Grow your Income in 5 ways

Even though most of the suggestions made in this article do not apply ot me, there may be others who might learn something from it.

This article has been written by David Bach who has written many best seller books like Start Late, Finish Rich: A No-Fail Plan for Achieving Financial Freedom at Any Age and The Automatic Millionaire: A Powerful One-Step Plan to Live and Finish Rich

Five Ways to Grow Your Income by 20 Percent
Posted on Monday, February 26, 2007, 3:00AM

One of the things I like most about the new Yahoo! Finance format is the immediate feedback I get from readers. Just last month, my column "Five Ways to Save $2,500 in 20 Minutes" received enormous positive feedback.

I also received comments from concerned readers who basically said, "Your ideas won't work for me -- what else can I do to stop living from paycheck to paycheck?"

These readers certainly aren't alone. I completely understand that too many people today simply can't make ends meet with the salary they're earning. If that's the case, it's time to consider ways to grow your income.

Meet the Egglestons

Over the past year, I've had the honor and pleasure of appearing on The Oprah Winfrey Show as an expert money coach for her Debt Diet series. The mission of this life-changing program is to start a worldwide movement helping millions of people get out of debt and finally realize their goal of true financial freedom.

On the show, I coached an amazing couple -- Dan and Sally Eggleston. Dan and Sally are both elementary school teachers earning a combined income of $92,000, and live in Indiana, where they're raising three wonderful kids. When I first met them a year ago, they were $100,000 in debt and on the brink of bankruptcy.

Working together, we managed to find ways to cut back on about $500 of unnecessary expenses each month (using what I call the Double-Latte Factor). That was a great start. But due to the huge amount of debt Dan and Sally had accumulated, they had to do more.

In order to make measurable progress toward paying down all their debt, they not only needed to seriously cut back on their expenses, they also required a solid plan to grow their income by at least 10 percent over the year. The Egglestons didn't just succeed -- they crushed my goal by growing their income by over 20 percent!

Continue...

Brutal day on Wall Street !

Today, the stock market took a real beating! Every index (DOW, Nasdaq, S&P) went down at least 3%.
I'm sure it wont be a pretty picture in my 401K account tomorrow. Hope the stock market recovers soon.

Below is a news article explaining the blood shed.

NEW YORK

The Dow Jones industrial average was down more than 500 points with about an hour of trading left today but then gained about 100 of it back. The Nasdaq Composite fell more than 100.

A 9 percent slide in Chinese stocks, which came a day after investors sent Shanghai's benchmark index to a record high close, set the tone for U.S. trading.

Investors' confidence was knocked down further by data showing that the economy may be decelerating more than anticipated. A Commerce Department report that orders for durable goods in January dropped by the largest amount in three months exacerbated jitters about the direction of the U.S. economy, which were raised a day earlier when former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said the United States may be headed for a recession.

Read More

Netflix delivers billionth DVD

Being an avid Netflix user, I was hoping it would be me !

Texas woman wins free lifetime subscription after receiving the online DVD rental company's one billionth delivery.

February 26 2007: 5:47 PM EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -- A Texas woman won a free lifetime subscription to Netflix Inc after her rental of the Academy Award-nominated film "Babel" became the online DVD rental company's one billionth delivery on Saturday, the company said.The woman, of Helotes, Texas, a San Antonio suburb, requested anonymity
Netflix delivered its first DVDs, including "True Crime," "Analyze This" and "Dr. Strangelove," from a single San Jose, California, warehouse in 1999.

The service, which then had 2,000 titles, has grown to 42 distribution centers nationwide and more than 70,000 DVD titles. It delivers 1.5 million DVDs each day and recently launched an online movie download service with about 1,000 titles.

The top five titles delivered by Netflix over the years were "Crash," "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," "Walk the Line," "Hotel Rwanda" and "Million Dollar Baby."

The Ebay of Loans

Prosper.com links individual lenders to individual borrowers. It strips out some middleman costs but not default risk.
Year-old Prosper functions as an online way station where borrowers and lenders can arrange three-year loans of up to $25,000, at rates three to five percentage points lower than what credit cards charge (see table). Its a-rated borrowers pay an average 8.8% yearly, versus 11.8% for a fixed-rate credit card and 13.8% for a variable-rate card. They could get even better rates, along with tax deductions, if they tapped home equity, but many Prosper borrowers don't own a home.

The San Francisco site provides credit checks of borrowers via Experian and posts their ratings (ranging from AA to HR, for "high risk") with their profiles online. Bids are for interest rates, and the lowest ones win among sometimes dozens of bidders. Borrowers post a requested rate on their Web profiles, mostly in line with their credit rating.

The winning bidders' money, usually in small increments, is packaged into one loan. When lenders browse through the borrower profiles and place bids, it's often for a fraction of the total loan needed, with $50 the minimum. Lenders get the safety of diversity. The profiles allow lenders to see borrowers' debt-to-income ratio, current and past delinquencies. Some borrowers even post monthly phone bills and housing expenses. Borrowers provide photos of themselves, their kids, their pets and--a requirement--what they want to use the money for.

Find out more at Prosper

Celebrate the festival of colours with Reliance India Call "Rang de

Got this email today...more savings...YE !

Dear Customer

It is the season of colours. It is the season of fun, frolic and an
official license to be naughty. Make your Holi even more colourful by
sharing the joys of Holi with your loved ones through our Rang de offer.

On account of the Rang de offer, enjoy 10% discount on monthly bill
(maximum upto $50). The offer is valid from 1st March 2007 00:00 hrs
IST.upto 31st March 2007 23:59 hrs IST

Rang de your family and friends by telling them about this wonderful offer
and helping them register with Reliance India Call. Share the colorful
moments with the same crystal clear voice and other advantages that are
unique to Reliance India Call. However, please read terms and conditions
carefully before signing up.

In case of any queries you may log on to our website
www.relianceindiacall.com or contact our 24X7 Customer Care Service
1-888-6-RELIANCE (1-888-673-5426).

Assuring you of an impeccable service and innovative offerings on an
ongoing basis.

Regards,
Reliance India Call Team

Convert EB3 to EB2 ...is it possible ?

A colleague and I were talking about how slow the retrogression for I-485 is progressing and he brought up a point about how EB2 category priority date is moving much faster than EB3, currently Jan 2003 as opposed to May 2001 for EB3.

So we were wondering if we could convert our EB3 filing to EB2 because the requirement for filing in the EB2 category is that you should have a work experience of at least 5 years.
At this point I do have 6 years experience.

But after doing a little more research, our hopes were destroyed :)

Here is the Murthy forums post that talks about it.

So we have no choice but to wait for our EB3 Priority Date to become current...bummer !

Nice Phrases !

Today my mother told me these nice words, when we had our weekly India telephone call, that I thought of sharing.

Dream is not what you see in sleep...Dream is the thing that doesn't let you sleep !
--> Abdul Kalam (President of India)

Where there is silence, there is God.
--> Mother Teresa

10 Ways to make money Online

I came across this interesting article on Webworker Daily.

1. Offer your professional expertise in an online marketplace.These days, you can do more than just sell your old books via Amazon and your old Coach handbags via eBay—now you can sell your professional capabilities in a marketplace. No longer are you limited to looking for a permanent or contract job on Web 1.0 style job sites like Monster or CareerBuilder. The new breed of freelancing and project-oriented sites let companies needing help describe their projects. Then freelancers and small businesses offer bids or ideas or proposals from which those buyers can choose.

Elance covers everything from programming and writing to consulting and design, while RentACoder focuses on software, natch. If you’re a graphic designer, check out options like Design Outpost or LogoWorks–you don’t have to find the customers, they’ll come to you. Wannabe industry analysts might sign up for TechDirt’s Insight Community, a marketplace for ideas about technology marketing.

2. Sell photos on stock photography sites. If people regularly oooo and aaaaah over your Flickr pics, maybe you’re destined for photographic greatness or maybe just for a few extra dollars. It’s easier than ever to get your photos out in front of the public, which of course means a tremendous amount of competition, but also means it might be an convenient way for you to build up a secondary income stream. Where can you upload and market your photos? Try Fotolia, Dreamstime, Shutterstock, and Big Stock Photo.

3. Blog for pay. Despite the explosion of blogs, it’s hard to find good writers who can turn around a solidly-written post on an interesting topic quickly. GigaOM is always looking for bloggers with great content ideas and solid writing skills. How do you get noticed? Comment and link to blogging network sites. Write blog posts that are polished and not overly personal (although showing some personality is a plus).

Read More

Access your PC from anywhere...for FREE !

I came across this new FREE service a few months ago and have been using it with great success.

LogMeIn Free gives you fast, easy remote access to your PC. All you need is an Internet Connection and a browser.

When I was in India, I was constantly using LogmeIn to access my HomePC here in Atlanta, to check my Outlook work mail, run updates etc. It works exactly like Remote Desktop Connection and it is very secure.
The speed was really good too even when I used a dialup connection.

Sign up for a free LogMeIn account

One Phone Number...for Life !!

I came across this wonderful new FREE phone system...GrandCentral !

With this account, you can have one phone number your entire life...no matter how many times you move.

I just signed up for it yesterday. It is 100% free and will always remain free. Just a few premium features will cost extra once they come out of BETA.

GrandCentral does not replace any of your existing phones or phone numbers, it just brings them together into one number. A few of the exciting features are:

• Roll all your phone numbers into one
• Check your messages by phone, email, or online
• Keep all your messages online for life
• Record and store your phone calls (just like voicemail)
• Send annoying callers to SPAM
• Click-to-dial from your address book
• Record a custom voicemail greeting for each caller
• Use RingShare^TM to turn your Mp3s into the ring tones your callers hear
• Forward, download, flag, and add notes to your messages

You find out more at GrandCentral

How to choose Funds in your 401K

I came across this excellent article about choosing funds in 401k on Morningstar.com

How Not to be Overwhelmed by Your 401(k)
Even if you've got a big menu of choices, there's no reason to be weighed down.

By Christopher Davis | 02-20-07 | 06:00 AM |

Because I work at Morningstar, a lot of family and friends ask me to make recommendations for their 401(k) plans. I'm always glad to help, of course. After all, I want those that I care about to make good choices for themselves, financially and otherwise. I also think of it as an opportunity to step into the shoes of a more typical investor and see what they're up against.
If my friend Oscar's experience is any indication, many investors face a bewildering number of choices in their 401(k) lineups. Oscar recently asked me to help him pick investments for his first 401(k) plan, and he was overwhelmed. I couldn't really blame him. His employer gave him a long list of funds to choose from--36 in all--that would have taken an awful lot of time and effort to research, even for experienced folks like me. Not only did Oscar have a daunting number of options, he had to decide on an overall asset allocation and how much of each fund he wanted to own. And had he not known me, he would have probably made all of those decisions without much guidance at all.

If you're struggling with a similar situation, don't fret. To help you find your way, here are a few strategies that Oscar and I considered.

Read More

Cheap Rates for Calls to India

Starting 2007, Extended Daylight Savings

Beginning in 2007, daylight saving time (DST) will be extended in the United States. DST will start three weeks earlier on March 11, 2007, and end one week later on November 4, 2007. This results in a new DST period that is four weeks longer than previously observed. Unless certain updates are applied to your computer, it is possible that the time zone settings for your computer's system clock may be incorrect during this four week period. In particular, you must make sure that both your Windows operating system and your calendar programs are updated.

Do I have to update my computer?
Home users: If you use Windows Vista or have Automatic Updates turned on, you may not be affected by the change in daylight saving time. If you want to confirm, follow the steps in the Daylight Saving Time Update Guide below.

IT professionals and IT managers:The Daylight Saving Time Update Guide below will quickly lead you to KB articles and downloads for the products you specify in the guide.
Daylight Saving Time Update Guide (source: microsoft.com)

XM-Sirius announce Merger

Actually, Sirius (SIRI) is buying XM (XMSR) for 4.5 billion dollars !

Since I bought Siruis stock last year, the stock price has been going down. I hope this will boost the stock price.

Here is a link to the merger announcement article

Consolidated View of Accounts

I regularly use this website to view all my financial accounts in one single consolidated view.
Now, you can also have your frequent flyer miles, hotel points etc. also in this view.
It has a portfolio Manager module, Transaction Manager module and a bill payer module.
It works out even better for me because I can also add my accounts that I have in India. It sows the amount in the Indian currency (rupees).
It gets the latest amounts from all the accounts once a day or you can update them manually.
Works out great for me.
Link to Register for free
Let me know if there are any questions.

Watching My Cell phone Minutes

Found this interesting (Windows Only) application on MyMoneyBlog.

Freeware system tray app WatchMyCell logs into your cell phone account and keeps a watchful eye on how many minutes you've used for the month.

Just download and install the program, set it up with your provider (currently supports Cingular, Verizon, T-mobile, Sprint, and Nextel), then define your rules for how soon you'd like to be alerted of your dwindling minutes and what form you'd like that alert to take (email or SMS).

Download: WatchMyCell

Source: Lifehacker

LOVE (عشق)

Love is NOT at first sight.
It takes TIME to understand feelings.
Nothing perfect BUT somehow relative!

frash!

No movement in EB3 Retrogression

Still No Movement for EB Categories

The U.S. Department of State (DOS) Visa Bulletin for March 2007 is identical to the January and February 2007 Visa Bulletins for the Employment-Based categories. It also contained a prediction with respect to EB3, stating that little, if any, forward movement is expected in the near future. In fact, it is possible that EB3 will retrogress even further. As a quick reference, the contents of the Visa Bulletin are summarized below.
All countries have cutoff dates. India remains at May 8, 2001 and Mexico is at May 15, 2001. China, the Philippines, and worldwide continue to have cutoff dates of August 1, 2002.

As stated, the Visa Bulletin predicts that EB3 is unlikely to move forward in the near future, and that any potential forward movement will be small. The DOS notes that the demand for visa numbers with priority dates before the August 2002 cutoff is expected to remain high, because both the Department of Labor (DOL) and the USCIS are working to clear case backlogs. These backlog reduction efforts could cause the dates to retrogress even further in spring or summer 2007.

Source : murthy.com

Nice Money Blog !

I came across a nice blog that talks about how we can save and invest our money.
The author has put his own portfolio on it and talks about his own personal goal of making 1 million dollars.

There are some interesting ideas about which credit cards to use, how to make more money and much more.

Interesting!

Mymoneyblog

Free Credit Check

I have come across many of my friends who do not know that you can get your credit report from the 3 major credit bureaus, Equifax, TransUnion and Experian for FREE !

I'm not talking about ads that we see online and on TV like freecreditreport.com.
They will give you your credit report once for free, but also sign you up for a bunch of other stuff that you don't need.

The site I'm talking about is http://www.AnnualCreditReport.com

This central site allows you to request a free credit file disclosure, commonly called a credit report, once every 12 months from each of the nationwide consumer credit reporting companies: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.
AnnualCreditReport.com is the official site to help consumers to obtain their free credit report.


Rule of thumb: If you have to enter credit card information, its not FREE!

Earn Money when your PC is IDLE

I dont know how well this would work, but I have downloaded this PEER software called Gomez PEER.
Its a java based application and does not require you to open any ports on your network.

Lets see it actually makes any money for me. :)

To get started click on the graphic below:

Canta che ti passa

غروب جمعه ها

دلگیرترین لحظه هفته غروب جمعه هاست! چه خوب بود اگه اون موقع همیشه خوابت ببره تا صبح فردا ...

Best of both Countries

My daughter who was born in the US.
So her passport, act as a passport entry into a lot of other countries, while her parents patiently await for their green card...

She also has an OCI card ...Overseas citizen of India
This not only acts as a lifelong visa to India, but she can also study, work and open up a business in India.

Man...I wish I was born in USA.

Retrogression sucks!

People who have a priority date on or before 08, May 2001 can file their I-485. Me, my priority date is Jan, 2003. Long way to go....