A little off topic here, but do you have opinions that you would like to express to a larger audience than just your dog? Do you want to work on your writing skills? Do you want to help people with a certain topic? Do you want to make some money on the side? =). If you answered “Yes” to any of these questions, a Blog might be the way to go for you.

Contrary to popular belief, it’s easy to start (emphasize “start” here, maintaining is a different matter =) ). For example, this site is Blog. It’s not free, but I use a free backend called WordPress that is very simple to setup. They also offer FREE Blog hosting through this site, which is great if you are just getting started.

If you have any questions about setting up a Blog of your own, feel free to email me. While I’m not an expert, I’d be glad to give you what help I can.

Also, I’ve found that ProBlogger is probably the definitive source of information on this topic. This guy makes a living off of his sites, so I think he knows what he’s talking about =).

Just watched “Anchorman” the other day, couldn’t resist the headline.

Anyways, take a well-deserved Monday afternoon break and check out the following stories:

• $3.00 For Gas? - Yes, the insanity continues. I think I’m going to strap a solar panel to my car and make a run for it.
• Five Reasons to Skip College - An interesting look at what going to college actually gets you for the price.
• American Indian tribes try out golf - Not the playing part, the owning part. Sounds like good business to me, considering the casino tie in.

Today’s Tip of the Day puts to rest the myth that small change is not worth keeping. Make every penny count!

Also, here are some interesting reads for you to take a look at:

• Why can’t the IRS make tax filing simpler? - Interesting read (tax season is still on my mind), MSNBC answers some reader questions about various tax topics.
• Problogger.net - Interested in starting your own blog and want to make some money along the way? This guy knows pretty much everything there is to know about the business, he actually does it for a living and makes six figures.

When you get home from work, where do you put the change in your pockets? If you’re like me, you probably just dump everything pretty close to your front door, maybe on a counter or something like that. This change then begins to circulate through your house, until it usually ends up lost for good in some dark nook or cranny. What’s the big deal? Well, it may seem like a few pennies and nickels are chump change at the moment, but they can add up. I started putting my change leftover from the day into a jar a few months ago, and low and behold the other day the jar was full. I took it to the grocery store, fired up the CoinStar machine (CoinStar is key here, as it automatically counts your change for you for the cost of a small percentage of your coin value) and to my great surprise I had $120 in change!

What was the cost to me? A few extra seconds everyday to put that change away. Try it out; I’m sure you’ll be pleasantly surprised when you cash in.

A lot of companies today offer their employees some form of 401k plan. If you’re not familiar with it, a 401k is basically a fund where you can set aside a certain percentage of your paycheck per pay period to be placed in this fund. This amount is taken pre-tax, so it comes out of your gross pay. Also, per the title of this post, many companies also offer a match bonus for your 401k. This means that they will match your 401k contribution per pay period up to a certain percent. For example, if they match up to 6%, and you contribute 6%, you will actually be putting 12% into your 401k. You should check to see if your company has such a plan and make sure that you are contributing at least up until the maximum match (in most cases), so that you are fully taking advantage of the bonus.

Working at my desk all day, I get thirsty.  Even if it is just something to sip on, psychologically I need a drink there most of the time.  With this line of thought, I could spend oodles of money on the soda machine (yes it does add up).  However, I found that if I bring a water bottle to work, I can just refill it at the water fountain or water cooler at my office.  Not only does it last me a long time, but it is free and healthier for me as well.  I still get a soda from time to time, but that’s not nearly as expensive or bad for me as getting a soda all the time.