On the other hand, the super rich doesn’t have to worry about things. They have enough to give $1,000 charity every month, buy a new car as soon as it is launched, and still left with lots. If they have to take a bus to workplace every day, get irritating creditors calls, and pay credit card bills with penalties, when all they are left with is $200 to meet all the monthly expenses, they would know what real problems are. They simply tell you this because they want to be one of the ‘middle class’ population, and not feel guilty about being super-rich.

Of course it’s true when you say money cannot buy everything. But you are certainly happier if you have enough money. You can spend more time with your loved ones because you don’t have to spend extra hours at work trying to earn more. Money allows you to have some beautiful memories. You don’t really care if you your car is depreciating in value, not does it matter if you have flat tires. You don’t care if you have to spend some unexpected expenses, and it feels really great.

Spending more time with your family, friends, and loved ones is one the things that you really crave for. Having money can do that for you. You can travel world with your family, have some salsa lessons with your loved ones, and have a tea off with your friends at a posh golf course. These things are definitely not cheap, but they are fun, and you can have them only if you have money.

So, if you say money can’t buy happiness, I would certainly not agree. And I know you wouldn’t agree as well. So, let us not blame money for our inefficiency to have happiness, and work towards earning more instead.

Let us forget about all the mistakes we made earlier, and now start afresh. So, in the present situation, each one of us is aware about the importance of savings in today’s life.

The importance of savings has been clearly established, but one question keeps hanging above our heads, like a ticking pendulum.

HOW CAN I SAVE MONEY? Here are simple ways to do it.

1.      KEEP A TAB

Note down all your expenses in a journal. List it according to their nature, for example: kitchen items, children items, common ones etc. Go through it at least once a day.

2.      CUT DOWN ON SPENDING

Try to minimise the expenses that are absolutely of no use. By preventing unnecessary expenses, you can save some additional amount and thus, use it whenever necessary.

3.      DITCH THE BRANDS

Don’t waste huge sum of money in buying branded things like clothes, footwear, and so on. Buy things that perfectly suit you and your pocket. Warren Buffett rightly said “Don’t go after brands. Wear those clothes in which you feel comfortable.”

4.      KNOCK EVERY DOOR

Are you making use of the plans that your company provides you, like 401(k) plan? If you are unaware about such plans, you can easily get details about it on the web.

If you are not, start using it. SAVE money for your retirement. This will surely help you to keep some money aside.

5.      BURN THE PLASTIC

Try to use cash as much as possible, instead of taking credit or loans for several expenses. Try not to be dependent on credit cards.

6.      SHOPAHOLICS ANONYMOUS

That’s the place you will be sent to, if you don’t stop splurging on every possible occasion. Prevent wasting your money on unnecessary items while shopping. Shop only those things that are very important and necessary for you.

7.      SAVINGS BEGINS AT HOME

In order to implement various ideas of saving, find out how you can reduce expenses and how you can develop saving habits.

8.      WALK YOUR WAY TO WEALTH

Want to make a trip to the laundry? Try walking this time, or maybe you could hop onto the bus. The benefits outdo the sacrifices. Firstly your fuel is SAVED. Secondly pollution is kept in control. Most importantly, the coins jingling in your pockets as you walk are surely music to the ears.

IF YOU SAVE TODAY, YOU CAN HAVE A BRIGHTER TOMORROW

Though they don’t have many sources of income except for their parents, they try to get money from every possible source to enjoy days of freedom, without knowing the consequences of not repaying it. One of the major effects of it is ruined credit score since the beginning of their career. Let’s discuss few money management tips for college students that would definitely reduce, if not avoid these consequences.

1.    Cut Your Credit Cards

Seriously. Take a scissor (thick one), pull out all your cards from your wallet and cut it up into two. It’s not done yet. You need to cut it into very tiny pieces or you will stick them and reuse them. Maybe this ‘cutting thing’ sounds weird, but majority population of the US is in debt due to credit card, because it makes spending so easy and fun. Repayment, however, becomes an impossible task then. So, avoid inculcating a habit of spending through credit card.

2.    Avoid Late Payments

This is one of the major factors that affect your credit score. If you keep making payments on time, your score would improve gradually. Missing payments, or making late payments, however, ruins your score. This is one of the many habits people with bad credit have. If you are one of them, change your habits. Adopt these money management tips for college students. If you haven’t cut your cards, make sure you pay the full amount every month.

3.    Start Saving Money

Remember, you, as college students, don’t have any other sources of generating money except for the pocket money you receive, and part time job, if any. What would you do if you meet with a financial emergency? How would you arrange for more money? In most cases, people borrow. Instead, it’s better to save money and be prepared for any such emergencies.

4.    Start Investing

If you think you have accumulated enough, start investing your money to grow it considerably. It is, however, important to know about every investment product and how do they work before investing in any of them. Make sure you don’t invest in high-risk products like stocks, currencies, commodities, derivatives, etc. You can start with putting money in bonds, 401k, gold, CD’s, mutual funds, and so on.

These are some of the best money management tips for college students. These would, however, not be of any use if it’s not worked upon.

Here are few things I would like to share, a must-read for all personal finance readers. This is a list of conclusions I have derived, which might help you to learn more about our attitude toward our finances.

• You don’t really have to spend money to learn personal finance management. Those financial products like money saving software, budgeting DVD’s, a kit of personal finance tips, etc. are all useless. Although I have suggested debt consolidation companies in many of my articles, I think that’s a waste of time too.
• If you aren’t an idiot, you can easily manage your finances. You will have lots of questions though. But paying those fools to help your finances get back on track is really a stupid idea. Don’t you have enough information on the web, search genuine data and get going. There is nothing new those money-sucking animals would offer you.
• There are probably millions of personal finance tips on the web and thousand such blogs.
• Once you have eliminated most of your debt, you will be surprised to know how much you earn every month. A major part of our income is spent on repaying our debt. If we eliminate it, we have enough, trust me.
• There is a big difference between frugal living, and doing cheap things. Frugal living means finding cheaper substitutes and eliminating useless expenses, not depreciating the quality of your life. You cannot ask your friends to pay restaurant bills all the time and say you are being frugal.
• As with anything, only getting started is difficult. If you intend to get your finances back to normal, you just have to take the pains to get started. Things will follow through easily. Those you survive the beginning, wins the battle.
• You will never get out of debt or never be rich unless you have the passion to do it. Many people wait for things to go out of control to manage their debts. Well, such people never do any things except for waiting.

Here are few money management tips for women to stay independent and self-reliable.

1. Don’t take the risk to rely on any individual, like you boyfriend or souse, when it comes to finances. Start learning about how to manage money, do it yourself investment guides, self savings, etc.
2. One of the most important money management tips for women is having a financial goal. This goal helps them to take control of their earning, expenses, investment, etc., and actively manage them.
3. Don’t rely on money either. Many females depend on money to make them feel good. If you take away their money, they become miserable. You don’t to be one amongst them. Use money for your benefit, but don’t let it affect your inner feelings.
4. Here is a secret to be a millionaire women – Earn more, spend less. This is, however, quite a difficult thing to do without having an effective budget. Search all over the web and find ways to derive an effective budget that will keep a track of your expenses, your spending habits, your income sources, and your goal achievement path.
5. Finish your education. Don’t move out of college without having a degree. Having no professional qualification makes you an introvert individual, less understanding of finances, less respectable, and less rich.
6. Start building an emergency fund. When you meet with a financial emergency like a divorce, death in family, or job loss, all you will have is your savings, and an emergency fund, if you have built any. This fund gives you the courage to fight any emergency.
7. Be an active participant in you family finances. You must be aware about how the house is being managed, where the family money goes, and what you should do about it.
8. One of the significant money management tips for women is to be fearless. Not only it will help you to manage finance effectively, it will also help you in other areas of life. Fear doesn’t let you grow. Leave your safe boundaries and invest in financial products without fear.
9. Don’t sit back and regret if you have committed a mistake. Learn from it and move on.
10. Lastly, remember, money isn’t everything. Though it is important for every individual to survive, it isn’t everything. Don’t let money create disputes among your family.

How well you lead your financial life depends on your attitude towards it, and your desire to grow it. These money management tips for women would help you to attain a state of financial freedom.

Earlier, I had posted many articles on investing in 401k savings, CD’s, savings account, stock market, real estate, and gold. These tips, however, ensured a steady income rather than quick riches. This explains the bedlam of people wanting to earn money overnight. Not anymore. Here is a list of things to do to earn money instantly.

1. Stock Market Speculation
   We all know stock market is a place to earn a fortune. You just need to invest in right companies and at right time. Remember, every big company once started small. Find an emerging company in a booming sector, and invest in it.
2. Buy Property
   Housing prices are definitely not at their peaks. Get a mortgage and start buying properties at prime locations, and wait for the right time to arrive, which isn’t far now.
3. Get stock market tips
   But not from the market gurus on the web. Get some real information from people scurrying around the Wall Street. They know the secrets; why do you think they have 20 cars and 5 mansions?
4. Gamble
   Ever tried gambling? No? The good news is, you can learn almost everything on the web, including levitation. That’s not gambling though. You can learn many skills online, essential to win in blackjacks, craps.
5. Blogging
   Almost everyone can start a blog. Don’t believe me? Look at this blog, I know nothing about personal finance, yet I am earning. Write posts, perform SEO, paste some ads, and voila! Quick Cash!
6. Tax Returns
   Cheek the list of things you can claim as deduction, or consult a shrewd attorney, and get a considerable amount bank in your bank account. And when you get this money, use the other 6 tips to get rich quick.
7. Win a lottery
   Chances of winning a lottery are very low. And the unfortunate part is, most people think as you do. Why do you have to buy a single ticket? Get as many as possible, and the chances suddenly surges.

10 minutes later…

What? I just received a call from my accountant and lawyer, and while discussing these things with them, I realized I have got few facts wrong.

Umm, where do I start? Okay… stock market speculation doesn’t seem to be a great idea, it’s actually gambling, not investing. And gambling isn’t a good idea either. If it would have been so easy winning in blackjacks, more than half of world’s population would have been rich; actually, very rich, because they would gamble more with the money received. And my lawyer says, real estate is a good investment, but for long term. In short-term, the market is volatile, and it’s expected to drop further. Even if the market rises and you earn quickly, you will have to pay taxes on short term capital gains.

And I though I were earning thousands on my blog everyday. My accountant, however, just informed me I have few cents in my adsense account, and that’s a monthly income.

What about the lottery money? If I win, I wouldn’t have to think about saving money ever again. Here’s the truth, if you buy every available lottery ticket, you would have to get a food loan, utility loan, car gas loan, and a loan for every other expense you make daily.

The truth is: There’s only one way to earn money, save it, as much as you can.

After reading some articles on the web, to find places to hide money, I realized human ingenuity is boundless. People bury their cash in their attic, in the toilet paper roll, in the cookie jar, inside the i-beam, in a water-proof jar buried in the backyard, and inside many cans placed elegantly in the pantry. However, I wonder if they can recover their cash before zombies get hold of them.

Now that you know numerous places to hide your money, you have to derive a plan. Dumping all your cash at one place, say in a jar, definitely provides you the ease of accessing at in a moment. However, you unintentionally also provide this ease to the thief. It’s better, instead, to hide small parts of it at various places. So, if the thief starts flipping things over, he may find one stash and perhaps, quit. They certainly don’t have loads of time to solve the mystery or route the maze.

Reasons to hide money at home may be varied. But make sure you have the right reason and right amount of money. I though of stashing money in order to avoid an ATM trip, which is quite often. So, having money, in my pantry jar or under a plant in my backyard, more than $100-$200 is foolishness. Firstly, I wouldn’t need such a big amount like $2000 or $3000 for emergency. Secondly, I would lose lots of money on the interest I earn, keeping this money in my bank account. So, it’s wise to keep a logical amount of money, irrespective of the place you want to hide it. And remember, you would lose all your money if the house is on fire.

Also, hide money, if you intend to hide it at all, at safe places. Saving money is good, but when this hard-earned and hard-saved money deteriorates or catches fire, it hurts. So, be creative but remember to play safe.

Most of us have a latent desire to purchase articles that appear to be simply out of-this-world! You might want to own the most expensive house or car in town since long and when you find that you are suddenly eligible financially for realizing your dreams, you take the hasty decision of buying the big item. This may not be a very wise thing to do because if you spend all your wealth on only buying the article, what will you spend on maintaining it? You’ll agree with me that before you buy something big, you should be able to maintain it too. If it’s a house, you should be able to bear its maintenance and repair expenses later on. The same applies to a posh vehicle. You can always go for a vehicle or a house that is less expensive and save up some money for its maintenance. That is better planning.

If there are impulsive spenders, there are the thrifty, which are happy to hoard money and not put it to any good use. They just pile up the money in their personal treasure chests or put them in a money market fund or CD which hardly gets them any good profits on that. Don’t do either of this. Of what use is money if it cannot be used. Moreover, if you simply heap over the entire amount of money gifted to you, you’ll be depressed because you haven’t really enjoyed your newly acquired wealth.

So what is the ideal way to treat your newly acquired wealth? Taking the moderate path is most often the best path to choose. Spend about 10 % -15 % of your wealth on your favorite item and save up the rest for future use or make profitable investments with that. You might invest in college education, professional establishment, retirement fund or any other investment for securing your future.

Wealth management consultants are always there to come up with some of the best solutions to manage your newly acquired assets. Apart from inheritance and prize money which is quite impractical for many of us, one of the most common ways of acquiring wealth is through divorce. Many people generally get a lot of money when they get divorced and they think, they’ve gained a fortune. But many times wealth managers have managed to show that such wealth may not actually give them the life of their dreams as they had been expecting to get. Wealth experts have an experienced and realistic outlook of finances and they know if a given quantity of wealth is going to make you rich or not. Its better to use your newly acquired wealth under expert guidance.

Although there are numerous things you can do in your 20’s, I am listing just five that are most basic and important to lead an independent life.

1. Earn more, spend less

   There is a reason why I have placed this point on top position. Earning more and spending less is the key to financial stability and a gateway to other points. If you miss or skip this point there are few chances that you will be able to capitalize on other points.

   Although this is a must in all the age groups, it the most fundamental for young people in their 20’s. To spend less try to find a place to stay that asks for less rent. Next, keep a check on your bigger expenses like entertainment, eating out, shopping, etc. These expenses are very much unnecessary and can easily be limited by a bit of self-control. Use budgeting (use any method as far as it helps spending less) to ensure that you spend lesser than you earn.

2. Make saving a habit

   Now if you spend less, there are high chances that you will be left with some extra funds every month, unless they are stolen by your room partner. Even if he does, I am sure you it won’t be every month. Now I am not asking you to save 50% or 60% of your income. In fact, I am not giving you any amount or percentage that you must target. The sole idea of this point is to establish saving as a habit. If you have this habit, you wouldn’t have problems all you life (of course financial problems). If you are not able to save or invest, at least ensure that you don’t keep accumulating debts.

   It is okay even if you can manage to save $5 per month. Do it regularly, every month. When you know that saving in now an integral part of your life, start increasing the amount. You are definitely going to earn more in coming years. Rather than finding ways to spend the increased amount, try to save more. It al depends on how you manage point 1.

3. Keep investing

   If the place where you save and store your money is your closet, it wont last longer. Either you will use it for a birthday party or your roommate who once took your one month’s will steal the whole amount. The best way to store and earn is investing. There are thousands of books written on smart investing. However, I don’t want you to lose money on trying to trade in stock market or commodity market.

   There are other better places to invest like 401(k). Monthly payment to this plan is done by allowing deductions from your monthly income. However, if such plan is not accessible to you due to any reasons, start investing in any retirement plans for a secured future. IRA is a good option.

4. Sharpen the saw

   Not the real one of course. You are not a woodcutter. However, your saw is your bunch you skills. You probably might have some very good talents. But there is definitely much more you can learn in your early years of work. Focus on continuous learning. There is never an end to it.

   Most of the youth want a high paying but effortless job. Very erroneous attitude. I don’t care (or rather you should not care) what salary you are offered, try to get a job where you can work hard that enriches all your skills and sharpens them. Learn early to get a better future. Try all kinds of work, learn how things are done and managed, develop a vast variety of skills, and never evade hard work.

5. Networking

   I have mentioned networking as a source of finding a new job when you are unemployed. However, to build a network just after you lost your job and managing expenses is quite difficult. So, it’s quite wise to develop a personal and professional network before you forcefully have to do so. Also, having excellent relations with your colleagues and seniors can drive your career on a fast track rather than a slow and sluggish one.

   Do not be industry and location specific. Try to know people from all over the industries and different parts of the world. May be some years later, you have to relocate or switch industries. At such times, these are the people whom you will benefit from. There are various other benefits of networking that are quite difficult to comprehend at this age. But trust me, keep networking and you will thank me one day.

These five pints are very strong roots that will help you stem a flourishing career and a financially sound life. These years, in your 20’s, will decide your future if you don’t decide yourself.

Fake Check Game

Frank William Abnagale Jr., the king of fake check counterfeits, managed to pass $2.5 million via fake checks over a period of 5 years in about 26 countries. Difficult it was to catch him,(that’s why the movie Catch Me If You Can was made inspired by him) , but eventually his game was cracked when an Air France employee identified him from ‘most wanted’ posters.

Fake Currency Game

The biggest counterfeit currency racquet of Britain of all times happens to be that of Anastasios Arnouti, who produced fake currency worth billions of pounds. ‘Taz’, as he is better known, printed the notes with a highly sophisticated printer, templates and other equipment. He’d sell 10 pound notes for 80 pence and 6 pounds for $100. His game was cracked in 2002 when he was imprisoned.

False Authorization of Printing Currency Notes

You might have heard about people printing false currency in their own workshops, but Alves dos Reis was a step ahead of them. He had falsely authorized Waterlow & Sons Ltd., a currency printing company, to print false currency to the denomination of 500 Portuguese Escudos under the name of Banco de Portugal. His forged contract under the guise of an Anglo economic welfare project was busted later.

Largest Amount Of Fake Currency In Circulation

Stephen Jory was responsible for circulating about 2/3 rds of fake currency in Great Britain between 1993-1998. During that period, he managed to circulate £50m in the market till the time he was caught.

Confederate Counterfeit

You might know him as the ‘King of Confederate Counterfeit’. He is Samuel C. Upham, who would mint fake currency and sell it to private buyers. He sold more than 80,000 fake notes in 1885, worth anywhere between $ 10,000 to $ 50,000 even though the government had imposed a death penalty on counterfeiting.

Government Counterfeit

It’s rather shocking and enraging to know that even governments can engage in counterfeiting! I can understand that individuals may have criminal mentalities. But it seems that one particular Asian government has actually printed the currency notes of India in the year 2009 to fund terrorist activities. It also seems fake American, Australian and Singaporean currency were also printed by the country.

I never really understood criminal mentality. Criminals, however intelligently they mastermind their crimes, eventually get caught. Catherine Murphy, England’s woman counterfeiter was burned on execution for her crime. Since then, burning on execution has been banned officially.