Personal Finance | Yakezie.com

How To Profit From Facebook And Live Happily Ever After

Facebook Riches For The Outsider Looking In

in Personal Finance on Feb 3rd, 2012

“Umm, no Egor, you might wipe out my lunch money for a year with those type of stakes!” I replied.

Don’t feel bad! I’m here to tell you how you too can profit from Facebook and live happily ever after.

PROFITING FROM FACEBOOK THE ALTERNATIVE WAY Read More

Career, Investments

The No Excuses Approach For Achieving What You Desire

by Jaime

158[?]

in Personal Finance on Jan 30th, 2012

When it comes to finances I’ve heard all of the excuses in the book.

I don’t have time. I don’t have enough money. When I make more money then I’ll…
I don’t know how…

When starting a new year we like to make resolutions and set goals. Whether it’s about your finances, or lifestyle, I think it’s good to start planning for the future. But none of that thinking and planning matters if you can’t get out of your own way.

I know you don’t want to hear this, but if you listen to your excuses and let them keep you from moving toward your goals, I can guarantee that 2012 won’t be like you hope.

WHAT 50+ MILLIONAIRES TOLD ME Read More

The Entrepreneur

Is This A Business Expense?

An Open Discussion On Tax Deductions And The Power Of Justification

in Personal Finance on Jan 26th, 2012

Someone gave me a great tip on business expenses when I asked him jokingly whether I could deduct my pet food. He said, “Sam, everything is a business expense so long as you can justify it.“ Interesting!

I’m no accountant, but I have read hundreds of financial statements and understand the basics of maximizing revenue, minimizing costs, and thereby maximizing profits after tax. A company’s expenses are different, depending on industry. The Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) for an individual blogger might be $0, since the individual is writing all his or her own content. COGS is very straight forward.

It’s the operating expenses which gets a little gray. Operating expenses are essentially all expenses that are necessary for you to make profits happen. There are a whole set of rules of what you can and cannot deduct. What I’d like to do is have a open discussion using an example to understand more.

AN INCOME STATEMENT SNAPSHOT Read More

Taxes

Welcome Yakezie Delta Class Challengers!

Enter The Year Of The Dragon

in Personal Finance on Jan 22nd, 2012

Dear Yakezie Delta Challengers,

Has it been over 6 months already? Yes it has! Congrats on making it through the Yakezie Challenge, where you’ve each strived to develop great blogs and new friendships in our online community.

The Yakezie Challenge is open to all who desire to be a part of a collaborative community of bloggers. Once you are a Member, you will be listed on the official Yakezie Blog Network page and gain exclusive access to various Yakezie initiatives. Our mission is to help our readers, help each other, support educational efforts through our Yakezie Writing Contest, and have a fantastic time in the process!

THE COMMUNITY IS PRIORITY Read More

Yakezie Challenge

Debt And Tax Advice For A Friend

What do you do when the government grabs hold and doesn't let go?

by Investor Junkie

331[?]

in Personal Finance on Jan 17th, 2012

A friend contacted me about the debt problems he has. While I know a lot about investments and alternative investments, I’m not an expert with defaulting on debt and the legal issues that come along with it.

I figured a great way to help my friend was to contact my fellow Yakezie members and ask for their expertise. Any advice or suggestions to my friend is greatly appreciated. Please comment on this post and help my friend out.

My Friend’s Story

My friend has been a computer programmer for over 30 years. With only a high school education he started in the mail room (literally), and worked his way up to the position he is at now. His income is in the low six figures, has no dependents, and lives in a New York city borough. He rents, and the only decent sized asset he has is a truck which is worth approximately $700.

Around the middle of 2007, he suffered a massive depression. Nothing he did seemed to work in getting out of it. He sought out help from friends and family, but no one was able to help him. He started to see a therapist, but wasn’t helping much either. Another friend of his, who had bouts of depression, suggested he see a doctor. Eventually my friend went to see the doctor, and received medication for his depression. Read More

Debt Reduction, Taxes

How To Stop Your Career Or Business From Failing By Avoiding The Big Dig Mentality

When You're In A Hole Stop Digging

by Super Frugalette

559[?]

in Personal Finance on Jan 12th, 2012

For those of you who have never heard of the “Big Dig”, I learned about it in business school. I graduated before the project reached completion.

According to Wikipedia: “The Big Dig was the most expensive highway project in the U.S. and was plagued by escalating costs, scheduling overruns, leaks, design flaws, charges of poor execution and use of substandard materials, criminal arrests, and even four deaths. The project was scheduled to be completed in 1998 at an estimated cost of $2.8 billion (in 1982 dollars, US$6.0 billion adjusted for inflation as of 2006). The project was not completed, however, until December of 2007, at a cost of over $14.6 billion ($8.08 billion in 1982 dollars)as of 2006. The Boston Globe estimated that the project will ultimately cost $22 billion, including interest, and that it will not be paid off until 2038. As a result of the deaths, leaks, and other design flaws, the consortium that oversaw the project agreed to pay $407 million in restitution, and several smaller companies agreed to pay a combined sum of approximately $51 million.”

From my recollection in business school, the consensus was that at numerous times during this project it was evident that the costs involved did not outweigh the benefits. Since so many millions had been “sunk” into this project, those who were part of this project just kept on promoting it and wasting more money. Think about it, if your paycheck was coming from “big dig” funding then of course you would want the project to continue. One of the takeaways of this project is that people involved in this project should not have been the decision makers as to whether or not it should be continued. It was in THEIR best interest that the project was continued, not necessarily in the best interest of the city of Boston.

I mention this little story because I have seen so many people lose their careers to the “big dig” mentality. People invest so much time and effort in a particular career pursuit that they often fail to see that their money or time is not being well spent and in the end, they may lose everything that have invested into this project. Usually people sink money into degrees that are useless or people fail to walk away from a business pursuit when it is failing. Read More

Career, Investments

Investments, The Entrepreneur

Creating An Income Stream To Grow Bigger Dreams

by Jeff @ Sustainable Life Blog

1866[?]

in Personal Finance on Jan 10th, 2012

After I was finished with grad school, I had a job lined up and was feeling pretty good. I moved into the city where my new job would be and was then informed that because of the downturn (this was in spring 09) that the project I was slated to be working on was being pushed back indefinitely, and I was out of a job.

Of course, I wasnt happy about this and needed to get an income quickly. I started brainstorming ideas about businesses that I could start related to things I was interested in, and all of them required a large amount of start up capital – large being way more than I had at the time (which was basically nothing).

THE THINGS I DREAMED OF STARTING Read More

Do You Tell People How Much Money You Spent On Your Car?

If You Don't, Perhaps There's A Reason Why

by Car Negotiation Coach

531[?]

in Personal Finance on Jan 5th, 2012

Kevin and Sam recently wrote great pieces about the taboos around money and revealing how much you make. They opened up a good discussion on why salaries are generally kept quiet and not revealed in daily conversation. But what about how much you spent on a car? For many people a car is seen as a major income indicator. Do the same taboos apply?

People can guess what you spent

One main difference between what you spend on a car and your salary is that people can actually see the car. They can make an educated guess about what you paid whether you tell them or not.

Justified or not, people tend to make snap judgments based on the type of car you drive. If you drive a high-end luxury car like a Porsche or a Mercedes assumptions are made that you have a lot of disposable income. On the other hand, if you drive an old beater some people assume you can’t afford much more.

Of course they don’t really know whether you can afford what you drive or if you’re up to your eyeballs in debt. But the reality is that many people see your car and assume things like how much you get paid and your financial worth. Read More

Automobiles, Frugality

Learning From Our Past For A Better Tomorrow

2011 Yakezie Network Review And Initiatives For 2012

in Personal Finance on Dec 31st, 2011

Someone once said, “If you’re coasting, you’re going downhill.“ I couldn’t agree more because it takes hard work to get things done.

If everybody knew nothing was impossible, there would be a lot more people working arduously towards their goals. I’d like to think that the Yakezie Network has proved positive collaboration leads to incredible realities.

In 2011, we welcomed the Beta and Gamma class to the Yakezie family. We also gave away over a couple thousand dollars to six very deserving Yakezie Writing Contest winners to help with their educational efforts. Finally, we crushed our collective goal of generating more than $100,000 a month in incremental income. Who would have known it’d be so straightforward?

If we don’t capture our past and reflect, we run the risk of running through the same motions over and over again. Let us learn and move forward.

LEARNING POINTS Read More

Blogging

Why You Can’t Freelance Or Blog Full-Time

Crushing The Dreams Of Freelancers And Bloggers Everywhere

by Sandy @ yesiamcheap

952[?]

in Personal Finance on Dec 26th, 2011

177

I quit my job recently.

It was done after a year-long agonizing decision period in which I went back and forth about whether to leave. When I announced that I quit on my blog, there was an outpouring of support and a few calls for full-time blogging. I’d love to blog full time, but there’s so much more to blogging than simply tossing up a few posts here and there every week, that while I’d love to make a go at it, I can’t blog full-time, and neither can most of you.

LET’S GET REALISTIC Read More

Blogging