It’s that time again where everybody is looking over their shoulder and being just a tad skeptical of anything thing they read, hear, or see. April 1st marks yet another April Fool’s Day and many people have wondered just where this day of trickery came from.

There is no definitive theory of where this day came from but one story suggests that it began in the 1500’s at the time where the Julian calendar switched over to the Gregorian. Anyone who forgot about the change and tried to celebrate New Year’s on April 1st instead of the new date of January 1st was heckled by being called an “April Fool”.

Another theory states that during the reign of Constantine, a few court jesters thought they could run the empire better than him! Constantine decided to give them a chance and named the jester Kugel king for one day. Kugel decried that the day be filled with absurdity and the custom seemed to have stuck!

Nobody is really sure how the tradition started but you better believe the tradition is still alive today. Every year, TechCrunch.com compiles a list of the day’s online goofs for all to see. Here are some of our favorites:

“Wikipedia: Check out Wikipedia’s main page. Featured article is one on “wife-selling.” “Excerpt: “Along with other English customs, wife selling was exported to England’s American colonies, where one man sold his wife for “two dollars and half [a] dozen bowls of grogg.’”

Google: Techcrunch reports that Google is getting serious about nuclear research, and is building a uranium enrichment plant. Some experts say it’s for energy, other say it’s a nuclear deterrent against the China threat.”

So whether you are making prank phone calls, uploading your keys to the internet, or ruling the Roman Empire for a day, have some fun but just be careful before you end up the fool!

What kind of pranks did you pull today?

Sources: Infoplease.com // Techcrunch.com
Picture by: Carbonnyc // CC 2.0

By this point we are all well aware of the housing situation this country is in. According to CNN, nearly 25% of all mortgages are deep underwater, meaning the borrower owes more than the house is worth. Some states have homes closer to Davey Jones’ Locker than others, such as Michigan who has 39% of all of its mortgaged properties underwater. As scary as that number is, it doesn’t even come close to Nevada’s 70% underwater rate!

With all these mortgages being higher than the home value, many people are deciding to walk away from the home and take a foreclosure hit. The sad thing is some of these people can afford the payments and are just doing it as a strategic financial move.

At the time this may seem like the best/only option, but when you step back and look at the situation, walking away from an underwater house is never a good decision.

You are going to have to live somewhere after you walk away from your home and foreclosing leaves a huge black spot on your credit score for seven years! If you think that you’ll just rent till it goes away, think again. Renters are now starting to check credit scores to see if their potential tenants will be able to handle paying their rent on time.

Strategically walking away from a home not only hurts your credit score but your integrity as well. When you sign a contract for a mortgage, you are giving your word that you will pay this money back to lender. So financially it may benefit you but you might have to compromise some morals to make it work.

There are your neighbors to think about in this underwater situation as well. When you walk away from a house, this decreases your neighbor’s home value. Just think how you would feel if your home dropped in value, all just because someone decided to make a financial move and foreclose on their home.

Sure your home might be stuck in the briny deep leaving you stuck paying more than what it’s worth, but have some faith in the future of housing and realize your home value will eventually start to increase.

What are your thoughts on walking away on an underwater home?

Source: CNN Money
Photo by: Davidbaker // CC 2.0

Pinching pennies all the time can take a lot out of you! If you’re careful the stress of money management can really get you down over time. A great way to forget about the stress of clamping down on bank accounts is to surround yourself with friends and loved ones. That’s, right…ITS PARTY TIME!!!!!

Wait a minute! How can I afford a party if I’m worried about keeping the vice clamped down on my budget?

Well that’s easy! Follow these frugal party tips and only thing you will be worrying about is where the limbo stick is.

E-vatations: Why waste money with stamps, envelopes, and invitations, and your time stamping, stuffing, and sending them, when you can get all those things for free and at a fraction of the time. There are tones of E-invitation websites like Evite or MyPunchBowl that will let you create your own invitations then send them to all your friends email addresses for FREE!

Lucky you: Party food can cost an arm and a leg but not when you get a little help from your friends! Tell guests that the party is pot luck and they should bring a food or drink item to share. If they don’t happen to be culinary inclined, say monetary donations are welcome instead. This is a great way to save a ton of money on food and your taste buds and palate get to experience a plethora of different food creations from your friends.

Dispose of disposal:One time use plates and cutlery are easy on clean up but not your wallet. So pass on the paper party products and let your guest eat in style. Bring out the regular dishware, who knows, maybe a few friends might stick around for the clean up!

If you don’t have enough reusable dishware for everyone, it’s ok to spend a few bucks and pick up some plasticware. Keep in mind you can put plastic cutlery in the dishwasher, on the top rack so it doesn’t melt, and reuse it for another time (the paper dishes will most likely have to be tossed out).

Crank up the stereo and force your monetary worries to step aside in order to make room for great food, friends, and fun! It’s penny pincher party time!!!!

Have you ever thrown a penny pincher party?

Lucy_baxter // CC 2.0

In a previous article, Incoming Income, we talked about how to break the constraints of your income to start bringing in more cash each month. Some people don’t feel comfortable renting out a room or might not have the time to turn a crafty hobby into cash but that shouldn’t get in your way of increasing your income.

If you want to truly control your income it is essential that you get hungry. Hungry for knowledge. No matter what career path you have, it should be a priority to stay current in your field and to constantly seek out new information about your career. This ensures you are ahead of the game in whatever industry you are in and that kind of head start is the type of thing that gets people promotions, new sales leads, or increased customer base.

Take night courses at a local community college to keep up with current trends in your field because after all if you let your knowledge become obsolete, so do you. For the working professional, night classes might be out of the question but most colleges have online courses that give you access to new exciting information about your field that will give you’re the professional edge. Who knows, you might take enough classes and before you realize, it could add up to a Masters Degree on your resume (perfect for promotions).

Look for training courses put on by different companies that specialize in your field. Let’s say you are a mortgage professional, Training Pro has courses all over the country that will prepare you to take different certification courses that will keep you on top of your game and ready to make more money.

Get certified by accredited programs, this shows employers and customers that you have taken the steps necessary to learn all you can about your field. Certifications are an excellent way to become next in line for that supervisor position.

Be the master of your domain and learn all you can about your field to make yourself a commodity. When you are the only expert around, employers will go out of their way to keep you at the company and this usually means higher compensation.

Open a book, take a class, or get that certification, whatever you do, make sure you keep feeding that brain so you can feed your wallet in turn!

Photo by:M00by // CC 2.0

Here at MoneyLounge we appreciate our readers, and to show our appreciation we are going to give you an insider tip that could earn you an easy $3,000 to pay those housing bills.

Starting April 1st, Shore Mortgage is launching a special contest that will award 3 winners $3,000 each and 1 winner $1,000 to pay housing expenses!

Want in?

All you have to do is stay tuned to MoneyLounge in the next two weeks and we will give you insider information about the contest a full week BEFORE it’s released to the public! Just our way of saying thanks for staying tuned.

So keep your eyes open and get ready to win big!

Photo by:Atanski // CC 2.0

Wake up. Hit the snooze button. Wake up. Hit the snooze button. Kids wake you up. No snooze button on kids. Get them dressed, fed, and to the school bus. Shower. Get dressed. Run out the door. Run back in for the car keys. Sit in traffic. Arrive at work right on time.

Sounds fun, huh? Well for most people this is a Monday through Friday routine. However, it seems as though something is missing. This on the go lifestyle doesn’t really seem to have space for the most important part of the morning, YOUR breakfast. Sure you can grab a cup of coffee on the way out the door but this is not the most nourishing morning meal and there isn’t any time to sit down to eat anyway. Oh there is plenty of time when you turn your car into a mobile breakfast nook.

Take some time to prepare breakfast ahead of time so you can grab and go in the morning. Make packs of dried fruit and nuts so you can get something other than coffee in your system before lunch. If fruit and nuts don’t tantalize your taste buds, make some baggies of cereal and snack on that on the ride to work.
Looking for a bit more variety for your pallet? Buy a bulk container of yogurt and split it up in to smaller portable containers, then mix in some crushed up cereal and some fruit slices. This makes a tasty on the go parfait that you can eat without eating up your precious time.

Small snacks are great to curb hunger till lunch, but if you’re like the staff at MoneyLounge, you get quite a mighty rumbling in your stomach and need something more. Set a Sunday night aside to precook scrambled eggs, bacon, shredded cheese, and diced tomatoes. Put these cooked ingredients in tortilla wraps and freeze them. Pop one in the microwave as your pushing the little ones out to the bus and by the time you run out the door, that delicious breakfast burrito will be piping hot and ready to be feasted upon.

You have to get energy for the day from somewhere, don’t make it from caffeine. Prepare in bulk, get creative, and fill that belly up!

What is your favorite on the go breakfast?

Photo by:An-and // CC 2.0

It’s something that we all unfortunately have to do. As much as we don’t want to, one day instead of surfing the web, we’ll be surfing the clouds with wings, halo, and the whole white robe getup. It’s just a matter of time before each and every one of us winds up to kick the bucket. Before people get to the wind up, they make what is called a bucket list. This is a list of things they want to do before its time to head “upstairs”.

It’s great to write down all the things you want to do so you can start crossing them off, but why be so morbid about it? With a bucket list you have one deadline (pun intended), so make it a point to create a new list, with less of a depressing end date.

Take that main bucket list and start sectioning it off to set a goal date for each item. So instead of going sky diving before you croak, make it a point to do it in the next two years. This way you won’t risk kicking the bucket in the process of crossing things off your bucket list.

Don’t use this list for things like painting the house or paying bills on time (that should be a given anyway), this should be a list that challenge you to do things you normally would be afraid to do. Go sky diving, audition for a play, or reconnect with a relative you lost touch with. Whatever the goal may be, put some thought into it and set a tangible deadline so you can realistically get it crossed off.

Make a specific date, so if it approaches and you didn’t do one of the items, take the day and do it! You only have a short time on this rock so take the time to make it worthwhile. There should not be one MoneyLounge reader who utters the phrase “I wish I could have when I was younger”.

There is no need to wait until you are 124 years old to do the things you always wanted to do. Start crossing things off now so when it comes time to go down the river Styx (not the band), you won’t have any “I wish I would have”s.

What are some of the things on your new bucket list?

Photo by: Woo-hoo // CC 2.0

Depending on where you live, you just about have to tunnel your way out of the house due to all the snow. Washington D.C. was covered with a total of 32.4 inches of snow; not over the whole winter, that was just in two days! That kind of coverage makes it a little difficult just to run to the corner store and back in under ten hours.

Since you can’t really control how the roads are plowed, you can take some satisfaction in being able to cheaply control your commute up the sidewalk and driveway.

SAFETY WARNING If you are not in the best of cardiac condition, it’s wise to spend a few dollars and have it done for you. People who are elderly or out of shape, run a 1 in 10,000 risk of having a heart attack after shoveling snow for an hour.

Early defense: If you’re like most people, clearing the driveway isn’t on your top five things to spend your time on, but it’s time to buck up and get it done. Get out there a few hours after it starts snowing and scrape away. You will have to shovel more times, but it’s better to do it a few easy times than one really really really hard time.

Grab a shovel: This is your first line of defense against the snowflake invaders. It’s the cheapest way to clear your path because the only thing it costs is the price of the shovel and elbow grease.

No new blowers: Don’t waste your money at a snow blower shop, spending thousands of dollars on a brand new snow blower, check out Craigslist for used blowers and you could get one in really good condition for around fifty to a hundred bucks!

Have fun: Shoveling snow is not fun. If you think it is, I will forward you my address. For the rest of you this chore doesn’t have to be such a bore, grab a mp3 player or radio and blast some tunes while you shovel, this way you’ll be done before you know it!

Break free of that snow and ice prison that is holding you hostage and start the battle against the Snowpocalypse. Next time that white stuff will be too afraid to fall on your driveway.

How long does it take you to clear off the driveway?

Photo by: Littledebbie11 // CC 2.0

Flash forward eighteen years when your new worldly creation has finally become a young adult and ready to ship off to college. These emotional times can cause us to forget about how expensive the transition into a young professional can cost. Tuition isn’t the only thing mom and pop will have to worry about. Don’t forget about the cost of dorms, food, books, supplies, and any other miscellaneous class material they may need. The ticket to this emotional roller coaster is starting to get more expensive as the ride goes on.

After thinking about how expensive the college ride is going to cost, the best time to save for all of this is really before your young doctor, lawyer, or astronaut can even walk! That’s right, start saving right away and it makes the financial burden a little more bearable.

529 Ways to save: Since we don’t have enough time for that many, let’s just focus on one right now: the 529 college savings plan. This is an investment plan that you start when your child is young and you can start stashing away for their big transition into a young scholar. With this money you can pay for all qualified higher education expenses like tuition, room and board, mandatory fees, books, computers, and other educational needs. The plans are great because you can contribute over $200,000 to the fund. However since this is an investment option you are subject to market risks. The plan has no age limits, there are no residency requirements, and enrollment is open all year long!

Pay first, educate later: Another option is to prepay your child’s educational experience. This way you can lock in tuition prices and many public and private universities. This plan is a little more restrictive because it only covers mandatory fees, there is an age limit on the beneficiary, and there is a limited enrollment period. A really nice thing about prepaying is that most state sponsored plans are back by the state.

Sometimes looking down at that little bundle of joy can look like a dollar sign wrapped up in a blanket, but when you plan ahead, waaaayyy ahead, you can turn that dollar sign back into the potential cancer curing, law changing, and world changing young scholar they will become.

When did you start saving for your young mind’s higher education?

Sources: sec.gov // SavingForCollege
Photo by:Hiperactivo // CC 2.0

A lot of people will claim that using a budget and being frugal will make you rich. Being frugal is a great way to increase your savings, reduce debt, and pad your emergency fund, but by simply
tweaking your spending budget will not make you wealthy. No matter how you look at it, you are constrained to your income.

So how do you become rich?

Increase your income!

Even if you have a full time job there are many ways to increase your cash flow to break the borders of your salary.

Make a hobby of it: Take some of your favorite hobbies and turn them into cash. If you enjoy making crafts, take your items to trade shows and sell them off. This way you are doing what you love and cashing in on it, all in your spare time.

Have a sleepover: Well more of an extended sleepover. If you have an extra room in the house, you can very cheaply turn it into a bedroom and rent it out. Not only can you pick up some extra income but meet some interesting people along the way.

Rent your income: Garage sales are great to pick up some spare cash, but the problem is you can only sell your stuff once. So instead of selling the stuff you don’t use, try renting it out. Websites like Rentalic connect people with stuff to people who need stuff. You can rent all sorts of items from wheelbarrows to DVDs.

Be bossy: Well more like be your own boss. Try freelancing your talents on the weekends to earn some extra income. Write for newspapers or blogs, be a weekend consultant, or design logos for companies. Use any talent you have and sell it to a company, this way you can work on your time and still keep your original job.

If you are ready to graduate from saving money to making money, these tips will help you on your way to increasing your income.

What are some of the creative ways you increased your income?

Photo by: Lwr // CC 2.0