Sometimes the best way to save money is to change your habits.  This week Get Rich Slowly explains How to Change Your Spending Habits.

This week Consumerism Commentary explains why Investing for Dividend Income: Not All That Passive.

Wise Bread gave some unusual advice with the post on how you can Cancel Student Loans to Save – And Receive an Interest-Free 120-Day Loan.

If you’re planning for your retirement, you’ll want to read this article by Free Money Finance that list the Five Expenses You Won’t Have in Retirement.

Credit card fraud will always be around but this week Five Cent Nickle focuses on Credit Card Fraud Protection Annoyances.

Facebook’s IPO has been making the news this week and Bargaineering wants to share the 5 Lessons I Learned from the Facebook IPO.

This week Mint Life provided some Consumer IQ: Over a Barrel: 5 Tips to Avoiding the Money Trap.  You’ll definitely want to read this one.

Healthcare costs are always on the rise.  Money Ning discusses 3 Ways to Save Money on Healthcare Expenses.

This week Free From Broke explains why Good High Yield Dividend Stocks Are Better Alternative to Bonds Today.

Related posts:

1. Weekly Common Cents
2. Weekly Common Cents
3. Weekly Common Cents

Weekly Common Cents originally appeared on StupidCents on May 25, 2012.

It’s not just your own images that you have to be worried about, though. Your friends and others can put up images of you and tag them. So even if you don’t post pictures of the booze cruise you went on last week, someone else might tag you. There might be questionable pictures from years ago that you have forgotten about.

Using a Facebook Application to Get Rid of Tags

While the images will still be there, it’s possible to get rid of the tags, and do some damage control with the help of a Facebook application that helps you scour your profile for images that you are concerned about. Tag Tamer is designed to help you easily locate images tagged with your name, and then remove the tag. It shows the images of you with different friends at once, so you can select each of the images you want “tamed” and then do them at one time.

It still takes a little bit of time, but it might be an easy way to get to the bottom of the images that are tagged with your name. Another option, if you don’t want to share your information with yet another Facebook app, is to simply go into your Facebook profile. Under photos, you will be able to view photos of you. You can go through them, and remove your name from those that you think run the risk of hurting your professional image.

Whether you use an app to help you locate the images, or go through your images yourself, it’s not a bad idea to do what you can in terms of polishing your online image. If social media becomes a regular part of background checks and vetting, you will want to make sure that you aren’t coming off as too unprofessional in your social media profiles.

Don’t Forget Your Status Updates

It’s not just images that potential employers might look at. What you say online can also have an impact. Postings that encourage illegal behavior, trash talk former employers, share workplace gossip, or indicate bigotry, can all be grounds for choosing not to hire you.

Go through your Facebook timeline searching for comments that might be construed as inappropriate and delete them. You can also delete Twitter posts (which are searchable in Google). Sanitizing your social media profiles might not completely work, though. Sometimes, one of the best defenses is to make sure your profiles are private. It’s possible to protect tweets, your Facebook profile, and other social media profiles. However, no matter how hard you try to protect your profiles, there is always the chance that something gets out there.

As a result, the best policy might actually be to think before you post. Before you make a comment, or update something, ask yourself whether or not you might be better off not sharing it online.

Related posts:

1. What the Online SOPA Protests and Blackouts Achieved

Should You Tame Your Facebook Tags? originally appeared on StupidCents on May 23, 2012.

But starting a blog from scratch is a lot more work than most people would think.  You’re starting off with absolutely no audience.  No one knows you exist and no one is looking for you.  Despite what Field of Dreams would have you believe, people will not come just because you build it.

So many bloggers who have the capital to invest are taking a shortcut and buying an already established blog rather than starting one from scratch.  But before you go ahead and start buying virtual real estate, let’s take a look at some of the pros and cons to buying a blog.

Pros to Buying an Established Blog

You get a built in audience of engaged readers.  If the previous owner was doing things right you will already have a good number of Facebook fans, Twitter followers, and RSS subscribers.  That helps alleviate some of the frustration of churning out articles for a blog that no one knows about yet.

You get a head start on content creation.  Hopefully the blog comes complete with dozens or hundreds of articles and you just have to keep the momentum going.

The search engines are aware of you.  When you start a new blog, search engines like Google and Bing don’t even know you exist.  It takes time for them to find you and then learn to trust your content enough to rank you for various search terms.  Getting a head start on that process is a big plus.

Cons to Buying an Established Blog

Traffic could disappear the day after you buy it.  Recent Google updates known as Panda and Penguin have sent many sites to the bottom of the search engine rankings.  If you had just paid good money for a blog only to find its traffic slashed in half you will be experiencing serious buyer’s remorse.

Valuations bordering on the insane.  Bloggers love their blogs almost as much as they love their own children, and they place unrealistic prices on them.  An objective buyer doesn’t care about how many hours you spent tinkering with the header or trying to get the wording just right.  They only want to know how long it will take to get back their investment.

If you’re going to buy a blog you want to make sure it has a steady stream of income.  And not just any type of income.  You want it to be income that you can recreate.  That means that private advertising deals worked out by the previous owner are not worth much.

If you decide you want to buy an established blog make sure you do your due diligence and thoroughly go through their traffic and revenue reports.  And make sure you have a plan for it.  Ideally, if you want to earn money online, you’ll find an under-valued blog that just needs a little love and monetization help to turn it into a powerhouse.

Related posts:

1. Addicted to Buying Domain Names
2. Starting Work Towards a Major Website

Starting a New Blog vs Buying an Established Blog originally appeared on StupidCents on May 21, 2012.

Unemployment is still high and that’s why Bargaineering wants to make sure you know, Do You Qualify for Unemployment Benefits?

If you’re still in the midst of spring cleaning, you’ll want to read this post by WiseBread that lists 10 Ways to Get Rid of Stuff Frugally.

The Canadian Finance Blog posted a great guest article this week that looks back into The Green Ages: Life Before Credit Cards.

This week the Free Money Finance blog wants to check in with you by asking, How is Your Emergency Fund Doing?

Everyone loves a bargain but Mint Life wants to make sure you know the Things You Should Never Buy Used.

If you’ve decided to try the stay-at-home vacation this summer, you’ll like this post by Money Ning that shares 5 Steps to a Fantastic Stay at Home Vacation.

Moving costs can be overwhelming but this week the Frugal Dad discussed How to Save Money on Moving.

Many of us have cancelled credit cards but Digerati Life wrote about What to Consider Before You Cancel Your Credit Cards.

This week Free From Broke talked about the touchy subject, Is Social Security Really a Retirement Plan?

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Weekly Common Cents originally appeared on StupidCents on May 18, 2012.

These contact-less payments are meant to make it easier for consumers to pay, even at brick and mortar locations. Convenience is the key, and it might even lead to more spending. According to a recent study of contact-less payments by MasterCardAdvisors indicates that those who don’t have to swipe spend almost 30% more than someone who has to swipe. The ease of payment means that it’s easier to spend more money.

Could this Mean More Spending and Debt?

For card issuers, this is great news. The MasterCard study divided spenders into three groups: low, medium, and high. However, it didn’t matter which group the user was in; there was a lift in spending across all groups. There have already been studies that indicate that consumers spend more money when they are using cards as opposed to counting out cash at the register. Psychologically, it seems less painful to swipe a card than to count out the cash and physically see what you are spending.

And, from this most recent study, it appears that it might be even easier to just wave a form of payment in the direction of a terminal and then forget about the charge. Convenience plays a role in our spending decisions, and it looks as though we are willing to spend more if it’s more convenient to pay for it.

Consumers, of course, could find themselves spending more money and even getting into debt. Increased spending can mean fewer financial resources going to pay off debt or save up. The encouragement to spend is a prime motive for card issuers and retailers alike. The next evolution in payment technology could be a push toward increased spending by consumers. For those who don’t track their spending very well, this could also lead to an increase in debt.

Pay Attention to Your Spending

In the end, though, you are responsible for your own spending habits. Even though there are marketers and others trying to increase your purchase rate, it doesn’t mean you have to play along. Make sure you pay attention to your spending. Record each transaction in a personal finance application, or in a paper ledger. Either way, making a record of your transactions can help you spot spending patterns, and help you recognize how much you are spending — and what you are spending it on. This is important knowledge if you want to avoid going into debt. Watch your spending, and stick to a financial plan, and the type of payment method you use won’t matter as much.

Related posts:

1. Where to Put Money You Are Saving For a Down Payment
2. Set Your Spending Priorities
3. It’s Cold: Eliminate Credit Card Debt with a Snowball

Could Easier Payment Methods Lead to More Spending and Debt? originally appeared on StupidCents on May 16, 2012.