DollarVersity : A distinctive voice standing out from the crowd

Stop With The Evil Credit Card Crap Already

There are a lot of people out there who have a negative opinion of credit cards and credit card companies. Much of these complaints center around the… [more]

When Good Businesses Go Bad

This is the story of how one business duped many others into thinking it was reliable and trustworthy, while making off with their money.

The Secret to Keeping Your Job? Try Doing it Well!

I can clearly recall sitting in the waiting room of a local Tire Kingdom store one Sunday morning waiting for my oil change and trying to read a book.… [more]

I Will Never Wait Overnight At Any Store

Today is a wondrous day. No, it's not my birthday. Nor is it a holiday. It's not even going to be a beautiful day weather-wise according to forecasts.… [more]

Advertisers View You As A Sucker

Advertising is big business. Nothing proves that more than the Super Bowl--the average cost of a 30 second ad during the Super Bowl is $3.5 million! That… [more]

Create Loyal Customers With These 5 Customer Retention Tips

This post is brought to you by Carrie Smith, the genius behind the Careful Cents personal finance blog. She’s a Certified Bookkeeper and Financial… [more]

Does Cash Really Keep You From Overspending?

Filed under Personal Finance by Eric J. Nisall {9 comments}

People out there think that by only using cash, shunning credit cards in the process, they will put themselves in a better position to stay out of debt and control their spending. They think that simply because cash is a finite resource, they can only spend what they have available and no more. They also believe that the only form of debt is overextending themselves with credit and credit cards. Unfortunately for all of these people, that line of reasoning cannot be further from the truth.

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There Is Being Frugal And Then There Is Being CHEAP

Filed under Lifestyle by Eric J. Nisall {11 comments}

As a financial professional, it’s my responsibility to be able to help people come up with ways to save money, whether it be on their taxes or on day-to-day expenses. As someone who has financial responsibilities of his own, I read a lot on the subject for my own benefit as well. And even though I don’t view myself as being frugal I do read quite a bit on the subject. What I have found in my research sometimes shocks me: the extent that some people go to in order to save money, even in very small increments, just blows my mind. I have no problem doing comparison shopping, using coupons, timing my purchases, and other things in order to reduce my expenses, but some of the people out there absolutely refuse anything that isn’t free!

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What You Thought You Knew About MPG Ratings Is Probably Wrong

Filed under Personal Finance by Eric J. Nisall {19 comments}

Do you remember me telling you that advertisements lie, how the marketing people (as well as the product manufacturers themselves) think you’re a sucker and how their goal is to target gullible people who believe everything they see and hear? Well, it’s still true, and nothing is going to change that. This time, my ire wasn’t drawn to companies claiming to be the “best” or “highest quality” or any other subjective claim. No, lately I’ve been more annoyed specifically with car companies and their practices for pitching their automobiles among stiff competition. My beef with them centers on their non-stop talk about how you should buy their cars because of their fuel efficiency ratings. Contrary to what many people believe and what we are allowed to think, the government doesn’t actually run the tests that determine the fuel economy advertised by car companies.

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The Pros and Cons of Paperless Billing

Filed under Personal Finance by Eric J. Nisall {13 comments}

If your email inbox is anything like mine, it is probably chock-full of offers to go paperless from a lot of the companies that you do business with. Some of them may appeal to you out of concern for the environment, while others are appealing from a financial standpoint. While it may seem like a no-brainer to go paperless, there are some things to keep in mind before making that leap. Here are the pros and cons of paperless billing.

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Done With Tax Returns And Giving Away $100

Filed under Other Topics by Eric J. Nisall {193 comments}

Today marks the first day that I do not have to think about preparing peoples’ tax returns. This was a particularly difficult tax season as one of the partners in the firm had a brain tumor removed in December and didn’t play a large part, essentially leaving the bulk of the work to myself and the other partners (plus a temp for a couple weeks, but he really sucked and we had to redo most of his work anyway). It’s a pretty nice feeling to have taxes behind me for a little while, and I have to admit that the day does seem a little brighter, although this is South Florida and it’s supposed to be sunny anyway!

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Social and Health Care: The New Business Plan

Filed under Business/Entrepreneurship by Eric J. Nisall {one comment}

With the government’s current slashing of NHS budgets, the demand for good health care has never been higher. With more and more pressure being put on health services such as domiciliary care, there has never been a better time to get into the private health care business. How of course, is this possible you must ask yourself?

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Don’t Believe All The Hype That Insurance Companies Throw At You

Filed under Personal Finance by Eric J. Nisall {8 comments}

“15 Minutes can save you 15%.” “Save $X by switching” to our insurance company. “Bundle your insurance and save”. Blah. Blah. Blah. Every car insurance company, especially those which write policies for other assets, claim that they can save you money on your comprehensive car insurance needs. They love throwing out their “average savings” and telling you how easy it is to save you money. They have catchy jingles, famous actors, or endearing characters in their advertising. What they don’t have is the guts to do is tell you is the truth about such “savings” opportunities or their lack of service capabilities.

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