Money Management Made Simple

Spring cleaning has always been the time to flip mattresses, clean windows, and get behind or under those appliances to see what's been growing during the winter. This is also a great time to purge old or unwanted items from your home. Personal files and financial documents also deserve some attention. Here are a few things to consider for this year's spring cleaning.

What's the best way to determine your starting salary and still have your business make money at the same time?

Just like with your personal finances, a budget for your business is the foundation for its economic success and growth.

Many people have the skills and talent to start good businesses, but they lack the accounting knowledge or passion to keep those businesses profitable. For instance, an enthusiastic lawn care company might create beautiful landscapes. Then they avoid things like tracking tax-deductible mileage to customers' homes and so crucial financial savings are lost.

If your business is like most, the 80-20 rule applies. That is, 80% of your profits come from 20% of your customers.

Most people believe they have to pay the taxes on gains from the sale of their home, but did you know there's a good chance you may not have to?!

Here are 8 tax facts to keep in mind if you're selling your house this year

Are you like most people who have a "healthy respect" (aka nightmarish fear) of the IRS and have every receipt, every return, every writing implement ever used or needed for filing your last 35 years' taxes? Has your filing system expanded from a drawer to a whole closet "just in case"?

While that may be a little exaggerated, it's not uncommon for people to still have boxes and boxes of papers they're not sure if they should hold on to or alas…set free.

If you fall into the category of wondering whether to keep or not to keep all those papers, here are three guidelines to help you sort it all out.

The start of a new year is more often than not the start of new plans for new habits. Most people "resolve" to get healthy physically, but in a recent Fidelity study one-third of Americans will vow to get healthy financially.

Whether you find yourself wanting to save more, spend less or pay off debt, here are the top four ways you can lead by example and have winner's bragging rights to go along with it.

All the gifts have been opened, the leftovers frozen, and normalcy is starting to settle back into your days — until you open the mailbox and get that first credit card bill (and then another) reminding you of just how much you spent on spreading that holiday cheer.

Instead of carrying the dread and the debt with you into the new year, this season why not implement some understanding and strategy to paying off those credit cards as quickly as possible?