Spending money is right up there with spiders and Mondays, everyone has to deal with them at one time or another, but no one wants to. With the new healthcare changes, people are being forced to do at least one of those things..

Business owners and consumers alike are either getting insured or facing penalties. As consumers all filed taxes last month, many felt the pressure of that new healthcare penalty, which starts at $95 or 1% of income for those who didn’t have health insurance, but will gradually rise to 2.5% or $695 per person by 2016.

While consumers are weighing out penalties, small businesses are facing healthcare changes of their own. As a business owner, is it better to offer healthcare to employees or bite the bullet and pay the penalties?

If you Google “habits of successful business owners,” a strange thing happens – nearly every article that pops up on the search feed is a list. “Seven Things Insanely Successful People Do every Morning Before Work,” or “12 Things to Eat to Make You a Better Business Owner,” or “45 Things Successful People Do Differently Than You” – the lists go on and on.

Though some of the lists get quite obscure – lists are easy to compile, easier to read and they make it seem like success is just a checklist away. Despite the popularity of these “how to” articles, there is no foolproof way to become a successful business owner.

Success isn't some three step process.. Though in this case I've made it work in five. First, let's be clear - your company won’t magically take off if you take a special kind of shower each morning.

The current federal minimum wage is $7.25. Lawmakers however are working to change that – pushing for a wage increase to $12. In some states, minimum wage has already increased – with Seattle increasing its minimum wage to $11 last month, with plans to increase to $15 by 2021. In California, minimum wage is currently $9, with plans to increase to $10 in 2016, but lawmakers are pushing to raise that to upwards of $15 over the next few years.

This is great news for everyone that will be seeing a raise. Business owners on the other hand need to figure out how they are going to manage these increased labor costs.

For most small businesses, coming up with your innovative business idea is only half the battle – the real work comes when figuring out how to finance your dream. With the advent of the internet, this hurdle is becoming easier for entrepreneurs to jump, which can lead to unforeseen consequences. Along with more options and consequences comes more responsibility to research which will be best for you and your business. Banks will lend you money, but only when you don't need it. So what about when you do need money? Below are options to explore that will get you the funding you need when you need it.

There is nothing like breaking away from the monotony of daily life and exploring what the world has to offer. If everyone’s bank account and boss would allow it, most would be out at the drop of a hat, laying on a beach in Mexico, tasting chocolate in Switzerland or exploring the streets of China. The time to travel is now, and if money is the only thing holding you back, it’s time we tackle that hurdle. 

The U.S. Travel Association reports that the cost to travel has been on the rise since 2010 and is projected to continue that steady climb through 2016. Travel spending in 2014 alone totaled 927.9 billion dollars. The biggest expenditures being foodservices at 220 billion, lodging at 181 billion and public and auto transportation combining for a whopping 337 billion.

The spending isn’t going to slow down, and neither will the number of travelers. Join the masses and start planning your next vacation using these thrifty, trendy, money saving travel tips!