There are arguably two major purchases that a 20-something will make: real estate and a car. Many of you reading this are in the car buying market and would love to know how-to buy a car.

This is a guest post from Crystal of Budgeting in the Fun Stuff: an open financial diary. It’s a blog created for those in the next step– financially stable but not enough to do absolutely everything.

I work with car dealers as part of my job. I see the deals from both sides. Salesmen are not evil, but they are out for your money. Here’s how you can apply some of my car buying tips and learn how-to buy a car.

Negotiate Everything!

Did you know that absolutely EVERYTHING is negotiable? The price is the largest obvious haggling point, and if you plan to pay in cash that may be all you need to know. Have a price in mind before entering the dealership so you don’t get blind-sided by a few different sales techniques. I like Kelley Blue Book’’s valuations and will only pay that price or less.*

Negotiate the interest rate & more…

For everybody who needs to use financing (myself included until our car account is bigger), you can usually negotiate on the interest rate, the cost of warranties, the cost of insurance policies, and the cost of dealer add-ons. To be completely honest, I have never purchased an extended warranty, insurance policy (except GAP at a bargain price), or dealer adds, BUT some people swear by them, so I want you to know that they are also haggle worthy.

The interest rate is the big one. If you qualify for the manufacturer specials – like 0% for 36 months, 2.9% for 60 months, etc – those cannot usually be beat. Period. Take them if you can get them if you were going to finance your car anyway. Check around for other bank rates and credit unions if you want assurances.

But, if you are buying a used vehicle, don’t qualify for the special rates, or there are no special rates being advertised for the vehicle you are buying (check manufacturer websites), then you can and should negotiate down your interest rate. Simply check what rates you’d be qualified for from other banks or credit unions before you go to the dealer. If you know a credit union will give you a 5% loan, then you know that you want a loan for 5% or less from the dealer, right? If the finance guy offers you 7% and says that’s the best he can do, ask if he’s sure since you won’t sign the deal at that rate. He’ll either find a better rate with a different bank that the dealer uses or will stand pat. If he refuses to budge, calmly leave and come back with your own financing later. If you rather get pre-approved for a loan, that would work too…I usually don’t spend the time on that unless it’s necessary. It will save you hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars to simply work for the best rate possible.

Use the same language when discussing the rest. For a GAP policy, don’t pay more than a total of 4% of the price of the car. That’s a standard rate for a policy that will cover the negative equity of your vehicle if it’s smashed or stolen.

Let’s talk extended warranty

If you want an extended warranty, I’d check online before going to the dealer. You can usually get one for $1000- $2000 depending on the vehicle, so use that knowledge when discussing prices.

Knowledge is power

Know what you want, how much you are willing to pay, what interest rate you can get, and what options you want before you ever set foot in a car dealership. Never give them the numbers you know…that would just make it easy for them to beat them by just a few dollars. If you want the best deal possible, keep your numbers to yourself and keep saying that you would need better in order for this deal to happen. When they finally stand pat after prodding, you can decide whether that’s a deal you are comfortable with or not. *

Watch out for the paperwork!

Please remember to read all of the paperwork before signing. The retail installment contract is the most important piece of paper you sign since that is your legal deal. Read it carefully, make sure you understand the numbers, and feel free to ask if something looks hinky. Hinky is to be expected, so read carefully and work the numbers for yourself (I actually bring a calculator with me).

Looking to sell your car?

I’ve bought two cars in the last 5 years and have gotten fair deals. I’ve followed my own advice and NEVER traded in my old cars. You’ll get a way better deal by using Craigslist 99% of the time. Look up what you could sell it for yourself before leaving the house…it’s easy to say no when you know you can do better.*

Doesn’t this make you want to buy your next car with cash? Yeah, me too. Hope this helps and good luck!

I had a satirical piece on how to get rich quick up here a few months ago. I found that most of the readers enjoyed the article. Well something really funny happened recently in regards to the topic of getting rich quick. The other day I received an email from an affiliate manager for one of these scams. Yes- really! After exchanging a few emails I was completely shocked. Imagine me being an affiliate of a how to get rich quick scheme? I would get upset by the email normally, but I honestly found it more humorous than anything.

So let’s talk about how to get rich quick… Again! This time I wanted to take a different stance on the make money fast topic. Let’s look at how can you tell if it’s a get rich quick scam:

There’s no freakin’ details.

Okay I can make lots of money fast. Show some examples. Cool. When are you going to tell me how to make the money? Where are the details? How will I get paid? Who will pay me these thousands of dollars? These long page ads and affiliate emails literally have no details about how you will actually make money. They simply inundate you with dreams and hopes of making a fortune with minimal effort. If you ever get a email that discusses making money, with absolutely no details, be careful because it’s more than likely a big fat scam.

The phrase “get rich quick” is used.

If I worked for a “get rich quick” company I would definitely NOT use that same term over and over again. I know that it’s a catchy attention grabber,  but can they not think of something more clever or less scammy? That phrase is an instant giveaway that it’s a scam. Some times I’ll read the long page ad just to see what kind of clever marketing strategy they’re trying to use this time. But I will never ever send them $50 for entry into their program that could make me “thousands in days.”

It’s easy to apply.

Really? How easy can it be? You can easily get rich quick by winning the lottery, but how easy is it? I would like to think that if I were to make lots of money that it’s due to something I did right. Not some really easy way that thousands of other supposed people have used to make money fast. As soon as I see the words “get rich quick” together, I get very tempted to just close the window. I don’t want some program that’s easy to apply to and dying to let people in. Why would anyone want to share those kind of secrets with complete strangers on the internet?

If you really want to follow down this path then you should check out some of the consequences of making money fast. If you perhaps are simply interested in finding legitimate work from home jobs, you should check out my guest post at The Digerati Life.

Ambitious 20-somethings are always looking to find the best return on their money. This leads to a few important questions: What is the best online bank account?  Where can I do the best online banking? Many long time readers of Studenomics have asked that I try to squeeze in a few investing and entrepreneurship posts here and there. Since I’m really interested in trying to grow the little savings that I have, I decided to do some research on the best online banks and the products they have to offer us.

Online bank accounts:

The following are some of the most popular high yield savings account choices that we have at online banks. If you want the best return on your money, while it remains safe, then consider the following options:

Everbank

The EverBank Yield Pledge Money Market Account yields a 2.51% APY for the first 3 months once you open a new account. After this, you will earn an APY of 1.51% in your first year. This is for the more serious investors because an initial deposit of $1,500 is required. The plus side is that you won’t have to pay any fees.

ING Direct

The Electric Orange Account is presently yielding .25% — 1.45%. From all of the best online banks, ING is probably the most useful for new investors (in my opinion of course). There is no minimum and no account fees. How can you go wrong? Well the interest rates flat out suck. Besides that you really can’t go wrong. Check here to sign up or you can check out my ING Direct Review.

Ally Bank

The Ally Bank Online Savings Account is currently yielding an APY of 1.39%. Ally Bank is a fairly new online bank account with no minimum balance, no monthly fees, and daily compounding. Click here if you want to learn more.

WT Direct

The WTDirect Savings Account will now give you a 1.26% APY. Here’s the deal with this savings account: The first 60 days you’re guaranteed to earn 1.26%. Once the 60 days are up, you’ll have to maintain a balance of 10 grand to keep the 1.26% rate. If you don’t maintain the balance then your APY will be decreased to 0.50%. Once again, there are no fees or hidden costs. Click here to open an account.

These are the top online bank accounts from the research that I’ve been doing for the past few years. Now it’s time to look into what it takes to become the best online bank account:

1. Safe & reliable.

All of the best online bank accounts mentioned above are FDIC insured. I must admit that I’ve dabbled in other investments, but high yield online savings accounts have provided me with the safest returns. If you don’t want to be taking too many chances after the economic downturn of late-2008 then you should hold your money where it’s safe.

2. High interest rates.

I know that rates have dropped in the past few years. There’s nothing we can do about this. Well, that’s unless we want to take on some risk and invest in real estate or the stock market. The interest rates offered with online bank accounts surely defeat a standard checking account or keeping the money under your pillow.

3. Customer service.

Customer service? You know the process of answering the phone right away and answering all of my questions with respect and courtesy. That’s all I ask for from my customer service. Unfortunately, I don’t have much else to add to the customer service bit because I’ve been fortunate enough to not have to deal with any customer service reps. when it comes to online bank accounts.

Where do you think you can find the best online banking? What criteria do you use to rate online savings accounts?

(Note: I will be discussing entrepreneurship, banking, and investing, more as time goes on. Feel free to request a topic similar to how your peers have.)

Today Adam Baker has finally launched his eBook: Unautomate Your Finances.

I was going to do a full review but I simply don’t know how to review this project. My thoughts on the eBook could be summarized into two key points (positive & negative):

1. Baker’s passion for finances transcends into phenomenal writing and quality advice on reducing debt and dealing with money. The tips, procedures, and theory are really interesting and well-worded. I’m always up for shifting how I see things and how my mind views certain beliefs.

2. There’s parts that I didn’t enjoy at all (anti-credit card stance & lack of discussion on investing) but that’s because I’m at a different financial stage. I’ve really been interested in leaning more about investing and earning more as of late, so that definitely altered my opinion.

What do you get with the eBook?

An 83-page, 25,000 word ebook with three clear segments on the Unautomation Theory, The Science of Unautomation, and Applying Unautomation.

A 27-minute video interview with Leo Babauta of ZenHabits.

A 29-minute audio interview with J.D. Roth of GetRichSlowly

A 2-page PDF budgeting template.

A minimalist Excel budgeting template.

Now the big question: Is it worth the money?

Yes and no. This is not a resource for young investors. However, it IS the ultimate resource to setting you on the right financial path for the rest of your life. It will change the way you view automation and other popular personal finance topics. It’s a solid read with some cool little bonuses to make it worth your time and your money.

Today Brian of My Next Buck and I are debating a never ending discussion in the personal finance realm: Should you pay for your kids’ college education?

My situation is/was fairly unique. Living in a big city, I had many options for education after high school. I decided to stay at home, work full-time, and attend a Community College before I moved on to a bigger University. While I did receive some financial assistance from my parents (plus free rent/place to eat) I’ve had to cover most of the costs of college on my own. I’m not complaining and I surely don’t regret it. However, I do believe that parents shouldn’t be responsible for paying for their kid’s college education. Once you read my side of the argument, make sure that you check out reasons why parents should pay for their kids’ college education.

Why Not — For Parents:

You can take loans for college but not for retirement.

Despite the benefits of a 529 plan, this is money you could be contributing to your Roth IRA or other retirement investment vehicle. As selfish as it may sound, do you really want to delay your retirement by 5 years to help pay for college? Think of the opportunity cost. With the phenomenon of compound interest on your side, you can do wonders for your retirement accounts.

It will promote them to work harder academically.

If you know that the cost of college is your responsibility, you’re more likely to work your butt off in high school to boost your grades. Higher grades result in more academic scholarship opportunities. Lower grades mean you pay more for college. If your kid takes school seriously, you know that they’ll do whatever it takes to get the grades that save them the most money.

It promotes responsibility.

Instead of turning 24 and realizing that it’s time to get “responsible” your kid will realize this at 18. There’s far too many stories of people in their mid-20s that still live at home and act like a teenager. You want your child to understand the value of actually working hard for something and what it feels like to pay the bills at an early age. Do you really want to deal with a spoiled 28 year old that has it too good at home to ever leave?

Why Not — For College Students:

Creates a false sense of security.

News flash: Once you’re done college and in the real world, you’re completely on your own. Nobody will ever hand you 20 grand a year (or any other astronomical number) a year, for 4 years straight. It’s just not going to happen. Being able to watch old episodes of Seinfeld and Saved By The Bell 7 hours straight, won’t be an option once you got to pay rent.

Instills a sense of laziness.

Let’s be honest, adversity creates opportunity. Sure there’s the fractional chance that your kid could become a drug dealer or stripper if you don’t pay for their college, but then you have bigger problems. Having more free time doesn’t exactly equate to more study time. I know that college is a good chance to get out, meet people, and party. Who’s stopping you from doing this on your days off or after work? And believe me, there’s nothing like going out for drinks or on a trip after knowing that you worked for it and best of all- you deserve it.

Working in college is a great way to meet people.

Say what you want about the actual process of working, but a job is an excellent opportunity to meet new people and get more social. By working you’ll have the chance to meet other college students in the same boat and you’ve got the potential of networking with older folks. I’ve gone on plenty of trips and nights out on the town with friends that I’ve met through work. Plus, even if you don’t hit if off with any of your co-workers, at least you can complain about having to work together.

At the end of the day, I’m a firm believer of working hard and partying harder. Parents should NOT have to stress about paying for their kid’s college tuition if they can’t. This doesn’t meant that parents shouldn’t help out. It just means that parents shouldn’t feel obligated to go into debt or delay retirement to help out their kids.

Help From Twitter: Why should parents NOT pay for their kid’s college education?

@MoneyMateKate: b/c you never fully value something that’s given to you for free. I never cut class b/c I worked for every penny of tuition.

@ErizaBiz: So the kid can learn financial education at a young age.

@ExtremeJacob: The same reason they shouldn’t pay for travel soccer.

(Note: Don’t give me no BS about how if you don’t pay your kid’s college education that they might turn to illegal activities. Plenty of rich kids get into this as well.)

What do you guys think? Should parents pay for their kids’ college education? Should parents help out? or Should the college student get off their butt and get a job?

Don’t forget to check out reasons why parents should pay for their kids’ college education.

We’re back with another work-work link roundup. I’m pretty excited about the progress that I’ve been making with some blog posts, projects, and general ideas. As always, stay tuned!

On another front- what do you guys think about an exclusive Studenomics newsletter? I’ll be dropping more info as time goes on, but I just want you to think about that for now.

I hate to make excuses, but since I’m short on time (blog posts, school, work, and you know- life) so I will just throw out the best posts from the past week for you guys.

Monday:

Matt Jabs @ Debt Free Adventure showed us how much his debt costs him.

Tuesday:

Jeff Rose @ GFC shared some tips on how to become a successful financial advisor.
The Wisdom Journal gave us 101 common money myths.

Wednesday:

Squawk Fox presented us with help on how to make a budget.

Thursday:

College Candy provided secrets to getting the dream internship.

Friday:

Financial Samurai told us how sometimes saving money is about principle.

Other carnivals:

Festival of Frugality: The Ration Book Edition
Carnival of Personal Finance: March is the Month for Edition
Best of Money Carnival: Snurricane Edition
Carnival of Debt Reduction

The following is a guest post by Kevin Fleming. Kevin runs CreditShout, a personal finance blog dedicated to educating people on how to manage their finances and save money with credit cards.

The first step towards avoiding fees is knowing what the most common charges are and how to avoid them. The most common credit card fees include:

Annual Fees: Some cards will charge you a fee just for being a customer. Unless the rewards program is amazing and you actually spend enough to benefit from the program in more than the amount of the fee, avoid these cards at all cost. There are plenty of cards that don’t charge you a fee just for being a customer, so shop for one of those options instead.

Monthly Service Fees: Some cards claim to have no annual fee but the fact that there is a monthly service charge or minimum monthly finance charge may be hidden somewhere in the fine print. Check the credit card terms and conditions carefully for any mention of “minimum finance fee” or “service charge.” If you aren’t sure whether the card you are considering has this charge, give the credit card company a call and ask.

Over-the-Limit Fees: Once you have your credit card, the potential for fees doesn’t end. Creditors, instead of declining your card, will charge you an over-the-limit fee. This fee can be anywhere from a few dollars up close to $50 depending on the terms and conditions of the card. Even a few dollars over the limit can trigger the charge, and some cards will charge you multiple times if you continue to use the card once you have exceeded your limit. Avoid this fee by keeping careful track of your credit balance. Check your statement regularly and/or take a peek at your balance online or by calling the 800 number on the back of the card before you make a purchase. Better yet, keep your credit balance low so you don’t even get close to the limit. If you do make a minor slip-up and go a few dollars over, you may want to give your credit card company a call and ask if they’ll waive the fee. They may be willing to do this as a courtesy for long-time customers.

Late Fees: Late fees are charged if you don’t have your payment in on time. Some companies give you a grace period, while others charge if you pay at 4:02 when your payment was due at 4:00 PM. Make sure you find out the exact rules for your credit card company: when does the money have to be in, whether the money has to be postmarked or actually cleared, and what grace period is offered are all important questions. While late fees can be painful at up to $50, they can also cause you bigger problems if the late payment shows up on your credit report or if a late payment causes your card to default to a higher penalty interest rate.

Worse, some creditors will hike up your card’s rate if you have a late payment on any card you have listed on your credit report, even if they aren’t the card issuer (although new laws may change the legality of this course of action and put an end to the practice). To avoid this charge, make sure you check your payment date each month since some credit card companies will alter the date the payment is due on occasion. Pay as early as you can- two weeks in advance or as soon as your statement is issued if possible- in order to avoid any chance of incurring a fee. If you want to be truly paranoid, make a payment from your bank account as soon as you make a purchase on your credit card, paying off the charge before it even shows up on your credit balance. You’ll still get the credit card points, but will  never carry a balance or have a risk of a payment being late again.

Balance Transfer and Cash Advance Fees: Read your card’s terms and conditions carefully before taking a balance transfer or cash advance. Both practices usually charge fees starting with at least 3 percent of the total balance due (although they can be even higher, especially for cash advances). Some credit card companies will cap the fee at a set amount, although this is more rare in a climate where there is a credit crunch, and usually you are charged the full fee on the whole amount. If you want to take advantage of a balance transfer offer, it is unlikely you will be able to completely avoid this fee, but shop around for the best balance transfer cards and make sure that the transfer still makes sense and will save you money in light of paying the fees. You can also call a credit card company who has sent you a balance transfer offer and ask if they would be willing to waive or cap the fee. They may say no, but it’s worth the effort to inquire. Remember, too, not to confuse a balance transfer and a cash advance. While balance transfer offers can sometimes come in the form of convenience checks that essentially put cash into your bank account, a cash advance is different than a balance transfer and the fees and interest rate are usually considerably higher.

In general, the best way to avoid any credit card fees is to practice responsible borrowing behavior, Don’t carry a balance, don’t charge your cards up to their limits, and don’t build up large balances that need to be transferred. It’s also very important that you have a good card to begin with (check out our list of the best credit cards 2010). Your aim should be to take advantage of the rewards that credit cards offer you, without lining the pockets of creditors with money paid in fees.

Follow your passions and the money will follow.

A real feel good quote. The kind of quote that makes you want to quit your job and start watching footballs games all day. The kind of quote that will make you rich– actually, not really. I really don’t like that quote to be honest. It’s too ambiguous and too scammy in my opinion. I need something more concrete to get me motivated. But nonetheless, the topic of following your passions to make lots of money is one that I would love to discuss today.

Considering I’m not one of the lucky few that are following their passions to earn a decent living, I decided I would search around the net for additional advice on following your passions to make lots of money (or a decent living at least).

Gary Vaynerchuk (the guy who probably eats, sleeps, and breathes passion) described the connection between following your passions and making money, the most effectively:

If you enter a niche because you’re following the dollars, you won’t keep it up. It’s too much work, and you will get tired and frustrated and you will eventually fold. You have to think about building your brand in terms of a marathon, not a sprint. It will take longer to see results, but in seven of fifteen years you won’t crack, you’ll still love what you’re doing.

On the flip side, Naomi Dunford of IttyBiz via the following your passion blogger roundup had the following to say on the topic of money vs. passion:

This might make me the bad guy, but I don’t believe that passion inherently begets money. I believe that passion makes it far easier to navigate the hurdles that come between you and money. The mountain standing in your way is a lot easier to climb when you’re passionate. If you’re not passionate you look at the mountain, realize how big it is, say “Screw it, I don’t give a shit anymore,” and then tell your friends and family that the mountain was too high. Uh, no.

Where do I stand?

I think that you should follow your passion if the passion itself has a decent following and there is a way to monetize this passion. It is what it is. There has to be a way to make money in the particular niche. You can’t blindly chase fields that won’t pay you. We all need to survive financially.

In turn, this leads to the million dollar question: how do you figure out if the market you want to enter can allow you to earn a decent living, while still following your passion?

(Stolen directly from “Career Renegade” by Jonathan Fields)

1. Differentiation. What’s so special about you? Can you do something different with your passion in the specific market? Can you change up a process and do it better? The key here is to find out if you can really do something different in the field of your passion. If you can’t, then it might be a bit tricky to earn a living.

2. Hunger. How bad do you want it? Are you willing to sacrifice? How bad do the others in the market want to be helped? Is there a problem that needs to be urgently solved?

It seems like these days many young wannabe entrepreneurs are dying for ways to figure out how to make money through blogging. As a result, people like Darren Rowse (he has 141k subscribers) and Brian Clark, are making a living by showing people how to make a living online. Yes you read that right. There’s people making money online by telling people how to make money online.

What problem can you solve?

3. Price availability. This is the most sensitive and critical aspect in my opinion. How are you going to make money? How will you price your products? This part is usually overlooked for reasons unknown to me.

So now let’s say you want to follow your passion for playing the guitar to make a living. Cool. You need to figure out how you will monetize this passion and how in the world you can earn enough money to the pay the rent. Perhaps you’re a social dude and you can give guitar lessons to guys that want to learn guitar to pick up girls (forgot where I read this)? Maybe you hate people and don’t enjoy collecting cash from people and you want to set up an interactive online subscription site? If you want something in between, you can think in terms of playing at weddings and other parties (free food & booze is always a good thing).

I can’t answer this for you, but from my research (yes I do research) it’s clear that pricing needs to be addressed before you join the “follow your passions to make a living” crew.

Do you have to be passionate to make lots of money?

That’s the thing. I really don’t think so. What about all of those folks that make over a 100 grand a year and hate their jobs? Sure they don’t fully enjoy their 9-5 but they have enough money to do whatever they want in their free time. They may not be happy at work but they’re surely happy when they go on a 5 star cruise or when they buy a brand new card. Apparently stress is a killer for these folks, but I wouldn’t know because I’m not one of them.

(Check out the curse of making too much money and not pursuing your dreams @ Financial Samurai. A very interesting story in regards to making lots of money at a job that you’re not passionate about.)

Can you sacrifice money for passion?

You definitely can. You can work on projects that drive you but don’t pay you even enough so that you can drive. Is it worth it? I can’t answer that for you. If you live at home and are decent with frugality, you really have nothing to lose. On the other hand, if you got a family to feed and bills to pay, the following your passions mantra is going to be pretty difficult to apply.

The main benefit of working on something you’re passionate about is that the worst-case ultimate end result is you just go back to work. If after many months or years, you feel that you can’t earn a decent living follow your passions, then you can always go back to work. As a 20-something that doesn’t sound all that bad, does it?

Key takeaway point: I have no clue! This is a discussion that I would definitely love to open up. What do you guys think? Do you need to passionate to make lots of money? Can you follow your passions to the path of prosperity? Or should you suck up the stress that comes with the high paying job?

P.S. Frugal Dad suggests that you do something you love before you have to do something for money.

Pay yourself first.

Solid personal finance advice. Advice that’s been preached by some of the most reputable personal finance bloggers and money management experts. It sounds nice and all, but I bet many 20-somethings are thinking: what’s pay yourself first all about? Why should I care about paying myself first?

How can you apply the pay yourself tactic and why should you bother?

Savings are neglected until it’s too late

It’s easy to say that you’ll go out/make a few purchases and then save the rest of your income as your paycheck day fades into the dust. The reality is that the extra cash in your checking account ends up getting spent long before you have the opportunity to save it or transfer it into another account of yours.

Screw paycheck to paycheck life

Living paycheck to paycheck creates way too much stress. If you save even $50 when your paycheck comes in, you’ll be on the right track and be slowly but surely getting ahead of your friends. The reason that many folks live paycheck to paycheck is because savings come last. Bills are paid, main expenses are covered, and then the entertainment comes in. The problem is that by the time the thought of saving money comes into play, it’s usually too late and the wait for the next paycheck begins. Don’t let this happen to you. Pay yourself first (even if it’s a minuscule amount, who cares).

It works

This really does work. This money saving strategy isn’t iffy or subjective at all. You save your set amount of cash first and then you spend money on whatever else you want to.

Okay enough hype. Time to get into the details…

How can you try it?

In my opinion, the only way that the pay yourself first tactic can work is if you have separate bank accounts. Keeping all of your money in one checking account will not work, trust me. The money needs to be as far away as possible from you. As soon as you receive your paycheck the goal is to set aside a specific amount for bills and to “pay yourself” a portion (I hate percentages and rules of thumbs) into either a separate savings account or any other investment vehicle that you use.

I personally prefer high interest online savings accounts (ING Direct or Smarty Pig). These online accounts create an automatic barrier- transfer time. If you have $100 in your checking account and your buddies call you to go to the strip club, you’ll go. If the money is locked up in your online savings account, you’re going to have to wait 3-5 days to access this money. Sorry strip club. Sorry buddies.

How much do you save?

This depends 100% on your income vs expenses. First thing you need to take care of is to ensure you’ll have enough cash on hand to pay your bills. If you have more expenses than income, you may have a slight problem. Then after you’re bills/expenses (i.e. cell phone, gym) are accounted for, you need to consciously plan how much money you want to save and how much you want to spend on yourself for the pay period. There will be times where you want to save everything because you don’t have anything coming up. There will also be times where you have many purchases coming up and you can only pay yourself first a small amount.

The key ingredients of the pay yourself first tactic are flexibility and conscious planning. You need to be flexible because your income vs expenses will always be shifting. There is no set amount that you can spend in a 1-2 week period because that’s just now how life works. You need to plan consciously because if you pay yourself first your whole paycheck, you’ll only lie to yourself and deprive yourself out of all of the fun in your life.

Give the pay yourself first tip a try. What do you have to lose? If you do try it or have tried it, then please share some thoughts with us below…

I can proudly say that I’ve improved my time management skills since I started blogging here at Studenomics. Unfortunately, I’m no where near the same universe as Timothy Ferriss or the 4-hour work week loyalists.

I’m sure that everyone reading this has read various effective time management tips. That’s not an issue. The issue is how well have you implemented these tips? I thought I was pretty decent with my time management, but then I learned that I’m a rookie to rookies.

While on vacation I figured it would be a great time to try out my time management skills, in terms of running Studenomics that is.

I set up a few of my posts and a few guest posts to be scheduled on specific days. Since I had very limited internet access (being away plus expensive internet costs really sucks) I knew that I had to make the most of my little time online.

My little time management experiment yielded some interesting results. Below are my findings from my time management experiment:

Time constraints force you to get shit done.

You ever notice how you get roughly the same amount of work done regardless if you have the whole day or a little bit of time during lunch? At least I do. There are days where between work and school, I only have a little bit of time before bed to dedicate to Studenomics. I find that I turn off the distractions and get straight to business. I get my work done and move on to the next task.

When I have the whole day to work on Studenomics or on my school work, I’ll spend most of it on pointless tasks. I’ll look over the course outline for useless information. I’ll start working out or cleaning the room. Sometimes I’ll just catch up on the latest episodes of The Office. Regardless, having a time constraint in place forces us to get our stuff done.

Lack of time isn’t the problem.

Of course we could all use more time. I would love to get 25 hours out of my day. The thing is that chances are we all do have enough time. We just don’t use this time properly. How much time do we really waste on non-essentials? I’m willing to bet that it’s more than any of us are willing to admit.

Aside: Check out How-to get 25 hours in a day @ Smart Passive Income.

Big & audacious tasks yield the greatest rewards.

You can spend all week planning a cool business name and working behind the scenes on your new business start up accounting system. What does this mean? Not much.

Big and audacious tasks (selling t-shirts with an amazing graphic design, offering the most interactive tutoring session, or reading the most important chapter for that final exam) will do more for us than some minor time-consuming task ever could.

You don’t believe me? Then try it. Instead of worrying about coming up with a cool name for your new tutoring service, focus on reaching out to potential clients and offering the best one-on-one sessions out there. You may have a LLC set up along with a flashy website but this doesn’t mean anything for the student that wants to pass their Organic Chemistry final.

What can you do?

If you run a side business-

Do something that adds value to your readers/clients. It’s all about them, not you. Do something to improve the service you offer them. Impress them with a little something extra. Stop worrying about minor details that nobody cares about. Why would a Studenomics reader care about my business name or Twitter updates? Readers care about my articles. The readers want high quality articles and some interaction, nothing else. Not a fancy business card or a highly SEO optimized blog post.

When it comes to school-

Get off Facebook if you have an exam coming up. Study alone if you and your friends only talk about weekend gossip. Turn your cellphone off when you’re trying to finish that assignment that’s due in the morning. At the end of the day we all know what we need to do and what can be avoided for the time being.  I know that one article on a blog won’t create a paradigm shift for you. At the most I hope that you guys think twice before wasting time when you know you got work to get done.

When it comes to life-

There is one question you have to ask yourself and I’m going to have to steal a quote from Tim Ferriss for this:

Am I being productive or just active?

After reading this quote I’ve gotten into the habit of repeating it when I find myself doing completely random stuff online (i.e. looking up useless stats). My little time management experiment showed me that I keep myself active so that I feel a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day. In reality I just took time away from the activities that I love doing in life just to keep myself busy.

Now I’m really curious, do you guys have any time management stories or tips to share?

BTW: I hope nobody stops reading Studenomics for time managemetn reasons. Shame on you if you do!