Create a Splurge Budget to Avoid Overspending on Impulse Buys [Personal Finance]

 Creating and sticking to a budget can be tough for some people, but one great way to make sure you don't overspend or succumb to the siren song of impulse purchases is to create a category in your household budget specifically for those types of purchases. Better yet, open an account specifically for it and keep that account's card or cash in your wallet for those times when you just want to treat yourself.

The goal of creating a budget is to make sure you know where your money is going at all times, and the beauty of having a splurge budget is that you have a way to bolster your discipline as you learn to scale back those impulse buys and manage your money a bit better. Every good budget should have a section for entertainment and fun purchases (or else, what are you earning all of that money for?) but building a little splurge fund that rolls over from month to month gives you a way to treat yourself occasionally without wrecking the rest of your financial health.

The folks at Wise Bread have a number of other techniques to help you avoid overspending on impulse buys, but this one was particularly interesting, especially since many people too often believe building a budget means you can't have fun with your money. Do you have a splurge fund in your budget? How do you make sure your budget is sound without making your life miserable? Share your money-saving tips in the comments.

Double-Check Your Bill Every Month to Avoid Fees for Unwanted "Services" [Personal Finance]

 It may seem like common sense at this point that you should thoroughly review your bills every month before paying them, but in an age of automatic bill payment where our expenses are paid without us ever seeing the statements, the blog Five Cent Nickel explains why we should look at our statements, even if they're automatically paid: most companies consider it the customer's responsibility, and aren't afraid to say so.

The post was inspired by the author's upgrade to a new iPhone 4S back in January, at which time an AT&T rep must have signed him up for everything from roadside assistance to lost phone insurance. Unfortunately, because he hadn't been reviewing his bill every month and the full amount due is automatically deducted from his checking account, it wasn't until his March bill that he caught the new charges. He managed to get out of the plans and get the back fees refunded, but not without a snide comment from the customer service rep reminding him that AT&T considers it the customer's responsibility to review their statements and notify the company if there are any inaccuracies.

It may sound unreasonable, but most companies operate this way, and aren't afraid to tell you so in their documentation, when you call them for help, or on your bills and on their web site. The moral of the story is that even if you have your bills automatically paid, it's worth sitting down for a few minutes every month and reviewing your paid statements, just to make sure you didn't pay a fee or new charge you weren't anticipating—if you catch something, call the company right away.

Do you review your bills every month before you pay them? Do you use automatic bill payments and never see the statements? Share your money management tips in the comments.

Avoid Hotel Cancellation Fees by Changing Your Stay Dates Before Canceling the Reservation [Travel]

 Most hotels will charge you a fee if you cancel your room booking less than 24-hours before you're supposed to check in. Ideally, that shouldn't be a problem, if you're not going to make a trip or vacation, you'll usually know it ahead of time. However, if your flight is cancelled, re-routed, or there's another emergency, Redditor drwired has the solution: don't cancel the room, push your arrival time out by a few days, and then cancel it, once you're safely more than 24-hours from your check-in date.

Clearly, your mileage may vary on this one. In theory, this should work—most hotel chains are happier to let you change your arrival date than to cancel your booking altogether, and they'll work with you to reschedule your visit as long as your reservation stays on the books. Then, once you've changed your dates to, say, a week from now instead of a day from now, you can hang up, call back and (presumably speaking to someone else) cancel the reservation outright, with no fees or late charges. For the best effect, you may want to wait a day or so to call and cancel—after all, every call center I know keeps logs of who calls and what their issue was, even if most agents don't look before adding a new entry.

Have you used this trick in the past? Some of the commenters at Reddit are dubious, but others agree that it works. What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

[LPT] Avoid Hotel Late Cancellation Charges | Reddit

Avoid a "Me" Resume and Decrease Your Odds of Being Ignored by Yet Another Employer [Resumes]

It's hard to write a resume and avoid discussing your situation, but it can hurt your chances. Gerrit Hall, co-founder of the great resume-analyzing webapp RezScore, has found that many applicants spend too much time focusing on their current circumstances rather than selling themselves:

Consistently, the biggest mistake we see is that people write a ‘me' focused resume. A primary example of this is the outdated objective statement – if you have the word ‘seeking' on your resume, you're writing a ‘me' resume. Employers don't hire you for your satisfaction; they hire you to fill their own critical need. Think of it this way. If you were in sales, would you ever say to a customer "Buy this item because I need the commission"? And if you were the customer, would you buy? A ‘me' centered resume says essentially the same thing.

Your job is to think of the potential employer as a customer. You've know they're a hot lead because they've taken the time to post the job – so someone is going to close the deal with them. How do you make sure they go with you? By selling to them like you would sell to anyone else. Figure out their pain points. Why are they hiring? Who have they hired in the past? What's their most critical need? And then go in there with your sales guns blazing; be the solution to their problem.

Like we discussed this weekend, it's so important to put yourself in a company's shoes when you're applying for a job. Do your research on them and how they operate and remember to sell yourself rather than explain your situation.

6 Tips For Experienced Job Seekers Who Have Been Unemployed Long-Term | SimplyHired

How Do I Avoid Looking Like Sh*t the Morning After a Bad Sleep or All-Nighter? [Ask Lifehacker]

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