Author Archive
Posted by
Tom Craig
in Personal Finance 
When you've set a tentative target for each category, subtotal the income and expense categories and subtract the total expenses from the total income to arrive at your net income. This will be the amount of money you have left over for building an emergency fund, making additional payments on ...
Posted by
Tom Craig
in Online Frauds Scams
Banking online is actually safer than traditional methods of banking. In fact, the U.S. government has been urging social security recipients to get their payments via direct deposit. There are fewer errors when you use technology, and there is less fraud. An electronic system makes it harder for scammers to ...
Posted by
Tom Craig
in Personal Finance
It's a good idea to put together a budget worksheet to get started in setting up your budget. You'll get some help on doing it here, but make sure the categories you use fit your personal lifestyle. Use the basic common categories that apply to everyone, such as housing, utilities, ...
Posted by
Tom Craig
in Entrepreneurialism
After you have completed your task-list goals, you will want to set specific business goals. These will involve analysis and determining what actions you will need to take to achieve those goals. You should also set your goals for reaching certain metrics such as sales, sell through rates, and cost ...
Posted by
Tom Craig
in Workplace
Every Successful Business Leader tries to keep his Office and workplace organized. Staying organized not only increases office productivity, it also boosts morale and keeps you focussed and full of energy.
So, get started right now – Follow these 12 tips to organize your office and stay organized:
Schedule a weekend or ...
Posted by
Tom Craig
in US Politics, eBay
Name an item, and someone probably collects it. Did you know, for example, that people collect and pay big money for old eyeglasses? The catch is, where do you find old eyeglasses? You will probably never see them at a garage sale; however, when you are at a garage sale, ...
Posted by
Tom Craig
in Amazon
In trying to figure out what to sell on Amazon, have noticed how many refurbished or re-manufactured electronics are on sale on Amazon. Actually, Amazon sell more refurbished or remanufactured electronics than eBay. So, if you look at the electronics section of Amazon and type refurbished you will get to ...
Posted by
Tom Craig
in eBay
Many eBay sellers create their own product to sell on eBay. Some sell their own crafts and artwork, while others produce specialized software programs or other information resources. Because you are the manufacturer and totally control the cost and selling price of your product, this can be very lucrative.
Software is ...
Posted by
Tom Craig
in eBay
Don't think that you need to limit yourself to a certain product theme. You can sell anything on eBay if priced right. My rule of thumb is this: if you can price an item for half of the regular price and make a decent profit, then you can sell a ...
Posted by
Tom Craig
in Human Resources
In the small-business world, one size definitely does not fit all. Every company has a distinct group of employees with varying personal lives, professional goals, and priorities.
While big companies prefer to offer the same insurance benefits and options to everyone, small companies have an advantage in being able to tailor ...
Posted by
Tom Craig
in Buying
Whether you're a first time home buyer or a repeat customer, the labyrinth of steps and documents leading up to the grail of the closing can be intimidating. But buying a home is actually a logical, straightforward process—nerve-wracking because so much is riding on it, but not difficult to understand.
These ...
Posted by
Tom Craig
in Mortgage Refinance
Congress enacted the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) in 1974. It regulates lending activities of lending institutions in making mortgage loans for housing. RESPA is administered by HUD.
While most of RESPA deals with lender requirements and responsibilities, some provisions of RESPA directly affect Loan brokers as well as Real ...
Posted by
Tom Craig
in Success
Success is more than economic gains, titles, and degrees. Planning for success is about mapping out all the aspects of your life. Similar to a map, you need to define the following details: origin, destination, vehicle, backpack, landmarks, and route.
Origin: Who you are
A map has a starting point. Your origin ...
Posted by
Tom Craig
in Parenting
Build family communication and togetherness by having a weekly toy game hobby night. It is so easy these days to let work, school, and the business of life rule the day, that we can easily lose touch with each other. If we get together one night each week for a ...
Posted by
Tom Craig
in eBay
For most sellers, accepting credit card payments means signing up for PayPal. That's because it's a real hassle to set up your own merchant credit card account; setting up a PayPal account to handle your credit card payments is a lot easier.
PayPal (www.paypal.com) is an online payment service, owned by ...
Posted by
Tom Craig
in eBay
As a new eBay business, you can learn only so much from existing businesses. It might be tempting to look at the list of top sellers and say that you want to duplicate everything they're doing. The problem with that strategy is that if you duplicate everything they do, you'll ...
Posted by
Tom Craig
in eBay
There are ways you can protect yourself against this type of unwarranted chargeback.
A few ways include:
Describe the Items clearly
State Auction Terms and Conditions clearly and concisely
State a clear Return Policy
Respond quickly and courteously to customer complaints.
If the auction is “as is” sale, state that clearly in the auction.
Ship only to ...
Posted by
Tom Craig
in Business Loans SBA
In order to raise capital for your new or existing business, you can also contact your state chamber of commerce to locate state-level programs. The assistance available will vary between different states, just as it does at the city and county levels.
The following is a list of some common methods ...
Posted by
Tom Craig
in Business Loans SBA
If you are writing your business plan for the purpose of borrowing money or raising capital for your new or existing business, you need to understand how potential lenders or investors will look at your business plan. Financial professionals use several ratios to help them understand the viability of your ...
Posted by
Tom Craig
in eBay
Not every product you buy for resale actually sells. If you carry 100 SKUs, you might find that 95 of them sell very well, but the remaining five are either slower movers or out-and-out dogs. What can do you to get rid of less popular merchandise?
Marking Down Merchandise
There are two ...
Posted by
Tom Craig
in Hair Loss
Hair loss is not a problem unless it is excessive. Although it is normal to shed some hair daily as part of hair growth cycle, some people may experience abnormal hair loss. Hair loss is a big worry to many people, both male and female. If you have a worrying ...
Posted by
Tom Craig
in Supplements
Many people nowadays are turning to “organics” and “naturals” otherwise known as herbals. The rising popularity of herbal supplements has created a new fad if not a new health lifestyle. But before you join the bandwagon, here are some things you need to know about this mean, “green” dietary supplementing ...
Posted by
Tom Craig
in Constipation
Constipation is a symptom, not a disease. It is frequently caused by a disturbance of how the colon works. Constipation is more common in elderly persons--who report more straining and sensation of anal blockage--than in middle-aged persons. Constipation is the most common gastrointestinal complaint in the elderly, with up to ...
Posted by
Tom Craig
in Positive Attitude
Be all you can be, but it's not always in the Army. I often see myself as somewhat contented with my life the way things are, but of course it's hard to think of anything else when where are real issues to be discussed.
Still I aspire for something deeper and ...
Posted by
Tom Craig
in Home Loans
The VA guaranteed loan is a 100 percent loan. The loan amount may be 100 percent of the VA appraisal of the property set forth in the VA certificate of reasonable value (CRV) or 100 percent of the sales price, whichever is less. The VA provides this certificate, sometimes informally ...