Being an employer with many employees, you are in a position to hire and fire staff.  Though I don’t quite care for the firing part, it is a necessary part of the success of my business.

This past week it came to my attention that one of our writers was having big issues.  Usually his work has been good, though he has only been with us for two months.  Lately though, he has had a lot of spelling problems.  Because our work requires precision, we needed to have a talk with him.

He was a little nervous when he entered my office.  Not that I look too scary (at least I don’t think so), but not too many new people have made it to my office.  I sat him down and explained to him our problem with our work.  I asked if there were any problems in his life or with his work.  He said that things were going fine.  An idea popped into my head that I said out loud:

"Maybe you are dyslexic."

We contacted a firm that specialized in dyslexia tests and ordered one promptly after we found that he had dyslexic symptoms.

While we are waiting for the test in the mail, we have reassigned him to another department.  I am sure that we will figure this out - we might just have to send him for some special training - I am sure he will overcome this challenge.

Well, my husband and I decided that we needed to renovate the house and get a new vehicle.  We have decided to get a loan to pay for both of our purchases.  This way we wouldn’t tie up too much of our cash.

So, we walked into the bank expecting to get a loan for both.  Sitting down with our banker, she told us that there were two different types of loans we should consider before making our choice.

She explained that there were two major types of loans: unsecured loans and secured homeowner loans.  The thing is we would need one for each.  She proceeded to explain the difference using technical jargon and I started daydreaming….

After we left I had the biggest headache.  Who knew that getting a loan would be so complicated… I sure didn’t.  I hope my husband was paying attention….

Now, how many of you ladies out there would like to get paid to shop?  Probably most of you.  If you are like me, I spend quite a lot of time shopping (not necessarily spending a lot of money though) and it would be nice if I got paid to do it.  Specifically what if I told you that you could get cash back from every purchase you made by using credit cards.  How?  Just keep reading

I was sitting at my computer the other day checking out our banking website.  I noticed an offer for a cashback credit card with no fees that paid 1% cash back - and I was intrigued.  It seemed kind of cool that someone would pay me to shop.

I decided to look and see what other banks offered - I liked to shop around after all.  I used the Internet to compare credit cards and found a couple that gave more cash back than the one issued by my bank - a whopping 4% !  I made a quick call to my banker to see if they match the rate, but they couldn’t.

I filled out the application online and I am now waiting for the card to show up in the mail… I can’t wait.  Wait till I tell my husband that I am getting paid to shop.  I am sure he will be so excited

If any of you have gone through a bankruptcy at some point in your life, you know your whole financial situation changed.  On one hand, all your debt was gone and a huge weight was lifted off your shoulders.  On the other, it is though you have been branded with a sign that says you are no longer trustworthy.

For a lot of people that go bankrupt, perhaps that isn’t fair.  If the reason you went bankrupt was because of something you couldn’t predict or prepare adequately for such as illness or extended hospital stay, you may wonder why people treat you this way.  In this case, it is not like you went out of your way to overextend yourself - rather, life threw you a curve ball.

A good example is mortgages.  For example, if you had a mortgage before going bankrupt and you didn’t lose your house, then you will eventually have to renew your mortgage.  Now, unlike any other time you were there to renew it, you will have to jump through a few more hoops and do a bad credit remortgage.  Usually this takes a little longer than a simple handshake, and you may find yourself paying a little more for interest.

You will find even your friends treat you differently after they find out.  If you want to see it in action, tell them you went bankrupt and then ask if you can borrow money - see how many of them say yes.

The road of recovery from bankruptcy is a long one.  If you are experiencing it, I wish you luck - don’t worry, things get better.  It is only a matter of time.

I seem to spend a lot of time promoting this site both online and offline.  To be honest website promotion is a fun thing for me to do although it is very time consuming.  I have been looking for awhile to find a way to speed up my website promotion in an effort to free up some of my time.  Good news is I think I found it.

There is a new text link ads marketplace in town TNX.net.  Now, you might say that there are quite a few places online where you can buy link advertising.  I would agree with you but they are all missing one important feature - simplicity.

The problem with most link marketplaces is that usually it is a link by link basis for purchasing the advertising.  This can be very tedious and time consuming to the point where you get fed up.  I really didn’t want to run into something like this that would drive me nuts.

So back to TNX.  What they offer is a simpler way to buy links.  All you do is pick the popularity of the pages you want your ads on, as well as the page rank of the sites.  Next you setup your ad and pick the number of pages you want your ads on and POOF! , you are done.

Also, if you don’t have a really big budget to promote your site, I have a solution for you too.  You can join the affiliate program on the site and earn credits each time one of your affiliates either buys or sells links in the program.  This can be an easy way to make some extra money or pay for your website promotion efforts.

If you are in the same boat as me and need to simplify your website promotion efforts you can try out the program free - visit the following link to find out how to get free text links.

Even though most people go to a bank or to a car dealer to get a car loan, I like to shop around.  With so many finance companies competing for your business, it is almost in your favor to shop around - you would be surprised on what kind of deals you will find.

Now that you can compare loans online, it has never been easier to find the best rates for loans.  I have taken a look at personal loan rates online from many lenders when I have looked at getting a car loan.

I have also shopped online for a secured personal loan to pay for some home renovations to our kitchen.  By checking online, we found a better rate than what our bank paid, also we had the convenience of applying for the loan at 11:00 PM. 

You can also find the Internet to be useful if you don’t work at a traditional 9-5 job.  If you are uncomfortable applying online, you can at least find out the information and setup appointments during business hours.  It is also a great way to find out if you even qualify for a loan, or how much your would get should you apply for one.  Bear in mind too, if you would rather talk to a live person, most of these sites also have a telephone number where you can talk to or you can go to a real office and talk to someone.

Don’t be afraid to print off some of the offers and take them into your bank and show your banker.  You might luck out that they would be able to match your offer.  So, don’t be afraid to shop around - the Internet can help you do it.

One of the best uses for the Internet today is for comparison purposes.  For instance, if you are looking for a car insurance comparison, you can find hundreds of companies that will give you instant quotes online.  You can also compare credit cards and the best savings accounts.

It is such an informative tool because you can instantly come up with results, 24 hours a day, seven days a week - and the best part - you are never put on hold.  When I need to compare quotes or prices on anything, the internet is always my first resource.  Once you choose a few of the best options, you can contact the company, either through the website, through email, or by phone.

All in all, I find this to be very time and cost effective for me - using the internet as a comparison tool.

I currently have 13 mortgages that I am paying down.  Now, it may seem that my personal finances are in a sad state, but to be completely honest, I am not using my own money to pay for any of them.

The house I currently live in is paid for .  The 13 mortgages I have are all for rental properties, which I will one day own.  Although I am not making much in-pocket money at the moment on these rentals, the mortgages are being paid by the tenants: with the profits also paying for my car insurance.

Some people think I am angry because it is an awful lot of work, but they don’t look at the big picture.  In ten or fifteen years when all 13 mortgages are paid off, I will have a lot of in-pocket money.  I will also have a lot of free time on my hands to enjoy the money.

So, it may seem like it is not the smartest financial situation to be in, but in the end I will be having the last laugh.

We recently had the opportunity in my finance class to do something different.  It was our job to create a marketing campaign advertising the Internet as a financial tool.  Specifically, it was to advertise that you can get financial services online and how to go about getting them.

We were split up into groups of five and sent out to work on this task.  Our group ended up in a conference room and began to brainstorm.  We came up with a couple of tasks that you could do online such as look for the best credit cards, and compare bank accounts.  We were gearing our presentation towards these topics when Michael brought up a good point: what about cheap car insurance? 

We realized he had stumbled on gold.  With the amount of advertising on television about going online to get car insurance, it was a no brainer.  Since this was the first meeting we all decided that we would get together once a week and use email to communicate with each other.  Seems like our group will work well together.  Till next week…

Just like pretty much every other day, I logged into my bank account to see what the balance on our accounts is.  After a quick peruse to ensure that everything was ok, I decided to take a look around at the site.  Seems there was a notice outlining what new services the bank was providing online.

On a quick aside, it doesn’t seem that long since I started to bank online.  I can remember as a kid going to the bank with my mother and speaking to a teller - a task that I still continued up to two years ago.  It was at that time that I moved from my bank to another - both to save fees and to save time by not visiting a teller.

Alright, back on topic.  It seemed that the bank added a few more services to the already large number of services the bank offered.  First off, I noticed that I could apply for a mortgage online.  That is a far cry from the days that you needed to go and make an appointment.  This is handy for me should I want to buy an investment property and I don’t have the time to go talk to my banker.

Speaking of mortgages, you can also do a home refinance on your home, should the interest rates drop.  We have also been considering renovating our bathroom, and I can even apply for a home equity loan online too.

Check out what your bank offers in terms of financial services online.  You may end up pleasantly surprised like myself.