If you follow my blog regularly then you know that I’ve missed the last two editions of the Monday Morning Personal Finance News. Weekends have been very busy around the Six Figures & Broke household and something had to give – in this case it was a bit of blogging. I’m back now, though!

• If you fly often then you know about all the different “fees” that airlines charge you to get from point A to point B. A new fee is cropping up – direct flight fees. Yes, if you want to get from point A to point B without a layover in point A ½ then you may be charged an additional fee.
• It’s Tax Day! This year tax day is 4/18 and not 4/15 so you have until midnight tonight to get your taxes filed or postmarked or an extension requested. If you’re jobless, don’t forget to check out these tax breaks for the unemployed.
• Simplify your life by decluttering. Did you know that decluttering could have a positive impact on your finances?
• Do you want to save money on spices? Head to your local independent international grocery store instead of the neighborhood big box grocer.
• Are you hooked on Groupon? If so, check out this article on taming your new addiction without missing out on some great deals.
• Find out how you can go from $10,000 in your retirement account today to a million plus at retirement.

Photo: smemon87/Flickr

Did you know that there are digital libraries where you can check out eBooks? I didn’t know until a few months ago and I have to tell you, I’m in love with the service! The library system in our city has partnered with OverDrive.com to offer digital books, audiobooks and even movies to its patrons. Even though I don’t live in the city, itself, my local library is a partner with the main city’s library and so I can use the service as well. All I need to do is enter my library card number and I’m set.

You can view the books on your computer or download it to an eReader or mobile device. For example, I can download to my iPhone or my iPad. I prefer the iPad because it is bigger and I’m old and blind (okay, not really, but I *am* nearsighted). I simply browse through the available books, add them to my wish list, move them to my digital bookbag, check them out and then download the file. You don’t have to move them to the wish list first but I use that as my reading list. Anytime I hear of a book I want to read, I go and add it to my wish list. Each book or audio file is rented for a 14-day period.

For a tech geek that loves to read but doesn’t want to break the budget, this was a great find! If you’re interested in finding out if your library participates, check out the Overdrive.com Search Tool. Happy free e-reading!

Photo: Wesley Fryer/Flickr

From time to time I will hear Dave Ramsey discuss the population of millionaires here in the United States. Most are made not born – in other words there are more first-generation millionaires here in the United States than there are those that were born into their fortunes. In 2010 alone, 600,000 new millionaires popped up in cities across the country.

According to an article on CNNMoney.com this morning, “The millionaire population jumped in the U.S. by 8% last year, fueled by the stock market recovery, according to an industry report on Wednesday. The number of U.S. households worth at least $1 million rose to 8.4 million in 2010, compared to 7.8 million the prior year, according to a report by Spectrem Group.”

So how does one become a millionaire? I’m not one so I don’t know the answer but my guess it is a combination of several factors: hard work, dedication, money smarts and perhaps even a tad bit of luck. I know that I’ve heard stories of millionaires that never earned a six-figure plus annual income so having a high income isn’t required.

Are you a millionaire? If so, how’d you get there? We’re not but hopefully we’re well on our way towards becoming first-gen millionaires and forever changing our family tree.

Photo: purpleslog/Flickr

Happy Monday Morning. This week is Spring Break in the Six Figures and Broke household. My husband took the week off work and although I still have blogging to do for clients, I only need to put in about 10 hours of work this week. We’re spending Spring Break this year by staying local and enjoying the outdoors, taking a shopping (not buying) trip to Ikea (the kids love that store) and hanging out with family. Definitely Spring Break on the cheap!

Without further ado, I present you with this week’s Monday Morning Personal Finance News featuring stories on how you can help with the relief efforts in Japan and a spending limit on debit cards.

• If you have money left in your giving envelope and want to help out with the Japanese earthquake efforts, read this article on CNNMoney.com with ideas on how you can help.
• If you’re a debit card user, this story on a possible $50 spending limit on debit cards should have you a bit concerned. I know that I am! If this limit is implemented, it will also limit your purchases if you use your debit card as a credit card. This may force many of us to bust out the ole checkbook again!
• This headline certainly caught my eye: Factories having trouble finding workers.
• I’m not a big doom and gloomer but this is a bit worrisome: 10 Reasons to Worry About the Stock Market.
• Are you heading into retirement? If so read this article on dealing with inflation risk during your retirement years.
• Although I’m not a fan of credit cards, this story did have me a bit miffed. The recent credit card reform is having an unexpected yet negative impact on a specific population – stay-at-home-moms (SAHMs). If a SAHM wants to apply for a credit card, she can’t use her household income but instead needs to only use her income. If she doesn’t have any then she needs her spouse to co-sign. Again, I’m not a fan of credit cards but this is just silliness IMO.
• Here’s another reader story from Get Rich Slowly – How I Avoided Student Loans – great read!
• Check out Julie’s article on finding money to get out of debt and while you’re at it, check out the other great posts on her blog, The Family CEO.

Happy Monday Morning! I’ve spent the last week taking care of my sick daughter and now my sick self so I got behind in what is going on in personal finance land. I was surprised to see the unemployment rate drop to 9% and I was surprised to see the stock market up more than 2% for the week. Those are just a few of the topics I’ve chosen for this week’s Monday Morning Personal Finance News.

• Although we only added 36,000 new jobs in January 2011, the unemployment rate dropped to 9%.
• The first week of February was good for the Dow Jones; it closed on Friday up 2.3% for the week.
• This post title made me laugh – BofA gets serious on foreclosures – BofA getting serious on anything is a joke (in my opinion) because it is one of the most disorganized financial institutions I’ve ever done business with.
• Speaking of disorganized financial institutions, a new survey reveals that only 26% of Americans trust the financial system.
• Check out Slate’s article on marriage and money – Our Newlywed Money Dilemma. If you’re married, did you combine your finances? We did!
• If you’re not yet married, check out April Dykman’s article The Cost of Love on Get Rich Slowly. Boy, dating can be expensive!
• A special shout out to Kim at the Travels of Kimbopolo – she’s cheered me along on my get out of debt journey by commenting on my blog posts. She recently updated her savings goal and is now 62.5% towards meeting her goal of $20,000 – congrats Kim!!!

See you next week!

Happy New Year!

I’ve been thinking about my financial goals for 2011 for several days now. While 2010 was a great year in the Six Figures and Broke household, we are preparing for an even better 2011. To help keep ourselves accountable again this year, we’ve decided to share our personal and business finance goals with you.

Personal Finance Goals

• Finish Dave Ramsey’s Baby Step 2, which is paying off all consumer debt. Our aggressive payoff goal is 4/1/11 but a more realistic goal is 5/1/11.
• Finish Dave Ramsey’s Baby Step 3, which is a fully funded emergency fund of 3 to 6 months of household expenses. We’re halfway through this already. Even though Dave Ramsey recommends that people follow his steps in order we decided to deviate a bit in October/November 2010.
• Bump up my husband’s retirement savings from 6% to 10%. We were contributing 2% for part of 2010 and bumped it up to 6% when he received a 5% raise (we decided to keep 1% for debt paydown.) Again, this is against Dave Ramsey’s teaching so purists don’t wet noodle me!
• Bump up my Individual 401(k) contributions to 6% from 2%. I just opened my own Individual 401(k) in 2010 and funded it with 2% in late December. I’d like to bump this up to 6% by the end of the year and then up to 15% in 2012.
• Officially get my kids set up with a commission structure. We tried a few times during 2010 but neither my kids nor myself followed through with it.

Business Finance Goals

Photo: adria.richards/Flickr

Happy Monday Morning! Catch up on the latest personal finance news including an increase in both the use of food stamps and the gap between the rich and middle class as well as boomerang retirees!

• The use of food stamps increased by 16% in 2010 and now 1 in 7 American families are living on food stamps. Here’s hoping 2011 brings millions of new jobs!
• On the opposite end of the spectrum, the gap between the rich and the middle class continues to widen.
• Forget boomerang kids, more retirees are having to move in with their children these days.
• If you didn’t already know, student loans can leave a new graduate with a crushing debt burden.
• If you’re at the investing stage of your life, check out this investing to-do list for the end of the year.
• If you’ve had problems with credit cards and spending in the past, stay strong because easy credit is back!

At the beginning of the year, when I launched my Six Figures and Broke blog, I wrote a post detailing My Financial Goals for 2010. Now that we’re coming up on the holiday season and the New Year is right around the corner, I figured it would be a good time to look at the progress we’ve made towards this year’s financial goals.

Reducing Expenditures
One of my primary goals was to reduce my outgo and I’ve made great progress in this department, at least in my opinion. We reduced our grocery budget, we reduced our restaurant expenditures, we cut back to basic cable and basic internet, we cut out our mobile broadband internet, and much more. We have shaved several hundred dollars off of our monthly budget over the course of the year.

Paying off Debt
We have made huge progress in this department. Just look at my October 29 Baby Step 2 Update for proof. As of October 29, we were about halfway through our debt payoff. We slowed down on our debt repayment earlier this year while we cash-flowed a new air conditioner/heat pump system and then again in October and early November while we piled up $7,500 in cash. I am projecting that we will be down into high $20 thousands by the time of our next Baby Step 2 update later this month.

Savings
As I mentioned in my January post, we are not following Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover plan exactly. Although he’s an expert in the field and his plan has worked for probably millions of Americans, we’ve chosen to tweak it just a bit. We have saved up more than the recommended $1,000 Baby Emergency Fund and contribute to our 401k.

We initially only contributed 2% to the 401k but when my husband received a 5% raise earlier this month, we upped the 401k contributions to 6%. My husband receives a 100% match with instant vesting on this 6% plus it reduces our taxable income slightly.

Reflections
Last year about this time my husband had started a new job. He had been trying to obtain a position with this company for years and now it was becoming a reality. We were a bit nervous as the base pay was slightly lower than what he was making at the previous position but with the new job came commissions, bonuses and even an RSU stock award. With our new focus we had a plan for this money and in looking back at the first 10 months of this year, we know exactly where it went. I only wish I’d smartened up a few years ago but hey, better late than never, right?

If you made financial goals at the start of this year, I’d love to hear your progress.

Happy Monday Morning! Here’s some personal finance news to get your week started off right including tips on saving money for the holidays and more.

5 ways to save $500 or more for the holidays – WalletPop

The holidays are right around the corner and if you don’t have a holiday sinking fund in place, WalletPop has a list of five ways to save $500 or more for the holidays. Number one on their list – boost your take home pay by checking your tax withholding! Click on through to WalletPop for the other four ways.

7 Uncommon Ways to Save For the Holidays – Fox Business

This Fox Business article will also help you get prepared to cash flow the holiday season. Two of the ideas in this article include stop spending for two months and gift your skills. Click on through to Fox Business for more ideas.

Stocks End at Fresh 2-Year Highs – CNN Money

U.S. stocks wavered Friday but ended with slight gains, as investors digested a strong jobs report at the end of a week full of big economic news. All three major indexes closed at fresh two-year highs and the Dow and S&P logged their biggest weekly gains in more than two months.

Americans’ Perception of Their Standard of Living is Unchanged From a Year Ago – DailyFinance

Americans’ perception of their standard of living is unchanged from both last month and a year ago, indicating that any optimism from gains in the stock market and U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) has been offset by issues such as unemployment and a stagnant housing market.

This Holiday Season, Consumers Expect to Be Frugal – Kiplinger

Consumers may spend slightly more this holiday season than last, according to projections from the International Council of Shopping Centers and the National Retail Federation – but they will be spending cautiously.

Watch this video from Julie Tilsner with WalletPop.com to learn how to save money and be green by packing your own lunch in a Bento Box.