All About Personal finance & Money Management And Life Insurance

Update Sept. 07 - 2010 "Personal Finance" By Insurance Experts

2010-09-06T07:47:00.000-07:00

Keeping a spending journal is one of the most important financial decisions that you'll ever make. So why don't more people keep track of what they're spending? Chances are if you're not keeping a spending journal right now you've either never heard of it or you aren't aware of the benefits. What could it possible do for your financial situation to simply write down how much you're spending? If you're wondering about this, here are three reasons why you need to start keeping a spending journal as soon as possible.

Benefit #1: Overcoming Denial

When you start writing down everything that you're spending you'll be 100% aware of what you're spending and how much spending you're doing. Over spending is MUCH harder to do when you're being consistently reminded of how you're spending your money. For example, many people start keeping track of their spending and find that they're spending hundreds of dollars a month eating out. When this happens and you become aware of how your spending is matching up with your exact values, you'll be compelled to make changes in your spending habits.

Benefit #2: Coming Up With a Plan

The second benefit of keeping a spending journal is getting enough clarity about your financial situation so that you can come up with a plan for how to control your spending. For example, in the four bucket financial system, you spend according to four categories: living expenses, investing, giving and setting money aside for purchases or emergencies. Your living expenses represent 70% or less of your spending while the other three categories represent 10% or more each. In order to put this plan together, you need clarity about how you're already spending your money and where you need to make your adjustments.

Benefit #3: A Great Sense of Control

Much of the financial stress that people experience comes from feeling that they are out of control. This feeling diminishes quite a bit once you get a clear picture of what's happening in your financial life. Even if things aren't going well, having clarity will help you quite a bit because you'll no longer be wondering what is happening. Fear comes from uncertainty and uncertainty can be cleared up almost immediately by keeping a written record of what you're spending and why you're spending it.

So now that you're aware of what the benefits are of keeping a spending journal, why not start your spending journal right now? You can begin by saving all of the receipts from your purchases and writing down what you spent today. It will take only fifteen minutes and by getting into this habit, you'll build a stronger awareness of what your financial habits are and have a much better grasp on coming up with a plan for changing them and taking control.

More to come... Click here to receive your free ebook on Personal Wealth Building and learn more...

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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Frederick_James

Update August 22 - 2010 "Personal Finance" By Insurance Experts

2010-08-21T08:13:00.000-07:00

Not many people can claim to be as wildly successful as Henry Ford, but the simple principles he employed to attain his personal fortune provide insights for anyone wishing to improve their financial situation. Henry Ford didn't start out trying to make mountains of money. He rarely mentioned money during his childhood and early adulthood. Rather, his attention was directed at pursuing his deep interest in building machinery.

This desire to spend his time building machinery turned into a passion for building cars. He followed his passion and increasing levels of income eventually would follow him. He gave up a good corporate job to pursue this dream, with no guarantee of financial gain. However, by disregarding the discouraging comments he received, maintaining a conservative view of managing money and debt, and leaving the "security" of his corporate job, Henry Ford turned a passion into income, which then gave him the freedom to live the life of his dreams. Here are five financial lessons we can learn from his journey as hobbyist to industrialist.

1. Henry Ford developed the skills that allowed him to live his passion.
Henry Ford was fascinated with machinery from the time he was a young boy. Even though his enthusiasm for tinkering with metal and tools was discouraged by his farmer father, and later on his employers, as he became a young adult he continued to pursue those interests.

Ford followed his own calling and continuously taught himself to build tools and machines. He spent all of his free time working on his interests. This allowed him to hone his mechanical skills to such a fine point that his technical ability could be used in creation of a new horseless carriage. From very modest beginnings he constructed his first car on his own in his garage after work. That car led to millions upon millions more sold over the next 100 years. Even though he was highly criticized and discouraged, except for Thomas Edison on one early occasion, his passion had turned an idea into a valuable reality that provided him the means to live his dream and pursue his interests.

2. Henry Ford quit his day job.
Henry Ford noted in his own biography My Life and Work that his childhood was average from a financial perspective. The family didn't face seriously tough times, but they weren't incredibly successful either. As a child he worked on his parent's farm, received basic education in a one room school house where he was assigned to the back row of desks, and would visit town with his father in a horse drawn wagon.

As a young adult he worked for Edison and was paid $45.00 per month. Years later, as an engineer, he was making $125.00 a month. He must have been considered a valuable asset to the company he worked for because they offered him a higher paying job if only he would quit talking about pursuing his dreams of building cars. He quit his job that very day.

3. Henry Ford never stopped studying and learning.
One trait of successful people in any arena is their devotion to constant learning. Henry Ford stated many times that the long hours put in practicing and studying ways to improve your abilities never seems like work when you are excited by it. In his mid-20s Ford was still working for someone else, but he found many ways to get better with machinery and tools in his "off the clock" time. He took a part time job with a jeweler, and using the skill of watch repair that he had taught himself, he became much better with mechanical parts by repairing hundreds of watches. Another example was his garage workshop. Late into the night he would work in the shop and construct engines and mock cars with the spare parts and scrap he had collected.

Some people look at learning and studying from the same bored perspective of a fourth grade student sitting by the window in class on a beautiful spring day. Rather than thinking of learning as a chore or a hindrance to fun, successful people look at the exercises of honing the skills they are passionate about as interesting and exciting work. Their passion may not be the thing that currently allows them to earn income. However, developing the skills that not only excite you, but can be turned into a living that supports you, is a good marker of future success.

His work ethic brought him consistent success that led to even bigger rewards.

You can read more about this story and Henry Ford's personal traits with money at BowmansMoneyCollege.com.

Mike Bowman
Bowman's Money College

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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_B_Bowman

Update August 05 - 2010 "Personal Finance" By Insurance Experts

2010-08-04T08:16:00.000-07:00

Why do people who make a decent earning go broke? Why do people work so hard and yet come down to nothing just a few days after the months pay? Here are a few reasons and how to reverse this trend for yourself starting today.

1. Inability to Differentiate between Needs & Wants

Yes, you've got to live a good life but the ability to differentiate per time what is need and want will keep you from carrying an empty pocket and ending in desperation and debt. Needs are those things you cannot do without. For instance because the nature of my work, I cannot do without power and have to spend money on generating power when there is an outage. That is a need.

Wants are those things you'd love to have but do not make any significant difference in your life. For instance if you have 2 pairs of shoes, getting an extra pair because you have a weekend ball is a want.

Surprisingly, a lot of people focus on their wants and look for means to satisfy the desire for these wants and end up over spending every single month. The result is a dry pocket. Differentiate between your needs and your wants and work hard not to satisfy your needs unless you genuinely have extra left to cater for it.

2. Lack of Investment

One of the reasons why we invest is to prevent a dry pocket. The problem however is trying to invest with the overview of a quick turnover. Work at investing a certain percentage of your income every month on a long term asset or a long term investment programme that can work for your over time. For instance, investing in real estate every month, little by little is one great investment idea I love personally.

3. Ignoring Savings

It is very difficult to pull money together and takes a great deal of discipline to achieve. It is however very easy to blow it all off in just one moment of spending "madness"

First, work at your savings. Cut your expenses starting from now to allow you save at least 10% of your income every month. Just put it aside and forget it. If you save $100 per month, you will have $6000 in 5years (60months). The good news about having a careful savings culture is that after just 6months of doing it, you will begin to feel more confident, have more peace and less anxiety about tomorrow and you will know you have something to fall back on.

Another great advantage is that each time you save some more, you will watch your account grow a little more and this gets you ready for bigger opportunities. For instance, you can decide to buy a house after 5years, become a landlord, earn rent from your property while you still continue to work, save and make more money from property rentals.

Practice these 3 steps on a continual basis and you will gradually discover that you will stop getting broke, live a happier, less stressful life and in time move from a dry pocket to a fat bank account.

Oluwafisayo Akinlolu publishes WisdomPorch Web-blog. Read more of his inspiring articles, tips, quotes, muse and more daily at http://WisdomPorch.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Oluwafisayo_Akinlolu

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Update July 19- 2010 "Personal Finance" By Insurance Experts

2010-07-18T17:51:00.000-07:00

The first lesson that anyone who is looking forward to a secure and happy financial future should learn is that, keeping your discipline is the key to making a financial success. You will have to have a good control over your spending. Finance budget planning is the best way to make your dreams a success.

In making your own budget, you have to take care that you make a budget that is practically possible. The budget you make has to be capable of becoming a success. This means that there is no point in making a financial plan that is not possible. You have to device plans with your brain and not your heart.

In simple words, if you have a heavy debt, there is no point in making out a finance plan that will settle your debts in a few months. This is only a fantasy and is practical. This kind of a financial plan will only remain your dream.

Make a plan that will first provide you all the minimum things that you need to live. The idea of a budget plan is not to finish off your debts by cutting down all your expenses. The true logic behind your budget plan is to bring down the unnecessary payments and slowly build up savings so that you can get to that financial future you are dreaming of. So, keep this in mind when you make a plan. See that you do not device a finance budget out of your emotions. Only an excellent budget can help you in your journey to success.

For more information on personal budgeting software click on the link.

Recommended Reading
Insiders Tips For Reducing Spending
Money Saving Tips And Ideas Covers
Practically All Areas Of Household
And Modern Living Expenditure

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Update June 30- 2010 "Personal Finance" By Insurance Experts

2010-06-30T07:43:00.000-07:00

By Sarath P Jerome

The true idea of budgeting is to make a chart of your income or salary and device your expenses accordingly. When you have a right personal finance budget, you can live according to this plan. Budgets aim at maintaining a sense of personal responsibility towards meeting your expenditures. Such a plan will be making you capable of living a life without any debts or personal finance issues.

Did you know that an average American makes a negative saving every month? DO you know what a negative saving means? An average person usually spends more than what he earns in a month. This is what is called negative savings. It means debt in simpler terms. The statistics show us that we are making a certain amount of debt every month.

This is a very alarming condition. When you start making small debts every month, eventually you will realize that you are terribly in debt. The basic reason for this is that we do not have an idea about what we actually require. Most of us do not have a shopping list when we go shopping. We just go in to the supermarket and pull out piles of stuffs that we do not want at all.

What I am trying to explain here is the significance of a budget in our life. Budgeting helps us to remove this confusion about what we need to purchase. When we have a clearly laid down budget list of all the things that we need, then there is no more confusion. If we can remove this confusion from our lives, we are certainly facing a secure financial future.

Are you in need of a personal budget planner. Visit our website

Recommended Reading
Insiders Tips For Reducing Spending
Money Saving Tips And Ideas Covers
Practically All Areas Of Household
And Modern Living Expenditure

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Update June 11 - 2010 "Personal Finance" By Insurance Experts

2010-06-11T05:32:00.000-07:00

By Cornie Herring

Financial planning is about the thinking and the planning of what you want to do in your life, such as buying a house or a car, getting married, planning your children education. It also determines your financial capability to face any unforeseen circumstances in the future. It is an important process for people who want to have healthy financial life. Unfortunately, many people, especially those in young age don't realize the important of financial planning. It never too late to start the planning, but you should start it as early as possible so that you have sufficient times to plan and to shape your financial future that in-line with your financial goals.

Don't think that financial planning is a hassle process. Instead, think it as a need for our living process. If you have a good personal plan, you will be more prepared and informed about your future needs. With a proper planning process, you know the resources you currently have and what resources you should have in the future in order to achieve the goals you set in your plan. Regardless of many advantages in having financial planning, you will benefit from at least 4 benefits of them:

Benefit #1: Control of Your Financial Affairs

In financial planning, you will look at how you will be budgeting and spending your money over time, saving and investing to achieve your financial goals. Therefore, by knowing how and where your money goes, you will have a better control on your financial affairs and be able to avoid excessive spending that can lead unmanageable debt problem.

Benefit #2: Better personal relationships

Most often, debt problem causes relationship tension between you and people you know because they may get away from you as they afraid you will be borrowing money from them. If you have a good financial plan that makes you live happily without the need of borrowing money to make ends meet or expecting handouts from others. Indirectly, you with have better personal relationships with people around you, such as your family, colleagues and friends.

Benefit #3: Protecting your financial resources

By planning your financial effectively and control how your money goes with a good budget plan, you will have a sense of freedom from financial worries because you have planned for the future and be more prepared to face any unforeseen incident that may happen throughout your lifetime. Therefore, you will be more effective in obtaining, using and protecting your financial resources to ensure a healthy lifestyle through your entire lifetime.

Benefit #4: Plan for your retirement on time

How much money do you need to save for your retirement? Without the financial planning, you will never be able to get the figure. Nowadays, many people need to continue working to earn their living, just because they don't have a financial plan that enables them to retire when they reach their retirement age. If you plan to retire on time and financially healthy at the time of retirement, then you should start it as earlier as possible. In fact, financially healthy life is all about starting on time. The sooner you set it up and start saving for your retirement, the better off you will be in term of the sum of money invested.

Summary

Financial planning is not just a need, but a must-to-have for people who hope for financially healthy lifestyle throughout their lifetime. You need financial planning and it must be started as soon as possible to ensure you have sufficient times and the sum of money invested to achieve financial independent over time.

Visit Cornie Herring's website at http://www.studykiosk.com/CreditBasics to find more debt relief resources on the option available for you to get rid of debt. Learn how debt consolidation, credit counseling and other debt solutions work to help you get a debt free and explore the best option that best fits your financial situation.

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Update May 22 - 2010 "Personal Finance" By Insurance Experts

2010-05-22T07:13:00.000-07:00

By David Kimball

Personal finance budgeting can sometimes be a bit of a quagmire. It can be difficult to keep track of spending and making the checkbook balance up each month does not always work out the way we would like it to. We lose track of what we have coming in and going out, and soon we find ourselves in quite a financial mess.

The problem stems from the lack of good personal financial management teaching in school, even in college. And a sad indictment is the home also is no longer a training ground for sound learning about money. We are left on our own to figure it out.

Making the Complicated Simple
However, we can make the complicated simple with our own personal finance budgeting if we simply take a step back and look at our money objectively. First of all, figure out exactly how much money there is coming in from all sources every month. If there are different sources of income, figure out the average of those variables to get a definite amount.

For the expenses, it is the same thing. Get an average of what you spend in different areas. For example, if food costs are $400, $500, and $600 for three consecutive months, add these amounts ($1500) and divide by how many months (3) to arrive at an average food bill of $500 per month.

Why take an average? For food, there will be some months where more is spent and some months less. Same with the air conditioner, heater, etc. Over the course of time, we will arrive at a more realistic monthly amount based on our typical habits throughout the course of the year.

Now, add up all of these sources to get total monthly income and expense amounts. The goal here is to live within our means, never spend more than we make each month, and always putting some money aside for savings as well. If the total expenses are more than what is brought in, then cutting back on expenses is required.

Take time to look at those expenses and see which ones can be cut. Keep cutting until all bills can be paid plus put 10% away for savings and 10% for tithing.

Working the Plan
If enough cannot be cut to manage this, then start thinking about new ways of bringing in additional income, either through a second job or one or more family members getting part-time jobs or starting a home based business.

It is also good practice to put away something each month for entertainment. If there is no fun factored in, personal finance budgeting will become draining and motivation will wane. With a plan in place, you can now begin to make the complicated simple by saving money, getting out of debt, and living financially free.

With this solid foundation, continue making the complicated simple by starting out your financial plan using the envelope budget method.

David Kimball offers personal financial coaching and speaking, providing simple solutions for navigating your way to financial freedom. He is passionate about, and committed to, you living out a financially free life.

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Update May 01 - 2010 "Personal Finance" By Insurance Experts

2010-05-01T06:05:00.000-07:00

By Ambrose Chalmers

If you want to be successful, you have to set long term financial goals. It doesn't matter whether you have an one year plan to pay off your vacation or a 15 year plan for investing in your kid's college education or 30 year plan to save for your retirement, establishing financial goals are a winning situation down the road.

If you are achieving goals, that is mean you are heading in the right direction and that is very important, and not achieving them can create hardship for you. Unfortunately that is what happening these days. A survey shows that unless we save more than we make, we would be in hot water as for as finances goes. So, if you want to retire with having money in your pocket, you have to set long term financial goals and you should invest early and invest often in by far the best ways to get rich.

Now, point is how you can do that? So here the some ideas that will help you with your financial planning.

Be Specific: when you make a target, make it very clear like, $1000 into a retirement account, not like contribute to savings.

Handling Pay Raises: When you get the raises there is no rule that says that you have to spend this money on different things that you really do not need. If you are already making your ends meet then that means you really do not need to spend this extra money that you get in pay raise. You can use this extra money toward your student loan or retirement investment.

Start Saving Now: If you want to live much better in your retirement then you need to save enough from your years of working. So, to achieve that you get cracking now. Try to save a little bit more a year as this can makes huge difference in the long time period.

Life Insurance: A good life insurance is very important for your financial fitness and it doesn't matter whether you are young or single. If you are doing worse in your life or not functioning properly then chances are that you may do not have enough life insurance so that you can protect yourself or your loved ones. The best insurance to have is called term insurance as this is the most inexpensive insurance you can have.

So, I hope the above information can help you with your setting up long term financial goals.

Please visit my latest website over at http://0-interestcreditcards.net/ which gives information about 0 interest credit cards

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Update Mar. 31 - 2010 "Personal Finance" By Insurance Experts

2010-03-31T05:19:00.000-07:00

By Joshua Noerr

One of the main reasons our economy took a dive these past two years is because people took their mind off of the basics. Wealth and financial stability are created not by fancy and complicated investing strategies, not by being overleveraged and hoping for a great return; Wealth and financial stability are created by following a very basic, common sense approach to your finances. I am not a financial advisor, but I do know a thing or two about managing personal finances. Here I will share with you some basic yet proven strategies.

1. Pay Yourself First. The first 10% of your income should go into some type of savings account. If your employer offers a 401(k), a great way to hit this target is to commit 10% of your income pre-tax. This lowers your tax liability, and creates a nice nest egg. Whatever vehicle you choose for this money, it should be no less than 10%. Trust me, you can live off of the other 90%

2. Do not buy what you cannot afford. Sounds simple right? Yet millions of people purchased homes that they could not afford using bizarre adjustable rate mortgages. If you cannot afford something, save up until you can. Do not use credit cards if you are going to have to carry the balance forward, that means you can't afford it.

3. You need a rainy day fund. You must put away some money just in case something happens. Most experts recommend 3 months salary. I suggest going past that and shooting for 6 months. Whatever number you choose, put it away in a safe and easy to reach account, and don't touch it unless absolutely necessary.

4. Do not expand your lifestyle. Too many people expand their spending to meet their income when things are going well. If you are in sales, just because you have a few good months, does not mean you should go out and by a new car. When times are good, and you are getting more money than normal, you should be looking to save and invest that money.

4.1. Contract your lifestyle. If we piggyback off of the previous concept, we will be lead to the logical conclusion that we should spend less money. Take your lunch to work as often as possible. Clip coupons (what, you're too good for saving money?), and look for sales. Buy items off season whenever possible. I know this may not sound like the most fun, but no one has ever become rich by writing checks.

5. When in doubt, consult a professional. When investing, seek qualified advice. Would you visit a gas station clerk to ask advice about a heart condition? I know that sounds ridiculous, but people do this all the time when it comes to money. Financial professionals are professionals for a reason.

There it is, five simple ways to get your finances where you want them to be. Nothing fancy, no get rich quick tips, but it works. It has worked for millions of people, it can work for you too. As always, now is the best time to start!

Joshua Noerr is a Sales Manager, Coach, and Writer based in Atlanta, Georgia. For more helpful articles about money, life, and personal development, visit http://www.joshuanoerr.com. You can also follow Joshua on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/joshuanoerr.

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Update Mar. 12 - 2010 "Personal Finance" By Insurance Experts

2010-03-12T05:41:00.000-08:00

By Alan De Klerk

A financ1al plan or strategy to guarantee your future well being is something every working individual should contemplate early in life, but if that luxury has passed many years ago there is still time for you to start NOW.

A financial plan is not a plan or strategy on how to spend our earnings received from working hard for a boss. Ask your self these questions

1 ) What do I think of when thinking about what to do with the income I spend all of my time earning? (Holidays, cars, shopping and NIGHT LIFE)

2 ) What do I think of when thinking about HOW TO improve on my income? Thus improving my quality of life! (Borrowing)

Below is not the answer you should be coming up with!

Quick ways to get what you want!

* Borrow from Dad

* Take out a loan

* Open an account

* Get a Credit Card

These are all EASY ways to get what we want, thus giving us PLEASURE. BUT the after effects are what cause the PAIN. These are quick ways to financial enslavement. The PAIN mentioned here is the pain of handing out ALL your hard earned money, month after month. The best thing to do is to say "No thanks!" to the quick ways of getting what you want and find ways to earn your own money.

The best way is to be an Entrepreneur, looking for and taking advantage of gaps in the market for products or services. Once these have been Isolated, proceed to fill the gap with your expertise and experience in your specific field. The good or bad financial rewards received will be a direct result of the VALUE you provide, so adjust your value and input accordingly.

It would be good for your future financially, to have a well thought out plan of action, with good ideas and strategies to ensure Financial Independence instead of financial ruin.

Go on YOU can do it! Another motivation for getting out of debt: Remember that "the borrower is the servant of the lender" - the Bible.

By Alan De Klerk - For more articles check MY BLOG.

Financial Freedom Through Education.

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Update Feb. 18 - 2010 "Personal Finance" By Insurance Experts

2010-02-18T04:42:00.000-08:00

By Sherry Tingley

Are you moving toward financial security or are you depressed about your current financial situation?

Suze Orman has a television show that offers you personal finance advice. People are invited to call in and ask her the proverbial question, "Can I afford to buy this item?"

Some things that people want to buy seem to make perfect sense. Some requests are just outrageous to Suze. She's definitely on the conservative side of spending. You need to have a gazillion dollars saved to be able to afford to purchase an item under ten thousand dollars.

Powerful, forceful, decisive and intimidating, Suze will tell you the good or bad news about whether you should make a purchase or not. She always says, "Show me your money!" You will be asked to list your current income, your savings, your retirement savings and the amount of debt you have accumulated.

After watching a few hours of this show, you may look at your own situation and feel like a total failure and that you'll never measure up to the standards you "should" meet. You may have been through a job loss, a divorce or a medical catastrophe and not have the assets you see other people having.

The ironic thing about this show is that a few experiences in Suze Orman's past may actually make you feel better. Recently on Oprah's website, Suze revealed that as a young woman, she had been lured into the rich lifestyle and the feeling she needed to own things to impress other people. She frankly admitted, "I, Suze Orman, took money out of my 401(k) to pay for that pricey Cartier watch. And when I ran through all my money, I started using the bank's. I eventually had more than $60,000 in credit card debt." So she has been in trouble financially and knows what kind of misery it brings.

Dave Ramsey, popular author, radio show host and personal finance advisor had a similar brush with disaster. By the time he was 26 years old, he had a net worth of $1 million dollars. That sounds wonderful, doesn't it? However, he ran into some problems with borrowing money. Soon, one of his creditors demanded that he pay his short-term notes totaling $1.2 million. On top of that he had only 90 days to do this. He was sued, foreclosed on and with a wife and baby added to the mix, the Ramsey's were finally bankrupt.

His experience led him to learn more about being financially independent. He sought out every type of financial advice out there. He read everything he could get his hands on. He has now helped many people to become financially secure. He took to heart the admonitions of F. Scott Fitzgerald, considered to be one of the twentieth century's greatest writers.

"One should... be able to see things as hopeless and yet be determined to make them otherwise."

If you are struggling financially, become determined to make things different. You can learn your money lessons by paying careful attention to getting out of debt, building an emergency fund, and living on a reasonable budget.

Everyone needs a good strategy for keeping their finances in order. Use these strategies on a daily basis to help you achieve your goals. You can purchase your personal checks or business checks online at to save you money.

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Update Jan. 31 - 2010 "Personal Finance" By Insurance Experts

2010-01-31T04:50:00.000-08:00

By Lisa Archer-Jones

Debt relief is one of the most searched terms on Google these days. You can blame it on recession. Most US Credit card users are down with a huge mountain of debt. They are now struggling to find debt relief. They were as it is surviving from one pay check to the next. This was the state when they had some regular source of income. Now many of them have lost their jobs and are desperately looking for debt relief.

People looking for debt relief need to make some very significant sacrifices. The path to eliminating debt is not very simple. You need to have a firm resolve to become debt free. This will involve a significant change in your life style. However t will be worth the effort. Find three broad rules or solutions to eliminate your credit card debt.

Cut down on your expenditure. The Credit cards are very good to use. However you must have a proper plan to pay back the debt acquired through Credit cards. If you keep on making purchases blindly without thinking of repaying it, you are bound to get stuck on repayment. Cut down your Credit card spend to the bare minimum.

Look for ways and means to find some extra money. You need some additional source of income to clear your debt. You can pick up a campus job, work as a delivery boy or for that matter do any job that can fetch you some extra cash. Use the earnings to clear your Credit card debt. This additional income will work like magic.

Try looking for the best debt relief solution for you. It could be Credit card debt counseling, debt consolidation or a debt settlement. Any thing short of bankruptcy can be considered to be good for you. Bankruptcy will eliminate your debt but at the cost of your Credit score. So if you want to still maintain a reasonably good credit and become debt free look for any solution other than bankruptcy.

Debt settlement is a viable alternative to filing bankruptcy. Most consumers are able to eliminate at least 60% of their unsecured debt while avoiding many of the negative consequences with filing bankruptcy. If you are over $10k in unsecured debt you will be eligible for debt settlement. To locate legitimate debt settlement companies in your state check out the following link:

Free Debt Advice

Part B. Personal Finance Tips For You by Nocita Carter

By Nancy Eaton

Personal Finance Tips for You includes twenty-four topics covering an array of areas. The author states in the introduction "it is important to know as much as you can about managing your personal finances in these economic times." Some of the areas covered are credit card traps, keeping on track to pay your bills, handling your checkbook, the price of gas, identity theft, catching up on retirement planning, what to do if you receive a lay off notice from your job, checking your credit report and talking about finances if you are planning to get married. These are just a few of the topics. There are many more.

The first topic covered is Don't Get Caught Up in The Credit Card Trap, Stop Yourself Before That Happens. This is a very important chapter for everyone to read because it is so easy for this to happen in tough economic times. The author offers several excellent tips to help anyone who has this problem. It is clearly explained why it is so important for you to pay down the credit card debt.

Another important topic covered is How Do I Keep On Track to Pay My Bills on Time. The author gives the reader some tips on creating a budget and keeping track of your income and expenditures.

How do you survive the high cost of gas? We all know, not long ago the price of gas kept soaring. The author gives us many tips on how to save money by doing some simple things like consolidating trips just to name one of the pointers. There are many tips mentioned that I never thought of myself.

How do you establish your credit if you are young and just starting out on a job? Nocita Carter tells you exactly how to go about doing this.

Do you think you can save any money by just saving your change? This is one of the tips made by the author. I can personally vouch for this one because each day when I purchase an item, I take the change and add it to an old coffee can. After a few months, it gets quite full. I am always surprised by the amount of money I saved from my loose change.

I could go on and on with each chapter because there are so many good points in this book but I think you get the message and would get more out of Personal Finance Tips for You if you purchase it and read it yourself.

There are several aspects of this book that I really liked. It is written in language that is very easy to understand. It is not like some of the other books on finance that require you to have a dictionary by your side as you read. The book is very organized. Each chapter starts with an introduction to explain the topic. Once that is done, the author lists several tips to help the reader accomplish these tasks. Nocita Carter has written this book in a manner that makes the reader feel like they have a personal finance expert right there beside them. Personal Finance Tips For You is recommended for any age. It will be a valuable tool for younger people who are starting their first job. On the other hand, one is never too old to find something they did not know in this book. After reading this book, I learned quite a few tips to help me with my finances. You will find this an excellent resource guide to keep by your side at all times.

Nancy Eaton - Owner of:
http://www.bestsellersworld.com
This site has book reviews, book giveaways and a book discussion forum.

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Update Jan. 12 - 2010 "Personal Finance" By Insurance Experts

2010-01-12T03:53:00.000-08:00

By Carl M Thomson

Saving more than a couple of thousand dollars is not as difficult as it sounds. I am not going to harangue you on "you can do it", or "importance of saving", or "why not saving can kill you before the world ends in 2012." No. Nothing like this. Here are few suggestions on how you can actually save few dollars, if not couple of thousands, next year.

1. Calculate the amount of money you spend buying kitchen paper. It may not be quite substantial, but why waste money on these papers when you can replace them with cloth napkins. Spending even a dollar on disposable papers seems to be a waste. Buy a cloth that can be washed and reused. You can save approximately $85 a year.

2. If your family comprises of you and your spouse, both working, why spend so much on cable. Unplug it and save anywhere round $600 per year.

3. Digital camera is perhaps the only device where we use batteries. If you use it a lot, switch to rechargeable batteries. Doing this will save not much, maybe $24. But every penny saved in this kind of economy is 3 pennies earned.

4. Why do we need a landline when all the family members own a mobile phone? I have disconnected it and I sometimes use Skype instead of landline, and mobile most of the times.

5. If you are still left with any gold after, after the "sell gold" advertisements, sell it off. Even if it is small gold scraps, sell it. But do not mail it across. It is better to sell it at the neighboring jewelry shop. You can earn some amount here.

6. Chopped and shredded vegetables, cheese, and fruits cost much more than the un-chopped, fresh ones. Instead of spending more, you can get the fresh ones and slice it at home. Doing this for a year can help you to save $250. Isn't it worth a try?

7. Stop going to the gym and find a way to exercise free of cost. If the only reason you go to gym is losing weight, there are numerous ways to do it without a gym. By doing this you can save as much as $420 in a year. Till now, this is the biggest contributor to your saving.

8. Get rid of your printer. Okay, may be that's not possible, you can at least promise yourself not to print unless necessary. Ink cartridges, color or black & white, can burn a hole in your pocket. I have to replace the cartridge once a year. However, it still costs me around $80 to $100.

Remember these points while preparing a budget for 2010. These are just 8 examples of saving money. We, together, can come up with probably hundreds of them, and imagine the amount we could save. If you have any such suggestion, please comment and suggest, for me, for all the readers. Let's derive the most comprehensive and precise personal finance money management guide for 2010.

Carl M Thomson is an author of this article on personal finance money management.

Find more information about personal finance information here.

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Personal Finance - Three Mistakes That People Make With Their Money

By Linda Hancock

I think I've heard it all when it comes to money. When people state that they are unhappy with their financial situation, I know that their problems likely fall into one or all three of the following categories.

SPENDING TOO MUCH - When I grew up we touched money - real money. If we didn't have coins in our pocket we just didn't spend. We didn't have Lines of Credit, credit cards or Overdraft Protection. Cash was all we knew.

Often people buy things they don't need with money they don't have to impress people they don't even like. They renovate - not based on need but on want. After purchasing a house that is at the top of their credit limit, they add the toys (boats, quads, campers, vehicles) and then they book trips to "get away from it all". All of this compounds the problem.

The "secret" to financial health is to spend less than you earn. This might mean not adding to your wardrobe until you absolutely need to do so. You may need to eat at home more and pack a lunch. Shopping is a trap you will need to avoid as it just tempts you to buy more. And remember, you don't have to try to keep up with the Jones'. Living on less will give you a freedom that the Jones family likely doesn't possess.

NOT KEEPING TRACK OF FINANCIAL MATTERS - When you do not know how much debt you have or when your bills are due, you are at risk of overspending, losing a good credit score, and paying excessive penalties and interest. Even being one day late on a credit card payment can result in a large late payment charge and increase your interest rate by several points. Delinquency is reported to the Credit Bureau and this can affect all future attempts at borrowing.

In order to improve your situation and gain control of your financial life you will need to begin by getting honest with yourself. Start with four blank sheets of paper.

On one write "Assets" and list all of the items that you own or are buying through payments (house, vehicles, savings accounts, investments). Beside each put the value of the asset and then put the total of all at the bottom of the page.

On the second sheet write "Liabilities/Debts" and list all of the amounts that you owe to others. Also record the interest rate, due date and amount of the payments you are responsible for making for each item. At the bottom of the page write the total amount owed and the total amount for the payments required each month.

On the third page write "Income" and list all sources that make up your total household income each month (include rental properties, interest earned, part-time work).

On the fourth page write "Expenses" and list all the things that you pay each month (utilities, food, clothing). Don't forget to add the total monthly payments that you listed as "Liabilities/Debts".

Now that you have everything listed you will be able to do a proper assessment of your situation.

NOT HAVING A PLAN - There's an old expression that says "People who fail to plan, plan to fail". You may have to sell some assets to lower your debt or find a part-time job to increase your income. Perhaps your credit card company will reduce your interest rate if you call them and make a commitment to pay a specific amount towards your balance on a regular basis.

One of the first things you will need to do in order to get back on track is cut back on your expenses. There are many creative ways to do this. For example, instead of buying a $5.00 coffee every morning, make a pot at home and carry it in a travel mug. This will save $100 per month which can be used towards debt. The result is that your balance is reduced and the interest charged the following month will be reduced.

You will likely be able to turn things around rather quickly once you have a good plan in place.

When it comes to finances, a few small changes can make a huge difference and, over time, you can go from feeling overwhelmed to being in a strong position where you will be in control of your situation. If you need help with this, do not hesitate to contact a psychologist who is trained in problem-solving. The sooner you book an appointment, the sooner you will be headed towards achieving financial well-being.

And now I would like to invite you to claim your Free Instant Access to a complimentary list of 10 Steps to Making Your Life an Adventure when you visit lindahancockspeaks.com

From Dr. Linda Hancock, Registered Psychologist and Registered Social Worker

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Update Dec.24- 2009 "Personal Finance" By Insurance Experts

2009-12-24T06:08:00.000-08:00

By Asem Eltaher

Many people are looking for ways to improve the state of their personal finances. Here, we will look at some of the tips on personal finance that are easy for us all to do and you will surely be debt free today. You may already do some of these, but there may be some that you never thought of before.

Using automated ways of paying your bills is a great way to reduce late penalties that can occur for some people. You will have the money taken at a certain time every month and no longer have to worry about mailing the cheque or forgetting about where you pout the bill, as it will already be taken care of.

Having a portion of your pay put into a savings account by your employer before you get it is another one of the great tips for personal finance that anyone can do in order to avoid increasing your finance quotes. If you do not have it in your pay, then you are less likely to spend it. This only makes sense. Make sure that you use restraint with this savings account and you will see it grow substantially in no time at all.

If you have credit cards, watching the way that you use them can prove to be very valuable when it comes to your financial situation. If you need to use them, don't buy something that you cannot afford to pay off before the interest charges start.

This can save you thousands of dollars over the course of time. Many people end up drowning in credit card debt and it is something that does not have to happen and in this context, I would advise you to work on consolidating credit card debts.

Look around the internet to see what websites are available that can offer you other tips on personal finance. There are a lot of them around and many of the tips that you can use are things that we encounter in our every day lives. The things that we do now to help save us money are a great way to start investing in out future!

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How to Improve Your Credit Score - Personal Finance Basics

By Brandon Schmid

The health of your credit score is incredibly important to your finances for a number of reasons. To begin with good credit scores are exactly what banks are looking for when deciding whether or not they will lend you money. More often than not insurance brokers or landlords often look into your credit when determining whether or not to choose you as a potential client or possible tenant. This article will describe to you a number of ways of improving your credit score and will assist with your personal finance basics.

1. Pay Your Bills On Time

The reason why this is first on my list is because this is likely the most important rule to follow when trying to boost your credit score. If you visit a bank and want to apply for a home mortgage the first thing the bank will search for is if you regularly make bill payments when they are due. These bills include everything from your cable, home or cell phone, credit card or any other types of bills. Your credit score will directly reflect if you pay for, miss or are late on your bills. If they discover that you always miss or are late for payments, there is a good chance they will not approve you for the loan.

Helpful advice so you will make every bill payment:

-Create a new checking account and allocate enough cash at the beginning of each month for your bills so you always have enough.

-Create automated email reminders a few days prior to when your bills are due.

-Create automatic payments through your online banking.

-Keep a written calendar of when each bill is due. Update and check it regularly.

-Purchase everything possible with cash. Not having a credit card means one less bill to forget.

2. Never Let Bills Go To Collections

This may seem very simple but these collection agency's exist because thousands of people allow their unpaid bills to go this far. You can't forget about your bills. Your bills won't just disappear. If just one of your unpaid bills go to collections you will have to pay surcharges, major interest and your credit rating will be tarnished.

3. Keep Credit Card Balances Low

The most simple of personal finance basics is if you must use a credit card, keep the balance at zero or as low as possible. The less of your available credit you use the better. The number that most reflects your credit score the most recent balance on your statement. Even if you pay your bill in full every month you should never exceed more than 30% of your available credit. The less you use the better.

4. Use Old Your Credit Cards

This may seem a bit odd but try not to switch from one credit card company to the next. If you jump around and continually open and close credit cards your credit score can be adversely affected. If you can use the credit card you got when you were 20 and stay with it. If you primarily use a different credit card, attempt to keep your old cards active and use it every once in a while. Make certain you pay it off in full each time.

5. Check Your Scores Once A Year

Credit scores can change fast. One day everything may be going well and tomorrow your credit score might be awful. Looking into your score each year is a personal finance basic tip we all should follow. This will allow you to correct any mistakes that the banks or you might have made. Keep in mind, if you check your credit rating more than once a year or on a regular basis it will affect your scores negatively. Checking once a year is your best option. Be sure to dispute any errors like unpaid bills or late payments when you are certain that they were paid on time or there might be other issues that you could find.

High credit scores create the chance for lower interest rates on mortgages, car loans, personal loans and credit cards. The most simple of personal finance basics you should follow is to maintain the health of your credit score so you will be able to take advantage all sorts of different financial opportunities. The sooner you rectify any issues you might have with your credit, the sooner you will get everything back in order. By following these tips you will be completely on your way to improving the health of your credit score.

You can pay off your debts and save money at the same time! Say goodbye to your boss forever! A blog that will show you the secrets of the wealthy: http://www.howtomanagemoneytips.com

Get a free budget sheet, net worth calculator, tools and more: http://www.howtomanagemoneytips.com/ebook2.html

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Brandon_Schmid

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Update Dec. 05 - 2009 "Personal Finance" By Insurance Experts

2009-12-05T06:01:00.000-08:00

By Brandon Schmid

Is money good or is it bad? Depending how you view it, cash can be good but it has the potential to be a bad thing as well. Money can be good because it allows you the exact lifestyle you desire. It has the ability to fund your dreams such as going on holidays or could allow the chance for an early retirement. Money creates the chance to create a family, live in the city you want and allows to you to do anything you can imagine. Proper money management is the simplest way to understand personal finance basics.

The down side to money is if you live for it. By slaving away working at a place you don't like to earn money makes it bad. Cash can misguide many of Americans to become workaholics and desert their loved ones.

Without a doubt cash does have more good aspects than bad. Unfortunately the bad things related to money are often tied with misuse or greed.

What is Money to you?

Is earning lots of money to live the life of luxury is important to you or do you want to make just enough so you can live modestly. The choice is simple with little grey area and we all make that choice when dealing with the personal finance basics in our lives.

If you want to work 60 hours a week so you can afford to drive an expensive vehicle and own a 4000 square foot home is the way you enjoy living then more power to you. Sadly, I believe|in my opinion} you have become a slave to cash if you must work that much to drive that car or live in that home.

On the other hand if you want to have 100% freedom and 0% responsibility then you are a slave to yourself. Money probably has no value to you and you make just enough to make ends meet. Is that bad? Who am I to say.

I'm certain there can be a happy medium when it comes to money. You can get all of the pros and none of the cons. Working hard is incredibly important but it's good to know that you should not work for money. The more you understand personal finance basics, the more it will start to give back to you and the less you will be it's slave.

The best advice I can give is to find an occupation that you love and would probably do it for free anyway. If you're not happy at your job chances are it's because you only see the dollar signs associated with the job. The way to make money a positive factor to you is to alter the way you think and love where you are. The great thing is, the more passion you put into everything in your life, the more money you will make and the happier you will be. In short you will work less and make more.

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You can pay off your debts and save money at the same time! Say goodbye to your boss forever! A blog that will show you the secrets of the wealthy: http://www.howtomanagemoneytips.com

Get a free budget sheet, net worth calculator, tools and more: http://www.howtomanagemoneytips.com/ebook2.html

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Debit Cards and Personal Finance

By Debra Trotter

A lot of people are switching to debit cards for their loans and other financial needs. Although in terms of fees, they are much more favorable than getting a credit card, you would have to take note of risks involved in getting a debit card too.

First in the list is security. With a credit card, there is more protection. You would not be responsible for charges that are unauthorized and above $50. However, with a debit card, there are a lot more things for you to do in case it gets stolen. First, you have to report the theft or loss within two days. If you miss that deadline, you can still report it but be on the hook for around $500. After two months, however, you would have unlimited liability for that debit card. There are different policies for each company, so it is best if you consult and understand the proceedings well.

Your credit score would not increase with a debit card. No matter how many times you use it, you would not be able to improve your score. However, the records that are in your card would reflect that you are able to pay your bills on time. Also, they do not have provision for dispute once you have paid for charges made to it.

It is recommended that you do not use your card for large purchases. It is because you would get more protection with a credit card than with a debit card. Also, when making online purchases, it is best to go with a credit card, since they provide you with safer transactions. Moreover, do not link your card to a checking account. There are a lot of risks you can be prone to if you use your card for large purchases and if you open it up to different sources.

A debit card has a lot of advantages as well. It is much favorable than carrying cold cash around with your. Also, it is much easier to get than a credit card, since you would not need to have a good credit score to qualify for one.

This article is written by Debra Trotter. She is an article writer for nearly 2 years. Not only does this author specialize in a large range of topics, you can also checkout her newest website on flushable cat litter which shows and explains information about different fresh step litter.

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Update Nov. 17- 2009 "Personal Finance" By Insurance Experts

2009-11-17T06:28:00.000-08:00

By David Bakke

I was recently thinking again of my fairly long journey from the depths of financial hell, and trying to think of some things that, if I had in my in my life at that time, might have made the journey a little shorter, or a little easier to stay focused on. Then it occurred to me. And I usually try to do this now. Maybe not on a daily basis, but at the very least on all of my off days. I try to come up with at least one good "money event" or "money mood booster" each day.

I'll get to the explanation of exactly what that is in a second. Going back to my journey--it was not the easiest thing in the world. And I have never said that it was. Most of the goals that I was trying to reach back then were very long term (because I was so far in debt). Therefore, there were a lot of days when it would have been easy to just give up, to forget about it all and go back to my old ways of spending money.

I can't imagine how much more motivated I would have been had I had a little "boost" at least every few days, if not every day. Just a little something that told me I was doing things right, I was making progress, and that I would reach my goals at some point in time.

This is what I'm talking about when I say a daily "money event" or "money mood booster". I'm not saying that every day you're going to be able to come up with a way to beat the stock market, with a way to cut your grocery bill in half, or any other major savings event. What I am saying is that you should try to identify some of the "little" ways that you have found to save money-and celebrate them. Give your conscience a little boost.

Some recent examples in my life.

--I recently found a different gas station to do my filling up. Its right near our home, and I save roughly 9 cents per gallon on gas. Is this huge savings on a daily or even weekly basis? No. But, stretch it out over a year, and it's about $125 in savings!

--The other day, I noticed the food we buy for our baby on sale at half price. So I went home, and got my "dollar off when you buy 10" coupons and stocked up. I got 40 little jars of baby food for the price of 16!

I buy motor oil somewhat in bulk for our two cars. Found a coupon online for $10 off a purchase of $25 for my auto parts store. Printed it out, bought my oil for about the next six months, and saved 40%!

It is these types of things that first of all, you should be trying to do in your life. It is these kinds of things that will lead to a more financially sound lifestyle. And second, you should celebrate them. Throw a party and have cake and ice cream? Of course not. But give your mind a little pat on the back every time you do these things. If you are currently in debt and trying to dig your way out, this will provide you additional motivation to help keep you on the right track. If you're already there and still trying to squeeze your dollars, celebrating these little things will keep you sharp and on the lookout for more ways to save.

As I see it, saving money is more about a state of mind than it is about sacrificing things in your life or how much money you make. Want to learn more tips and strategies on how to save money on your bills, how to spend less money in general and some great methods for generating income in your life? Visit me at my personal finance blog http://yourfinances101.com/blog.

There you can check out my recently published book, "Don't Be A Mule: A Common-sense Guide to Saving More, Spending Less, and Generating Extra Income in Your Everyday Life."

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Personal Finance News

By Sourav Sharma

In a time such as today's when the world economies are still struggling to recover from the biggest economic recession in recent times, when stocks plummet without even a notice, no warning whatsoever, what to do? The hard times are here and when there seems no way out, just smarten up and take the road that's tried and tested before, the road to personal financial investing. It is time to grow your money by leaps and bounds with trading currencies. Not that challenges will be lesser on this road, the major challenge will be the absence of an established business track record but not let that stop you. Utilize your past business financial information to start up with some capital loan. No bank or lending institution would lend you money if you lack personal financial information. While you begin with personal finance investing as a new venture, you would definitely not have cash flows or dividends information, or any financial statements enough to support you secure a loan.

And if you do not have any past personal finance news and information then do not panic as where there is a problem there are ample solutions too. In today's digital age where everything is centralized around the vast Internet web, small business owners or beginners can enjoy endless advantages through the technology solution tools. You can trade online without even bothering to arrange loans for beginning with personal financial investing. Through the internet you can fill your kitty with all the necessary knowledge about the financial calculators and conduct your way through to the automated trading bot, impressive software that is exclusively designed to trade on your behalf leaving you to attend to various other things needed. And yes, you do not miss a single trading opportunity through the trading bot; but be careful not to make it a habit of relying on automated software for your activities as at the end it's you who is responsible for any rise or fall in the business. So be determined and cautious, and the 'win' is yours.

Sourav Sharma is freelance market analyst and is writing reviews articles on personal finance news, personal finance investing, financial calculators and BSE Stock Prices.

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Update Oct. 29- 2009 Personal Finance By Insurance Experts

2009-10-28T22:34:00.000-07:00

By Eric Transue

If you are on a budget or looking to get on one, tracking your finances plays a major role in how successful your budget will be. A personal finance spreadsheet is a great way to keep track of your income and expenses. By using a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet or a Google docs spreadsheet you can easily see exactly how much you are spending and how much you are saving each month.

The great thing about personal budgeting spreadsheets is they can easily be modified to fit your budget. You can enter the exact categories you use monthly for your income and your expenses. These categories can be really detailed such as having individual credit cards listed by name or they can be broad such as having one group named credit cards for all your credit card bills.

If you are experienced with spreadsheets you can also add extra features such as the ability to create graphs from the data you entered. Graphs make it easy to get a quick view of your current financial situation. The graphs will allow you to easily spot trends and areas that are in need of attention in order to keep you on budget.

If you find creating financial spreadsheets a task that is a little to advanced for you, don't fear. There are other options for you that can combine and even exceed all the features even the most advanced personal finance spreadsheets can offer. The other options such as personal budget software may cost more than a spreadsheet you create at first, but are also powerful enough to pay for themselves with the advanced budgeting features they provide.

If you are looking for software that will provide you with more advanced features than your basic budgeting spreadsheet, click here to check out YNAB Pro.

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Common Sense Commandments For Personal Finance

By Christopher Musico

Virtually any country - both today and in ancient history - have started based on a set of principles, core tenets to live by in order to move ahead successfully. I firmly believe the same is necessary when you first set out on your personal finance journey. These 10 rules are the commandments I live by every time I make a financial decision or sit down to revise my budget.

Save at least 10 percent of your yearly income.
Have goals for yourself -- and write them down.
Do not spend money on items you cannot afford to pay immediately.
Treat credit cards like a privilege, not a right.
Have a cushion for yourself.
Stay on top of all purchases, bills, and other financial information.
Keep it simple when it comes to personal finance.
Have a disciplined plan, but be flexible when necessary.
Do not go it alone -- ask for help.
Reward yourself within reason.

For more detailed information on each one, keep reading.

Save at least 10 percent of your yearly income.
The current recession has taught people to start saving money again, which can be looked upon as a silver lining to this storm. For years, the savings rate was less than 0 percent, meaning people were actually spending more money than they made. That's a recipe for disaster. The law of compounding interest tells twentysomethings that if they can begin to stash money away now in different savings accounts and stocks, that there will be more time for the money to grow on its own. Ipso facto, at the end of your working career, your money will have had more time to collect interest and give you a bigger nest egg. The problem is, generally speaking, twentysomethings don't have high incomes and consequently do not have the ability to stash away as much cash.

Don't let your current financial situation, whatever it may be, force you to believe you can put off saving money. Start small. Stash 10 percent of each paycheck away for savings. It's important to know what you're saving for (another commandment), but I suggest you put away enough money for an emergency fund -- approximately three to six months' worth of living expenses -- first.

Have goals for yourself -- and write them down.
I'm a firm believer that nothing becomes concrete until it is written down, tangible, literally in your hands. This goes for your financial goals, too. It doesn't have to be an elaborate spreadsheet breaking down goals into weekly checkpoints. It can be a simple list of short, medium, and long-term goals that you would like to work toward. I suggest you put them inside your budget book, wallet, or wherever you will see it when you assess your finances.

Honestly, it can be a simple bulleted list. Here are mine as of right now:
Short-Term Goals:
-- Stay in the black.
-- Remain on top of day-to-day finances.
-- Keep disciplined.
-- Enjoy myself within reason.

Mid-Term Goals:
-- Save money for my gym membership.
-- Save money for next summer's vacation.
-- Continue contributing to 401(k).
-- Save money for Roth IRA.
-- Establish/maintain multiple revenue streams.

Long-Term Goals:
-- Purchase or rent a place of my own.
-- Pay off all college loans in full.
-- Become financially independent.

That's it. I have it inside my budget book so I'm constantly reminded of what I'm working toward. I highly suggest you do as well.

Do not spend money on items you cannot afford to pay immediately.
This is really more common sense than anything else. If you don't have the money to buy something you really want, force yourself to wait, save, and get the money to buy it later. This is a good exercise in self-discipline, especially since credit cards are so easy to get and, when used improperly, can lead to disaster. I'll explain more in the next commandment.

With that said, there are a few exceptions to this rule. I believe that, in addition to emergencies of a medical nature or totaling a car, there are three basic items that you shouldn't feel bad about purchasing without having all of the money for it upfront: an education, a house, and a car. This doesn't mean you should put $5 down on a house that costs $500,000, but unless you're blessed with a vast sum of money, you will have to take out loans and pay off these items monthly.

Treat credit cards like a privilege, not a right.
It's really easy to get credit cards. It's also fairly simple to get ones with high credit limits, though credit card companies are forced now to be a tad more stringent regarding who they approve. Credit cards can be a great tool, especially ones with cash rewards and otherwise when you spend enough money. The problem is, once you fall behind on your credit card payments and only pay the minimum balance (usually about $10 or $15), the interest rates can reach upwards of 20 percent per month. Most loan sharks wouldn't think of charging that much.

Use your credit card wisely, and only use it for items you know you could pay off that moment if you had to pay in cash. The interest rates are too overbearing and the stakes -- a poor credit score -- are too high for you to fall into credit card companies' trap. Seriously, it's not worth it.

Have a cushion for yourself.
Obviously things happen in life. You know, those unexpected issues that you didn't plan for. Your car may break down, you may need to get some teeth pulled, lose your job, or God forbid you find yourself in the hospital for an extended period of time. While you may not foresee these major life-changing events, you can try to create a buffer for yourself by having at least three-to-six months of living expenses stashed away in an interest bearing savings account that you can access at any time. Money markets are good for this, since they generally give slightly better interest than standard savings accounts. Certificates of deposit (CD) have better interest rates than the other two I mentioned, but generally cannot be accessed without penalty until its term (can be anywhere from three months to multiyear depending on what you pick) is complete.

I only have a three-to-four month emergency fund in my money market account, but that is because I have at least two months' worth of cushion for each of my budgeted expenses in my checking account. That way, I have some breathing room and avoid risking overdraft penalties.

It may take some time to build this account up to the amount require. You might also think that you're missing out on investing in a 401(k) or other long-term accounts, but if you should need to tap into funds for unforseen expenses, you'll be glad you sacrificed the time to do this.

Stay on top of all purchases, bills, and other financial information.
This may seem like another bit of common sense, but you'd be surprised how many people throw away receipts, never reconcile a checkbook, and then seem surprised when they go to the ATM and can't take out $10 dollars to buy a six-pack of beer. It is so important to keep track of your expenses, your bills, and your account balances. I suggest going out and buying a budget book -- they run about $3 - $4 dollars at virtually any convenience store. While you can keep track of your accounts online, I also suggest that you maintain a paper balance for each of these accounts as well. You can't always rely on the power of cloud computing to keep your finances in order.

You should also keep your receipts each month, just in case a false charge comes up on your credit card bill. That way, you can dispute the charge and save yourself from fraud. Make sure that after each credit card bill is paid that you shred all of your receipts, so sensitive account information doesn't get into the wrong hands.

Keep it simple when it comes to personal finance.
Don't overthink your finances. You may be tempted to do this every time you see a commercial about a financial services company, but I can tell you from experience that you can only do more harm than good. Make a plan, stick with it, and move forward. If you have a sound foundation in place, then there is no need for you to check your accounts every single day, revamp your allocations every week, etc.

If you're saving for five or six different goals after you've established an emergency fund, you don't need a separate savings account for each one. I saw that encouraged on a personal finance Web site and did a double take. How many people sincerely want to have seven separate savings accounts? Open one, have a budget book that separates all the money you contribute to it for your separate goals, and move on with your life. I have one checking account, money market, certificate of deposit, 401(k), Roth IRA, and brokerage account. The money market and CD are at the same banking institution. I try to streamline things as much as possible -- and I hope you will, too. There's only so much you can keep track of before something may unfortunately fall through the cracks.

This also goes for investing in stocks or funds. The stock market, especially now, takes more dips and jumps than we're used to. Historically, the stock market has shown that you will get a positive return on your money, but you will have to endure some hiccups. If you're just out of school and my age (a twentysomething), you have plenty of time to ride out the bumps in the road. In fact, I firmly believe that until you can contribute fully to a 401(k) and IRA (Roth or Traditional), you shouldn't be dabbling in stocks. You can contribute $5,000 per year to an IRA. The 401(k) is a tad more complicated, largely because it is tied to a formula tied to a quarterly Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers. This year, the max is $16,500. Next year, though, there are reports that it could drop to $16,000. Basically, contribute the same percentage of your paycheck that your company is willing to match, if it does that sort of thing. At the end of the day, if you're contributing approximately $15,000 per year and have money left over, do what you think will work according to your own goals.

Basically, just keep things simple for yourself. We're not all rocket scientists, and we shouldn't be tempted to look at our finances in that same light.

Have a disciplined plan, but be flexible when necessary.
I've talked about how important it is to set goals, create a plan, and to stick with it. While you shouldn't succumb to every wind of change, there are some times when life events will occur when you will have to readjust your plans accordingly. Pay cuts, raises, increased insurance premiums, new family situations, moving to a new place, and other events will obviously force you to look at the way you budget. You may have to change things a bit, or you may not.

Have a strong base, but be willing to readjust if you have to -- don't let life or your finances pass you by.

Do not go it alone -- ask for help.
Your personal finances are personal, but that doesn't mean you should take this journey alone. To give yourself the best chance for success, I suggest you take the maxims from this Web site, as well as others, and assess what you think will work best for you. I also suggest talking to someone you trust, whether that's a family member, friend, financial planner, God, whoever you believe is looking out for your best interests. Lay out your plans, and see what they think. You don't have to do what anyone else says to the letter, but I strongly suggest utilizing other people's experiences, as they can only help you better forge your own financial plan.

Reward yourself within reason.
This last commandment is the one I struggle with the most, to be honest. I look at what I have, and I've always been afraid to tap into it because I like to see the numbers going up -- not down.

It's important to remember that money is a tool, and tools are to be used. If you bury your tools and do not use them, you'll lose them. Especially as twentysomethings, this is the time we can go out and enjoy ourselves. We need to save some money for ourselves to go out, have fun, see a movie, pursue a hobby, do whatever it is we like to do after we leave our jobs.

Obviously we need to spend within reason and not fall into debt because of a few bar tabs, but we should splurge every once in a while. The entire point of budgeting and planning is so that we can enjoy ourselves. We save toward our goals, that proverbial rainy day. That way, when it pours ... we're ready.

My name is Christopher Musico, and I am a 24-year-old college graduate from Seton Hall University. I'm currently an editor at a business publication in Manhattan, though I also have experience in television, media relations, and corporate communications. I grew up in Wallkill, N.Y. for most of my life, but I was born in Chattanooga, Tenn. I currently live in Jersey City, N.J.

I am the founder and creator of Living With Common Cents, http://livingwithcommoncents.wordpress.com, a Web site devoted to bringing twenty-somethings the latest in personal finance. Furthermore, I will share my tips and tricks, all the while giving a blow-by-blow account of my financial journey.

Feel free to comment directly on my Web site, or email me directly at livingwithcommoncents@gmail.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Christopher_Musico

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Update Oct. 10 2009 Personal Finance By Insurance Experts

2009-10-10T06:20:00.000-07:00

Looking after your personal finance situation and getting it in order is probably the most important aspect of surviving a recession. Each one of your financial pots plays a big part in how much money you have left in your pocket after payday. So you need to be aware that when it comes to loans, mortgages, credit cards or savings, if you are not getting the best deal - you will lose out.

Unfortunately, the days when happy shoppers went from store to store to spend their money are over. As the recession sets in, lenders are reluctant to lend money and keeping hold of their cash as well as being very choosy who they lend to.

So what steps do you need to take to win in a recession and keep your head above water? Closer scrutiny and stricter criteria make it important than ever the tread with care when looking for the best money deal together with an understanding of what it is you are buying. You could be moving your savings to a better account that is more appropriate for your own personal circumstances that may pay a better interest rate for example. Look at your mortgage and shop around for a better deal. You may even have to consider putting your credit card into a block of ice to prevent unnecessary spending.

When looking for your first home, save up as much money as possible. Lenders much prefer their buyers to have a larger deposit as they want to lend to responsible borrows who pose as little risk as possible. The bank will see the fact that you have saved the money as proof of this. Lenders also feel that if the borrower has a stake in the property too that they will be less likely to default on the part of the home they have a mortgage against.

Andy has been writing articles for several years. Check out his latest website on bedroom vanity tables which gives people help and advice to find the best deals for makeup vanity tables.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andy_J_Jones

Personal Finance Tips For You by Nocita Carter
By Nancy Eaton

Another important topic covered is How Do I Keep On Track to Pay My Bills on Time. The author gives the reader some tips on creating a budget and keeping track of your income and expenditures.

How do you establish your credit if you are young and just starting out on a job? Nocita Carter tells you exactly how to go about doing this.

Nancy Eaton - Owner of:
http://www.bestsellersworld.com
This site has book reviews, book giveaways and a book discussion forum.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nancy_Eaton

Top 5 Common Personal Finance Mistakes to Avoid
By Kwame Kuadey

You can save money by reading about the top 5 common personal finance mistakes to avoid.

The first personal finance mistake to avoid is to invest in bonds. Many people think their money is safe in bonds, but the extra money percentage rate is so low that you will be better off putting your money into the stock market. Many retirees make the mistake of putting a lot of their money in bonds and end up losing money the last fifteen years invested.

Not saving enough money now for retirement. You want to live out your golden years in comfort, not struggling. You can get a job in your elder years that will benefit you tax-wise, but you want to have the choice of wanting to work versus having to work to survive. It is imperative that you plan ahead on how much you need to save now for your retirement. Think of all of the extra entertainment things you like to do now and ask yourself if you will be able to afford them when you are not working. If you love to travel, make sure you put in a lot of extra cash to continue to enjoy seeing the beautiful world.

Start early and teach your children how to earn and save money. Do not hand everything to your children for immediate gratification. In the real world children will not be able to have everything at a whim without earning it. Give your child an allowance and let him or her learn the value of money. He or she will see that it takes time to build up the amount of money needed to purchase a much wanted item of their choice. Let your child buy an item after they saved a few dollars if they think they have to have it. Then when the item your child really wants is right in front of them on the store shelf, he or she will wish they would have continued to save their money for it. This will teach children to make better decisions in the future with their money.

When you can, pay cash for items. Try to charge as little as possible, but if you do have to charge items on your credit card, pay the bill on time. Do not let something that cost you $1,000 end up costing you more than double. If it is something you do not need immediately, you can wait until you have enough cash to pay for the item or at the very least you will be able to pay off your credit card bill when the money is due.

The last of the top 5 personal finance mistakes to avoid is going into debt. Do not open an abundant amount of credit cards and start charging like there is no tomorrow. This can only bring trouble to your personal finance. Another mistake people make is to put all of their debt onto one low introductory rate credit card and keep charging up the bill. The ideal answer would be to put all of your debt into one area and continue to pay it off without charging and piling up more debt and stress in your life.

Kwame Kuadey runs a gift card exchange website and a popular gift card blog. He has written many articles on topics like Gift Card Ideas, Bankruptcy and Gift Cards, and discount gift card.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kwame_Kuadey

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Update Sept. 11 2009 Personal Finance By Insurance Experts

2009-09-11T06:19:00.000-07:00

A Guide to Personal Finance Methods
By Stephen Alan Smith

There is a lot that can be learnt on the subject of personal finance, which is the stamina of the commerce industry today. Consumers will need to know numerous topics in finance if they are to uphold a good grip on their finance. There are a few guidelines to help guarantee such achievement.

First and foremost, proper personal finance is only observed with proper budgeting. It is possible for consumers to get their finances back on track but only with the help of a well planned budget. Outlining expenditures, payments, and outlining savings is considered standard in maintaining a healthy relationship with creditors and lending facilities. If budgeting skills are present, hiring a financial adviser to do so is a viable option that should be sought out.

Out of all the components in a personal finance plan, the savings aspect can be a tough one indeed. Saving up money sounds easy on paper, but the glitz and glamor of products often wane the motivation of consumers, who give in to new expenses for the sake of new and intriguing items. In any case, saving accounts are brilliant to have for a rainy day, they can also be very helpful for avoiding loans in general.

For those who can keep a savings account, they are probably responsible enough to also gain benefit form their insurance, social security, and retirement plans. Such plans are also neglected, as they take careful planning in order to get the most benefit from. Gaining help from an accountant or financial assistant will make the process easier- and is recommended so as to keep any mistakes from being apparent in such important plans.

No matter what part of the world you live in credit becomes a part of everyone's life, even for people who don't have personal finance. It's near impossible to avoid a loan throughout one's life. This is made apparent when items such as houses and cars must be obtained- which are commonly expensive enough to warrant the need for a loan. It is important to be clever when it comes to obtaining credit as it is accountable for putting copious amounts of people in debt from which they cannot escape. While consumers won't necessarily have to obtain professional education on the matter, some form of education should take place so one can avoid the finer points of dangerous credit decisions.

As a last note of importance, consumers should keep in mind that personal finance is mostly about planning for the future. Without a proper plan for the future, consumers will be in danger of debts that they will soon regret. Getting help from a financial advisor can help consumers plan ahead of time. This doesn't need to be grueling it can actually be fairly reasonable in such cases. Even better is the fact that financial professionals can plan a budget for years at a time- meaning revisiting them isn't an issue.

Final Thoughts

Debt doesn't have to be part of one's life. Consumers who have mounting debts will undoubtedly agree that planning ahead should not be ignored. There are huge benefits from finding help in budgeting, consumers be more aware of the actions involved. A consumer doesn't have to be in debt for decades on end- or at all, for that matter. The key to accomplishing financial success is planning, as well as educating oneself on the associated topics.

Steve Smith writes for AllAboutLoans, Our visitors can apply online for debt consolidation, debt and all other forms of debt help. Visit today http://www.allaboutloans.co.uk/ and see what we can do for you.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Stephen_Alan_Smith

How to Pick the Personal Finance Book That's Right For You
By Ouida Vincent

In 1997 I picked up my first personal finance book, The Millionaire Next Door. I had heard that the book revealed to the world that millionaires were cheap folks who drove old cars and didn’t send their kids to college. Nothing could have been further from the truth. In fact the book revealed to me the common qualities of millionaires and that becoming one is not that far fetched an idea. They have certain characteristics and habits and developing them is the surest way to join the ranks of the world’s millionaires.

Truthfully, personal finance books are a dime a dozen. You cannot roll a boulder without hitting one. What makes one book better for you than another? Since 1997 I have read 10-15 personal finance books per year. Well over 100 books later, there are only 10 who have made a genuine difference in my life. The rest were filler. At 10 dollars a book that is a lot to spend on filler.

How can you pick the right book for you and still keep your money in the bank? No, I am not just going to suggest that you get a library card. Wasting time on the wrong book is just as bad as wasting money. There are a few simple steps to follow that will help you pick the right book for the stage you are in life.

Ten action steps for selecting the right book for you:

1) Before you go to the bookstore or the library, decide what is most important for you at your particular point in time. Are debt elimination, starting a savings plan or investing most important for you?
2) Look for a book that teaches a new concept about an idea. In its first few pages, Rich Dad, Poor Dad introduced the balance sheet in simple, easy-to-understand way.
3) Look through the table of contents. Is there a chapter there that appears to address your problem? If so scan that chapter to make sure it contains information valuable to you.
4) Is there a glossary of terms? Or will you need to have your financial dictionary or Internet connection handy to understand your book?
5) Read the preface, does the author communicate his or her purpose for the book and is it in line with your personal philosophy?
6) Is the author’s language style appropriate for you? In the 1990’s personal finance books were written for baby boomers in their late 30s and older. The language was pretty staid. Today’s personal finance books are written for Gen x, Gen y, and Gen Whatever. The language style is more aggressive.
7) Is the book filled with exercises you won’t do? Be honest here. One of the main reasons that people don’t finish a personal finance book is because it is filled with exercises they won’t do. These exercises are very different from action steps, the steps designed to help you remedy your current situation. Exercises in personal finance books are often aimed at helping you figure out how desperate your current situation is. If you didn’t already know how desperate your current situation was, you wouldn’t be looking for a personal finance book in the first place. You need action steps not psychoanalysis.
8) What are other people saying about the book? The Internet allows any one to connect with book reviews. Folks are generally pretty open about their situations. Has the book you are considering helped someone in a situation similar to yours?
9) Is the book simply a rehash of something you have already read? Many financial books, especially books by the same author, are merely “also-rans”, books that rehash the same material repackaged for a different audience.
10) Is the book an end in and of itself or simply a promotional piece for a financial seminar? I cannot stress this enough. You are looking to solve your current financial situation through education not become part of some author’s marketing machine.

Once you master the basics there is much in the world of money mastery to know. Right now my focus is on books that teach new concepts about work, play and life. Just because I find a book intriguing I don’t run out and buy it. Instead, I place it in my queue and wait. I am always reprioritizing and looking at the materials I already have; if that book is relevant in 30 days, I will put it in my active queue to purchase and read.

Using the 10 steps I just outlined will help you gain the most book for your buck, avoid the unnecessary and redundant purchases, save you time and help you keep more of your money in the bank.

Ouida Vincent is an active real estate investor and entrepreneur who has invested heavily in personal finance books over the past decade. After investing over thousands of dollars in books and seminars, Ouida has narrowed her lifetime reading list to 10 books. Save yourself time, energy and money and visit her weblog at http://www.ouidavincent.com/blog to see which books made the list.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ouida_Vincent

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Update August 11 2009 Personal Finance By Insurance Experts

2009-08-12T05:05:00.000-07:00

Even as economic indicators keep showing a dismal picture, let's remember that more than 90% of people in the U.S. are still employed. We are very far from the 30% to 40% unemployment rate of the Great Depression. Cars are still sold, albeit a lot less, houses are still being built, and, believe or not, some industries and communities are faring quite well, thank you. Financial behavior, however, must be adjusted in trying times to avoid making some very serious mistakes.

What you should and shouldn't do during 2009:

1. As much as possible, experts say, keep cash available so you won't have to sell assets in an emergency. How much will depend on your financial situation; the recommended amount should cover (what you normally spend) between 3 to 6 months (more if possible), by investing in safe instruments.

2. If you want to save on cooling and heating in your house, take advantage of the tax credit of $500 that has been reactivated this year. Windows, doors, pipes, energy efficient furnaces and air-conditioning units are all included in the provision.

3. Don't stop investing in your 401K just because the market has tanked. On the contrary, match your employer's contribution; you make money by investing in a down market, not in a high one. Think of the value of your investment 5 or 10 years from now.

4. Don't increase your debt. There are lots of temptations out there, from great deals on cars to plasma TVs. If it "ain't" broke, don't fix it; why change your TV or your car if they are working fine. Remember that we are the most wasteful nation on Earth, which is what got us in this mess to begin with. The new $2,000 couch can wait and your kids can afford to keep their old cell phones.

5. Don't follow the leader. People sometimes act as sheep; they'll panic and fail to analyze the situation. Be your own person and make your own decisions based on common sense. Don't dump a stock at a loss just because somebody else did. Be smart!

6. Save, Save, Save. We used to pay between $80 and $100 on phone service for our landline. We got rid of every feature and kept the cheapest basic service. New cost this month: $22.83. We call our long distance friends through Skype, a much cheaper option. Check it out!

7. Do pay off your debts. Start with the debt that has the highest interest, usually a credit card or an account with a local store. Put everything you can into extinguishing that costly fire.

8. Don't get a payday loan or a cash advance. These are loans that charge you as much as 500% a year. Once hooked, you may spend years trying to get rid of them. Ask uncle Charlie to lend you a couple of hundreds till payday.

9. Do turn up (or down) the thermostat. A little chilly can be countered by using wool socks and a warm robe. Install ceiling fans for the summer and set the temperature to 80 on the thermostat. You'll save a bundle.

10. Do cut down on whims. Go to the supermarket when you are not hungry and stop buying that fancy cheese or expensive meat cut. You'd be surprised how much unnecessary stuff we bring home, especially if you take the kids.

Put those savings into a cash account, no matter how low the interest may be. You will need them in case of an emergency. And don't stop having fun because of the crisis. There are some cheap vacations available out there. You need the R&R.

Born in Switzerland many years ago and now living in Brownsville, Tx, where I teach special education in a local high school. I love my job and the challenges involved in making a difference for so many bright kids who struggle to overcome their disabilities.

I have followed education topics and international politics for the past 25 years and have lived in Europe and Latin America before settling in the U.S.

My e-mail: rivera.jcs@gmail.com
http://www.ahappyway.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jacques_Sprenger

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Financial Planners Make Life Easier
By Greg Ellis

Successful business owners and entrepreneurs, particularly those who have sold companies -are frequently offered investment opportunities. Despite the lure of more money, most business owners and entrepreneurs consult with licensed investment professionals before investing in anything. In general, financial professionals would advise business people to vary investments and not to invest more than 10 to 20 percent of their total portfolio in one asset. However, for employed individuals, financial counseling is often unheard of, or considered by many for business owners only.

When people experience financial emergencies-like medical emergencies, sudden car breakdown, an unexpected road trips-they usually get an instant payday loan to cover their unforeseen, outside-the-budget expenses. But what if its the budget that is the problem? What if it is becoming harder to make ends meet or the debts keep piling up? Then, maybe it is time to get the services of a financial counselor. Nowadays, it is advisable for many to seek the professional help of financial counselors or consultants.

In some Australian states and territories, financial counseling is an independent, free, and confidential service. People with short term financial problems or those who want to prevent one could consult these financial counselors. They offer a wide-range of services to people in need:

· Plan a personal budget and suggest ways to improve managing one's finances
· Evaluate eligibility for government assistance
· Talk terms with one's creditors (particularly if the client is burdened with debts)
· Explain how to get out of debt, bankruptcy, and other related options
· Advise clients to other related services, such as family support and legal aid

Unlike professional investment consultants and such, financial counselors can dispense of these services without being licensed. Under the Corporations Act, they are exempted from holding a license but they should adhere to certain terms, for instance, no charges, fees, or commissions.

On the other hand, some people are managing to manage their money, which is well and good. These people know what they need and they are focused on their financial goals. For example, if they want to have extra income, they plan to set up their own businesses. They borrow just enough payday advances to have a start-up capital. In addition, these financially savvy people know how to check for financial facts-they ask questions and actively look for money advice. All in all, the more people know about their finances, the better they have a hand to it.

Greg Ellis co-founder of Payday Online, Australia's preferred short term lender, shares his insights on money matters. Founded in 2005 Payday Online has helped thousands of Australians with their fast cash loans but that's just the short term solution. Payday Online also help people in the long run by providing budgeting tools, e-books and individually researched articles on money matters and financial tips. The aim is to assist people in achieving instant and long term financial freedom. Feel free to take a look http://www.paydayonline.com.au

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Greg_Ellis

Financial Jargon - Basic Finance Terminology Explained
By Sarah Dinkins

The financial business is adding new terms and neologisms every month due to the increasingly complexity of personal finance and commerce or business relationships. However, for someone that is not familiar with all this jargon it turns very difficult to understand even the basic explanatory brochures or articles explaining common products. To clear some basic concepts, following is a list of common terms used frequently on financial flyers and other pieces of writing.

Collateral, Guarantee, Security

There are two types of loans out there: Secured and unsecured. Unsecured loans are awarded to people without other assurance of repayment than their word (signature) or personal credit. This means that if the borrower fails to repay the loan, the lender has no other means of claiming his money than taking the debtor to court on a long and tedious legal process.

Secured loans on the other side provide the lender with an additional protection. An asset is pledged as guarantee of repayment and in the event of default (lack of repayment), the lender can either repossess the asset or obtain the money owed by forcing its sell on a public auction. The asset pledged as an assurance of repayment is indistinctively referred to as: Collateral, Security or Guarantee.

Provisional Financing, Refinancing, Restructuring, Roll Over Agreement

These terms are often used with different meanings but with the intent of clarifying financial jargon, we suggest the following uses for the terms: Provisional financing refers to a short term loan or line of credit that is used for buying the borrower some time till a more convenient and definite loan can be obtained; Refinancing implies the cancellation of a previous loan with the money obtained from a new one that has different terms (usually lower monthly payments either because of a lower rate or a longer repayment program); Restructuring often implies a series of refinancing agreements that imply more than one debt and more drastically term changes than a simple extension of the repayment program; Finally, a roll over agreement implies the postponement of the loan repayment by obtaining approval for an identical loan with the same lender.

Delinquency, Default, Bad Credit

These terms are often used on articles and flyers about personal financing and non-traditional financing. People that have to face financial difficulties often damage their credit by paying late debts that are due, or missing a payment or missing several consecutive payments. All of these are recorded on the debtors' credit report and hurt their credit stance lowering their score.

The above situations are referred to as delinquencies: paying late or missing payments. Failing to repay the loan (missing several consecutive payments) is known as default and usually leads to the debt being sold to collection agencies that will try to claim the money by different means. Finally, the consequences of default and delinquencies on your credit along with other problems like excessive debt have a negative impact on people's credit which is known as bad credit, poor credit or low credit score.

Principal, Interest, Term

The Principal is the amount of money that is lent by the lender to the borrower and has to be repaid. The Interest is the price of the transaction: This price can be expressed as an overall amount but unless the loan is a short term loan, it is usually expressed as a rate or percentage. The term is the period of time for the loan repayment; it can refer to the overall repayment period including the repayment deadline but it can also refer to the repayment frequency whether you have to make monthly, biweekly or weekly payment.

Sarah Dinkins is a financial advisor who has been associated with Unsecured Loans since long ago. She also holds a master degree in economics from Harvard University. To find Online Bad Credit Loans, Personal Loans, Debt Settlement Programs, Bad Credit Auto Loans, Poor Credit Mortgage Home Loans visit http://www.badcreditfinancialexperts.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sarah_Dinkins

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All About Life Insurance and Personal Finance and Money Management By Insurance Experts

2009-08-04T09:04:00.000-07:00

Personal finance is defined as all types of investment, loan and other banking accounts which will help you to manage your daily finance better. It is designed to teach you how mastered the fiscal responsibility necessary to save money on a month to month basis, you also need to increase your revenue potential such as allowing you to start and grow business opportunities, whether investing or starting your own company.

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Personal finance and Money Management Articles Written By Kyle J. Norton (All these articles have been public at Ezine article, article base and over 500 other sites.)
I. Personal Finance
1. Types of Loans
By pooling the funds of savers, money could be lent at reasonable rates to those who needed to borrow. Consumer loans refers to people borrowing money to make a wide range of secured and unsecured loans to consumers for consumable items from lending institution. Consumer loan does not include mortgage loans, that is typically used only for home purchases. In this article, we will discuss types of consumer loans.

2. What is Security for Loans?
Security loan is the type of loan borrowers have to assign collateral to the lender to certain tangible assets such as stocks, bonds, life insurance policies, a car, or a home, in case of borrower defaulting on the loans, in order to reduce the lender's risk.

3. Other Cost and Needed for Borrowing
Lenders often require that their consumer loans be life-insured. They do this by having a group life insurance policy that covers the lives of their borrowers against the risk of someone dying before her/his debts have been repaid. This insurance on the life of the borrower is called credit life insurance.

4. Understand Debit Cards and Credit Cards
After receiving the credit card statement, you may pay off the balance in full without interest, or you may make a partial payment and start to pay interest.
If you make a partial payment, there are 3 types of concurrent interest rates are charged....

5. Understand Home Mortgages
When home, house or real estate is used to secure a loan, the borrower signs a contract called a mortgage. It is a contract refers to the borrower as the mortgagor, and the lender is called the mortgagee. The gradual repayment over many years of a mortgage, usually 15, 20, 30 years including the accrued of interest, is called amortization and equity of a property can be estimated by finding a fair market value price and subtracting the outstanding mortgage debt.

6. What is A Mortgage Contract
Buying a home is one important decision that many people have to made sometime in their life. If you decide to buy a home now, there are many thing you have to known and many papers have to be signed before the home you brought can be registered to your name.

7. Investment Options for A Personal Retirement Plan
Planing your longer term to build wealth for retirement becomes more important than ever, because our government pension plan now nearly bankrupted, there are many doubts that our government can take care all the baby boomers who will start to retire on 2010. Combine these facts with the uncertainty surrounding the government's pension plans, the savings and investments making up your own personal pension plan will be the key to financial well-being in your retirement years.

8. What is $5000 Tax Free Saving Account For Canadian Only
In spring of 2008, Canadian financial minister tabled the 2008 budget including $ 5000 tax free saving plan in order to assist Canadians aged 18 and older to save for their retirement. A Tax–Free Savings Account (TFSA) is a flexible investment account that allows you to earn investment income without paying taxes and gives you access to your money whenever you want it. Starting January 2, 2009, you can open an account with any financial institution, including bank, trust, mutual fund company etc. and any qualified investments include all arm's-length registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) qualified investments.

9. Understand the Characteristics of Short term Investments
Money market fund is a way of pooling contributions from many small investors and managing them by a professional fund manager working for mutual fund companies with very low fees.

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10. Understanding Characteristics of Fixed Term Investments
Term deposit
a)The rate of return on term deposits is usually higher than on savings accounts. Some institutions may allow the funds to be withdrawn before maturity by sacrificing some interest.
b) Interest rate is guaranteed and is higher than savings account.

11. Understand Characteristics of Bonds
Bonds are issued by government or corporation through bond underwriters as they agree to purchase all of the bonds offered at a stated price, then sell them at a slightly higher price to other corporation and willing investors. Each bond has a par value that is the face value of the bond and is printed on the bond itself.In this article, we will discuss The characteristics of bonds

12. Understand The Special Features of Bonds
Some bonds give bondholders the option of exchanging the security for a specified number of common shares of the company allowing the investors of a debt security the possibility of capital gain.

13. Understand the Characteristics of Common and Preferred Shares
Common and prefer share holders are corporations owners who provide capital for the business. while common shareholders take greater risk, and may gain or lose more than preferred shareholders, therefore the returns and dividends are higher than for the preferred shares.

14. Investment Returns of Equity Market
Investors invest in the companies equity shares expecting a return on their capital in one of 3 ways: cash dividends, stock dividends, or capital gains.

15. Other Investment Vehicles
Beside investing in short, long term certificates and equity market of some public companies, investors may invest their money in private companies (non public), mortgage security of amusement park, as well as certain private bond.
Remember, all these types of investment are presented without following any guide line of the security laws and you are the one that have to make the decision as well as additional information to reduce risk.

16. Closed-end and Open-end Funds
Closed-end and open-end funds are one of many choice that have been appeal to many investor for assets diversification and professional management. In this article we will discuss characteristics of closed and open end funds.

17. Types of Mutual Funds
Mutual fund is a pool of investor's money and is sold as a unit. It is an open end fund and managed by professionals. It also must meet certain regulations of the security commissions and laws governed before it can be sold to the general public. There are 4 types of mutual funds depending to the fund objectives:

18. Understand Fee of Mutual Funds
Mutual fund is a pool of investor's money and is sold as a unit. It is an open end fund and is managed by professionals. It also must meet certain regulations of the security commissions and laws governed before it can be sold to general public. In this article we will discuss mutual fund fees.

19. Investment Return and Inflation Rate, Interest Rate, Market and Business Risk
Inflation means too much money chasing too few goods, and this results in prices for goods and services going up. Inflation may also be expressed as too much money having been printed by the central bank causing too much money compares to the same goods produced.

20. Risk Management
Government employees have more income security than someone self-employed, someone working in a service industry that often lays off workers, or seasonal workers. It is wise to balance your risk if you doubt your job security, you may consider putting some savings in very low-risk debt securities in case of lay off.

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21. Understand Major Consumer Lenders
Banks borrow from depositors to lend to those who need money. They charge sufficient interest on the money they lend to pay interest to their depositors, normally with the spread (spread is the cost of operation and profit for bank shareholders) of 2-4% depending on the credit history and risk of the lenders.

22. Types of Consumer Loans
Banks, trust companies, and credit unions may offer their creditworthy customers a personal line of credit as a convenient substitute for personal loans, usually 10,000 to 15,000 dollars. Sometimes, they may also require some types of collateral for this type of credit such as the equity of your home if your want to have a larger personal line of credit.

23. What is Growth Domestic Product (GDP)
GDP represents (in dollars) the total value of all of a country goods and services being produced and consumed. In order to understand the GDP number, it is important to understand the following that makes up the GDP as well as interconnecting each other.

24. How to Handle Economic Risks ?
Economic risks play an important role to determine consumer spending. If consumers feel secure about their job they are willing to spend and help to increase economic expansion. If not, we may have a recession soon. In this article, we will discuss how to handle consumer economic risks.

25. How to Reduce Your Tax
Paying income tax out of your income is a federal law. Understand your personal situation and the basic of the income tax laws will help you reduce the risk of overpaying. We all want to be fair, but we don't want to pay when we do not need to. In this article, we will discuss how to reduce your taxes (legally of course).

26. Registered Retirement Pension Plan and 401 k Plan Maturity Options
Some people choose to invest into personal registered retirement saving plans in Canada or 401k plans and IRA plans in the US. In this article, we will discuss RRSP, 401k plan maturity options.

27. Retirement Allowance Options
Many young people prefer this option. They may be right because they are too young to think about retirement. For many other older people, taking all your retirement allowance all in cash will trigger tax withholding from 10-30% in Canada and 20% in the US.

28. How Pension Adjustment Effects Your RRSP Contribution Room
The PA reduces your RRSP contribution amount since you earn pension benefits through your employer's respective pension plan and your RRSP is limited to 18% of the previous year`s income up to $20,000 in the year of 2008 that varies every year with adjustment to inflation index.

29. Understand Characteristics of Registered Retirement Saving Plan
Contributing to RRSP through pay role deduction will reduce the amount of income tax withheld on your employment income. You pay less income tax over the year, rather than overpaying and then applying for a refund the following year. Usually, Customs & Revenue Canada will permit a reduction in withholdings for RRSP contributions made early in the year.

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30. Common Types of Annuity
Term certain annuity provides you with a fixed monthly income until age 90, rather than for your full life. Should you die before age 90, your spouse receives the payments until her/his 90th year.The minimum term of term certain annuity is 3 years and the maximum term is 40 years.

31. Types of Life Annuity
A joint life and last survivor annuity provides payments to you and for that of a second life. Payment continues with the same amount, after the first person dies. This type of annuity appeals to married couples. For registered funds, the joint life must be a spouse.

32. Characteristics of Certain Term Annuity
Term certain annuities pay varying amounts depending on how much money was used to purchase the annuity. If the term certain annuity is short, then each payment back to the annuitant will be large. If the term is long, then each payment will be small.

33. Characteristics of Non Registered Annuity
Annuity payments are fixed for the term of the plan and cannot be changed. The payment amount is determined by the interest rate for the term and the term chosen, if term is long than payment will be small, on other hand if the term is short than the payment will be large. Each payment includes principal and interest and only the interest portion of the payment is taxable for the year of receipt.

34. Types of Deferred Annuity
Deferred annuity is a contract that delays payments of income, installments or a lump sum until the investor elects to receive them. This type of annuity has two main phases, the savings phase in which you invest money into the account, and the income phase in which the plan is converted into an annuity and payments are received.

35. The Baby-Boomers and Equity Investments
You can set up your investment in RRIF when RRSP is required roll over to RRIF,so you can increase your cash flow each year to ensure your needs are adequately covered. In case of IRA account, the same ste up will do the trick.

36. Eligible RRIF, IRA Investment Options
RRIF is registered retirement income fund that the government allows RRSP holders to transfer their RRSP to when they reach the year of roll over with minimum withdrawn payment is required.
IRA account holder do not need to roll over but minimum withdrawn payment is also required.

37. Options in Case of Death of RRIF and IRA Account Holder With Spouse as Beneficiary
a) The RRIF payments will be paid to the surviving spouse, who becomes the successor annuitant.
b) Upon the death of both spouses, the market value remaining of the RRIF is passed on to the family's beneficiaries.

38. Option in Case of Death of RRIF and IRA holder with Beneciary Other Than Spouse
All assets in the IRA are distributed to the beneficiary at once and before 12/31 of the year of IRA holder dies. Income taxes will be paid on the distribution all at once.

39. Major Types of Registered Retirement Income Fund
Saving account is most conservative investment. It is guaranteed up to $100,000 by Canadian deposit insurance corporation (CDIC) and pay very little interest.

40. Registered Retirement Income Fund or Annuity
You may consider staggering maturity so portion of your investment in RRIF will generates the necessary cash flow for withdrawals such as buy GICs or bonds so that 20% of the total matures every year. In RRIF, you are allowed to invest up to 100% of your investment funds in global investments, thereby increasing your investment's long-term growth and protection? You also protect your investments against any future declines in the value of our Canadian dollar. Besides, it is far more risky to leave all your money in any single country.

41. How to Choose between RRIF and Anuity For Your RRSP
Now you reach the year of RRSP conversion year, you are facing the choice to choose either to convert your registered retirement saving plan to RRIF or annuity. In this article, we will discuss How to choose between RRIF and annuity for your RRSP.

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