As you guys may remember, I quit my day job in February of 2010 to give full-time blogging a try. The past year and a half have been pretty shaky. It’s been tough on Mrs. PT and I as we’ve dealt with the ups and downs of the self-employment journey.

I haven’t been very open with you during this time, except for the occasional hint. In hindsight, I wish I would have shared more with you guys. I know many of you are going through similar scenarios and can relate. So today I thought I would take a moment to fill you in on how things have been going for me.

The Decision to Go Full-time

Quitting wasn’t easy. At the time, my corporate job as an internal auditor and this blog were our only sources of income. A year earlier, Mrs. PT had left her teaching career to pursue her Masters degree and be home with our little girl, which I really wanted her to do.

When I first started seriously hinting at the idea of leaving my career, it put Mrs. PT into a bit of a panic. She really wanted no part of me leaving the safe confines of a steady paycheck. She knew what kind of revenue my blog was generating at the time (not much), and she knew we would have to go out and buy individual health insurance.

We don’t necessarily have any conditions that would prevent us from getting insurance. It was just a scary unknown.

I had my own reservations. Would I be able to get affordable health insurance? Would my website revenue maintain it’s current trajectory? Would I be able to grow it enough to not have to dip into savings and to continue our financial progress? Would I be able to get another job if things didn’t work out?

In January of 2010, just one month before I eventually quit, I set a goal: even thought I was tired of my corporate career, I would continue in my current job at least two more years and work harder than ever to bring my blog to a full-time level.

The two years would allow us to have another child, allow Mrs. PT to finish school, and allow for her to potentially get back to teaching.

This goal lasted a month. At work I was assigned a three week project in India that would have me miss our little girl’s first birthday. When it was just Mrs. PT and I, this job was the perfect fit. She would come along with me on these overseas trips and we got to see the world.

But now that we had a little one, the three week trips were tough on our new family. The thought of this proposed three week project was enough to help us make a decision. Mrs. PT told me that if I wanted to give blogging full-time a try, then she would support the move. It was on.

My next move was to bust through some of those fears I was having (i.e. health insurance, future job prospects, etc.). I quickly ran some quotes on eHealthInsurance.com. The monthly premiums on the high-deductible plans weren’t that bad.

If we cut back I could handle that. Next, I took a look at the job market in my area for internal auditors and CPAs. Things weren’t ideal here in Texas, but they weren’t horrible either like in other parts of the Country. I was still getting the occasional call or email from a recruiter, and I felt confident that even if I had to take a much lower paying job, I could find a paycheck again if I needed it.

Additionally, my father runs a public accounting practice. As he has done many times over the years, he generously offered to allow me to do some tax-preparation work for him. So I knew I would have some extra money coming in from March to mid-April if I needed it.

With those two things out of the way, I was ready to quit. I gave my two week’s notice and wrapped up my projects there. Mrs. PT and I decided that we would use this time as an experiment. Let’s see if I can make the blog work as a full-time source of income and if it doesn’t work out by the Summer, I’ll start looking for work back in my old career with an employer that doesn’t require travel.

The 3 Month Experiment

For the next few months I poured myself into making this work: I wrote two posts a day on the blog, I developed new revenue streams for the blog, I worked longer hours, I did a tax return a day for my Dad’s business. I loved it. There were no more “Mondays” in my life.

Truthfully though, I was working hard and not very smart when it came to the blog. I was doing some things right, but I wasn’t seeing big gains in revenue. It was a struggle to push things forward. Looking back, March to May is a tough time to grow a personal finance blog. That’s historically when traffic and thus, revenue (with the exception of tax-related stuff) starts taking a natural dip.

While the site was struggling to take off, I lucked up and landed a freelancing gig in late March. The folks at PerkStreet wanted to put their blog on the map and asked me for a bit of advice on working with personal finance bloggers.

I took the opportunity to pitch to them the idea of me being hired on as their blog manager. The gig would only require about 15 hours a week and I had the connections to make it work. The pitch worked. They generously hired me on to help manage their blog.

This would prove to play a pivotal role in us “making it” over through the Summer of 2010. While the PerkStreet gig provided a solid, baseline of income, I knew there were no guarantees (month-to-month contract). PerkStreet was a start-up company and I was an unproven blog manager.

I made another pivotal move in late April. After seeing slow progress with my site during the first two months of a full-time effort, I decided to bring in some help. I hired a consultant (you know him as Michael). I hired him to help to give my site some direction and to help manage one of my undeveloped revenue streams: affiliate marketing.

Like the freelancing gig, I had high hopes for this, but there we no guarantees when we started up in May of 2010.

A Summer of Interviews and Baby News

Another month went by and not much progress with the site. Over Memorial Day weekend (2010) Mrs. PT and I had some talks and I made the decision to start looking for work. If things were going to continue on their current path, my revenue would not be enough to allow us to continue meeting our financial goals: retirement savings, another house down payment, etc.

I saw us having to possibly dip into our emergency savings towards the end of the year, or even quicker if the freelancing gig went away. Additionally, Mrs. PT was ready to have another baby and move into a bigger house. Both things would require a full-time job with group health insurance and a W-2. The “experiment” had seen some successes, but it had initially failed.

So I started looking for work. I figured I could get a corporate gig and still maintain the PerkStreet thing on a part-time basis. Since I now had the consultant helping with the site, PT Money would be able to get by, and even possibly still grow, on a part-time effort.

Over the next few months I sent out several resumes and went on several job interviews. I didn’t have much luck. I didn’t land that many second interviews and I struggled to explain the gap in my recent work history. If I quit on my last employer, what confidence did they have that I would stick around for them? It’s a fair concern.

The next few months were bizzarro world. The site traffic and revenue started to take off. I did the TV piece with Fox Business. The PerkStreet gig was hanging in there. Things were looking up, but I was still this poor sap who couldn’t land a job. It was tough on me. I worried a lot during these months.

Then, we found out we were going to have another baby. I had to get a job now. Individual health insurance in Texas doesn’t cover maternity. I was nine months away from a $25,000 payout if I wasn’t on group health insurance by then. The news was shocking, but it was also freeing in a way. I had nine months. I decided to give the job search a rest, focus 100% on PT Money, and try to land a job later in the year, just in time for baby.

Self-Employment Success Isn’t Enough

August through December of 2010 were some of the best months of my life. PT Money had become a financial success. Traffic and revenue saw huge increases each month. The strategy put in place by the consultant, along with the endless hours of work on my part were finally starting to pay off.

My revenue surpassed my old corporate career income. And for the first time in my life I felt like a real entrepreneurial success. I loved my work and it was finally paying off.

But it wasn’t paying off to the tune of $25,000, the amount we would pay out-of-pocket for baby #2. So, as crazy as it sounds, I went back to sending out resumes in hopes of landing a job. I even entertained the idea of taking on a part-time job with benefits.

I still faced the same uphill battle with employers: the weird gap in my employment history. By late January of 2011 I still didn’t have a job.

Long story short, my parents once again came to the rescue. My father offered to bring me on with his practice and provide the group health insurance that we would need to help cover the maternity costs. I started with him in February, and on March 4th our second daughter was born.

Through April I continued doing “full-time” work for my father’s practice while maintaining PT Money, which continued solid growth. After tax-season, I returned to full-time blogging. Since that time, the site has seen some more ups and downs. Google’s Panda Updates 1.0 and 2.0 (which I’m still struggling to recover from) have pushed the site back to July 2010 levels. I think had I not gone through such a volatile 2010, these last few months would have been really tough.

When I look ahead, I feel confident about the future of my business and about our ability to weather the storms. I still love what I’m doing and wake up everyday excited to take on new projects. It certainly helps that Mrs. PT and I are blessed to not have too much debt or too many monthly expenses to deal with.

So that’s where we’re at and that’s what it’s been like for us this past year.

Going forward I’d like to share more of these things as they happen. In the coming weeks I’ll be sharing more detail about my evolving home office situation, some of the new projects I’m working on, a home refinance that we’re trying to push through, as well as our goals for the next few months and years to come.

Self-Employment: A Year Later is a post from: PT Money: Personal Finance by PT.
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Do you have a job for summer yet?

It being graduation season, I thought I’d share some common summer job opportunities for teenagers and college students to make extra money. Some of these I’ve done myself. Others are just some of the more common jobs you hear about. Be sure to share your past job experiences in the comments below.

Why Work This Summer?

There are a ton of reasons to get off your butt and get a job this summer.

Work because it’s something different. Work because sitting around your house is boring (TV during the day sucks!). Work so that you don’t have to bum money off of your parents for daily spending. Work so that you don’t get lazy and gain weight. Work to be with your friends. Work to save money for college expenses. Work to get real experience. Work to test out your working style.

I loved most of my summer jobs. Each brought me a different experience and helped to teach me about myself. Here are 5 jobs I had during the summers and what I liked about them.

5 Summer Jobs I’ve Had

Lawn Care – I earned the most money during my high school years mowing lawns. This was a great summer job. It’s hard, and requires an initial investment (which my Dad was kind enough to front me). To get started, you only really need a mower and some gas.

But eventually you’ll find that you can expand your business with a weed eater, edger, blower, and a truck and trailer full of lawn tools. Convince a few neighbors that you’ll mow their grass for less than they currently pay. Then word will start to get out and you’ll have several clients. Raise your prices once demand for your services increases.

I’ll admit that at times this job was tough in the summer heat. But it taught me a great deal of responsibility, taught me about 2 cycle engines, kept me in shape, and it gave me a great tan too. One more thing this job did was teach me to work efficiently. As a flat rate service, you can raise or lower your hourly wage with how efficient you work. I learned to work fast and earn more money for less time spent on the job.

Grocery Bagger/Stocker - I welcomed this job after my days of mowing laws. Not much hustle or stress involved. It kept me inside most of the time in the cool, conditioned air. It also forced me to be around other people and socialize. This was a stretch for me at the time. But something I needed as a shy teen. There are many jobs you can find at the market or grocery store: bagger, stock person, checker, cart person, etc.

Camp Counselor - I worked as a summer camp counselor during my summers in college. I loved the experience. I worked with the older kids. No tantrums or bed wetting. Just bad attitudes. Typical summer camp jobs don’t pay excellent, but you have your room and food covered. This job is tough because you’re outside most of the time. However, it’s also rewarding because of the experiences you have the positive impact you get to have on others. For the kids attending the camp, it’s their best week of the summer. It was great to be a part of that.

Umpire or Referee – Working as a referee or ump requires a solid knowledge of the sport, confidence, and a thick skin for dealing with high pressure situations. I spent some time as a baseball umpire, but primarily as a field ump, where the pressure isn’t as high. This is a great job for making money for just a couple of hours of work. Just know that there is going to be that one day when you are going to really upset someone and have to deal with the pressure. If you love the sport and can handle the pressure, this job may be a great way to get easy money fast.

Lifeguard – Finally, I did one summer as a lifeguard. This was one of my favorite jobs. I actually had to jump in after someone. Thankfully everything worked out okay. In this job you’ll get to work along side other responsible professionals and soak up the hot summer sun. Pay is okay. Double your money if you can do some swimming lessons on the side.

5 More to Consider

• Movie Theater Attendant – Cool environment, free movies, the permanent smell of popcorn on your clothes.
• Fast Food Employee – Free food, fast-paced, the greasiest shoes you’ll ever own.
• Retail Associate – Opportunity for commission, get to dress up, get told “no thanks, I’m just looking” over 500 times a day.
• Baby Sitter – Get to love on kids, enjoy someone’s house, diapers.
• Car Detailing – Good money, work in flip flops, wax on wax off.

What to Do with Your Earnings?

It’s your money. Do with it as you please. But if you’re looking for ideas, here are a few. You could stick it in an online savings account until you find a good use for it. You could use it to buy books in college. You could use it as a down payment on a house. You could reinvest it in your own business. You could invest it in index funds inside a Roth IRA.

Be sure to share your past job experiences in the comments below.

Photo by Rappensuncle

10 Fun Summer Jobs for Teens and College Students is a post from: PT Money: Personal Finance by PT.
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Me as a kid on the Pensacola, FL white sand dunes.

This has long been one of my favorite places to take a vacation. As a child, my parents used to take my older sister and I (see picture) there at least once every other year it seemed. Because I grew up in northwestern Louisiana, this region was really our closest opportunity to go to the beach.

It wasn’t until later on in life (after extensive world travel) that I discovered that these gulf beaches in Florida (and especially into Alabama), are some of the best beaches in the world. Nice water, plenty of activities and/or solitude (if you want), and the whitest of white sandy beaches. I’ve since brought Mrs. PT, a native southern Californian, to this area and she approves. If you ever get a chance to visit this area, definitely go for it.

I recommend Destin, FL and Orange Beach in Gulf Shores, AL as two of my favorite spots. If you’re in Destin, you need to swing by Seaside, FL as well, if only to have a bite to eat and see the beach there. If you have older kids (teens) then a trip to Pensacola or Panama City, FL might be more your style. Both have great beaches and more activities (putt-putt golf, water sports, etc.).

Expenses of Our Florida Beach Vacation

To give you an idea of what this type of vacation might cost you, I thought I’d lay out some of our expenses.

For this latest trip of ours, our biggest expense was the condo. We shared a two-bedroom place with friends, who also have a little one. It came out to about $100 a night, which actually will beat some of the hotel prices in the area.

Since it was a condo, we had our own kitchen, which was a huge benefit to keep costs down. The pool and beach were both within walking distance, as were other amenities of the resort area.

Tip: Review the latest travel rewards credit card offers to see what kind of cash back you can earn on your next vacation.

We spent $100 on groceries for the week, and spent about double that in dining out costs, which is about double our weekly food costs at home. Because we had the kitchen, our breakfasts and lunches were all pretty much done there in the condo. It was nice because we could cook a big breakfast and then walk to the beach or pool with our lunches packed.

The thing that I love about a beach vacation is that the beach is pretty much free. Once you get there, you can just hang out on the beach. If you can chill out enough, or if you enjoy reading, then the expenses are almost nothing. For the more active, bring along a boogie board and a frisbee and you are set for the day.

We usually bring our own “beach canopy” (as I call it), along with some folding chairs, and so we don’t need to pay for chair rental. I don’t mind the chair rentals, but if I’m going to be on the beach more than 4 hours it usually makes things easier if you have your own base camp, which the canopy (around $99) provides.

This area is about 12 hours from where we live. So driving made the most sense for our family of four. I definitely felt the higher fuel prices. It was about $75 for each tank of gas, which last year this time was more like $50. We filled up around 3 times in each direction. That’s almost $500 in gas costs. If you don’t have a whole truck load of baby equipment and supplies like we do, you could consider flying here to reduce transportation costs.

In total, this trip cost around $1,200 = $600 (condo) + $450 (gas) + $150 (food).

There are some little things you can do to save money on your vacation, but overall, a trip like this is going to come down to the cost of the room and the transportation. If you can keep those within reason, then this can be a really affordable trip.

Have you vacationed to this part of the country? Are you a fan? If not, where is your favorite vacation spot within driving distance?

Our Destin, Florida Beach Vacation is a post from: PT Money: Personal Finance by PT.
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Austin, who occasionally writes here at PT Money, is in his 2nd year of teaching English in western Japan. With the Japan Tsunami fresh on his mind, he generously offered to write a couple of pieces on preparing for major disasters. You can check out his personal finance site for 20-somethings at Foreigner’s Finances.

I teach English in western Japan and was here last month to witness first-hand the carnage that the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami had on the northeastern coast of Japan.

By now many people have seen the devastating footage of the tsunami reaching mainland with whole houses being ripped from the ground and cars being thrown around like matchboxes. These goods, which people had saved up for for years, were destroyed in minutes.

A man sifts through debris left in the wake of the Tsunami.

The monetary aftermath of this disaster will be a challenge for Japan for decades to come.

If you pay attention to your finances you know that a disaster like the one in Japan can and will wipe away your finances. All of the saving and investing you’ve done can be deleted in minutes if you don’t prepare for it.

So how does one go about preparing your finances in case a catastrophe were to strike? What are the steps you can put in place this week that would make a huge, unexpected financial hit less painful on you and your family?

Have an Ever-Growing Emergency Fund

Here’s PT’s post about emergency funds in case your new to the idea. To help insure yourself or your family, start one today using a sub-savings account with an online savings account like ING or Ally.

Once you open this account, create an automatic monthly transfer of $25-200 to the account from your regular savings so it continues to grow every 2 weeks, month, or 2 months.

This is money that will only be touched in worst situations where all of your other money has been wiped out and you have no other options. Don’t be content with $500 or $1,000 in this account. Make it grow every month because it’ll insure your financial safety that much more in case a disaster affects your family in the future.

Remember: it’s always a good problem if you have too much in your emergency fund.

A town in northern Miyagi that sat in a natural valley which channeled the tsunami. Very few buildings remained.

Insure Your Big-Ticket Items

Your house and car should already be insured, but consider extra insurance for prized possessions in case of natural disasters, fire, theft, etc. Maybe you have a $14,000 wedding ring or a rare painting from France that’s worth $10,000.

Can you insure these items for a little bit every month in case of emergency?

By spending a little to insure these high importance items you’ll allow yourself to sleep easily knowing these items can be, at least, monetarily replaced in a time of need.

Contact your insurance agent today to see about rates for your most valuable high-ticket items. Also, here’s a NY Times about the best ways to insure your valuables which can be helpful if you’re going to do this yourself.

Have 2-3 Credit Cards with Large Credit Limits

It’s been a month since the Japanese tsunami and people are still holed up in shelters. In times of need, having quick access to money is important and something that can provide another level of security is a credit card.

Not having to worry about the amount of cash you have in a time of need is one benefit for those who are credit card weary. Need water, clothes, food, or a hotel for your family? Just put it on the credit card, make sure everyone is safe, and worry about the payment later.

A soldier with 35th CSSB hands out a purse to a teacher at a school in Ishinomaki.

Credit cards allow some financial breathing room in a time of need. Not only that, but when used correctly they can improve your credit and save you tens of thousands of dollars on big purchases in your life.

So get 1-3 cards and put them in your wallet. Every 6-12 months, call the credit card companies and have your credit line increased to insure yourself just a little more. In a time of tragedy, you need to be worrying about the people you love and credit cards allow you the room to breathe when you need it most.

Keep Money in an ATM Accessible Checking Account

If a disaster hits you probably won’t be able to get to a computer to transfer money to a checking account. If you keep a couple hundred dollars in a checking account at all times, you’ll be able to access that cash as long as you can get to an ATM. Without that luxury, you might be out of luck in a time where you need money more than ever.

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Just like creating a will, these steps are often put off because people don’t like to think of their immortality or very negative situations. That’s not a good reason to put off creating a healthy emergency fund or getting a credit card. If done correctly, these steps could save you more money than a million frugality tips if a disaster were to affect your life.

Take an afternoon and make sure you have these steps covered in your financial life. It’ll never be the perfect time to do it, but your life is to important to leave up to chance.

I’ll be back next week to share some tips for making sure your house is disaster-proof.

Editor’s note: All the photos above were taken by Mark Stroud, a Combat Correspondent in the United States Marine Corps. His complete photostream can be found on Flickr.com at stroud4341. Thanks, Mark!

How to Prepare Your Wallet for a Disaster is a post from: PT Money: Personal Finance by PT.
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In today’s episode, I talk with friend and author, Jay Herring. Jay is the author of the The Truth About Cruise Ships (available for $9.95 on the Kindle). From one of the reviews: “this book makes for the perfect reference for anyone entering the cruise industry or even passengers who are interested in the other side of the spectrum”.

Jay’s book is now generating over $4,000 a month in Kindle sales through the Amazon.com. Listen as Jay shares his story of deciding to write a book, getting it self-published, and what he thinks is the reason behind his success through Amazon.

Listen to the Podcast

Here’s more about what Jay and I discuss:

Motivation and Deciding to Write

What made you want to make some part time money?
What made you want to write a book?
Why did the book take so long?
What motivated you to write this book?
Were you looking for other money making ideas or were you just in it for the book?
What’s the book about?

About Self-Publishing

How does the self-publishing process work?
How easy is it to self-publish?
When did you release on the Kindle vs the paperback?
Who did the binding and editing?
Where did you find the editors?

Getting into Amazon and the Kindle

Tell me about the Amazon Kindle sales revenue you have.
What type of format do you need to have the book in?
How do you get your book into Amazon and on the Kindle?
Is Amazon the one place to sell?
Here’s a specific technical walk through of the process that the folks at Amazon put together:

Marketing the Book

What made sales grow?
Jay gives 4 reasons why his book is doing well.
Did sales grow because of reviews?
Where are you in terms of your growth?
How have you marketed the book outside of Amazon?

Other Tips and the Future

Any other tips for someone wanting to self-publish into Amazon?
Can you turn any information into a ebook for Kindle?
How is this helping you financially?
Where do you see this going?

Full transcript by clicking show

Podcast transcription services provided by AudioTranscription.Org.

PTM 015 – Self Publishing Amazon Kindle Books with Jay Herring, Author of The Truth About Cruise Ships is a post from: PT Money: Personal Finance by PT.
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Nothing good is ever discussed or texted after midnight and/or two drinks.

At one point while in a half asleep haze I swore my cell phone was vibrating on my bedside table.  The next morning I slept in late but still awoke feeling groggy.  I was thankful it was Saturday and I did not have to go to work. 

When I looked at my telephone I realized there were three missed calls from the night before. One at 1:00 a.m., one at 4:00 a.m., and another at 9:00 a.m.

My heart raced and I was certain something terrible must have happened.  Instead when I retrieved the voice mail messages they were simply drunk dial calls from one of my best friends, who had spent the night before at a bachelor party in Atlantic City.

The following is an as accurate as I can remember transcript of each telephone communication from that night.  As an FYI, my friend is a bit much, particularly when he has consumed way too much alcohol.

Call #1: 1:00 A.M.

Dude.  Why didn’t you come to this thing….oh wait, nevermind you don’t know this guy whose getting married.  Look, I just wanted to say I’m drinking a lot and I’m feeling great and maybe you should just come up here or down… or whatever and party.  It’s still pretty early,  don’t be a little wuss. Just because your married doesn’t mean you can’t have any fun.  Tell her that.  Call me back or whatever. (click).

Call #2: 4:00 A.M.

Oh my God!  Dude I just went up $3,000.00 in craps.  You dude oh my god.  I can’t believe this.  This is the craziest night ever.  I just ordered a shot for everyone on the floor and I tipped the dealer a $100 chip because he is magic.  Why aren’t you here, you could have won like $3,000 dollars but whatever bad luck is probably what you would bring anyway.  Uhahahd! (?)  Look we you should whatever.  Sorry I’m calling kind of late, I’m just so psyched about this.  You are a tool! Dude, this is the greatest night of my life!  hahaha!!!! Who wants to–(click).

Call #3: 9:00 A.M.

Yo man.  I just wanted to apologize for calling you all late last night.  Dude, last night was the worst night ever.  I went up like $3,000 and then I lost it all plus another $2,000 grand.  I don’t know how I’m going to repay it.  That was my mortgage money, dude.  What an idiot.  I got all drunk and just crapped it all away. hahaha.  Get it, crapped it all away because I was playing craps.  You think that’s how the term crap was invented?  Whatever, my heads pounding and I think I’m going to be sick, but I just wanted to say sorry if I disturbed you last night or called you some names in my messages or whatever.

Anatomy of a Big Financial Mistake

I can think of at least five big, personal finance mistakes my friend made that night, besides calling me up during a hot streak to brag about it.  (Guaranteed bad luck from both a Karmic and a personal stand point). 

I am going to list the five mistakes I caught as I explain the anatomy of a personal finance mistake.  Please add what other mistakes or lessons there are to be learned from my friends night of debauchery in Atlantic City.

1) The House Always Wins – The law of averages in just about every casino game (With the exception of Texas Hold’ Em) is that the house will always have the odds, long-term. This can apply not just to poker but to any situation where the odds are not in your favor. 

An expensive annual fee on a mutual fund, taking on high-interest loans, buying more house then you can afford.  These are all situations where the odds may not be in your favor, long-term.

2) Quit While You’re Ahead – Similar to the above rule, with one caveat: if you have somehow beaten the odds or if you think a situation has peaked, then do not be afraid to walk away a winner. 

Although I personally do not believe you can time the market, right now if you know you will need to touch the invested money a year from now or so, it may not be a bad time to cut out now while the markets appear to be perhaps overly saturated and overpriced.

3) Don’t Mix Alcohol and Money – There is a reason why every casino pumps out free drinks to anyone with money left in their wallet.  For obvious reasons alcohol can affect your decision making, not to mention the fact that in many instances alcohol itself can be a waste of money.

4) Don’t Spend More then you Can Afford – Gambling is, for most people a waste of money as it is.  But my friend compounded the problem by going on tilt to the point that he lost money he could not afford to lose. 

Whether you are gambling, investing, or making a large purchase, you must budget and know never to spend more than you can afford.  I am sure my friend had to go into credit card debt to pay his mortgage that month.  Not a great place to be if you can help it.

5) Have Some Humility – It always seems like karma will come and knock you down a peg.  Never take your success for granted or brag about it.  Having humility in good times will help ensure that the bad times do not last as long, because people will want to help you get back to the top. 

Nobody likes a friend who is only a decent person when they are at rock bottom.

What are some other personal finance mistakes made by my friend in his fateful Atlantic City trip?  I look forward to reading your comments.

Broke Professionals is a personal finance blog aimed at the over-educated and underpaid.  Join the husband/wife blogging team of Broke Professionals as they attempt to dig themselves out of a combined six figures in student loan debt. If you are a blogger be sure to check out their list of 100 blogging lessons learned.

Anatomy of a Big Financial Mistake is a post from: PT Money: Personal Finance by PT.
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A few years back, I got a personal loan in order to start a business and consolidate some debt I piled on from my late teenage years – including a loan for a brand spanking new car and some credit card debt.

There comes a time in just about everyone’s lives when we could use a personal loan of one form or another. However, getting a personal loan, especially in this economy, has changed quite a bit over the years. It has become much more difficult for us to be approved for various loans and banks are now usually more competitive. They have taken the stance of the ones in power and thus choose very carefully who they loan to, much like employers when they hire employees.

I’ve found that there are many similarities between dealing with banks and dealing with an employer or prospective employer – from interview tactics to acceptance of terms. Hopefully if you are in a situation that warrants a personal loan, these tips can help.

1. First Impressions Do Matter

When you go in for a job interview, you want to look your best and try to present yourself as best as you can both on paper and off. With banks and personal loans, you want to do the same thing, especially since the relationship can be longer than one with an employer.

The representative at the bank will be looking for any reason that might suggest you’re a bad candidate for the loan; they’ll look over your credit score history, any existing debt you have, and your income. Basically they want to know whether or not you will be able to repay the loan under their terms. If there is any shadow of a doubt, you can be sure that they will pass on giving you a loan.

For the loan that I received, I was actually turned down with my first application even though I was asking for half as much money as my second application (which was later approved). The bank told me that starting a business was risky and that they therefore wouldn’t loan to me. When I went back in with the new intent of consolidating debt as well as getting a little extra money for starting my business, they were all for the transaction because I had my new car as collateral.

You can’t predict exactly how the bank will act when going through the lending process, but you can control how prepared you are. Be ready to provide information on any collateral you have and proof of income. Show the lender that you are on the ball and know what you’re doing – it’ll increase your chances of approval.

2. Your Answers Count in an Interview

In a job interview, you are usually asked a series of questions related to the work you will be doing, your past work experience, and oftentimes even some open-ended questions that have more to do with who you are and what your personality is like.

A personal loan interview is no different. Your answers to questions like, “Why are you applying for this loan” and “How quickly do you intend to pay the loan back” matter. You obviously need to be honest but you also need to consider what the interviewer will think about your reply, and thus formulate it in a way that sends the right message.

Be cordial and answer the questions as directly as you can without giving away too much unnecessary information. The interviewer will be trying hard to “read between the lines” and find out what you might really mean, so do the best you can to give them exactly what they want and nothing more.

3. Don’t Feel Pressured by a Low-Ball Offer

At the end of a job interview, there usually comes a time in the conversation when you are given the initial terms of employment. At this point, you may even be offered a position – including a salary figure and key benefits to make the job sound more appealing. With jobs and personal loans alike, all of the terms are negotiable. If they don’t sound right, don’t take them!

In the case of my personal loan, the interest rate came back at 10%. For me, this was lower than the interest rate on the bulk of my debt so I took the deal, but had it been any closer to my car loan’s higher interest rate of 13% I would have said, “no thanks.”

Keep in mind that you are a customer of the bank. You are their source of revenue, but more importantly you are the foundation on which they operate. You have a lot more control in this situation than you might think, and if you don’t like everything about what they offer, don’t be afraid to walk away. You owe them nothing and taking a bad deal will only hurt your future. On the other hand, passing on the loan won’t hurt the banks one bit.

The economy isn’t what it used to be, and lenders, like employers are a lot more strict about who they will get involved with. If the time comes when you need a personal loan, don’t leave any room for errors whenever you can control it. Come prepared looking your best, and the bank will be happy to lend you the money you need. And if that doesn’t work, you can try other options including peer to peer lending networks like Lending Club.

Do you have any experience applying for a personal loan? How did the process work out for you? Share your experiences in the comments below.

Jesse Michelsen is a contributor for the Money Crashers personal finance blog and the founder of Personal Finance Firewall. There he writes about being prepared so you can take life by the horns and get everything you ever dreamed out of it.

Image by bpsusf

How to Get a Personal Loan: Treat the Process Like a Job Interview is a post from: PT Money: Personal Finance by PT.
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Welcome to the 85th edition of the Carnival of Money Stories! This is a round-up of quality personal finance articles from around the blog-o-sphere from the past few weeks. Each article should be some type of personal money story or experience.

My Favorite Christmas Stories

It being Christmas this weekend, I thought it was fitting I share a couple of Christmas stories. The first is a story that connected with me as a kid every year during the holidays. It’s the story from one of my favorite holiday movies: A Christmas Story. Nowadays, this film is on 24 hours a day throughout the holidays. You can’t miss it. It’s about Ralphie Parker, a kid from Indiana, who only wants one thing for Christmas, “an official Red Ryder carbine-action 200-shot range model air rifle with a compass in the stock, and this thing which tells time.”

In his quest to get his rifle, Ralphie has to overcome various obstacles: dealing with his younger brother, avoiding the bullies down the street, pleasing his teacher, getting his tongue stuck to the flag pole at school, going catatonic in front of the mall Santa, cursing in front of his dad and having his mouth washed out with soap, and convincing his mom that he won’t shoot his eye out. It’s hilarious, very quotable, and I can’t tell you how much I loved this movie as a kid, and still do.

The other story is what I consider the real story of Christmas: the birth of Jesus. I write articles for this blog because I believe that with enough financial education and action, you can have confidence in your financial future. There are no guarantees. But if you work hard and smart toward your financial goals, you’ll see some progress. This progress will eventually lead you to security, independence, and financial freedom.

These are all things I value and want for both you and me. But I also believe that I can’t take any of these things with me when I die. That’s where the real Christmas story comes in for me. If you are curious about the story of the birth of Jesus, and want to know how I get confidence in my future after the savings accounts have faded away, I encourage you to check out the book of Matthew, verses 1:18 to 2:12 from the Bible. To go along with that, someone recently created the story of Jesus’ birth using today’s social media tools (see video below). Besides being born, Jesus also did and said some pretty cool things. I’d encourage you to look into those as well this Christmas season.

Other Christmas Stories I Like

• The Cajun Night Before Christmas
• How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
• A Charlie Brown Christmas
• Elf (the movie)
• Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

My Favorite Stories From the Carnival

The Dough Roller presents The Great Debate: Fake Christmas Tree vs. Real Christmas Tree saying: “A must know comparison on whether your not you should buy a real or fake Christmas tree this year.”

Money Thinking presents Don’t Overspend This Christmas saying: “I grew up in a home where generosity was a huge thing. It wasn’t odd to see hundreds of dollars worth of presents under the tree. But with this generosity came a lot of arguments; my stepdad would just roll his eyes at my mom, or my mom would argue with my disabled grandma. ‘You’ve spent too much!’ They would max out credit…”

Jeff Rose presents How Much Are Premiums on Term Life Insurance If You Use Tobacco? saying: “I always assumed that life insurance for tobacco users was more expensive than those that don’t use it, but I never realized how much more.”

The Digerati Life presents Building A Better Blog & Bootstrapping An Online Business saying: “I offer a checkpoint on where I am with my online business and talk about both some good and bad things to watch out for as an Internet entrepreneur.”

Stories About Business

Intelligent Speculator presents The best investment of my life saying: “My top investment ever and what can be learned from it.”

The Penny Hoarder presents I Get Paid to Buy Beer.

Free From Broke presents Companies That “Get” Customer Service.

Career Stories

Personal Dividends – Money+Lifestyle presents I’m the Primary Breadwinner, Not a Sugar Mamma.

Barb Friedberg presents Consider this Money Making Idea for Extra Cash saying: “One woman’s quest to increase her income and how it pans out! AND more money making ideas!”

Stories About Debt and Credit

Wealth Pilgrim presents Marriage and Credit ? How To Protect Yourself When Your Spouse Has Bad Credit saying: “I recently received an E-mail from a loyal Pilgrim asking about how marriage would impact her credit score. Seems she has a high credit score but her fiance doesn’t. She wondered if marrying this gentleman would hurt her credit score.”

Soldier of Finance presents Don’t Let the Blue Falcon Get You Down saying: “Are you surrounded by Blue Falcons that can ruin your financial well being? If so, it’s time to cut ties.”

Other Stories

Bucksome Boomer presents Time to Make FSA Elections saying: “A look at my experience with FSAs this year compared to last and planning for 2011.”

Green Panda Treehouse presents Tips to Becoming Financially Healthy saying: “A look at how you can become financially healthy in the upcoming new year.”

My Wealth Builder presents Be a Good Example saying: “Since becoming a parent, I’ve learned that my actions have much more effect than my words.”

Personal Finance By The Book presents Financial And Life Lessons From 40 Years of Marriage saying: “Our kids commemorated our 40th Wedding Anniversary with poignant readings – which also had financial applications.”

Musings of an Abstract Aucklander presents Money Lessons Learned From My Friends.

The Financial Blogger presents My Encounter With The Man Who Broke The Box saying: “My story of how I learned to think outside the box with a certain encounter.”

Investing Stories

Sustainable Personal Finance presents Giving to Charity – Sustainability for the Soul saying: “Community investment via charitable donations is good for your karma, really helps those in need, and can give you a ROI yield over over 30%.”

Stories About Shopping

Live Real, Now presents Shaving for Real saying: “Shaving can be expensive, but cutting this cost can be as simple as reliving tradition.”

Squirrelers presents Squirreling Gone Wild #19: Well Played, Mr. Waiter saying: “Story about how an enterprising waiter secured a big tip from a couple that went out for dinner.”

MoneyNing presents What Do You Splurge On? Where Do You Save? saying: “Time to confess! What do you spend your money on and where do you save?”

Money Obedience presents Save money in your family budget for your summer vacation now saying: “We save money for vacations and gifts all year long. We use our savings when we buy gifts or go on vacation.”

Want to be included in the next carnival? Be sure to submit your latest money story.

Carnival of Money Stories: Christmas Stories Edition is a post from: PT Money: Personal Finance by PT.
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I struggled with this question myself recently. We are currently on a high-deductible, individual health insurance plan with BlueCross BlueShield. I actually started with this plan back in May when my group insurance ran out. Since that time I have been meaning to fund a health savings account so that I could save tax dollars on out-of-pocket money used towards health care costs.

As I’ve previously mentioned, your heath insurance plan needs to be HSA-eligible for you to be able to do this. Then comes the question of where to actually open the HSA. This isn’t very apparent throughout the health insurance process. I did some digging around on the eHealthInsurance.com website and discovered that they have some suggested HSA Administrators. Here’s a snapshot:

What stuck out to me on that page was the monthly fees associated with the accounts for smaller balances. No thanks! I then did some calling around with local credit unions and found one that offered the HSA free of monthly fees. The sign up process was fairly straight-forward. I went down to their branch with my ID and a check for $1,000 as an initial deposit into the account. They gave me some forms for future contributions and sent me on my way. A few days later I received a debit card to use towards out-of-pocket expenses.

The great thing about the HSA is that, unlike a flexible spending account, the contributions do not have to be used within the year. I can spend the money at anytime and the balance will simply be carried-forward to the next year. Annual contributions are limited though to $3,050 for individuals and $6,150 for families in 2010.

Have you funded an HSA? Where did you open it?

Where Should You Open a Health Savings Account? is a post from: PT Money: Personal Finance by PT.
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Should you own a car in the city?

The other day on Dave Ramsey’sFacebook wall the topic of conversation was how to save on cars.

10 years ago it would have sounded funny to me if someone said they didn’t have a car, but now it sounds smart. Boston is definitely the kind of city where it makes sense to not own a car, for a number of reasons.

Reasons for Not Owning a Car in the City

With a robust public transit system, cabs for late night jaunts, and no part of town that can’t rather easily be reached via foot, you don’t miss a car. If I need to get outside of the city I can take the train or rent a car, and my fiancé and I use Zipcar on the weekends to make runs to Target or Home Depot.

According to a story from Bankrate.com, Massachusetts is in the top six states for highest auto insurance in the country.

I moved here from New Jersey, which made the top three, and I’m not willing to take that kind of cost on again.

Did you hear the story of the parking space last year that sold for $300,000? Yep. A PARKING spot.

And some folks think that price is well worth it. Each neighborhood has a limited amount of free street parking, and even if you’ve paid for your neighborhood resident parking sticker, it can be tough to find a spot. And no, if you have a resident sticker in one neighborhood, you can’t park in another neighborhood’s resident spots.

And that’s just to park at home! There are plenty of parking garages in the city once you get to where you’re going, and they’re happy to charge you crazy rates!

Recommended reading: How to Live Well Without Owning a Car: Save Money, Breathe Easier, and Get More Mileage Out of Life

Since the only transportation cost I have is my $90 monthly T pass, plus sporadic car rental and Zipcar costs, it makes sense not to own a car in the city, right? Except…

Reasons to Own a Car in the City

If I spend 70% of my day at my desk, I spend another 20% of it waiting for buses and trains. Many points in the system only connect in one or two places in the city, so in some instances it’s actually faster to walk across town than to ride.

For most of the year I also have to plan evening travel around the Red Sox schedule, since the bus I take home picks up at the major train and bus hub used to get to Fenway Park. After working late, the last thing you want to do is stand elbow to elbow on a bus of tipsy sports fans.

We’re at the whim of Zipcar and rental car availability. If there are none available, or if we’re trying to limit our spending, we have to run errands on the bus, which can mean sometimes buying smaller, more expensive items.

Have you ever tried carrying a 25 lb bag of kitty litter on a crowded city bus because it was on sale? I don’t advise it. There are easier ways to afford your pet.

Overall the biggest problem with not owning a car in the city is that it removes a certain sense of freedom. I’ve learned to adapt my life around schedules and car availabilities, but there’s a definite worry of what would happen if I had a family emergency and needed to be somewhere far quickly. Being able to get where you need to be when you need to be there – what’s that peace of mind worth?

Jennifer Scott is the Digital Communications Manager at PerkStreet Financial. When she’s not at PerkStreet HQ, she’s usually waiting for a bus.

photo by shioshvili

The Cost of Owning a Car in the City is a post from: PT Money: Personal Finance by PT.
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