following this process, we put off trying to understand or worry about the “unknowns” in our lives and simply focus on one thing at a time. We trust that we’ll get to those “unknowns” and figure them out at a later time because we have them in our system.

Jesus wants us to have a strong focus on today:

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. – Matthew 6:34 NIV

So, what are you overwhelmed about? I suggest you get it out of your head, onto paper, and focus on what you can accomplish right now. You’ll feel more motivated to get things done!

Are you overwhelmed? Tell us about it. What are some ways you cope with the stress of multiple tasks weighing down on you? Leave a comment below!

Checklist image from Shutterstock

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John Frainee is a personal finance writer at TheChristianDollar.com. His goal is to provide biblical financial principles that encourage people to live healthier lives. Beyond personal finance, John enjoys spending time with his wife and two crazy cats, playing a competitive game of Monopoly, and reading just about anything he can get his hands on. You can also find him on Twitter and Facebook.

Budgeting can be difficult at times. Some don’t see it that way. They just put out a budget every month that is exactly the same as any and every other month (what Dave Ramsey calls “the perfect month from heaven”). When we really stop and think, though, we all know that no two months are exactly alike.

What are Gotcha Expenses?

Budget for the Gotchas!

What, then, can you do to be ready for these budget “gotchas”? Here are 4 things to consider.

1. Save monthly for some.

The old-fashioned “Christmas accounts” at a local bank were there for a reason. There are some things that are quite easy to save for. My wife and I put money away each month for Christmas, for example. We do this for a few reasons. If nothing else, Christmas never moves on the calendar!

Also, though, by having that money at hand, we can jump on a good deal earlier in the year if we know what someone might want. We put the money away in cash in an envelope throughout the year. If you don’t trust yourself as much, open a special account, either online or at your local bank. Then, just have a small amount put in there each month. When December comes, you’ll be ready.

2. Use “extra” money.

Most of these “gotchas” are things that we know are coming, and a vast majority are items where we know the amount well in advance. Instead of just blowing a bonus check or some money given for a special service, use that money to help pay for one of these. That way, it barely touches your budget, if it affects it at all. As a preacher, I am asked at various times to come and preach for one night.

Often, the congregation is generous enough to pay a little money for these speaking times. My wife and I always try to do three things with this money. We give, we “pay ourselves back” for the expenses (gas, food, etc.) incurred, and then we plan to use the rest. Often, that leftover money goes to a “gotcha” item.

3. Set aside money for two (or more) months.

What I mean by this is to set aside half the amount the month before something is due, and then the other amount the month it is due. For example, if your HOA annual dues are $300, why not budget $150 for two months (or $100 for three months if money is tighter), instead of trying to find $300 in a single month. Get that money in cash, and put it in an envelope until the time comes to actually write the check or call in the payment. This spreads out the large expense without making one month really hard to manage your bill payments.

4. Don’t incur late fees and penalties.

Check and recheck the due dates on these categories. Often, late fees for dues and services are huge, and will make paying them even more of a burden. Some ofter a grace period, but only if you ask.

The real key to handling these situations is to plan ahead. It is amazing to me how some people claim a “gotcha” on something that happens quarterly, semi-annually, or even yearly. Taking a few moments to look down the line will help ease the pain of paying for those larger items that can often destroy a monthly budget.

How do you avoid or pay for “gotcha expenses?” Leave a comment below!

Stepping on a banana peel image from Shutterstock

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Adam Faughn is a minister in Nashville, Tennessee. He is married to Leah and they have 2 children. You can check out his personal blog or follow him on Twitter.

Have you given your retirement much thought lately?  According to the Employee Benefit Research Institute, nearly 50% of Baby Boomers and Gen Xers are at risk of not having enough retirement income to cover even basic expenses and uninsured health care costs.  That figure jumps to 70% when you look at the low-income households in America.

The reality of retirement hits us at different stages of our life, but the questions always seem to be the same.  Will I have enough?  How should I be invested?  Will I have to pay taxes?

If you’re like me, I don’t want to hear the cookie-cutter answer: “it depends.”  I already know that the answer will be different for each person.  I just want to know what tools and calculations are available to show me how to create an educated estimate.  At the end of the day, we cannot predict the future and the exact figure in our retirement account, not to mention the expenses we’ll have.  But we can make smart calculations to help us find the answers to these five retirement questions.

Am I on track to retire?

You can use online retirement calculators to show your projected savings, but the figure might look like it’s all over the place.  I used three different calculators and got a range of $500,000 to $3,000,000 as my projected savings.  Why was it so different?  Because some calculators assumed variables like inflation and contributions, while others allowed you change those manually.

The best retirement calculator will take these factors into consideration: age, income, contributions (and increases), inflation, investment return, retirement age, Social Security income and income replacement during retirement.

AARP and CNN Money have very good calculators, but calcxml has my favorite calculator for projecting your retirement balance.  Don’t be afraid to use all of these to get a good idea of how much you should be saving in order to get on track for retirement.

Should I be invested more aggressively?

This question always seems to come up, especially if someone is a little behind with his or her retirement savings.  Before you change your portfolio to 100% stocks, make sure you ask yourself if you’re being as aggressive as you can be with your current retirement contributions.  Your strategy of slowly increasing your contributions year after year will make a much bigger impact on your savings than chasing a high return in the market.

You might have heard of the recommendation that your exposure to stocks should be equal to 110 or 120 minus your age.  For someone who is 30 years old, their portfolio might include 80-90% stocks based on this rule of thumb.  It’s not the most scientific approach, so it’s wise to meet with a financial planner.  If you’re not even sure where to start with assessing your risk tolerance, you can take a risk tolerance quiz provided by Rutgers University.

What’s is the RMD?

If you or your parents are nearing age 70, you might have received a letter regarding a required minimum distribution (RMD).  The RMD will affect nearly every retiree.  It’s basically an IRS rule that says you must start drawing money from your retirement accounts by age 70 ½.  If you don’t start, you’ll end up paying penalties of 50% on the money you fail to withdraw.

You can calculate your RMD by using the life expectancy tables provided by the IRS in publication 590.

What if I inherit a retirement account?

Your options will vary depending on whether you inherited the account from a spouse or non-spouse (parent, sibling, extended family, etc.).  Inheriting an IRA from a spouse gives you the most flexibility and allows you to treat it as your own.  You can add to the account or rollover the IRA to another retirement account, as long as it was inherited from a spouse.  If you inherit an IRA or 401(k) from a non-spouse, you’ll need to follow strict rules on distributing the money and maintain its ‘inherited’ status.  In other words, you won’t be able to move it into your own IRA – it must stay as an inherited IRA.

Will I have to pay taxes on my retirement money?

The quick answer: yes.  Withdrawing pre-tax money from your retirement account is considered to be taxable income.  What you do with your money throughout the year can lower your taxable income, so have a conversation with your tax preparer as to how you can lower your taxable income during retirement.  You might consider giving to a charity or starting a business, which can lower your taxable income for the year.  Of course, your Roth IRA has already been taxed, so you can withdraw those funds tax-free during your retirement years.

Have you had any retirement questions come up recently?  Share them in the comments!

Happy senior couple image from Shutterstock

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Tim is a personal finance writer at Faith and Finance a Christian financial help blog that provides financial insights for individuals, businesses, and churches. Outside of finance, Tim enjoys spending time with his wife, playing the saxophone, reading economics books, and a good game of RISK or Catan. Find him on Twitter and Facebook.

Have you ever met a successful person who did not encounter some failures along the way?  I know I haven’t … it seems that failure is inextricably blended into the pathway toward success.  Fortunately for us, some very famous people have traveled this path.  What can we learn from these “famous failures”?

1. Never give up.  (Winston Churchill)

Churchill failed sixth grade and was defeated in every election for public office until he became Prime Minister of England at the age of 62.  When he met with his Cabinet on May 13, 1940, as England was about to enter the war against Germany, he told them that, “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.”

I believe it was Churchill’s determination to face his earlier failures head on which gave him the resolve to lead his nation through years of warfare.  He later wrote these now famous words, “Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never – in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never, never, never, never give up.”

How about you?  When you are pursuing something noble, honorable and right, do you tend to give up or do you, like Churchill, doggedly stick with it?

2. Learn from your failures.  (Thomas Edison)

Thomas Edison’s teachers said he was “too stupid to learn anything.”  He was fired from his first two jobs for being “non-productive.”  He made thousands of unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb, but when a young reporter asked him how if felt to have failed all those times, Edison’s now famous reply was, “I didn’t fail 5,000 times.  I discovered 5,000 ways that didn’t work.”

How about you?  When things don’t go as you hoped for, do you get paralyzed by self pity or do you take a step back and ask yourself, “What can I learn from this experience?”

3. Discover your niche.  (Albert Einstein)

Albert Einstein did not speak until he was 4 years old and did not read until he was 7.  One of his teachers described him as “mentally slow, unsociable, and adrift forever in his foolish dreams.”  Einstein had speech difficulties as a child and was once thought to be mentally handicapped.

He was expelled from school and failed admittance into Zurich Polytechnic School.  However, he buckled down, received some training and was eventually accepted into Zurich Polytechnic.  A few years later, after earning his PHD, he received a Nobel prize for Physics and has generally been recognized as the genius of our modern era.

Because of his early failures, Einstein could have given up. Obviously, he wasn’t meant to be a writer or speaker, but he WAS meant to be a physicist of the highest order.  The key?  Discovering his niche.

How about you?  Do you think of yourself as a failure in life because you failed in one area of life?  Maybe those failures are a message you should heed:  try something else, and keep trying until you discover your niche.

4. Trust your gut. (Beethoven)

Although Beethoven handled the violin awkwardly, and his music instructor told him that he was “hopeless as a composer”, he continued to play his own compositions instead of working on his technique.  The rest, of course, is history and even legend: Beethoven wrote five of his greatest symphonies while completely deaf.

We are thankful today that Beethoven insisted on playing his own compositions, but, if he hadn’t “trusted his gut”, he may have given up his pursuits of composing.  He just KNEW that he was meant to be a composer.

How about you?  Are you doing what you know you should be doing?  Do you continue doing it even if critics and friends tell you to give up?  Do you trust your gut? 

5. Use criticism as your motivator. (Sidney Poitier)

After his first audition, the casting director told Sidney Poitier, “Why don’t you stop wasting people’s time and go out and become a dishwasher or something?”  Poitier recalls that he decided at that very moment to devote his life to acting.

How about you?  Does the sting of criticism make you want to quit or do you allow it to motivate you?

6. Allow failures to give you focus.  (JK Rowling)

Before Harry Potter fame, JK Rowling was a divorced mother living on welfare.  She refers to herself as “the biggest failure I knew”, but credits much of her success to her failure.  She explained in a Harvard commencement speech, “Failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy to finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one area where I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had been realized, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter, and a big idea. And so rock bottom became a solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.”

How about you?  Do your failures give you an intense focus on the things that really matter to you?  If not, why not?

Hopefully, these stories will help us realize that failure is not final, but merely preparation for the next step in our journey.

Readers:  How do you deal with failures in your own life?   Do you see them as healthy steps on the roadway to success or as disappointments to be avoided? Does fear of failure ever keep you from attempting a new venture?

Failed man image from Shutterstock

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Joe Plemon, a retired engineer, financial counselor and blogger, lives in Southern Illinois with Janice, his wife of 40 years. Joe likes online Scrabble, St Louis Cardinal baseball, blues music, power naps, high school football, short term mission trips and Sunday family dinners. You can read more from Joe at Personal Finance by the Book.

When a semester of college can cost more than a parent makes in a year, it is time to look for help. And although the mountain looks immovable, we need to remember that our Father owns the cattle on a thousand hills. If we know we are in His will for our future, He will provide the needed funds. With that in mind, I’d like to share 6 ways to cut that school bill down without taking out student loans. Graduate debt free!

1. Keep Your Grades Up

I earned a full paid scholarship to the local junior college simply for being in the top 10% of my graduating class. My son will transfer from his community college to university for free for carrying a 3.8 grade point average. A high school student needs to ask his guidance counselor for information regarding any opportunities that exist in his local area.

Registering with Scholarships.com is another way to discover scholarships. This service will ask a battery of questions regarding extra-curricular activities, parents’ affiliations, area of study, religion and location, and match you up with potential scholarships for which you might qualify.

In addition to grades, it is important to be active in the community, have significant adults in your life that can write references like a coach, employer, or youth pastor, and have a polished essay describing your financial need.

2. Apply for Federal Aid

Currently the Federal Pell Grant award amount is $5,550. That is more than enough for a student to pay tuition and books at a community college. To apply for the Pell Grant, visit the official website at http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/ and fill out an application. You will have to have your parents’ current year’s income taxes completed first. It is awarded based on need.

If you do not qualify for a Pell Grant, the government has alternative choices like a work/study program. Even if you think you won’t qualify, fill out the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) anyway.  Other scholarship programs will want verification that you did apply for the Pell Grant and will use the information from that application.

3. Dual Enrollment/Early College

Our friends have several children that started as university sophomores right out of high school and never paid a dime for their first two years of college. The Early College program is available for high school juniors and seniors that agree to a rigorous program of study in lieu of the mainstream high school curricula. If accepted to this program, the student does not attend their regular high school but moves right into the community college of their choice—for free.

According to the Early College website, this program is available in 28 states and District of Columbia. However, many similar programs may be found by doing an Internet search for “early college + state name.”

4. College Level Examination Program

For the student proficient in any given field of study, the CLEP test may be a significant way to save some money. Accepted by over 2,900 colleges nationwide, these tests measure what a person may know in a particular area whether from high school study, life experience, or military training.

CLEP tests exist for over 30 areas of study such as history and social sciences, composition and literature, science and mathematics, business, and foreign languages. The tests contain mostly multiple choice questions, take 90 minutes to complete, and cost $77.

5. Choose an Alternative Route

Rachel Poling graduated from college at the age of 19 with no debt. According to an article on Thriving in the 21^st Century, she used CLEP tests and the coaching service of CollegePlus!™ to help her design her own course of study. In the end, everything transferred to one school which granted her a degree in music.

Another option to consider is to enroll in one of the 11 colleges in the United States that offer a free education. These schools obtain their funding through various means and some require a work/study program, but you still end up with the degree.

6. Don’t Go

Everyone knows the economy has faltered in the last several years. However, few realize that college grads are some of the hardest hit. Leaving the academic setting with tens of thousands of dollars in debt, last year almost 2 million graduates could not find jobs using their newly earned degrees—or requiring any degree for that matter.

Forced to take jobs that require no skill and pay $10/hour or less, many young adults are forced to move back in with their parents just to survive. In light of this information, it makes one question whether a college degree is necessary at all. Before enrolling in a college or university ask yourself a couple questions:

• Does my chosen field of study require a degree?
• Is there a demand for employees in my field?
• Will this career pay enough upon entry to pay back any college debt within a couple years?
• Is there anything else that I would be happy doing?

Wondering how you’re going to pay for your kids’ college education? How do you save money for college? Take a look at some of these options and see what you think. I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below.

Graduation image from Shutterstock

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When shopping for a car, you should look for the lowest price for the best quality.  Right?  Well, sort of … in the back of your mind, you realize that, all other things being equal, the car which gets better gas mileage is worth more than the one which doesn’t.  But how much more?

And what other factors should you consider?  Depreciation rates?  Cost of insurance?  How about maintenance and repairs?  If all of this is giving you a headache, don’t despair.  Edmunds.com has done much of the work for you, by calculating the true cost for owning any new or used car five years.

I appreciate the work Edmunds has put into their “True Cost to Own” (TCO) projections, but I advise caution about simply taking all of their numbers at face value.  You will need to use discernment because some of these numbers will apply to your circumstances and some won’t.

Let’s give it a try by comparing a 2007 Honda Accord EX-L with 60,000 miles, a 2008 Chevy Impala LTZ with 40,000 miles and a 2006 Cadillac DTS with 60,000 miles.  According to the Edmunds site, the market value of these three vehicles are all very close.  However, when applying the TCO figures, the Honda and Impala have a clear advantage over the Cadillac.

This chart summarizes my findings.

Just so you will know what to expect on the Edmunds site, I have included their Honda TCO stats below:

5 Year Details for 2007 Accord EX-L

Making the Edmunds Numbers Work for You

Edmunds has used the following factors in compiling their cost to own numbers: depreciation, taxes and fees, financing, fuel, insurance, maintenance and repairs. These are all legitimate costs of owning a vehicle, but each needs to be scrutinized to fit your buying needs.

For example, financing is a non-issue for me because I pay cash for my vehicles.  Insurance will vary from vehicle to vehicle, but you might be better served by asking your agent what those costs would be for you.

Other Considerations

How many years will you own the vehicle?

The TCO is a five year projection, so it would (probably) be more applicable if you plan to drive your car more than five years.

Do you love it?

I realize loving a car is quite subjective, but reality is this: we Americans (especially us guys) tend to first fall in love with a car, then seek ways to justify the expenditure.  But this isn’t necessarily a bad thing — if you buy something you love, you will likely take better care of it.  Conversely, if you buy a “ho-hum” car in order to save a few hundred dollars, you will probably not care for it as well.  Mind you, I am not advocating spending money you don’t have, but factoring in a “love” element may actually save you money.

Do you do your own maintenance?  Repairs?

Maintenance and repairs are two of the factors Edmunds uses for their TCO.  If you do your own, those issues become less of a consideration.

How many miles do you drive annually?

The Edmunds numbers are based on 15,000 miles driven per year.  Driving more would justify spending more on a vehicle which gets better gas mileage; conversely, gas mileage is not as much an issue for those who drive very little.

How about me?

I wish I could give you a glowing report of how using TCO helped me make a wise purchase, but I can’t — I have never considered true cost to own in any of my vehicle purchases.  However, I plan to next time, especially if I have narrowed my selection to two or three choices.

 To quote from Edmunds site: “With TCO, you get a snapshot of the car’s costs over time.  You will see the big picture – not just today’s price tag.”

Readers:  Have you ever used “true cost to own” to help you determine your vehicle selection?  How did it go?  Meet us in the comments section!

Car mirror image from Shutterstock

Related Articles:

• How to Save $5,000 on Your Next Car Purchase
• Purchasing A Car? Advantages Of Buying Used Cars
• Should You Sell Your Car or Repair It?
• Saving money with your car

Joe Plemon, a retired engineer, financial counselor and blogger, lives in Southern Illinois with Janice, his wife of 40 years. Joe likes online Scrabble, St Louis Cardinal baseball, blues music, power naps, high school football, short term mission trips and Sunday family dinners. You can read more from Joe at Personal Finance by the Book.

In this economy, it seems like you can’t turn on the radio or TV for any extended period of time without hearing commercials for debt settlement or debt consolidation services. Same holds true while surfing the web.

Now whether or not these services are even the right choice is a whole other topic (we will tackle that in a bit). Right now, let’s just discuss Christian debt settlement companies and how they compare to the other guys.

Typical Christian Debt Consolidation Encounter

Your typical encounter with one may go something like this…

1. You do a search

Even a general search for something like “debt consolidation” or “debt settlement” may show ads geared towards Christians. However if you throw the word “Christian” in there, then it’s almost guaranteed you will see several of these companies at the top. The organic results will also be similar.

Here’s an actual example of a search I did, with the company names and URLs blocked out:

If you want help with your debt according to biblical principles, results such as these sound like they might be promising, right?

Note: The examples I discuss below are not the same websites/companies pictured above. This is intentional, in order to protect Bob from being bullied by a specific company (that’s why I’m keeping every example in this article anonymous).

2. You click on one.

So you go ahead and click on whichever one you fancy. When you do that, here’s what you usually [but not always] will encounter:

From an advertised site – If you click on one of the sponsored results, you are usually taken to a one-page pitch for the service. This typically consists of a form for submitting your contact info, along with some basic information and bullet points to convince you to get a “risk-free no obligation quote.” Other than having the word “Christian” once or twice on the page, along with an image of a dove or brief piece of scripture, there may be little to no mention of what makes them different from others in the field.

From a natural ranking – The naturally ranked websites near the top tend to have more beef. By that, I mean more text describing how debt consolidation works. There may be more religious emphasis intertwined – but ironically – sometimes the more that is said, the worse it can sound. For example with one company, the homepage featured this verse:

I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.

Somehow, the site was trying to connect that verse to the path of living debt free. Using it in that context just doesn’t make sense; we all know what that verse is in reference to and it has nothing to do with debt. Worse yet, they cited it as being Matthew 21:1-4 (that story is in Luke 21:1-4 and Mark 12:41-44).

3. You contact one.

Perhaps you submit your information via the contact form or you call the 800 number. Either way, you will be in touch with someone to discuss your circumstances.

While I don’t have any personal experience with debt negotiation myself – for the purpose of writing this – I tried checking with a few self-proclaimed Christian services to find out what differentiates them. Each time, I hit a dead-end road.

Are They Really Christian?

Rather than answering that question myself, I will let you decide. However there’s no denying that a number of the debt help websites out there which market themselves as “Christian” are at the very least being misleading, to put it nicely.

• By researching websites’ WhoIs data, mailing addresses, business entity records and more, I came across companies which merely were operating a multitude of different sites, each geared towards a specific demographic. For example, in addition to their so-called Christian site, the same company might have a similar debt help site for general audiences, one for people living in Michigan, one for credit card debt, one for hospital debt, and so on.
• While it’s true every business is bound to have some unhappy customers, do a Google search for reviews of Christian debt consolidation companies and some of the alleged pattern complaints regarding some companies are alarming, to say the least.
• Many companies in this field (Christian or otherwise) operate as non-profit entities for tax purposes and probably marketing cachet. This in and of itself doesn’t necessarily mean that company is ethical. Just like how the president of an unscrupulous charity can legally take home a monster paycheck, the same holds true for these companies, too. Furthermore this article by a practicing attorney and former judge claims that “a debt settlement company NPO is a “perversion” of legitimate NPOs.”

What Should You Do?

Although the troubling traits I’ve discussed appear to be common in this industry, that’s not to say there aren’t exceptions. There may very well be legitimate and respectable Christian-focused assistance out there to help you with your debt problems. The purpose of this article is not to make a blanket statement. Rather, my goal is to demonstrate that there are snakes in the grass, playing the Jesus card to get your money. As a Christian, you need to be wary and do your research.

Now going back to what I said at the start… are you sure settlement or consolidation is even the right choice for you? Bob has some excellent articles up which I would recommend you check out first:

• Is Debt Consolidation a Good Idea?
• Bankruptcy And The Bible (also discusses debt consolidation)
• How To Get Out of Debt (7 part series)

This article is a guest post by Michael – a financial blogger by accident. He started Credit Card Forum in 2008 as a hobby, but after getting laid off, it morphed into his full-time job. While most of his time is spent obsessing over credit card rewards, he does love to surf whenever he gets the chance (and living in SoCal helps make that possible). You can read more about him here and find him on Twitter and Facebook.

Debt stress image from Shutterstock

Related Articles:

• Is Debt Consolidation a good idea?
• How to negotiate with credit card companies – GS5
• Debt Reduction Carnival
• Resources and ways to cut your debt load

This article was written by a Guest Author. If you would like to write a guest post for our personal finance blog, you can find out how here.

You’ve probably heard about diversifying your investments. But have you heard much about diversifying your income?

Probably not.

Sometimes the key to financial stability is not to land one job – but several! Here are 7 part-time jobs anyone can start. Oh, and did I mention some of these have benefits beyond the wages?

For the last few years I’ve held two jobs simultaneously. This gives me a level of freedom that keeps the door open to further pursue one job or the other. But lately I’ve found that diversifying my income has many benefits and keeping two jobs at the same time might be something others should actively seek.

That’s one reason I wrote this article. Today I want to challenge you to reach out and explore other opportunities. What can you do part time to maximize your income while broadening your horizons? Here are some ideas.

1. Blogging

Yes, you can make money blogging. There are several blogs hiring right now if you know where to look! Check out Problogger’s Job Board for a few jobs that are available right now. As a blogger myself, I know that I’m always looking for new contributors for my website. You can get paid doing this. Believe it!

2. Starbucks

Mmm, smell that coffee? If you’re a Starbucks fan, you might be the perfect candidate for becoming a Starbucks barista. I’ve heard through the grapevine that they offer their employees a full pound of coffee every week.

Not only that, they’ll pitch in a full insurance package complete with medical, dental, life, and disability. That simply rocks. You’ll be hard pressed to find other part-time jobs that offer as many benefits as Starbucks.

3. UPS

The United Parcel Service offers seasonal work and year round jobs. They offer full benefits for part-time employees. Going to school? UPS offers tuition assistance to those looking to further their education. Not bad at all!

4. REI

If you’re a fitness or outdoorsy kind of person, you might want to consider working at REI. They offer incentive pay when the store or department hits sales goals and provide healthcare to employees working even less than 20 hours per week! Now that’s a deal.

5. Barnes & Noble

I don’t know about you, but I’m a book worm. I love reading! If you’re the same way, Barnes & Noble might be a store you’d like to work at. They offer part-time jobs and paid vacation time to part-time (as well as full-time) employees.

You might even want to consider their 401(k) savings plan . . . especially if you’re working on Dave’s 4th Baby Step.

6. Target

What do you think about having comprehensive benefits? I’m talking about health, wealth, protection (insurance), time, and well-being benefits? You get all this and more.

One nice perk is that your in-store employee discount will also shave off dollars from what you’ll have to pay for prescription medications. Bonus!

7. You, Inc.

What if you could create your own part-time job? What if you didn’t have to settle for a job at a company that’s already been founded?

The truth is you can escape the rat race.

Are you an entrepreneur? You can be one. Think about your favorite hobbies – what hobbies can you turn into cash? Start by taking what you enjoy and monetize it.

The truth is, we all work for ourselves. Whether we are working as our own managers or working for a company, it all comes down to personal responsibility. We need to be responsible for the jobs we hold, ensuring that we enjoy our work and do what we enjoy. We have the added responsibility to make sure we do a good job – do what the job trained us to do.

What part-time work are you seeking? How has a part-time job benefited your life? Let’s talk – meet us in the comments!

Jobs ad image from Shutterstock

Related Articles:

• Pros And Cons Of Getting a Part-Time Job
• 7 Side Jobs I’ve Done to Increase My Income
• 15 Jobs for Making Money While in College
• 3 Ways to Make Money: By Time, Task, or Potential

John Frainee is a personal finance writer at TheChristianDollar.com. His goal is to provide biblical financial principles that encourage people to live healthier lives. Beyond personal finance, John enjoys spending time with his wife and two crazy cats, playing a competitive game of Monopoly, and reading just about anything he can get his hands on. You can also find him on Twitter and Facebook.

If you’ve been investing your money for some time—or at least studying up on the subject—you’re no doubt aware of the importance of diversification. The purpose of diversification is to reduce the risk inherent in investing, which improves investment performance (by minimizing losses) in the long term. Coming up with the right diversification formula then seems like a critical component of any investment plan.

And it is. But the open question is, which formula? No one claims that investment diversification is an exact science, but there are at least a couple of models that have become so common that they’re assumed to be winners.

Fixed allocation. In this model you set a specific allocation, say 60% stocks, 30% bonds, 10% cash, and keep it no matter what happens. Through bull markets and bear markets, you stay faithful to the diversification plan, rebalancing periodically to make sure that you don’t become “overweight” in any one investment class. The advantage of a set allocation is that it imposes discipline on your investment habits in that you’re much less likely to make investment decisions based on emotional factors.

Stock allocations should be in inverse proportion to your age. This one is even more common. Simply put, the younger you are, the higher the percentage of your investments that are committed to stocks, the older you are, the less you should have in stocks. Under this model, a 25 year old might commit 80%-90% of his portfolio to stocks, while a 70 year old might allocate only 30%. The theory is that the younger investor, having a longer time horizon, has more time to overcome investment reversals.

Though some combination of the two is typical, the problem with both models is that they’re extremely general and may not adequately address market conditions or personal circumstances. There are factors that must be built into any diversification plan that may require ongoing flexibility.

Market conditions

One of the problems with fixed allocations is that they don’t adjust for market conditions. A 75% stock allocation may be too risky in a market that’s doubled in the past two years. Conversely, a 25% stock position may be unnecessarily conservative in a market that has fallen 50% in the same time frame. How do you invest safely?

While it makes sense to maintain at least some investment in stocks regardless of market level or direction, there are times when higher or lower allocations are the order of the day. One of the most fundamental rules of stock market investing is “buy low, sell high”. You need to have the flexibility to buy when stocks are cheap, and begin selling when they aren’t. Fixed allocations remove this option.

Still another market factor is the performance of non-risk alternatives, like bonds and cash. A low interest rate environment will make bonds and cash pure capital preservation assets, rather than sources of reliable investment returns. In such an environment, stocks become more attractive, at least until the rate picture reverses.

Inflation is another market factor that can make stocks more attractive than fixed investments, since bonds in particular fare especially poorly in inflationary periods. Inflation might also necessitate taking positions in real estate or commodities, which will add another layer to the diversification mix.

Risk tolerance

Age inverse allocations are based solely on a single factor, which is of course your age. However personal risk tolerance is at least as important. A 30 year old who’s risk adverse may not be at all comfortable holding 75% of her money in stocks, while a 75 year old may be more than willing. Neither investor should completely ignore age as an investment criteria, but appetite for risk—or the lack of it—is at least as important.

Personal financial circumstances

How you allocate your investment mix has as much to do with personal financial circumstances as any other factor. If you’re well employed in a very stable field, and/or if you have substantial assets overall, you may be willing and able to take on a greater level of risk than the average investor.

If however you work in a field where layoffs are frequent, you have a relatively small investment portfolio or you’re carrying substantial debt, you need to be more conservative with your investments. Any personal financial circumstances that might predictably require the liquidation of investments within the next year or two should automatically limit you to non-risk investments.

As much as we might long for a single diversification model that will bring us something close to guaranteed investment success with minimum input, the reality is that no such model exists. Circumstances change and we need to adjust as they do.

Perhaps investing is just like the rest of life—inherently uncertain. The Bible addresses the issue of certainty in the book of James:

…you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow … Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that. —James 4:13-15

So back to the question in the title, is there a magic formula? Adequate, yes; magic, absolutely not. And guaranteed? Never!

How do you handle investment diversification? Is there a model that you think has the potential to be successful over the long term? Meet us in the comments!

Allocations image from Shutterstock

Related Articles:

• Diversification strategy from the Bible
• 5 Fundamentals for 401k Investing
• What Is The Best Investment For My Money During These Economic Times?
• 3 keys to safe and successful investing

With backgrounds in both accounting and the mortgage industry, Kevin Mercadante is professional personal finance blogger, and the owner of OutOfYourRut.com, a website about careers, business ideas, money and more. A committed Christian, he lives in Atlanta with his wife and two teenage kids.