Do you have a large group of family, friends, or coworkers? Are there birthdays or other significant events coming up? I was searching the internet for budget-friendly gift boxes, and each box on Etsy or Google was going for $40 or more, and that doesn't include delivery fees. So, I said I'm going to make my own gift boxes and created them for under $40. Here's how! Gift Box On A Budget I scoured the internet to find exciting and valuable gifts. I didn't just want to come up with some random non-useful items, and luckily, I was able to purchase everything from Amazon and read reviews for everything. No cheap stuff here, even on a budget. Gift Box I wanted a sturdy gift box and found a pack of 12 Moretoes White Gift Boxes   Ad   that included the string to tie the box. It's one long string, so you can cut as much or as little as you need. It assembled in less than thirty seconds.  I also added a little character to the box by purchasing  100 stemless rose flower head

Bitcoin is not the answer for beginner investors. The wide world of investing can be challenging to decipher and a little daunting when trying to figure out all of the options on the market. Some beginner investors start with a savings account to get a taste of what earning a return on their income could be in the future. With a savings account, you earn interest on what you put into it, resulting in compound interest from month to month. Savings accounts can be good for saving for a goal like a car or a vacation. A savings account is also reasonable for short-term goals where you're not looking to make a big profit. So, how do you make a more significant profit through investing?  Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash What's the Difference Between Saving and Investing? When saving your money in a bank, it's protected by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation up to a certain amount. The bank does have to be an FDIC-insured bank for you to receive this protection in case th

It's essential to have a healthy diet that doesn't bust your budget. Healthy eating on a budget can be done using The 3 P's method. The 3 P's are planning, purchasing, and preparing. Planning your meals, purchasing cost-effective grocery items, and preparing your meals at home can help you eat well on a limited budget. Here are a few tips on saving money when grocery shopping. Planning Clipping Coupons You can save lots of money on couponing if the coupons are for things you usually buy. Coupons for staples like rice, canned vegetables, and freezer items can help you save money on your grocery shopping if they are in your meal plan for the week or month. If you see a coupon in an advertisement, but it's not something that you usually buy, try to avoid purchasing these items that you rarely or may never use. I'm sure you've probably seen a preview of the show Extreme Couponing, and they save hundreds of dollars and spend $20 on their grocery bill. However, th

  Talking to your spouse about money is a sure-fire way to ensure that you're on the same page and positively impact the quality of your relationship. Need convincing? Check out this article, where I share 4 reasons to talk to your partner about money. However, money is a sensitive subject, and can easily evoke all sorts of feelings. Some (or all) of those feelings could make for a potentially explosive conversation. What do you do when a seemingly simple conversation about budgeting turns into a fight? In this article, I share 8 tips on how to budget as a married couple without fighting. Goal Setting Write Down Your Joint Goals What are your goals in life? What do you see your life being like in 20 years? The important thing to remember is that goals need to be based on reality to work. If you have a lower-middle-class earning situation, you’re not going to live the upper-middle-class dream. That’s okay; you can still be happy if you work toward what you want together. If

What are your retirement goals? Have you thought about what your retirement future will look like 10, 20, or 30 years from now? If not, it's never too early to start planning for your retirement. Imagine that your retirement will be a world of new adventures and experiences to keep you active and in the game. Here are a few tips to prepare for your financial wellness in retirement. 1. Envision Your Retirement   Envisioning your retirement can consist of imagining and writing down how you will enjoy your retirement future. Will you spend time with friends and family? Will you take up a new craft that you've been interested in for years? Will you travel or spend time at home gardening? Whatever you will be interested in, keeping a log of the top five things that you will accomplish in retirement will help you enjoy your first day and beyond. You won't have to punch a clock any longer, so this will be your time to enjoy your 365-day annual weekends.  See my feature in the Reti

As business owners, we focus most of our energy on MAKING money. How can I improve my sales? Do I need to rebrand? How many likes did my post get? Is my copy converting my website visitors? These are all valid and important for the livelihood of your business. Unfortunately, we forget that what we do with the mo ney once it hits our bank account it's equally important. Think about it this way. Business A makes 100K each quarter. The expenses add up to 80K each quarter. Business B makes 100K each year, and total expenses are 20K. If we follow the model that profit = revenue - expenses, both end up with 80K in their pockets at the end of the year. Knowing where the money is coming from and where the money is going on a regular basis will help you see those results in real-time. What you can do with that information is transformational. You have now gained control of each dollar. And asking questions tends to be a really good practice when "meeting" with your n

Creating Memorable Content If you don't have memorable or helpful content on your blog, your traffic will not increase. Ensuring that you provide useful, memorable, or entertaining content to your readers is the first step in getting readers to your website. If your blog is general and doesn't tailor to a specific target market, it's going to be difficult to keep your readers consistent. Selecting a specific demographic or group of readers that you're righting to can help you tailor future blog posts and create content that helps you maintain consistent readership. Publish Consistently How often are you going to publish? Is it going to be daily, weekly, monthly, or randomly throughout the year? It's important to pick a cadence when publishing your content. Publishing consistent and valuable content will let your followers know when to come back to your website for new blog posts. I publish every Saturday and ensure that I have a consistent slew of articles prepared

It's a new year, and I have new goals. Resolutions are fleeting, so I dumped those a long time ago. In the words of Tony Robbins, "Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible." I want my goals to be visible, and writing them down and tracking them using the SMART method helps me achieve them. I can only accomplish a few of my goals by budgeting my income, so I keep an accurate record of my weekly and monthly expenses using a budget tracker.  Zero-Based Budgeting  Using the zero-based budgeting approach, I account for every dollar of income and expense at the beginning of each month to ensure that every dollar has a purpose. For example, when my paycheck was deposited on December 31st, I ensured that my savings, monthly expenses, investments, and other incidentals were accounted for until my budget reached $0. Creating a budget helps ensure that I don't overspend and guides me in achieving my goals faster.  Income & Expenses At the beg