Intuit Inc. has decided to purchase Mint.com, a popular personal finance website, for $170 million in a move to increase Intuit’s capabilities as a tax and financial management service provider. The move comes at a time when personal finance computer service surges in popularity as more and more people strive to manage their money more efficiently.
 
Intuit’s business stems from its process that allows consumers to file their taxes online, as opposed to having to purchase physical software to accomplish the same thing. While the company’s revenue slowed last quarter, the traditional packaged software tax programs have also experiences smaller sales …read more

There are some truly awesome iPhone apps out there. My husband is fond of the app that makes a light saber noise when you wave the device around. I like playing Suduko. On a practical level, though, these types of applications are not very useful. They don’t offer you information that you can make use of everyday. When I saw that Prime Time Money found 10 iPhone apps that can help you keep track of your finances, I became excited. Finally! Something I can use.
Personal finance software
I use Quicken to keep track of my personal finances. I am on the …read more

Want to earn more money for your freelance writing? Of course you do.
Peter Bowerman who, among other things, writes The Well-Fed Writer Blog has a great post with some very simple and easy to implement suggestions in a post called: Repeat After Me: “I Will Ask for More Money Next Time…”
And he’s absolutely right. Simply asking for more often gets more.
Like Peter, I’ve got stories… like the time instead of quoting a fee I asked “what’s your budget for this project?” It was exactly double the amount I was thinking of asking!
It isn’t always that easy. Often the potential …read more

SlackerManager has a guest post called: Productivity Tip: Know When You’re In the Red The author, Sandy Renshaw, has devised a way to make sure she knows when a project is pro bono and when it’s paid.
I suggest you go further. First of all, one definition of profit is: The return received on a business undertaking after all operating expenses have been met. Simple enough IF you really know what your expenses are. I went around for years in a fog about both my income and expenses, and I know for a fact I’m not the only writer who has …read more

I spent years ignoring my money – money would come in and go out and I’d have only the vaguest notion of where it came from and where it went. Small wonder my income was less than stellar.
About 3-1/2 years ago I started to turn things around. Part of this effort includes tracking my income and expenses on a daily and fairly detailed basis. Amazing what a little clarity will do to improve things… my income has more than tripled.
I use Quicken and last week my tax man suggested I start all over again for 2007 and make my categories …read more