Money Talks in Bloggy Sense

Saturday, August 29, 2009

How to Teach Money Management to Your Child

Financial responsibility is one vital attribute of a successfully managed life. It is a lifelong effort that should start at an earlier age up to the twilight years and even beyond. Learning financial responsibility while you are young prepares you for proper money management later in life. Training your child to manage his money is not just a gift, but a responsibility as well for the parents. When a child learns how to responsibly manage his finances, he gets a foretaste of financial stability when he grows up.

Teaching a child financial responsibility should start early. This can be as simple as telling a 3 year old "no" when they want you to buy something. Or even saying, "We don't have money for that today". These statements are helpful for a child to hear as they are based on reality. It will also allow the opportunity to open a discussion about money. This may not happen at 3 years of age, however, it will allow a child to be more comfortable when he/she is developmentally prepared.

Next, teach children the actual value of money. Teach them the meaning of a penny, dime, quarter, dollar etc. Teach them how to count money. Although this is taught in school, it is vital to financial responsibility to grasp this concept early. There are many books or workbooks that are helpful.

Next, teach a child the meaning of money by teaching them how to earn money. Discussions often happen early about why a parent must go to work or pay bills, etc. Discuss ways an adult earns money by discussing various jobs or careers. You can then discuss how they can earn money. Common jobs for children are chores, lemonade stands, paper routes, mowing lawns, and babysitting.

After a parent has taught a child how to earn money, it is time to teach a child how to spend and save money. 1 way to teach spending and savings is to have 2 piggy banks. Mark 1 as spending and the other as savings. Have a standard plan of how much goes into each piggy bank. For example, if a child earns $5.00 per week by completing chores, maybe $3 goes into savings and $2 goes into spending bank. It takes quite an effort to teach your child how to spend and how to buy something. This is also a delicate task to handle as a parent because it should be modelled and appreciated.

After there is enough money saved to open a savings account, take the child to the bank. Explain why people use banks. Next explain their new account by discussing their savings statement. This is very helpful for young children, as it is a hard concept that you have money being cared for by someone/something else. Banks are often initially frightening for children. Continual friendly explanation is often helpful.

As a child grows, you can have them place their checks for birthdays or holidays in their respective piggy banks. As he becomes ready for work until he finds a job, try to keep them on the same system. This helps encourage proper appropriation of funds for wise spending and saving.

Friday, August 28, 2009

Build relationships through proper communication of feelings

Healthy and open relationships rely on quality communication to sustain them. At times, these interactions have to be honest and blunt for the relationship to grow and be strong. However, caution should be exercised so as not to repel the other person because sometimes the truth hurts and it could scar the relationship permanently.

We have to understand that these feelings are important and expressing them is not only necessary but also helpful for personal growth. We cannot help the way we feel about certain people or situations but we have to express these feelings in a constructive and helpful manner. Yes, we can control the method in which we convey our feelings if we put ourselves in the other person’s position and try to understand how they feel. Then deliver our feelings in a well thought out constructive fashion.

There are times that direct communication may not be necessary or could be disastrous, yet, keeping these feelings unexpressed may be too heavy to hold. In this case, find a creative outlet to communicate your feelings. You can try to use poetry, painting or other art forms to express your feelings. You can also write down how you feel in a daily journal. This journal can be an effective tool that allows you to express all the feelings you have about something or someone without fear of reproach or judgment. But understand that someone may find this journal and if you write less than flattering things about them in the journal, it could make the situation worse.

As a rule however, talk to someone you trust about how you feel. It really helps just to have someone listen to you and constructively, this person can give you an entirely new perspective on the situation. And then you can effectively manage the situation in a new light that is worth the bucks...

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Frugal Lifestyle: Creating Tempting Leftovers For "Free" Meals

BY Rosey Dow

The greatest saving strategy you can have is to use every scrap of food that comes into your home. The trick is to disguise leftovers as a completely new meal. Here are some ideas for putting leftovers to good use. And while you are at it, consider the advantages of planned leftovers.

After each dinner, add leftover vegetables with their juices to one large freezer container. Add any leftover gravy or cooking juices as well. When the container is filled, use it as the foundation for nutritious and tasty vegetable soup...practically free.
Leftover mashed potatoes can be used in Shepherd's Pie, Canadian Meat Pie, or in Beef Patties.
Leftover gravy can be used in Shepherd's Pie or over Supper Pancakes.
Freeze bread heels and stale bread in a bag or freezer container. Blend the frozen bread to use it as bread crumbs or cube the bread for stuffing or bread pudding.
Rejuvenate leftover muffins by scooping out the center, filling the cavity with butter or jam and baking at 350° until warmed and the butter is melted. Or cover the warmed muffins with creamed eggs for a breakfast treat.
Use leftover oatmeal in Oatmeal Cake or Oatmeal Muffins.
Marinate leftover vegetables such as broccoli and cauliflower, or even green beans, in Italian dressing and use them as a flavor accent for your salads.
Thick stews can be used as filling for pot pies. If your stew isn't thick, add a few potatoes and simmer until it thickens.
Add white sauce to any leftover vegetables and heat thoroughly. Add cheese, for more protein.
Cook twice as much broccoli, cauliflower, or spinach as you need for a meal. Set aside half the vegetables to appear again in 2 days in a casserole with cheese and crumb topping or in quiche.
Leftover pasta or rice can become the crust for quiche or meat pie.
Grind leftover ham in a food processor or meat grinder to mix with a small amount of mayonnaise and use as a sandwich spread.
Meatloaf is often left over but seldom used. Place ¾" thick slices of meatloaf on a broiler pan. Spread with ketchup and broil for 3-5 minutes. Top with cheese and returned to the broiler until melted.
Use leftover coleslaw in soups and stews. Simply place coleslaw in a colander and rinse it under a faucet, then dump the coleslaw into the soup pot.
Biscuits can be split, buttered, and toasted under a broiler for 2 minutes. Use these biscuits as a substitute for rice, potatoes, or cornbread in recipes such as Creamed Chicken or Curried Chicken. Or sprinkle on cinnamon sugar for a tasty breakfast.
Use leftover pasta or rice in casserole recipes. This would be an excellent way to save time as well.
Besides banana bread and other baked goods, brown bananas have many uses: banana milkshake, banana-peanut butter sandwiches, Banana French toast (add mashed banana to milk and egg dip).
Leftover cake can be used in many ways. Use your imagination. If you have leftover chocolate cake, make a trifle with chocolate pudding with cherry pie filling for a delicious Black Forest trifle. How about yellow cake and vanilla pudding with peach pie filling and raspberry jam for a Peach Melba flavor?
Sour milk should never be poured down the drain. Instead, use it to make baked goods that call for buttermilk such as pancakes, waffles, gingerbread, or cornbread.

And now I'd like to invite you to check out Penny Pinching Meals, a cookbook that will save you time and shrink your food budget with your family happy and satisfied. See the free video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXdaHLb0RAo Rosey Dow is CEO of ExpertsinFocus.com

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

The Real Story Behind Credit Cards

by Carmin Olivier

A credit card can be an asset to your lifestyle, but if not handled carefully it can become a liability, especially if you find it so convenient and easy to use that you lose control of your spending. This short guide will help you understand how you can use your credit card so it works to your advantage, not against you.

A credit card can:

Offer free use of funds, provided you always pay your balance in full, on time.
Be more convenient to carry than cash.
Help you establish a good credit history.
Provide a convenient payment method for purchases made on the Internet and over the telephone.
Give you incentives, such as reward points, that you can redeem.

On the other hand, credit cards can:

Cost much more than other forms of credit, such as a line of credit or a personal loan, if you don't pay on time.
Damage your credit rating if your payments are late;
Allow you to build up more debt than you can handle;
Have complicated terms and conditions;

A credit card is first and foremost a flexible payment tool accepted at 30 million locations worldwide, and if the card balance is paid off every month, then no interest is charged on purchases made so, essentially, short-term credit is granted without the consumer paying any interest. Among its many features it provides:

Access to unsecured credit (no collateral required against amounts charged)
Interest-free payment from time of purchase to the end of the billing period
Instant payment of purchases, allowing for instant receipt of goods and services
24/7 access
Fraud protection

However before you decide to use your credit card, carefully consider all of the factors and weigh them against your personal needs and values. Handling money and credit cards wisely is a talent few of us are born with. But it is a skill that can easily be learned. The place to start is with budgeting. It's simply an organized way of managing your finances, basically, it gives you an overall picture of where your money is coming from, when it's coming in and how it's being spent. A budget should be flexible, changing according to your circumstances.

Budgeting helps us achieve short-term goals like paying the monthly bills on time; it's also for longer-term financial goals like buying a home, a car, paying for an education, a wedding or a holiday. When you take control of your financial affairs, you're more confident about the future.
A budget is key to financial control. It gives you a "Polaroid picture" of where you stand financially and where you're heading.

Credit card control tips

Use a low or no-fee credit card and save on the annual fee that some companies charge.
Only charge to your credit cards what you can pay off in full when the bill comes.
You might not use your credit card as much if you start believing that you have to pay off your entire balance at the end of each month.
A good way to help to reduce what you pay on your credit card is to search for a card with a lower interest rate. Many financial institutions now offer at least one of these types of cards.
Remember that when you take a cash advance on your credit card, the interest starts accumulating immediately and not on the due date of your credit card bill.
Also keep in mind that if you make only the minimum monthly repayment you may never get out of debt.

The main advantage of having a credit card is convenience but if you're not good at budgeting and managing your finances, the over-use of credit cards can leave you with a debt that's very difficult to pay back. Take this friendly advic e...

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Earn Money in Unusual Ways

Money has a character that is so persistent and domineering for people. That is why you must endeavor to discern and deal carefully with that character and become its master. Earning money requires that character on your sleeve as you apply common sense in every sphere of your life. Unfortunately, in the game of money-making, common sense has become uncommon. There are lots of ways by which you can make money if you will only use a little common s

ense and that strong character that money carries. And these are unusually available. Here are some unusual ways to earn money that some of us may not have considered and may now consider or ignore. The choice is yours.

Personal shopping for other people
Did you know that some people with more money than time will pay you to do their shopping for them? And if you have a flexible schedule this could be a much more interesting way for you to earn money than working at the local pizza joint or student cafeteria. Some independent personal shoppers anywhere from $25 to $250 an hour! And depending on the situation may reasonably ask to be reimbursed for transportation costs.

Blogging
Of course you'll also need decent writing skills in order to get paid to blog and you'll need to learn how to set up a blog and drive traffic to your blog or blogs. This is more on product reviews/marketing and pay-per-click advertising.

Become a Tutor
If you're knowledgeable in a particular topic area, you might consider becoming a tutor. In fact there are tutoring services that will help bring students to you and you may also be able to work directly with your school to obtain tutoring clients.

Selling old books and Items
Selling books yourself on sites like Amazon and Half.com will allow you to make a lot mo

re money. Most college students and even your friends have a lot of stuff that they spent a lot of money on and don't need any more: Video games, books, and even used shopping bags from Abercrombie & Fitch or Gucci can have value on eBay. Curious about how much your stuff is worth? Just look it up on eBay and see what it's selling for.

Babysitting
This can also be a way to earn great money -- especially if you live in an area with a lot of wealthy families! How profitable can babysitting be? Just ask Kevin Federline. Britney Spears agreed to pay him $20,000 per month in child support.

Selling sperm
Look around your house, and you'll probably find plenty of ways to raise cash for textbooks and old unused items. And if that isn't enough, look within and you just might find something very valuable- your sperm! Here, you need to be in good health with a strong family history of good genes, and your sperm have to have high motility. But if you meet the criteria and aren't terrified by the notion of having children all over the world whom you don't know, this can be a fantastic way to make money. Whew…

Selling your hair
With the economy squeezing the budgets of more people around the world, some people are looking for creative ways to pay their monthly bills. Selling hair on the Internet is just one of those unusual methods. The longer the hair, the more it is worth. Untreated hair is also likely to fetch a higher price.

eBay arbitrage
A lot of people like buying stuff on eBay, because it’s cheap. And some people never buy on eBay, because they are afraid of being ripped off. Here is your solution to making easy money on eBay. Go to Craigslist.Com and see what items people buy and sell most often. Look at prices. Then go to eBay and see, if you can get it cheaper. Once you find your niche, you can buy things on eBay (or better yet, act as a representative for an eBay powerseller) and sell them for a profit using local classifieds and Craigslist. You can do this online as well. Set up a proxy store, and when you get an order, simply buy the same item on eBay for less, substituting shipping address from your own to that of your buyer.

Finding out things
A lot of people are busy nowadays and can’t find out things which would support their lives. We are in the information age and it’s only those with the latest information survive the tide of time. Spend quality time finding out things and make money from it. For instance, so many people are seeking for the right mechanic. You can actually print find out the right mechanics, make directories and print handbills. You might paste them on organizations and you will be surprised of how much people will call on you. The mechanic will pay you for every referral and this is just something you do in your leisure. This is just but a tip of the iceberg. There are still so many things to find out. So you still have a chance to make money just by finding out things. Consider your neighborhood, what does the inhabitants needs desperately? In your school environment, what can you do to make money legally from the students? You might be laughed at, but never worry because you are making money and that is the most important issue.

Hobbies
Hobbies are what we love doing in our leisure times. But do you believe you could actually make money from those scrap hobbies. Some of us love singing, dancing, crafts, writing, reading etc. what you have to do is this: find out how to harness the power of creativity and make that hobby pay you. Today, I earn from my hobby. I enjoy writing on different topics and that is why I wrote this for you. Just give it a little time and watch how money comes into your pocket.

Real estate
This is absolutely wonderful. Save some money, buy a house and sell it out after renovation. You would be surprised how much profit you would make from it. However, it’s on the long-term basis.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

3 Steps To Increasing Your Income

Most accountants, financial planners, wealth-building experts and real friends agree that there are really only three ways to increase your income. You can either:

1. Increase your revenue (make more money),or
2. Decrease your expenses (spend less money), or
3. Do both 1 and 2

However, what is not so obvious are the words that should always follow these income-increasing statements. Accountants, financial planners and wealth-building experts are often so close to these principles that they assume we all know them to be true. They also tend to believe that everyone , not particularly a woman, has the necessary discipline and patience to automatically make them happen. Here are the reality-based revised versions of the statements that, although might not be as easy to relate to, really make more sense and, if you follow them to the letter, will help keep you on track. If you want to increase your income you must either:

Increase your revenue (and at the same time keep your expenses the same or less than before) , or
Decrease your expenses (and at the same time maintain or increase your revenue), or
3. Do both 1 and 2

One version of Parkinson’s Law is that “expenses rise to meet income.” Put another way: “The more you make, the more you spend.” If you truly want to increase your income, it is important to maintain the same, or even a scaled-down, style of living for a period of time.

For example, if you make $45,000.00 per year and receive an annual raise of 10%, you gain an additional $4500.00 per year ($375.00 per month) for a new total of $49,500.00. It is awfully tempting to spend this extra $4500.00, rather than invest or save it. In addition, it is easy to talk yourself into upgrading your lifestyle by trading up for a more expensive car, taking an unplanned vacation, shop online for that much talked about gadget or some other deserved reward. After all, you just increased your income by $375.00 per month. Right? Wrong if you spend it!

If you spend the extra money, you have not really increased your income at all. In fact, if you spend it and then take added taxes and other liabilities into account, you may actually have less income than you had before the raise! Weird, huh?

The point here is that it’s not just about making more money. It’s about what you do with the extra money that determines whether or not you have truly increased your income. The reverse is also true. Let’s say that instead of the 10% raise, you get no raise at all. But, you decide to raise your income by cutting expenses. If you find a way to cut your expenses by 10%, you actually are gaining over $375.00 per month. If you are able to cut your expenses by $4500.00 per year, in reality, you just increased your annual income by 10%. Weird again, but true.

Your desire, ability and willingness to both cut expenses and increase revenue will determine how fast and how much your income will jump. It’s a powerful combination, and this is the secret that most wealthy people use all the time. The usual color of money is green, so refresh your financial gain by following these eco-friendly(economically friendly) steps.

10 Guide Questions for a Better Financial Life

"You answer my questions with questions..." The lyrics of the song "Question" strike me often.

What does it really mean? So, each of us has the ability to find the answer to any question. They key is to ask the right questions. If you're frequently asking yourself, "Why was I so dim-witted to get into debt?", your mind will provide an answer like, "Because you're a loser."

You should remember that your brain will keep working on your question subconsciously until you obtain an answer. We've all had the experience of waking up in the middle of the night with the answer t

o something you were thinking about earlier in the day. The quality of the answer is directly related to the quality of the question. A better question is "What action can I take today to start reducing my debt?" Your brain will ponder this until it returns an answer. like a concerned friend. That may be something like, "Get financially organized. Look through all my credit card statements and see if I can determine if any one card is better than another."

According to Scott Bilker, the founder of DebtSmart.com, here are 10 questions whose answers will guide you to a better financial life:

What action(s) can I take today to start reducing my debt?
How can I start making more money within the next 5 days?
What can I do to start saving money?
What did I learn about finances today?
What day, this week, can I commit to going to the library and researching my financial options?
How can I use my computer to improve my life financially?
How can I double my income within one year?
What dreams did I have when I was younger that I should revisit today that would improve my life?
Do I have the right amount of insurance?
How can I enjoy the process of working to reduce my debt?

Now find the answers...

Related site: Pinay Questions (filipinastudes.blogspot.com)

Friday, August 7, 2009

How to Save Money When Buying Groceries

The money that you spend on buying groceries each month is not fixed like it is in maintaining your car or everyday traveling. In order to control your spending on groceries, you will need to understand how you end up spending extra money on groceries. These are thing

s that you probably never noticed or realized before. Let me therefore share some friendly advice by attempting to show you some strategies of the shopkeepers that make you spend more than needed.

For you, a grocery shop must be a simple place where you can shop for food and some other household goods but the fact is that it is an example of how the shopkeepers sell more to the consumers than required. It is necessary for you to understand the tactics of the shopkeepers and purchase only those items that you want to shop and avoid all the other things. This will help you to save money by not buying things that the shopkeeper wants you to buy.

Here are some steps for you to understand how a shopkeeper tries to sell you those items that he wants to sell you.

- As soon as you enter the shop, the first thing you will notice is the smell. The reason for this mouth-watering smell is the placement of the bakery near the entrance of the store. The smell is of those freshly baked products. This smell makes you feel hungry because the deserts give out an enticing smell and therefore you feel like buying them. This will make you spend more than you desire. The shopkeeper knows this and hence the placement.

To tackle this kind of a situation what you can do is, go for shopping only after you have had your meals. When you are full, it becomes easy to resist the smell of the bakery deserts and bread.

- The location of the grocery store in the shopping mall is another reason. You will notice that you have to travel a lot to reach the grocery store. On the way to the grocery store, you come across so many other stores that you can’t resist stopping there. That is why it is said that the longer you stay in the

store the more will you spend. That is why you are made to walk so much to get that basic staple food which is bought by everyone. Or perhaps, the beautiful lady or the nice-looking guy you met in fashionable attire has already bought some and you want to follow suit.

To avoid this situation, you can make a list of all the items you need to buy and stick to them till you leave the store.

- Packaging of a product is another factor that attracts you. The colors they use for packing are really bright. This doesn’t mean that you have to end up buying them. You might end up buying the wrong item. If you buy them in bulk from some another place, you will save.

Use the above tips and be careful that you don’t spend more than required when you go out grocery shopping.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Success Factors for Becoming Debt-Free

Perhaps you have noticed that debt is nasty and importunate. Debt has a sticky feature, like chewing gum that gets in your hair and wedged into the tread of your sneakers. It's like a splinter you can't get out . The harder you try to get rid of it, the more of it there seems to be. When you dislodge a chunk, you can't believe how much is still left and how hard it is to clean out. It's not an illusion -- or a sign of your own personal failure -- that debt is so sticky. Once you're in debt, researchers have established, you're much more likely to stay in debt for a extended period.

Resolving to get out of debt is easy; actually getting started is a bit harder. But the real ordeal is sticking with your plan. Here's what makes an effort succeed.

Persistence
It's the secret element that is as imperative as, possibly even more important than, finding the funds: persistence. The idea was that each person would race against herself to pay back her debt -- not against each other. You work at your own pace, and everyone's pace is different. It doesn't sound much different than making those monthly payments on your own. In other words, there's no question that debt tends to persist, and you have to cultivate an extraordinary persistence of your own to deal with it.

Accountability

Determine and recognize exactly how much you owed and how much you were paying, and regularly update your progress (or stumbles). If you don’t update your records, you fail. You tell yourself that this is your pursuit and no one’s gonna think and work as determined as you will and can do. We all know that feeling, whether from being on a diet or a too-strict budget. You've tightened your belt to the point that you're afraid to loosen it, lest you go hog-wild crazy. It's a valid fear, and being aware of it is your best defense.

Because most people make a simple but drastic mistake when they borrow from their cards or homes: They don't think about having to repay the money with after-tax dollars. If you feel like your debt is dragging you down and you don't know how you'll get out from under, maybe it's time to put on your running shoes. Ready, set . . .

Reinforcement

In a world where senseless shopping and fashion pursuit always get a gold star, it's hard to find any support for putting money toward financial freedom instead of feeding that plastic monster. To that end, reward yourself (not monetarily) whenever you overcome the temptation. How? That’s easier than looking for the money. You just got to be sensible and resourceful because there is more to life than buying the items or services that you thought are important.

It's not necessarily the big-ticket items that sink your budget. It's the steady onslaught of little ones. Sometimes you need to take drastic steps if you want a dramatic improvement in your financial life.

Camaraderie

Community spirit -- call it what you will. I think of it as the buddy effect. It’s not like you can talk to your best friend about your financial problems -- or your mom or your sister. So having a forum where you can say, 'I just got a $100 birthday check, and I'm putting it toward my credit card balance” -- and then getting a round of cheers from other people -- it's incredible. You don’t simply struggle on your own, others too are struggling like you do and others have already succeeded. Why don’t you find a common ground to share your experiences and get their push. That's because what getting out of debt requires, more than anything, more than money itself -- is stamina. Not only men, but women should build their stamina around supportive peers.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Being the family reserve fund…

If you've saved well and others in your family or clan haven't, should you feel duty-bound to spend on their behalf? Well, here are some situations you could be falling into:

Your mom just called again. It seems that because you and your husband live a lifestyle that is careful, frugal and paid-off, you 'owe' your brothers' kids gifts; you 'owe' it to other family members to go and visit, and when you 'fail,' your brothers call her and complain. They all seem to think that you should spend because you can.

Or, no one on your side of the family talks to you anymore because you finally said 'No more' -- to thousands of bucks streaming from your bank account to theirs. The blood connection seems weakened and even the friendship goes low.

Your mother-in-law expected you to let a struggling relative and his wife live in a property you own, for less than market rent. But you are planning to rent it to augment the expenses for your daughter's education.

And, you know what it's like, too, when a family member is in financial crisis. You’re helping a relative now, with some amount here and there, when you can. It's intended on your part; You were asked directly only once, for help with a car problem. It may not be wise but you continue out of . . . guilt . . . sympathy . . . fear of them suffering if you don't help.

You begin to ask yourself if you have to bust your butt for someone else's gain especially when that someone feels like they only need to work 25 hours a week! You are fed up with being treated like the local ATM by family members who either expect gifts (the biggest gripe) or who need the occasional bailout.

What's outrageous is when the request is a demand, an expectation. "You have more money, so you should share it!" And it could be worse when that expectation threatens your own financial stability. What happens if you get consumed?

Whose fault is it when relatives expect a handout? Is it your responsibility to communicate what you are and aren't ready to do. Should you be forced to wear a "Reserve Fund" label?

Monday, July 13, 2009

Protect Your Assets through Proper Financial Management

Your financial status is on a crunch and you are uncertain on the course of action to take. You are terrified of declaring insolvency and dropping all your assets. You feel that even your creditors are bullying you. What are your options under such circumstances?

I believe that your best option is to pursue a debt management scheme. You can facilitate or structure payment of arrears using an arrears management program from an arrears management firm or even a credit cooperative. You can also seek out a fiscal counselor to assist you manage your arrears and there are free counselor services available for you.

Under debt management, your initial consideration is the retention of your properties. This is your first priority, and you have two paths of action to track. The first path of action is to consult a debt management firm. The second is to apply for individual volunteer agreement.

If you go for a debt counselor, they will request for details of the amount of arrears that you are in and what are the properties you have. They will also wish you to tell them if you have a job and how much your income is. They will then contact your creditors and try to work out an arrangement with them. In this, they will endeavor to get the highest section of your arrears written off and will attempt for your properties to stay with you. Bear in mind that debt management covers debts like mortgage payments, credit cards, and any other loans that you may have accumulated. On the whole, the key section of arrears that you owe is the interest that has to be paid against any credit or credit that you have acquired. In case of your mortgage, the arrears analyst will attempt to reschedule the mortgage payments. In case of other loans, they will attempt to reduce the interest charge. Debt counselors will work out a realistic repayment schedule. In this case, you are only required to make a single monthly payment to them. They in turn pay off your debts according to the schedule that they have worked out. In this, you get to retain your assets and also work off your debts.

If you apply for an individual voluntary program, you will have to hire a legal representative and apply for this program in a court of law. Your legal representative will call a meeting of all the representatives of the companies that you owe money from. He or she will try to settle your repayments with them. If 75% of your creditors consent to an amount and a repayment plan, the other creditors eventually have to sanction it. This is how a repayment plan is worked out, and you have to stick with it. You cannot have enough money to default on you repayments. When you agree to follow a debt management plan, you cannot go about acquiring fresh arrears or new loans. In fact, you should carefully plan your monthly expenses, cut down on all unnecessary expenditures, and repay your arrears. Don’t expose yourself to additional risks by acquiring further arrears. If you do this, you can end up losing your properties and no sane individual wants that.

In debt management, if there’s a will, there’s a way. You just have to carefully plan your steps and stick to a more prudent system of running your finances because in the final analysis the help that you can get is as successful as the determination you offer to your finances.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

How to Handle Your Debts

In this time of global recession, there’s such a mounting hitch when it comes to debt. Many men and women nowadays are burying their heads in the sand rather than facing up to the situation that is escalating. There are various things that can be done to rally round your situation. It is vital to face up to your debt. By working out your monthly expenses you can make a plan.

Write down how much your monthly outgoings are. Start with utility bills, rent/mortgage, shopping and any other outgoings you have. Once you have calculated how much you need for all your expenses you can work out what you have left to spend or save for rest of the month. This is a good way of making sure you do not exceed your monthly income.

There are many options out there for people who are getting deeper into debt. Regrettably, people are not aware of the options that are available; There are a lot of options available and a debt consolidation loan is one. However, there is a lot of advice available so it would be wise to look into it. A bad debt consolidation loan can be very helpful to some, however if you are looking at getting one, it would be useful to look at more than one loan company and see what deals are being offered.

If you have a poor credit rating it is usual for people to think that it would be a lot harder for them to get help for a loan. This is not always the case and although not all companies can help a few can, making it possible. The interest rates are normally higher if you have a bad credit rating, nevertheless it is still obtainable. In fact some companies use people facing bankruptcy as an example.

Debt consolidation loan means merging your bills into one monthly payment; this is what makes a consolidation loan appealing to many as it takes away the pressure. The monthly amount can be considerably reduced although you will be paying it back over a longer period of time. It should be researched carefully before any decisions are made on consolidating your loans.

Improving your debt will take hard work and dedication this is why a debt consolidation loan shouldn't be taken lightly, much consideration should be taken to make sure monthly payments can be met.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

The Flip-Coin Mentality

Toss the coin and let's see what's gonna come up. The result could very well define our luck and/or our choice.

People often resort to such trick when the responsibility of making decision lies on a thin line. Let me be freed from the blame and the suspicion whatever happens. Life is a game and serious decisions may not be necessary. Let the coin decide. Such is the so called " the flip-coin mentality".

When even a compromise cannot be reached, when no one is ready to give up, flipping the coins seems to be the most feasible. This mentality only supports the premise that we can't control our destiny. Outside forces determine the future.

But even the decision to flip the coin is ours. We make the toss, we control the flip. Money is so powerful if we empower it. Should we give up control of our lives to a coin or two just because we can't be held responsible to the outcome of our activities?

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Get on the Right Financial Track by Tracking Your Expenses

We keep track of our expenses because things add up, sometimes in surprising ways. To make significant changes in your spending habits, you need to know your outflow or expenditure score. Record-keeping enables you to spot that all-important “big picture”: exactly how much you spend, and on what, as well as how it swings over time. If you can’t trace yo

ur expenses, making changes in your habits will be fairly jumbled. You might strike on something that will save you a lot of money, or you might not. You might cut down expenses a lot in one area, only to spend more in another area without realizing it. On the other hand, if you do know where your money goes, you can target those areas that need work the most, and you can make good decisions about how to spend your money. Often, your assumptions will be wrong.

Whether you earn much or just enough, the same principle applies. We frequently commit the error of considering each expense in isolation, deeming it worthy, and moving on… only to find that somehow there seem to be more worthy expenses than there’s money to pay for them. The technique is to look at the big picture and the real one…

How to track your expenses

Let’s fire up with the traditional method of record-keeping, and suppose that if you’re a computer geek, you’ll settle toward software later on. For the time being, keep it straightforward!

I suggest purchasing a small, cute or manly notebook. Why so? Because this is a constructive venture; strengthen it by using an nice-looking notebook, one that says “I’m doing a good thing for my life!” when you look at it.

For daily expenses, you can either write everything down in your notebook right away, in which case you need to carry your notebook with you, or you can save the receipts from your purchases and then use those receipts in the next step. But if you do the receipts-saving method, make sure you actually get a receipt for everything, and that you actually do save them.
Once you have gathered enough information to start looking at the big picture – and this could be after as little as a week or two, if you’re eager to get started – then start categorizing the expenses and adding up the totals. To do this, you’ll need not only your daily record of purchases, but also any credit card bills, utility bills, checkbook register and any other bills that you have paid.

Keep in mind, be honest, be detailed, and be prepared to be surprised.

Hidden Expenses

Jotting down even the little bitty expenses is significant, because if you’re not sure where your money is going, it’s often going to what I call hidden expenses: ones that are small enough that ignore them.

The hidden purchases usually fall into one of three types:

impulse buys
Low-cost purchases
part of a routine or habit

Impulse buys often don’t get noticed because we don’t tend to plan for them: the CD on sale, the chocolate bar at the drug store. Even when they’re expensive, the fact that they seem spontaneous somehow tends to sabotage our rational spending: we justify the purchase as being exceptional. Even impulse buying often falls into some sort of pattern overall, though.

Low-cost items are another type of purchase that tends to fall under the radar. Something that only costs a dollar or two, like a cup of coffee or a little knick-knack, seem almost too small to be worth tracking. Except that little items add up to bigger totals. If you let a $1 purchase slip by every day without thinking about it, by the end of the year you would have let $365 drift away without knowing where it went. I bet you’d be interested in keeping track of the $365 if it were given to you all at once!

Purchases that are part of a routine are often the hardest to track, but in many ways the most important. These are purchases that we don’t even think about, but they can account for a lot of money: buying sodas from the soda machine at work, popcorn at the movie theater, coffee and a magazine on the way to work in the morning. Each purchase individually may not be expensive, but they add up, particularly since you may make these purchases frequently. The fortunate thing about this kind of spending is that it’s possible to change your routine slightly and eliminate a lot of these expenses: bringing a snack from home to work instead of plugging money into the vending machine, for instance.
In the long run

Once you’ve gotten a clear picture of your finances over the course of a year or so, you may or may not want to stick with the “record every penny” method, depending on your personal style, I still recommend that you keep a reasonably exhaustive record, so that you can keep track of changes in your spending… are expenses in one category starting to creep up again? Recordkeeping also ties in well with budgeting, so it’s a win-win situation to keep track of your expenses. Good record keeping is essential to your financial survival.

Saturday, November 1, 2008

7 Biggest Money-Making Strategies

Nearly everyone desires to have more funds and retain more of the riches they have for their future or for some pursuits. However, a good number of us live paycheck-to-paycheck, deep in arrears and unsure on how to break out of the snare.

Here are the 7 biggest Money-Making Strategies you should learn:

INVEST. Whether you're 20 or 60, you are never behind schedule to begin. You'll be no better off in three years than you are right now if you don't start investing right now. Even a dollar a day in a mutual fund can make a big difference in a short amount of time.
MAKE YOURSELF IMPORTANT. You deserve to have some money set aside for you and to make as much money as you'd like. No one can stop you unless you let them.
GET A GOOD RATE OF RETURN ON YOUR MONEY. If most of your money is in a checking account paying 4 1/2 %t, you're losing money! Inflation will make your money worth less tomorrow unless you're getting at least 5-10 % interest on your account.
THINK THAT NO ONE ELSE WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU FINANCIALLY. Whether you're depending on the government or meeting Mr. or Ms. Right, you're banking on something very unpredictable. It's time for you to take control.
ASK FOR HELP. There are lots of money advisors, books, seminars -- you name it -- on making your money work for you. Only people who want to succeed ask for help.
PLAN FOR THE FUTURE. Retail therapy can be fun. But how long does the thrill of a new outfit or gadget last? Will you regret what you spent later when you are barely scraping by? How good will that purchase make you feel if you can't pay your bills?
TAKE TIME TO MANAGE YOUR MONEY. Good for you -- you've read this far so you have invested in yourself already. Spend at least five minutes each day managing your accounts, learning more about money and investments, and tracking your expenditures.

The time you spend will yield wonderful outcomes and facilitate your having your richest life!

The Frugal Connection

I received just last week an email from a friend who now stays in Japan for good. He got married there and excitedly broke the news on his first born. Unwittingly, I replied by telling him that he’s got to have another one soon for he’s growing older, now at 43. He got back at me with all the pick holes on how hard life is, financial woes, high cost of living, difficulties in raising children, etc. Then I remember how tightfisted he was with us. Being single for 40 years, I could not remember any generous initiative he’s made in terms of spending. Maybe we were wrong or maybe he had a different view of life – stoic like the Japanese. But other people find him miserable and stingy, and worse, selfish. He said to me once that he’s just being frugal – a defensive mechanism huh! So I thought of discussing frugality for a while. I’ll

hold tight my chance to understand him next time…

Frugal living doesn’t mean being miserable, or giving up what you want. It doesn’t call penny-pinching attitude that holds down your sharing capability. It doesn’t say ignore others and suppress your needs. Frugality is basically the system of finding less expensive alternatives. Being frugal simply means to spend wisely. Don’t waste money on things that you don’t need but don’t be cheap and skimp on the things that you do need. Being frugal means that when you do have to go out and buy things, you don’t really need the best of the best most expensive things. Buy things for less, and what do you get? More money left over to buy more of what you want! Frugality doesn't have to mean living without comfort.

On the other hand, maybe you don't buy the idea of clipping discount coupons and buying clothes at rummage sales. That's okay because that never was and never will be the important part of truly frugal living. For it to be the most advantageous, frugality has to launch with the big things, and if it never gets down to the small items, you'll still be further ahead financially than most people. Here are some suggestions for you to consider.

Ways to Cut Spending

Consider dropping your home telephone line. Your cell phone is probably all you really need, and most likely it has free long distance. You could save $30 or more per month by dropping your "land line".
Cut back on trips to Starbucks or other premium coffee shops. Often called the "latte factor", spending several dollars per day on luxuries like premium coffee can really add up. For example, if you spend $4 for a cappuccino five times a week for 50 weeks out of the year (you're on vacation the other two weeks), you would spend $1,000 in a year. Try treating your trip to Starbucks as a treat instead of a habit. You'll save money and probably lose weight too!
Pay your mortgage payment bi-weekly instead of monthly. You'll pay less interest and pay off your mortgage faster.
Carry cash instead of credit cards. Psychologically it's harder to spend cash than it is to use the credit card. You'll spend less and save on interest charges.
Use the "envelope system" for groceries, dining out, entertainment, and other discretionary spending categories. This will help you track how much you spend in these categories as well as prioritizing your spending.
Raise the deductible on your homeowners and auto insurance policies. It's not wise to file claims for small losses anyway (insurance companies love to raise rates after you file a claim), so a higher deductible will save you money now and in the future.
Buy regular gas instead of premium. Most cars don't need premium gasoline. Also, take public transportation if it's available in your area. Take advantage of "park and ride" and carpooling options.
Plan your purchases to avoid impulse buying. Take a list with you to the grocery store and stick with it. Studies show that impulse buying can add $10-50 to your grocery bill ouch!
Go to the library instead of the bookstore. If you're an avid reader, give yourself a book budget for books that you will want to keep, and go to the library for everything else.
Take a vacation at home. Check out all the local sites and happenings. You'll rediscover your hometown and save on travel and hotel costs.

These are just a handful of ways you can cut spending and stretch your dollars, but if you follow these tips you'll discover you have more money at the end of each month to apply to other financial goals, such as saving for college, retirement or just for a rainy day.

Frugal Living Examples

Search the Sunday paper for coupons and clip them out. Make a list of things on sale that you can stock up on in order to get your average cost down. Plan and run a route of four stores in order to get everything where it is the cheapest. Total extra time spent: three hours.
Sit with a pen and paper and determine what you really need in your new house to be happy. List the cheapest homes that meet your criteria. Make several extra phone calls and check out several bank websites to get the interest rate down to 6.25% from the 6.75% you were expecting to pay. Total extra time spent: three hours.
Let's assume you save $30 on your groceries for your effort. Your frugality made you about $10 per hour. In the second example, suppose you found a suitable home for $20,000 less. Let's say you only have to borrow $120,000 at 6.25% instead of $140,000 at 6.75%. Your payment would be $169 less per month, for a total savings of $60,900 over the thirty years of the mortgage. In this case, your frugality made you about $20,000 per hour.
I think you can see that it is the big stuff that makes a difference in frugal living. On the other hand, sometimes the small stuff is the big stuff, especially when it is repeated over and over. This is why it makes sense to save money on groceries. They are something you buy every week. How you do it makes a difference though.
Suppose you don't want to clip coupons or spend time looking at sales flyers. Let's face it; if it only saves you $10 per hour of effort, you might be better off staying a few hours extra at work and skip the hassle. On the other hand, why not invest just an hour or two to figure out which store is cheapest for the things you buy? Then shop only there, and buy more of the things you use and like when they are on sale. You might still save $20 per week, with no additional investment of time. That's a $1,000 per year!
Have you read newsletters and magazines about saving money? They often have tips on things like how to re-use plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Is it worth the time to wash out and dry your ziplock bags? Maybe, if you like that sort of thing and you are making minimum wage. For most of us, it is better to spend the time analyzing the big and the recurring expenditures. That is the key to frugal living.