Year: 2007

Are you frugal or stingy?

All of us have to make choices about how we spend our money. Wise choices allow us to build our wealth and, eventually, achieve financial independence. But how do you decide when you're being frugal, and when you've crossed the line into stinginess?

Here are some benchmarks to check if you are stingy or not.

If you use 2-for-1 coupons at a restaurant, you might be frugal. If you base your server's tip on the discounted bill, you're probably stingy.
If you decide in advance how much to spend each year on charitable contributions, and then try to stay within that budget, you might be frugal. If the last thing you gave to charity was an ancient can of lima beans you wouldn't eat yourself, then you're probably stingy.
If you use a tea bag for more than one cup of tea, you might be frugal. If you offer a guest the cup made from the used bag, you're probably stingy.

Frugality can be, and often is, a virtue. It implies you're being careful, not wasteful, with your resources.

Stinginess is a vice, and it carries a whiff of meanness. The word "implies a marked lack of generosity," as Webster's tells us. Stinginess is about pulling back when the more-human impulse is to give.

The Fall of PhoenixSurf: Not my fault, says Jonathan Mikula

Non est mea culpa. Not my fault.

This is what Jonathan Mikula seems to be saying about the fall of PhoenixSurf (www.phoenixsurf.com), the erstwhile popular autosurf program he used to run.

In an interview with The Red and Black, student newspaper of the University of Georgia, Jonathan Mikula chronicled the collapse of the autosurf program:

In November 2005, Mikula’s company, New Millennium Entrepreneurs (NME), registered PhoenixSurf.com as a limited liability corporation with the Georgia Secretary of State.

Soon afterwards, Mikula enlisted the help of Organa Consulting and Avante Holding Group, consultation firms run by Florida businessmen Christian Rishel, Michael Hawkins, and Jason Benoit. Mikula admitted they needed consultants to help operate the autosurf program because they were “inadequate in certain areas in terms to run the site.”

Non est mea culpa. Not my fault.

This is what Jonathan Mikula seems to be saying about the fall of PhoenixSurf (www.phoenixsurf.com), the erstwhile popular autosurf program he used to run.

In an interview with The Red and Black, student newspaper of the University of Georgia, Jonathan Mikula chronicled the collapse of the autosurf program:

In November 2005, Mikula’s company, New Millennium Entrepreneurs (NME), registered PhoenixSurf.com as a limited liability corporation with the Georgia Secretary of State.

Soon afterwards, Mikula enlisted the help of Organa Consulting and Avante Holding Group, consultation firms run by Florida businessmen Christian Rishel, Michael Hawkins, and Jason Benoit. Mikula admitted they needed consultants to help operate the autosurf program because they were “inadequate in certain areas in terms to run the site.”

Non est mea culpa. Not my fault.

This is what Jonathan Mikula seems to be saying about the fall of PhoenixSurf (www.phoenixsurf.com), the erstwhile popular autosurf program he used to run.

In an interview with The Red and Black, student newspaper of the University of Georgia, Jonathan Mikula chronicled the collapse of the autosurf program:

In November 2005, Mikula’s company, New Millennium Entrepreneurs (NME), registered PhoenixSurf.com as a limited liability corporation with the Georgia Secretary of State.

Soon afterwards, Mikula enlisted the help of Organa Consulting and Avante Holding Group, consultation firms run by Florida businessmen Christian Rishel, Michael Hawkins, and Jason Benoit. Mikula admitted they needed consultants to help operate the autosurf program because they were “inadequate in certain areas in terms to run the site.”

Non est mea culpa. Not my fault.

This is what Jonathan Mikula seems to be saying about the fall of PhoenixSurf (www.phoenixsurf.com), the erstwhile popular autosurf program he used to run.

In an interview with The Red and Black, student newspaper of the University of Georgia, Jonathan Mikula chronicled the collapse of the autosurf program:

In November 2005, Mikula’s company, New Millennium Entrepreneurs (NME), registered PhoenixSurf.com as a limited liability corporation with the Georgia Secretary of State.

Soon afterwards, Mikula enlisted the help of Organa Consulting and Avante Holding Group, consultation firms run by Florida businessmen Christian Rishel, Michael Hawkins, and Jason Benoit. Mikula admitted they needed consultants to help operate the autosurf program because they were “inadequate in certain areas in terms to run the site.”

Non est mea culpa. Not my fault.

This is what Jonathan Mikula seems to be saying about the fall of PhoenixSurf (www.phoenixsurf.com), the erstwhile popular autosurf program he used to run.

In an interview with The Red and Black, student newspaper of the University of Georgia, Jonathan Mikula chronicled the collapse of the autosurf program:

In November 2005, Mikula’s company, New Millennium Entrepreneurs (NME), registered PhoenixSurf.com as a limited liability corporation with the Georgia Secretary of State.

Soon afterwards, Mikula enlisted the help of Organa Consulting and Avante Holding Group, consultation firms run by Florida businessmen Christian Rishel, Michael Hawkins, and Jason Benoit. Mikula admitted they needed consultants to help operate the autosurf program because they were “inadequate in certain areas in terms to run the site.”

Income from scams and bribes are also taxable

Whether it’s earnings from online scams, fraud Multi-Level Marketing programs, and shady High Yield Invesment Progrqams (HYIP), as long as it’s considered income, it’s taxable.

Any monetary benefit received from an activity, illegal or otherwise, normally becomes part of one’s taxable income.

That’s from an article published in MSN Money Central which also summarizes how they are treated under US tax laws. Take note of the following, lest you want to run into trouble with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Is online income taxable?

Finally, after months of discussion in the Tax on Online Earnings thread in the PMT Forum, we now have an official reply regarding taxation of … Read More