Baker’s ebook, Unautomate Your Finances, isn’t just for readers wanting to travel. It can apply to plenty of other situations. But the fact of the matter is that it’s a system that works particularly well if that’s your goal. It’s based around the idea that automating your finances is not necessarily a good thing. Now, Baker isn’t trying to claim that nobody can benefit from making their finances automatic. Instead, the issue is that most of us automate both good and bad financial practices: a credit card, for instance, can make managing your money a lot easier and lot more automatic. But it can also cause a lot of financial problems because of that automation.

It’s not an uncommon situation. In fact, it’s exactly the one Baker and his wife were in just a few years ago. It was only when they started really paying attention to their finances that they could eliminate debt and improve their situation. Baker points to three core principles that make all the difference in the world: consciousness, sustainability and focus. These three principles can translate into a simple approach to personal finance that makes it manageable. Throughout the ebook, Baker explores these principles. He not only gives concrete approaches that will let you actually move towards your financial goals, but he describes a financial mindset that is a whole heck of a lot healthier than many of the personal finance books out there.

Unautomate Your Finances is priced at $17. That gets you the ebook, plus interviews with personal finance experts like Leo Babauta and J.D. Roth, templates for the budgeting system Baker outlines and updates that Baker will be sending out over the six months. Hands down, Unautomate Your Finances (affiliate link) is one of the most accessible personal finance books I’ve seen, in print or on a screen.

The winners are the 2nd and 5th commenters, Patty and Sally. I’ll be emailing both of you to make arrangements to get you the books. Thanks for all the great entries!

Still want a copy? You can purchase The Little Budget Travel Book on Amazon for $14.35.

The Little Budget Travel Book

The Little Budget Travel Book

is arranged in three separate sections: “Before You Even Start Your Journey,” “Once You Arrive” and “The Final Stretch.” Within each section is a whole stack of short types: think short blog posts giving you a little insight into how to cut costs. Some have examples of the tricks in action, others have stories about David’s travels or his friends. All of them are written in a casual fashion that make the book easy to read quickly you can breeze through it one sitting quite easily. However, you’ll find yourself coming back and looking over the tips again and again.

The book’s focus is on helping travelers planning short-term trips — a week here or there. In particular, I was surprised at the sheer number of frugal tips David offered for transportation, both to and from your vacation, as well as within individual cities. Many of those tips translate quite well to longer trips: David has several suggestions regarding package deals that got me thinking that while a package deal of airfare and a couple nights in a hotel might not be the best option for someone planning an extended stay, it’s an easy technique for a visit home or a way to check out a the next place you’re considering heading off to.

Particularly valuable was the set of mini-website reviews David included in The Little Budget Travel Book. At the end of the book, he offers quick looks at a whole list of different websites useful for booking travel and finding deals. This isn’t a simple resources list, though. David gives a brief review of each site, explaining what it can be used for and well as describing his own experiences and opinions.

If you want a copy of The Little Budget Travel Book, you may be in luck! I have two copies to give away. As usual, I’m happy to pay shipping within the U.S, but if you win and need me to send the book to an address outside of the country, I will need you to cover the difference. To enter the giveaway, leave a comment with your favorite tip for keeping travel costs down. I’ll randomly select a name on Friday (Sept. 4).

Not interested in waiting around to see the result of the giveaway? You can purchase The Little Budget Travel Book on Amazon for $14.35.

Everyone’s financial situation is different, of course, but there are a few tips that are pretty much universal for anyone focusing on their finances for the purpose of travel.

1. If it isn’t online, it isn’t going to happen: There are great ways to make sure you can get your mail anywhere in the world and it’s generally not too hard to get an envelope headed back to wherever your billing address is. But both options can take weeks more than what you might be used to. Operating online is much easier, and allows you to handle your money across international borders with far fewer hassles.
2. Automate as much as possible: You can make paying your bills an automatic process, and it’s certainly worth the effort. Between jet lag, time zones and amazing adventures, it’s not too hard to lose track of what day it is, which makes missing a payment that much more likely if you have to log on and arrange for the payment specifically.
3. Separate your savings: No matter where you are, you need a rainy day fund. But it can be pretty tempting to dip into your emergency savings to buy a plane ticket, so I suggest separating out your savings accounts. Personally, I’m a big fan of ING Direct, which allows you to divide your savings account into separate sections — you can see at a glance what’s in your emergency fund versus what’s in your travel fund.
4. Think for the long-term: I’m not a big fan of the idea of the traditional retirement. I’m not really expecting to quite working just because I hit a certain age and considering how many people are focusing on freelancing or otherwise operating their own business to travel, I don’t think I’m alone. That said, I’m still setting aside money towards a retirement fund. A lot could happen between now and then, so I still think it’s worth having money set aside for the future.
5. Currency exchange is crucial: Don’t get too used to thinking in a particular currency. The amount a dollar will buy fluctuates every day and the same is true for other currencies as well. That makes it very important to keep a clear idea of the actual money you’re spending, whether we’re talking pounds or pesos.

Do you have any tips that have made managing your finances while traveling any easier? Please share them in the comments and we’ll see if we can really build this list.

Photo — Monkeyc.net

If you’re expected to pay taxes in the U.S., April 15th is approaching rapidly. Whether or not you’re actually in the country, you’re probably thinking about how you can get your taxes done. Preparing a tax return can be a struggle, whether you’re a freelancer figuring out self-employment taxes from Europe or a telecommuter calculating a deduction for the business use of your apartment in Australia. If you have all your paperwork gathered up, though, you can file your federal income tax return for free online with TaxAct.

For the most part, TaxAct’s online application is able to help you prepare your taxes. While most online filing services are limited to taxpayers with relatively simple returns — working for one employer with only standard deductions — TaxAct allows you to complete a wide variety of forms online. Those include the forms associated with business expenses, as well as employment expenses: TaxAct makes over 70 forms available through its free version.

To fill out the forms, you’ll need a few forms of your own. Depending on your income sources, you’ll need your 1099s or W-4s. And if you’re planning to claim any expenses as deductions, you’ll want to have those numbers at hand. Once you click on the ‘Start Return’ button, you’ll be asked a series of questions about your income, expenses and eligibility for certain credits. Based on those answers, TaxAct will fill out the forms for you. Considering that you can often get clients or employers to email you forms as PDFs, you may not need a single piece of paper to complete your tax return this year.

TaxAct makes use of the IRS’ eFile service to directly file your federal tax return. Tax returns filed through eFile typically receive their refunds in eight to 15 days, directly deposited to your bank account. Because not all states have joined the eFile program, it can take much longer to process your state taxes. While TaxAct uses the information you provide for your federal income tax return to complete your state return, it cannot eFile all state returns. However, the application does make preparing non-resident and part-year resident state returns — the bane of web workers living in one state but officially working in another — simple.

Like most web applications these days, TaxAct does offer premium versions of its service along with the free option. The Deluxe option includes tools for those individuals who made numerous donations, need to complete the FAFSA or need additional support from tax specialists — all for $9.95. The Ultimate version, priced at $16.95 includes expert help, a guarantee that your return will be accurate and includes the state return. If you choose the free version, preparing your state income tax return will cost an additional $13.95.

While you may have some concerns about completing your tax return online — you do have to type in your Social Security number, after all — the TaxAct site is considered secure. Its security measures have been verified by the same companies that verify sites that access bank account information, like Mint.com, as well as by other organizations. In general, it is a safe option for completing your taxes.

While most banks require you to call in whenever you’re planning to trael abroad to make sure that they don’t accidentally freeze your account, the Consumerist reports that ING lets you take care of such notifications online:

ING Direct customers, for one, go to their checking account maintenance page and fill out the form that asks about travel info.

If you’ve been thinking about opening an ING Direct account, I’d love it if you used the ING Direct link below. If you open an account with $250, ING will add $25 to your starting deposit. I get a little bump as well — a $10 referral fee.

Open an ING Direct account.

And even though I spent the majority of 2008 in relatively expensive
global places like Hawaii and Australia, by being creative and
realistic, I still managed to eke out a living on the road with an
income that technically would see me below the poverty line in North
America.

Nora lives on a sum of money that people not planning for long-term travel would find laughable. That’s not because Nora lives at a level below what that sort of person expects. Instead, people who with the goal of staying exactly where they are face an incredible level of expenses. Purchasing a house alone requires a totally different approach to finances: the amount of money Nora requires to finance her lifestyle would just barely cover a year’s mortgage payments in some cities — in others, it wouldn’t come close.