How Healthy Are Your Finances?

Have you ever wondered if what you're spending and saving is in the proposed range? I ran across this neat little calculator/tool at CNNMoney.com.

You simply step through and answer the various questions on different topics, including:

• Housing payment
• Debt
• Emergency Savings
• Diversification
• Company Stock
• Life Insurance
• Retirement Savings

As you answer each question, the site will tell you whether you're doing well or need improvement, and if you need improvement, there are tips on what the suggested levels of spending or saving should be for that topic. In addition to learning how well (or not) you are doing, this is also a good exercise to learn more about overall savings and investments.

Charitable Giving Through Texting

With the recent earthquakes in Haiti, a new form of making donations has come to the forefront - donations via cell-phone texting.

For those of you that itemize your deductions and claim charitable giving as one of your deductions, be aware that the IRS still requires you to keep documentation of your contributions.

Here is a link to an article titled "The Trouble With Texting Donations" from Smart Money that looks at this issue.

Simplify & Make Money

Do you have things (books, DVD's, appliances, etc.) lying around the house that you don't want/use/need anymore? Want to get rid of that stuff and get some extra money?

Here's a link to an article that talks about combining two typical new year's resolutions into one!