Your Life Your Money

on October 9th PBS is airing a special hosted by Donald Faison (the Black guy form Scrubs and Clueless) called Your Life, Your Money where people, a mix of experts and stars such as Russell Simmons(ok Russel is an money making expert but he's a famous one) talk about how we can all better use and save our money.


You can check it out now online at the PBS website along with a bunch of other goodies.

Zombie-economy doing the thriller dance behind Micheal Jackson

Here's an interesting article looking at how Michael Jackson (or the money he made from royalties) shows us what is wrong with the economy.

basically, they say the problem his that MJ didn't really get his far share and a lot of his money went to Sony (his record label)and these people don't actually create anything new any more, they just keep getting money of the old.

or in short it's another reason why you should own and control your work, because that's the only way you can be sure you are making the most money form it.

Micheal Jackson, King of pop-star finical issues

with the sad passing of Michael Jackson, there is also a lesson about finical that we can learn from the King of Pop.

we all know that Michael Jackson is reportedly in debt.

It maybe hard to believe someone with the success that MJ had would have money problems until you realize that his money problems where really do to the King of Pop living well beyond his means even with the amount he was making.

it's been well documented on the types of things MJ has spent his money on such as the elephant man's bones, wild animals and Neverland ranch (and it's up keep) etc.

the thing is beside his personal finance Michael Jackson is usually was a good business person. he owned half a stake in Sony ATV music publishing (who owned the rights to a songs form such acts as the beetles, lady gaga, Jonas brothers and many more high profile singing acts) as well as making millions in merchandising.

but even on the business end MJ has made a few mistakes such as budgeting for his last album. Micheal Jackson and sony spent $50 million to produce Jackson's last album Invisible. But if they looked at money made from the last two albums returned at a much lower amount. History only made $35 million and Blood on the dance floor only made $10 million.

Seth Green Cribs- showing us how much smart stars really spend on housing

This is a fun video of Seth Green showing us his home done in the cribs style, but with home buying and finical advice thrown in.

SouljaBoy talks a little bit about his success

teenage rapper SOuljaBoy gives an interview where he talks about how he became a success.



in short his secret is that he is mostly DIY. This SouljaBoy start out buy selling his own music on the net and even though he has had some success and could work with big name producers he would rather not pay the extra money because he can easily make his own beats from him to rap over.

This is advice we can all use even if we aren't trying to get into the music business. why pay someone when you can do it for yourself.

Hollywood doesn't bank...it credit union

a number of people and business working in hollywood have chosen to put there money not in a bank but credit unions such as 1st entertainment credit union

why because the nature of credit unions (everyone who has an account is an owner of the credit union) usually leads to better return on investments then your average bank (where the people who own the bank skim a little off the top to make there profit)

Credit Union also tend to be more locally focused then banks and give more personal services.

you may not be in an area that allows you to go to the same credit union as your favorite star but you can find one that is local and not only end up with better service then your old bank but in many cases a better return on investment.

Lindsay Lohan broke in the poor house with no money???

rumor on the internet says that Lindsay Lohan is bankrupt and that she is getting by on credit cards, the money she makes from club appearances and that everyone from her little sister to her ex-girlfriend are paying her way.

I'll be honest I have my doubts about the truth of this story, but it's not too out there. We hear about celebrities filing chapter 11 all the time. It's mainly due to superstars trying to live a life that they think a celebrity should live but they don't stop to think if they can truly afford it.

If you are wondering what kind of finical advise you can learn form Lindsay Lohan or any other celebrity that has gone bankrupt due to mismanaging their income, it's simple, a lot of us have the same problem that these celebrities have. Too many of us are trying to live a lifestyle we can't really pay for. we live well above are means and only making it because we are floating along on our credit cards.

it only a matter of time that the rug is pulled under us and that lifestyle we where trying to live destroys us financially. But even though someone like Lindsay Lohan is spending more then some of us can dream of, the truth is that some like her can bounce back better then most of us. Where people are working hard just to live the so called middle class lifesyle, Lindsay is out parting, if she really needed the money she could just clean up and get some acting work (even if it's low rate b-movies) to pay her bills.

the lesson one should take away from any time they hear a celebrity is broke is that if they can mismanage the tons of money the make to live a rich lifestyle, then I should be extra careful and learn to budget and not try to live beyond my means because I can as easily go under as them, if not more so.