Are you looking to give some of the season’s hottest gifts without breaking the bank? We searched high and low for this year’s “it” items and found them at price points that will fit almost any holiday budget. Check out the video below to see how you can get everything from infinity scarves to iPod speakers for less.
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WHO: John Scardapane
WHAT: Saladworks, the nation’s #1 salad franchise
WHEN: 1986
WHERE: Saladworks has locations in 11 states, but the company calls Conshohocken, Pennsylvania home base
HOW: Being successful in business is rarely a toss up. It’s a mix of ingredients: hard work, creativity and passion, to name a few. But for John Scardapane, founder of Saladworks, it was both.
Working as a gourmet chef in a New Jersey country club, Scardapane noticed a lack of healthy alternatives for diners and decided to take action. “I realized that there were really no healthy alternative food offerings available for consumers on-the-go, so I developed the concept to serve fresh, made-to-order entrée-sized salads in a comfortable, restaurant environment.”
With that concept in the back of his mind, Scardapane climbed the ranks at the country club, going from chef to management level. Scardapane soon learned however, that the promotion wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. “When I was promoted to management, I was guaranteed a base salary and a percentage of the profits of the club. I made these profits, but I was never given my percentage because of a prior manager’s losses. This made me realize that I couldn’t work for someone else – I had to go into business for myself,” he says. More…
In 2007 and 2008 my work made us have HSA accounts at a local credit union and they would deposit money at the beginning of the year – I no longer work there and have not used any of the money in the account. Would there be a penalty for withdrawing the money (to pay bills, not for health reasons)? I have about $2,900 in the account.
-Jane, Maine
A HSA, or a Health Savings Account, is a tax-advantaged savings account that’s used to fund your medical expenses. These plans are becoming more and more popular—in fact, according to a 2008 survey by America’s Health Insurance Plans, 6.1 million Americans used HSA-qualified plans.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with them, here’s a little background on how HSAs work. Health Savings Accounts are funded one of two ways: either by your employer or by you. If your plan is employer sponsored, your employer deposits money into your HSA periodically. If you’re funding the account, you’re responsible for making the deposits. When it comes to deposits, there are limits. In 2010, the maximum annual contribution for an individual policy will More…
What do you need to know if you’re considering a short sale? How will closing an account affect your credit score? Watch the video below for the answers. Do you have a money situation you need help with? Click here to submit it.
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It’s that time again. According to USA.gov, two of the most popular New Year’s resolutions are related to money. They are – you guessed it – to save more, and to pay down debt.
I’m not at all surprised. But I also want to hear your personal money resolutions. Maybe you, too, want to pay down debt (I can help you do it, here). Or maybe you want to increase your retirement contributions, commit to clipping coupons, track your spending each month, or get a higher-paying job. Whatever your financial goals are for 2010, I want to hear about them.
Leave me a comment below, and I’ll do a round-up after the New Year. As an added bonus, you can come back to this page and read your goal in black and white when you start to waver. We’ll keep you honest.
WHO: Mark Boyett and Jeff Winner
WHAT: The Diner’s Deck, a deck of cards—one for each of the 52 Manhattan restaurants chosen by the deck’s creators—with each card doubling as a $10 gift certificate at the place it describes. Forking over the $29.95 for the deck can really add up to some serious savings. To break even use three cards. Use the whole deck and you’ve saved yourself around $490. Boyett and Winner’s brand, “City Shuffle,” has also recently added two new decks: The Diner’s Deck for Brooklyn and Downtown and The Bar and Lounge Deck.
WHEN: 2003
WHERE: New York, NY
HOW: “The original inspiration for The Diner’s Deck came to Jeff when he was getting ready to go on a date” says Boyett. Wanting to shake things up a bit and discover a new place to dine, Winner wrote the names of some restaurants on slips of paper, shuffled them and asked his date to pick one. Two nights later, Boyett and Winner went out to grab a bite to eat, planning to use a gift certificate to pay for the meal. Over a couple burgers, Boyett listened to Winner’s date night tale, and then it hit him. More…
I am the co-signer on my daughter’s student loans that she has defaulted on. It has gone to the collection agencies and they are demanding that I pay them $68,000 right now. I don’t have that kind of money. What can I do? Do I have any options?
- Audrey, Illinois
Defaulting on a private student loan can have serious effects: legal action can be taken against you, your wages may be garnished and your credit score will likely take a hit. “Just like federal education loans, private student loans are very difficult to discharge in bankruptcy,” adds Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of the websites FinAid.org and FastWeb.com.
My advice to you? Pick up the phone, call your lender and explain your situation. “If your financial situation is so destitute that there really isn’t any reasonable opportunity for you to repay the debt, you should be open More…
Last week I was on Today with Stacy Morrison, editor of Redbook magazine. We talked about things you can do to keep that holiday budget of yours under control (the first thing, of course, is to actually have a budget. If you’re not sure what the appropriate amount is for you to be spending, use my holiday budget calculator).
I bring up this segment again because I love some of the tips Redbook collected from its readers, and I wanted to share:
“I buy sets of things and break them up. Last year on QVC, Valerie Parr Hill was selling sets of holiday candles that came with gift bags, tissue, and tags. I bought a set of five and broke them up into five individual gifts.” —Denise Gaylord, 55, New Bern, NC
“Board games make great family gifts: one gift for four people! I once gave Scrabble to a family, and they loved it because they began spending a lot more time together. Monopoly is another classic.” —La’Tonya Hocker, 34, Bowling Green, KY
You can read the rest of the Redbook piece here.
Happy Holidays!!
On this morning’s edition of Money 911 we answered quite the variety of questions. What’s the difference between a traditional IRA and a Roth IRA? How do you handle taxes when you run a business from your home? Where is the dollar going to go in the next year in relation to the Euro? If you missed the segment, check out the video below for answers to these questions and more.
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