Dallas, TX - Engineers have invented a new oil drill that is capable of reaching depths hundreds of miles greater than current technology, high level sources have reported. The new breakthrough means that it is now possible to withdraw oil from a surface location hundreds of miles to the side of the oil deposit. Oil in Texas could be withdrawn from a well in Louisiana or, in a more politically charged example, Iraqi oil could be withdrawn from a well located outside the country or ocean based.

The pioneering technology was developed at a stealth, venture-backed startup named LongStraw Inc., based in Dallas, Texas. The company has raised over $400M in funding since 1997 from deep-pocketed groups including Kleiner Perkins, as well as leading oil producers Exxon Mobil and Chevron. Commercialization of the technology is expected to take between 5-7 years.

A public announcement of the discovery is imminent, sources say. Obviously the political ramifications of such a technology are huge. Stay tuned for further developments.

You may think you’re the world’s least organized person. But there are some simple, easy ways that you can start being more organized today. Follow these tips, and who knows… the organization just might stick!

1. Use a calendar and write stuff on it.

You can also use Google calendar, a written calendar, a small pocketbook calendar, the calendar on your phone. But I recommend that you only use one. Having a few calendars seems like it would be more organizational - after all, that way you can check your schedule no matter where you are! But in reality, it simply becomes too burdensome to write the same event four times on each calendar. You start forgetting stuff simply because you were looking at the “wrong” calendar. And let me tell you, that really sucks.

2. Make to-do lists, preferably one for each day.

It can be very helpful to take just a couple minutes to put all the jumbled thoughts in your head onto a neat list on paper. It’s easier to prioritize your tasks for the day, and it’s easier to get things done in the most efficient way. Most importantly, you can focus single-mindedly on each task, without worrying about everything else you have to do. You might be surprised by how much calmer your days will be, with the focus you need right in your pocket. As an added bonus, a to-do list makes it harder to procrastinate those unpleasant tasks or at least, you’ll feel a lot guiltier when you do.

3. Use Post-It notes, within reason!

Sometimes it can be helpful to write something important on a sticky note, like “pay the rent”, and then place the note in an obvious place. On the other hand, sticky notes can also be one of those double-edged sword type of things. I happen to live with someone who uses sticky notes as pretty much his sole method of organization. There are sticky notes everywhere: important reminders stuck to the door, to-do lists laying all over the desk and hanging from the computer, little messages scrawled above the coffee maker, and random notes-to-self on the coffee table. The result is that I use the sticky notes as coasters for my drinks, and eventually gather them up and throw them away. This is an example of sticky note usage gone wrong.

4. Put together a system for keeping all your personal contacts in one place.

This includes phone numbers, email addresses, mailing addresses, and all the contact info you need to get in touch with people fast. Whether this is an online system, a hardcopy address book, or even a Rolodex, is up to you. The important thing is that it’s easily and quickly accessible. Looking for phone numbers you need is a big time-waster. An organized system will save you time.

5. Set up a filing system.

That’s right, I said it. One of the top causes of disorganization, stress, and wasted time is the lack of a good filing system. You may hate filing, and cringe at the idea of having to organize all your messy papers, old bills, financial documents, and etc. But having a neat place for all these papers will cut down on clutter immensely. And knowing exactly where to find that financial document you need, will cut down on wasted time even more. If you don’t have a filing system, you’re basically asking to lose something important. And that’s something you don’t want to do. For more information on setting up a filing system, check out my related article: How to Reorganize Your Filing System (or Start a Filing System for the First Time).

6. Have a good filing system on your computer, too.

How much time do you spend staring at the jumbled pile of icons on your desktop? Or scrolling through your list of files, searching for the one you need? If it’s more than a few minutes each day, that’s literally hours of your life. Who needs that? Take the time to sort your files into clearly labeled folders and subfolders, and clean off your desktop. You’ll quickly thank yourself.

While you’re at it, do a backup of all your files, whether that means writing your files to a stack of dvd’s, backing them up on an exterior hard drive, or saving them somewhere online. No matter how disorganized you are, you should do this every couple months. Take it from someone who knows — I once lost hundreds of files when my computer unexpectedly crashed. This included some valuable manuscripts that represented hours and hours of work. I finally got them back, but it was expensive and took several months. I learned my lesson the hard way. Hopefully you won’t have to.

Make a habit of following these six simple tips, and your life will become much simpler, more organized, and less stressful. I promise!

‘Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?’
‘That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,’ said the Cat.
‘I don’t much care where –’ said Alice.
‘Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,’ said the Cat.
~ Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Knowing what your goals are is imperative to achieve success in any endeavor. If you don’t know what you are trying to achieve, when you are confronted with options you have nothing to help you make decisions accept for what your temperament of the moment desires. When you go to a place like Atlantic City or Las Vegas, you are going to be confronted with a LOT of options in a fast-paced and somewhat chaotic environment. There will be bells and whistles, flashing lights, free alcoholic drinks, and all sorts of other attractions and distractions bombarding your senses. Without a simple set of goals of where you want to get to, you can quickly end up somewhere you didn’t want to be.

On a recent trip to Atlantic City, I made just this mistake. The first day there I bounced between tables of roulette, blackjack, craps, and slot machines without any real idea of what I was trying to achieve–just hoping to “get lucky” while not turning down any free cocktails. The result: I hit the target I wanted to lose for the whole weekend in about 2 hours.

The next day I realized I needed a new approach. I immediately fell back on the method I use everyday back in the real world: defining some goals. It was pretty easy once I thought about it. I had two goals: 1) to have fun 2) to not lose money. Notice how my second goal is NOT “to win money”. When you set goals, you have to be realistic. Don’t make unattainable goals. Winning money would be a goal that is almost entirely dependent on luck and very arbitrary.

Having a well-organized filing cabinet is essential for being a well-organized person. Without one, you’ll probably find yourself drowning in a sea of messy papers, unpaid bills, lost important documents, and misplaced winning lottery tickets (okay, maybe that one’s a little unlikely). For a couple years, I worked as an office assistant, where I learned more about filing than most of you will ever know. Luckily for you, I’m about to share some of my secret knowledge. Pay attention, and you could become a master filer as well. Here are the ten steps to reorganizing your filing system (or starting a filing system for the first time).

1. Have a plan. Yes, that’s right, a plan. Devise the most logical way to organize the files. But don’t psych yourself out. After all, they’re just files. Come up with a system, but keep it simple.

How you decide to organize your files depends on how large your filing cabinet is (you might just have a drawer), how many files you have, and what your individual needs are. I have a filing cabinet with two large drawers, and one narrow file holder on top. In one drawer I keep all my personal files (bills, tax information, bank statements, and assorted random financial and personal documents) - in alphabetical order. In the other drawer I keep files related to my business. In the narrow holder on top, I keep “live” business files that I may need to access again soon.

The flaw with this particular system is that all the statements for a particular bill are in one folder, regardless of date. For instance, all bills and correspondence relating to my cable internet are in one folder, so if I were to need a bill from a certain month, I would have to sort through all of them.  I compensate for this by always putting the newest bill at the back of the folder so they will be in chronological order. The flaw in my system doesn’t bother me, but if I were slightly more anal about certain things, I might choose to have a separate folder for each month’s worth of bills, instead.

2. Clear a workspace. A table, a desk, or possibly even a wide clean space on the floor.

3. Collect all the documents that need to be filed, and stack them up in one central place.

4. Sort them into piles according to the clever new system you’ve devised. At this point, you may begin to perceive some flaws in your system. That’s good, because you still have time to change it. You might also find that along with important documents to be filed, you’ve collected a lot of junk and useless records that you could probably get rid of. Now is an excellent time to do that. Don’t forget to recycle.

5. When you’re happy with the organization of your piles, put a sticky note on each, with the desired label for each folder. At the same time, write that same phrase on one central piece of paper. For example, for the pile of phone bills, you should have one sticky note that says “phone bills” attached to the pile, and one line that says “phone bills” written across your piece of paper. This will make sense in a moment, I promise.

6. Choose a system of manila and hanging folders. (In case you didn’t know, hanging folders are the heavier, typically green folders with little metal hooks to hold them up inside the drawer. Manila folders are the lighter, typically cream-colored folders.)  This will depend on how many files you have or intend to have in each pile. For example, you could have a hanging folder labeled “insurance”, and then separate manila folders inside it, labeled “renter’s insurance,” “car insurance,” and “health insurance”.

7. Put each of those stacks into their folders, moving the sticky note to the outside of the folder, if you like.

8. Now take your central sheet of paper to the computer. Hopefully you’ve purchased a sheet of labels that are correctly sized to place on folders. If not, you better go do that. If you use Microsoft Word, you can create a document that is perfectly and specially formatted for your particular sheet of labels. Do this by:

i. Opening Microsoft Word
ii. Clicking on “Tools”
iii. Clicking on “Envelopes and Labels”
iv. Clicking on “Options”
v. Selecting the specific product number for your labels. This should be printed on the outside of the label package, or on the label sheet itself.
vi. Clicking OK.
vii. Clicking New Document.
Or, if you are lucky enough to have a label maker, you can just use that.

Make sure you create labels for both the outer folders and the inner folders. In some cases, when there’s only one manila folder inside a hanging folder, the label will be the same. In the case of the insurance, for example, the hanging folder will say “insurace” while the manila folders will be more specific.

9. Now that you have your labels, you can go back and put them on your folders. Luckily they’re labeled with sticky notes, so you won’t have to spend any time trying to remember which folder was supposed to be labeled what.  You can stick the labels directly on the manila folders. The hanging folders should come with a set of plastic tabs. Place the sticky label on the card inset, then slide it into the plastic tab. If the sticky label is too large, you might have to trim the edges with scissors.

10. Voila! You have your files, ready to go. All that’s left to do now is put them back into the drawers in the order you’ve devised, which I assume will either be alphabetical or chronological.

One last tip: new bills and paperwork will certainly come along, no doubt longing for a warm and cozy home inside your file cabinet. Don’t make them wait out in the cold! Keep up with your filing, putting away all the new stuff no less frequently than once a month. You will thank yourself. Believe me.

Don’t spend money on bottled water. Buy a large carton of water bottles and after you drink em: rinse, refill, refrigerate, and repeat!

Recently college students have been bombarded with ads about consolidating their student loans. The question is, should I consolidate and how?

The short answer is: if you are thinking about it, you probably should. As far as having loans go, student loans are some of the best. The interest rates are low and repayment terms can be stretched way out. Often times it makes sense to consolidate just to save a few headaches from paying different bills each month. Mostly though, it is to lock in low interest rates and settle on a good repayment term.

Hitchhiking is a bad idea. In no way do I advocate hitchhiking in this article. However, it is free, and for covetous misers such as myself, free is good. In fact, my entire time spent hiking and camping on Vancouver Island was free, except for an A&W Cholesterol-filled meal and a deliciously-illegal-in-the-states Cuban cigar with which I rewarded myself after a successful week in the rainforest. But on the hour-long thumb-journey from Sooke to Port Renfrew, I received not only a free ride, but more valuably, free financial advice.

She drove a Landcruiser and was around forty but looked young, and she was a successful realtor, her husband an equally accomplished artist. In exchange for picking me up, she gave me a stackful of house listings and told me to fold them. This would save her an hour, she said, and was a fair exchange for the ride.

She asked me what I do and when I told her about the site, she spurted off endless advice for smart young investors. She told me that she and her husband used the equity of her house to make real estate investments for her ten-year-old daughter. In this sense, the wealth stayed in the family and her daughter would be able to borrow against the property in ten years time, when its value will have skyrocketed.

Because the 2010 Winter Olympics are coming to Vancouver, there has been a surge in the real estate market there, unlike in the rest of the North America, which is slowly recovering and in my opinion, will start going back up shortly (downturns in the real estate market typically last a maximum of three years). The city of Vancouver has put a moratorium on development of any more condominiums, so the condo market on Vancouver Island has surged. The realtor’s daughter and her family are reaping the benefits.

While your parents buying a house for you at age ten is unrealistic for most people outside Vancouver Island, and for most people in general, this realtor gave me some more broadly-appealing financial advice on ways to use your credit to increase your finances. Your credit rating is important to banks. While it seems arbitrary and is arbitrary for the most part, banks must rely on that number in order to operate efficiently. The thing that destroys most people’s credit rating are student loans. Students assume that banks will be forgiving of indiscretions in paying off student loans. This is not true. While sane, caring individuals would give a student a second chance, students are of little value to banks. We’re poor, lazy, inexperienced, and have few marketable skills. So pay your student loans. It’s not a bluff!

However, if you’re one of the many people for whom this advice comes too late, the realtor suggested good ways to build new credit and to fix your credit rating if it is damaged. She suggested pre-paid credit cards at as young an age as allowed. There is no danger in these, and they do (somehow, I don’t know how, since they’re technically not credit) build your credit rating.

To fix your credit rating, first of all pay off all your debts. No one will listen to you until you do. Next, take advantage of a right that we all have without realizing it. We’re all allowed to petition creditors, and all have the right to attach a letter to our credit rating for banks to consider. If you failed to make a monthly payment on your credit card, you can write a letter saying you were young and ignorant and didn’t realize the value of paying bills on time. You could also contest the debt and even if it is unforgiven, demand that the letter be attached to your credit score. In this sense, you get the opportunity to argue for yourself and potentially counteract whatever the number on your rating says about you. Get a trusted financial person to cosign and vouch for you if possible. This could be someone at your local bank or a successful businessperson.

All Canadians hate the US a little bit (Don’t deny it.). The realtor told me that in the US banks, like police, are huge doushes. Even if you get a debt forgiven, it is still on your credit rating and banks will ask about it. If it were me, and I were meeting with a bank representative under such circumstances, I think I’d reply outraged that the debt was forgiven and therefore irrelevant and there’s nothing to talk about. But, in addition to being cheap and miserly, I’m also proud. The former qualities are good when dealing with banks, the latter is not. The realtor told me that a pride-filled approach usually does not work with banks, but that the potential loanee should present himself with humility, that it’s important to dress well, and that well-spoken applicants receive well-above what their credit-score says they should.

As far as I’m concerned, this is all good advice. What is better advice, however, is don’t ruin your credit score and don’t go into debt! And don’t hitchhike!

A Guide to What Is and Is Not Protected by FDIC Insurance
So - you feel your cash is safe and protected when you walk through the door of the bank or saving association, much safer than when you kept it under your mattress. And you should. BUT, are your funds all covered by FDIC insurance just because you walked into a secure-looking building with iron bars and guards? Not necessarily - it depends on which of the bank’s products you decide to use and whether the bank is FDIC insured.

What Is Insured?
You are probably familiar with the traditional types of bank accounts - checking, savings, trust, certificates of deposit (CDs), and IRA retirement accounts - that are insured by the FDIC. Banks also may offer what is called a money market deposit account, which earns interest at a rate set by the bank and usually limits the customer to a certain number of transactions within a stated time period. All of these types of accounts generally are insured by the FDIC up to the legal limit of $100,000 and sometimes even more for special kinds of accounts or ownership categories. For more information on deposit insurance see FDIC brochure “Your Insured Deposits.”

What Is Not Insured?
Increasingly, institutions are also offering consumers a broad array of investment products that are not deposits, such as mutual funds, annuities, life insurance policies, stocks and bonds. Unlike the traditional checking or savings account, however, these non-deposit investment products are not insured by the FDIC.

Mutual Funds
Investors sometimes favor mutual funds over other investments, perhaps because they hold promise of a higher rate of return than say, CDs. And with a mutual fund, such as a stock fund, your risk - the risk of a company going bankrupt, resulting in the loss of investors’ funds - is more spread out because you own a piece of a lot of companies instead of a portion of a single enterprise. A mutual fund manager may invest the fund’s money in either a variety of industries or several companies in the same industry.

Or your funds may be invested in a money market mutual fund, which may invest in short-term CDs or securities such as Treasury bills and government or corporate bonds. Do not confuse a money market mutual fund with an FDIC-insured money market deposit account (described earlier), which earns interest in an amount determined by, and paid by, the financial institution where your funds are deposited.

You can - and should - obtain definitive information about any mutual fund before investing in it by reading a prospectus, which is available at the bank or brokerage where you plan to do business. The key point to remember when you contemplate purchasing mutual funds, stocks, bonds or other investment products, whether at a bank or elsewhere, is: Funds so invested are NOT deposits, and therefore are NOT insured by the FDIC - or any other agency of the federal government.

Securities you own, including mutual funds, that are held for your account by a broker, or a bank’s brokerage subsidiary are not insured against loss in value. The value of your investments can go up or down depending on the demand for them in the market. The Securities Investors Protection Corporation (SIPC), a non government entity, replaces missing stocks and other securities in customer accounts held by its members up to $500,000, including up to $100,000 in cash, if a member brokerage or bank brokerage subsidiary fails. For more information contact:

Securities Investor Protection Corporation
805 15th Street, NW Room 800
Washington, DC 20005
202-371-8500
www.SIPC.org

Treasury Securities
Treasury securities include Treasury bills (T-bills), notes and bonds. T-bills are commonly purchased through a financial institution.

Customers who purchase T-bills at banks that later fail become concerned because they think their actual Treasury securities were kept at the failed bank. In fact, in most cases banks purchase T-bills via book entry, meaning that there is an accounting entry maintained electronically on the records of the Treasury Department; no engraved certificates are issued. Treasury securities belong to the customer; the bank is merely acting as custodian.

Customers who hold Treasury securities purchased through a bank that later fails can request a document from the acquiring bank (or from the FDIC if there is no acquirer) showing proof of ownership and redeem the security at the nearest Federal Reserve Bank. Or, customers can wait for the security to reach its maturity date and receive a check from the acquiring institution, which may automatically become the new custodian of the failed bank’s T-bill customer list (or from the FDIC acting as receiver for the failed bank when there is no acquirer).

Even though Treasury securities are not covered by federal deposit insurance, payments of interest and principal (including redemption proceeds) on those securities that are deposited to an investor’s deposit account at an insured depository institution ARE covered by FDIC insurance up to the $100,000 limit. And even though there is no federal insurance on Treasury securities, they are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States Government - the strongest guarantee you can get.

Safe Deposit Boxes
The contents of a safe deposit box are not insured by the FDIC. (Make sure you read the contract you signed with the bank when you rented the safe deposit box in the event that some type of insurance is provided; some banks may make a very limited payment if the box or contents are damaged or destroyed, depending on the circumstances.) If you are concerned about the safety, or replacement, of items you have put in a safe deposit box, you may wish to consider purchasing fire and theft insurance. Separate insurance for these perils may be available; consult your insurance agent. Usually such insurance is part of a homeowner’s or tenant’s insurance policy for a residence and its contents. Again, consult your insurance agent for more information.

In the event of a bank failure, in most cases an acquiring institution would take over the failed bank’s offices, including locations with safe deposit boxes. If no acquirer can be found the FDIC would send boxholders instructions for removing the contents of their boxes.

Robberies and Other Thefts
Stolen funds may be covered by what’s called a banker’s blanket bond, which is a multi-purpose insurance policy a bank purchases to protect itself from fire, flood, earthquake, robbery, defalcation, embezzlement and other causes of disappearing funds. In any event, an occurrence such as a fire or bank robbery may result in a loss to the bank but should not result in a loss to the bank’s customers.

If a third party somehow gains access to your account and transacts business that you would not approve of, you must contact the bank and your local law enforcement authorities, who have jurisdiction over this type of wrongdoing.

FDIC-Insured

* Checking Accounts (including money market deposit accounts)

* Savings Accounts (including passbook accounts)

* Certificates of Deposit

* Retirement Accounts (consisting of cash on deposit at a bank or thrift)

Not FDIC-Insured

* Investments in mutual funds (stock, bond or money market mutual funds), whether purchased from a bank, brokerage or dealer

* Annuities (underwritten by insurance companies, but sold at some banks)

* Stocks, bonds, Treasury securities or other investment products, whether purchased through a bank or a broker/dealer

For More Information from the FDIC
Call toll-free at 1-877-ASK-FDIC (1-877-275-3342) from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday.

For TDD call 1-800-925-4618.

Calculate your insurance coverage on-line using the FDIC’s Electronic Deposit Insurance Estimator at: www2.fdic.gov/edie

Request a copy of “Your Insured Deposits,” which provides a detailed discussion on all the ownership categories, or by calling toll free 1-877-275-3342.

Read more about FDIC insurance on-line at: www.fdic.gov/deposit

Send your questions by e-mail using the FDIC’s on-line Customer Assistance Form at: www2.fdic.gov/starsmail

Mail your question to:
FDIC Division of Supervision
and Consumer Protection
Attn: Deposit Insurance Outreach
550 17th Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20429-9990

This brochure is intended to present information in a non-technical way and is not intended to be a legal interpretation of FDIC regulations and policies.

May be reprinted without restriction
2004

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Washington, DC 20429

FDIC-005-2004

The other day I was reading about Kim Linehan, who was the world’s top amateur female distance swimmer at age 18, back in the 1970’s.  She followed a rigorous training routine that included swimming 7-12 miles, every day, as well as other exercise and physical training. Someone asked her once which part of her training routine was the hardest.  She said, “Getting in the water!”

I had to laugh at that, because I knew exactly what she meant. Sometimes it seems like getting started is the hardest part.  With so many distractions available, it’s easy to put off difficult tasks forever¦ while reading Facebook, watching videos on YouTube, reading Slashdot or the news, or maybe just doing some good old-fashioned nothing. This is something that all of us smart younguns’ have to face down, whether we’re putting off studying for a difficult test, dealing with an unpleasant duty at work, or in my case, writing an article (maybe one about procrastination).

But embracing health, wealth, productivity and prosperity means ending procrastination, NOW. So here are some time-tested tips. And yes, these actually work.

1. Give yourself permission to not be perfect.

This sounds like a funny way to start.  To end procrastination, you need to start getting strict with yourself, right?

Wrong. In fact, many top procrastinators are actually perfectionists, too. Their worry about not doing a good job on the project at hand keeps them from getting started. They fear the task because of the opportunity it presents for failure.  To get started working, ease up on yourself and relieve some of that self-created pressure.  It’s okay if the first draft isn’t perfect. It’s not the end of the world if you don’t get an A on the test. Etc.

2. Break the project down into manageable pieces.

In a way, this is an extension of the first tip.  Don’t approach a job thinking, “I have to work on this for eight hours or else.” Anyone would dread a task like that!  Instead, think, “I can work on this for just one hour.  After one hour, I’ll have lots done, and I’ll take a break.”  By the time you’ve worked for an hour, you may be involved in the job and ready to keep working. Or you might be ready for that break. If so, than take it. It will be easier for you to come back to the work later.

Or, alternately, divide the job into pieces based on aspects of the project. Rather than saying, “I have to study for my psych test,” you could say, “I have to study Chapter 4.”  The first job sounds overwhelming and intimidating. The second one sounds relatively simple. The goal is to create an environment where the task sounds easy, not threatening, and you feel less resistance to getting started. Once you have gotten some work done, your momentum will carry you and it will be easier to continue working.

3.    Resist the urge to let your concentration drift.

Sometimes when you’ve been working for an hour or two, you start to lose focus and concentration. Without really thinking about it, you’ll open your browser, pick up a magazine, or turn on the TV. At first you think, “I’ll just take a two minute break,” but before you know it, you’ve wasted half an hour.

Keep this from happening, by recognizing when your attention is drifting, and having an approach in place to deal with it. Create a ritual that restores your focus. You can tilt your head back and count to a hundred. You can close your eyes and take some deep breaths. You can walk around the room three times. The important thing is that you take this action with the intent to stay focused and keep working. As you count or breathe or walk, you can contemplate the importance of your task and why you really want to stay productive. This is a much more effective way of taking “a two minute break”.  After you do this ritual several times, your body will begin to recognize it as an automatic “Get back to work!” signal.

Make these three tips into habits, and you’ll find yourself being more productive than ever. And that’s what every smart young investor wants, right?

Chances are you are overworked and underpaid. This is typical of someone starting off in the workforce, and don’t worry, things will get better. But don’t just think long run: think now! There are many small things that you can do to make yourself better off financially right away, and they don’t require large life changes at all. Among other tips found on this website, you can start with the first part of your everyday routine: coffee.

It seems like on every other block there is a Starbucks, a Peet’s Coffee, a Dunkin Donuts, or some local flavor of gourmet coffee shop. Most people make it a habit of starting their days off in these places, picking up a tasty, yet overpriced Latte or some other hot drink. It usually costs around two dollars and some change, and unless you are in the Bank of America Spare Change program (see article), that change will probably go to waste. Why spend 3 dollars when you could easily make that drink at home, or at the office? All offices provide free coffee, but if you can’t stand to make your morning commute without caffeine, you can buy a very affordable coffee maker at your local department store. Stop at your favorite coffee shop on the way home, and pick up a pound or two if you really insist on their flavors, but you can find cheaper coffee in other places.

If you make this simple change, the three dollars you would spend every day amounts to 750 dollars of savings annually! Think of that number as a percentage of your pay, its incredible! Now you can put this money in your pocket to use it for something more worthwhile, while you can still get coffee every morning.