money

Overcoming Cost of Living Challenges

Written by adminFebruary 12, 2018

Saving money is hard. It’s a reality most Americans have to contend with. In a perfect world, we’d all love to have a nice nest egg in case we need it. The problem is, the cost of living is way too high! It’s so high, that more than half of us don’t even have $1,000 in savings.

When asked, 36% of Americans claim their biggest regret in 2017 was not saving money, and they blame the high cost of living as the number one reason why. 20% blame their low salary as the reason why they don’t save. 15% don’t even budget, essentially throwing their financials together with duct tape and sawdust.

Everything Changes Except Salaries

The biggest culprit behind people not being able to save is how much things change from year to year. With every turn of the calendar year, it would seem as if prices continue to rise. The cost of rent goes up. The cost of food goes up. Gas prices fluctuate, but most often, go up. Insurance rates go up. Interest rates go up. Taxes go up.

While all these aspects of everyday living continue to grow more expensive, our salaries stay the same. If you’re lucky, you might get a $.50 raise, but that doesn’t go far compared to the other bills that keep stacking on top of each other. It’s no wonder more Americans are finding themselves struggling with debt.

Despite the Struggle, Saving is Key

No matter what our circumstances might be, we cannot afford NOT to save money. It’s crucial, essential, and may even be lifesaving! How would you be able to afford a major crisis happening? Most of us go through life as if nothing bad can touch us, so we don’t even worry about it.

Maybe we can get through until our golden years relatively untouched, but what happens then? We lived at or above our means for so long, did you have time to plan and save for retirement? This is one part of life that just has a way of creeping up on us. Americans are now working longer than they ever used to before due to the lack of financial planning.

You Must Become Debt Free

As difficult as it might sound, the only salvation for rising costs is to get out of debt, especially if you don’t anticipate your salary rising. Americans get caught in the trap of turning to credit cards and getting loans when they want something they can’t afford. But that’s the thing! They try to pay for things they can’t afford and it costs them in the long run.

Just assuming you’ll get things on track before retirement isn’t going to cut it. You need real change and to get ahead of the snowball running downhill. It will only grow larger and larger until you can no longer manage it. Having an emergency nest egg, saving for retirement, and ensuring you can live comfortably below your means is MUCH more important than buying that brand-new car or doing anything that incurs new debt.

If you’re burdened with lots of debt, the best course of action might be to consider debt consolidation. That will allow you to put all your loans and debts into one neat package to make the repayment process simpler, saving you money verses not getting a consolidation.

You can also try to do a debt settlement, which may even lower the amount you owe and can save you thousands of dollars. Whichever you choose, getting out of debt (and not adding on more) is the best way to improve your financial situation.

The best rule of thumb is to not pay for anything you can’t afford. If you’re in a dead-end job and you don’t see your salary going up anytime soon, there’s no reason to make your circumstances more difficult than you need to.

Make new goals and be smart with your finances. Then, you can celebrate being one of the few Americans who are debt-free and without the worry of having nothing to fall back on in case the worst were to happen.

Written by adminJanuary 29, 2018

Saving

As winter’s icy grip has taken hold of most of the country, you’ve probably already been smacked with your first heating bill of the year. The average American spends up to as much as 22% of their monthly budget on utilities, sometimes more if the weather doesn’t cooperate. And if you live in the north, forget about it!

Rather than just riding it out until spring, there are several ways you can lessen the impact of winter heating costs and save a bit of money. Here are 5 of them:

1) Keep a close eye on your thermostat.

Imagine your heater playing tug-of-war with the cold air outside. No matter how hard you try to winterize, the cold makes its way in and forces the heat to rise. When you set your thermostat to a certain temperature, it’s your heating unit’s job to keep the house at that number. The higher the temp, the more times it will have to kick on throughout the day to keep up.

This is especially true when the weather gets brutally cold. You might not think a few degrees will matter much, but it can add up quickly. You can save 1% on your heating costs by dropping the temperature 1 degree per every 8 hours. Which means you should consider times to lower your thermostat.

The best temperature to set for ultimate comfort and reasonable savings is 68 degrees. Every degree lower than that will keep your heater from kicking on as often, and ultimately saving on energy. Take extra steps to stay warm and save money, such as putting on a comfortable sweater, wearing socks, and turning it down 5-10 degrees at night and/or when you leave for the day.

2) Let the sun do all the work.

Even on the coldest of days, sunlight can help warm your home for you. When it’s bright and sunny out, feel free to lower the thermostat and open the blinds. Not only will the extra sunlight help you overcome those winter blues, but it can also raise the temperature of the home several degrees.

Also, as solar panels become more popular, a lot of people are installing very simple panels that help to generate extra heating power. This is especially true if they own remote properties that aren’t frequented during the winter, like cabins. Even during long stretches of dreary weather these solar panels help keep the temperature well above freezing.

3) Keep your heating system clean.

Think about what it’s like when you’re congesting. Breathing is difficult and requires more energy. The same happens when your heating system if you don’t clean out the filters regularly. Energy Star recommends that you clean the system on a monthly basis. There are several reasons for this.

-You can extend the life of your heating system by keeping it clean. If it has to work harder for a significant amount of time, it can damage or even destroy the unit much quicker.

-You help keep your air cleaner. Homes can get stuffy in the winter months. Everyone is stuck inside with the doors and windows sealed shut. There’s much less airflow to deal with the accumulating dust and debris. Cleaning the system ensures cleaner air.

-The Department of Energy says keeping your vents clean can save you between 5% to 15% on your heating costs.

4) Turn on the ceiling fan, but in reverse.

Helping to control the temperature environment in your home is easier when you understand the fundamentals of how air reacts. Cold air is denser, so it sinks. Warm air is lighter, so it rises. Most ceiling fans have a reverse function that helps to push warm air back down. So, when people are occupying a space that has a fan, run it on reverse, but be sure to shut it down after.

5) Plastic sheeting is a lifesaver.

If you have brand new, top of the line windows, you probably won’t have much of an issue keeping your house warm. For the rest of us, older windows are used to take the brunt mother nature has thrown at it. It’s not uncommon for windows (or areas near the windows) to have small gaps where the warm air escapes.

As the air escapes, it means your heater will have to kick on more times to keep up with the flow of air moving away from the house. A lot of people put a lot of effort into ‘winterizing’ their homes for the winter. They put up plastic sheeting over the windows to help insulate and keep the warm air inside where it belongs.

The Importance of Living Wills

Written by adminJanuary 19, 2018

Insurance

The one thing we can all agree on about life is how unpredictable it is. And one day, it will all end. As we move towards our undeniable fate, there may be plenty of ways you’ve begun to prepare, such as drawing up your last will and testament, having enough life insurance to cover any last expenses, and making sure all your debts are paid.

Thinking about our passing is always a difficult subject, but it’s something we must all do as we come to grips about our mortality. There’s still one major area of concern we often gloss over when it comes to our health during the final days, weeks, and even months of our life. While we all know the importance of our last will and testament, have you taken the time to consider a living will?

There might come a time in your life where you find yourself in an incapacitated state. It doesn’t necessarily have to happen towards the end of your life either, as a living will deals with your care while you’re still alive. For example, if you’ve been in a severe car accident and find yourself in a coma. How would you like your family to proceed?

A Difficult Choice

This can be a truly heart-wrenching decision for any family member to have to make, especially if they’re unsure of your wishes and how you desire the situation to be handled. Should they take you off life support? Keep you going a while longer? And not to forget the whole Terri Schiavo case where family members had very different opinions on what should happen next.

Everyone from lawyers and estate planners to the majority medical professionals have advocated for the need for a living will. But it’s important not to confuse a living will with your typical will, which deals with how you’re going to divide your property amongst family and friends. A living will is strictly about making an advance directive while you’re still alive.

Despite the insistence by top professionals to obtain a living will, only a small number of people have made sure they have one. Hiring a lawyer (if you haven’t already) can be useful if you want to get advice on how to plan your living will. While it’s recommended to hire one, you can set it up on your own without one by obtaining the forms online. Many hospitals also have the correct forms to fill out.

It’s also important to discuss with your loved ones your plan in the event of an emergency. It can go a long way to helping them know how to handle a potential tragedy. You can also assign someone as your power of attorney and let everyone know who you chose to make decisions on your behalf.

And finally, file your living will with your doctor’s office, as well as with your attorney, and your power of attorney. The whole process only requires a few steps, including getting your living will notarized. Once you have it taken care of, you will be prepared. Whatever happens, you and your family will be taken care of.

Written by adminJanuary 16, 2018

Credit & Debt Settlement , Personal Loans , Saving

It happens in a blink of an eye. We spend our childhood getting just about everything we could ask for. Our parents worked very hard to give us a good life and to make us smile. If you were like me, you had a room packed full of toys, most of which you didn’t even play with. No matter what toy I had, my mind was always on the next thing. Then one day, it all changes.

Kids have virtually no concept of money. If they want or need something, it’s often provided for us. As we get older, we start to pick up a little more responsibility. Whether it’s your job to clean up after dinner, take out the trash, or vacuum the floors, we start to learn about work for the very first time.

A lot of parents will teach their kids that if they want that new toy, then they must earn it. But often, the biggest lessons of all are rarely taught. We all know as we get older that we must work for our money, but the concept of saving is seemingly lost on younger generations. Whatever they get in, they must spend immediately.

Spending Less than You Earn

According to Forbes, most 20-year-olds aren’t saving their money. They live right at where they can afford, opting for the more expensive car or apartment rather than living under their means and saving that money for later. Forbes also suggests, in their article 20 Things 20-Year-Olds Don’t Get, that young adults should learn how to spend 25% less than they make.

This is especially important when you consider that teens and young adults hop from job to job. They don’t have a steady work or credit history, yet they are at risk of making their financial life much more difficult if they don’t get spending under control earlier in life.

Here are several ways to help your child prepare for adult by teaching them financial responsibility.

1) When they’re younger, buy them a piggy bank.

A lot of kids already do have a piggy bank, but not a lot of parents use it as a method of teaching about savings. Once they start being able to help out with chores around the house, having them earn an allowance. When it’s time to get paid, it would be beneficial for you to sit down with your kid and go over their ‘budget’.

Yes, give your kids a budget! Do they want that new toy? Find out how much it costs and create a goal for them to save at least half of its value. When it’s ‘payday’, show them the money they earned. Discuss with them about how much they want to use right now (let’s say, for the ice cream truck? To get a dessert after dinner?), and how much to put in the piggy bank for the toy.

2) Offer a bonus for extra work.

The idea isn’t just to teach them how to save money, but how to have a good work ethic. Reward them for doing extra work around the house. If their only job is taking out the trash and keeping their room clean, but they start helping do the dishes and taking initiative, don’t be afraid to give extra.

In the real world, they’re going to have to hit the ground running. There will be no laziness on the job or slacking off. Once they know the value of hard work, they will be prepared to go to the extra mile for what they want in the future.

3) Show them how to budget for expenses,

A lot of kids love to go shopping with their parents. You can use this to your advantage by getting them involved in the shopping process. Disclose to them what the budget will be for that particular shopping trip. Sit down and go over what you need to buy. Show them how to clip coupons and find the better deal on items.

4) Teach them how to balance a checkbook.

This is one lesson that rarely gets taught to children. It can be a good way help them understand the importance of having good math skills. When they decide what they want to do with their allowance money, teach them how to keep track of the amount of money they have in their piggy bank and how much they’ve spent on junk.

It can be quite eye-opening for them to see how much money they wasted on things that could’ve gone to better uses. Not to mention learning a basic skill everyone will need to know.

5) Don’t forget about credit.

At every college around the country, credit card companies line up ready to get your kid to sign up. In fact, one of my closest friends told me about how he got into major credit card debt. It started the same way it does for a lot of students. His first year in college, they had tables everywhere for students to sign up.

Of course, he didn’t know a thing about credit cards, minimum payments, interest rates, or building credit. He was young and all he knew was he had a card with a certain limit on it. Before he knew it, he was thousands of dollars in debt and now in his 40s still trying to pay that off. It’s a warning to every parent who sends their kid off without knowing how credit works.

Written by adminJanuary 16, 2018

Credit & Debt Settlement , Personal Loans , Saving

Congratulations! You’re engaged and about to go on what should be the greatest adventure of your life!

Of course, in your mind, you’re working through all the ways the two of you can successfully navigate any stormy waters that might brew. You make plans and prepare, discussing everything to ensure the marriage starts off on the right foot.

But one area where couples struggle is when it comes to finances. Maybe you’ll have the preliminary talks (What do you do? How much do you make?), but a survey from the National Foundation for Credit Counseling has revealed that 70% of people had ‘negative feelings’ about discussing money with their fiancé.

20% of those surveyed believed that a real, in-depth conversation would either end in a fight or the end of the engagement altogether. The consequences of this are devastating!

Lack of Communication Reveals Nasty Surprises

We’re all different in the way we approach money. These differences can lead to difficulty after the wedding. Our views often come from our parents and the way money has been spent around the house as a kid. If your parents helped you get a savings account at an early age, you’ll be more likely to save.

On the other hand, if you received a lot of gifts and weren’t taught to save, saving might not be in your vocabulary. This often leads to a rift between couples who were raised differently. They join in matrimony only to find out their spouse is a huge spender and has been hiding a massive pile of debt under their mattress.

Now that debt belongs to you. Isn’t marriage fun?

This is why money problems are the number one cause for divorce in the United States. Couples who don’t communicate later regret it and are often ambushed by a partner who doesn’t share their same views. And when incomes are combined and bank accounts are shared, those can be dangerous waters to tread.

Improving Your Odds

If you’re intent on having a successful marriage and NOT becoming another statistic, then you’re going to have to get over the fear of having the talk you need to have with your future spouse. It’s 100% CRUCIAL for a good marriage to get the financial stuff situation beforehand.

Here are some ideas to help ensure you’re financially prepared for marriage:

1) Don’t start off your marriage in debt.

Weddings are expensive. They are often one of the most expensive milestones in our lives, next to getting the house and the car. As much as we dream about having this extravagant wedding, full of beauty and wonder, it can set your marriage back in the long run. It doesn’t exactly set a good tone going forward starting out your lives together in debt.

The average wedding in the U.S. costs $25,000, and that’s without the honeymoon or any of the other expenses that come with marriage. How many years will it take you to pay off that one single day? Plan a budget and stick to it! Sticking to the budget is the difficult part, as the cost of a wedding can add up fast.

2) Have the difficult talk.

Be aware of your partner’s financial situation. Are they a spender? Are you a saver? It’s okay to have different ideologies towards money, but it requires a lot of open communication to make it right. Sit down with your partner and make sure you have a serious, but non-judgmental review of their spending habits. Go over their debts and a talk about ways to make it work.

If you’re a saver, try to be understanding that people make a lot of mistakes when they’re younger. Most people often don’t know how to save, especially when they’re single and don’t need to. Now that things are getting real and responsibilities are piling up, it’s time to get serious and work out a budget together.

3) Build up your savings.

Married couples often live to their max on both incomes. If you buy a house, you’re most likely going to do it together with the mortgage based on what you both make together. That’s perfectly fine, but what if one of you loses your job? This is where being financially prepared can save your marriage from a ton of heartache and frustration.

The vast number of divorces over money happen when times are difficult. The economy slows down, jobs are hard to come by, and the family loses out. That’s why it’s more important, especially in the beginning, to forgo some comforts to put that money into a savings account. Build up at least six months’ worth of emergency savings in case the worst happens.

4) Plan, but take your time getting there.

There’s no doubt you spent a lot of time daydreaming about white picket fences and a yard full of kids from the moment you feel in love. To go along with building up your savings, hold off on making the big purchases for a while. It’s not going to hurt to rent a decent apartment for a few years while you build up your savings.

Do you really need the top of the line car or the best cable package? Whatever the case may be, sit down and plan out your future. Cut spending while you can, save as much as possible, and keep your plans close to your heart. Write down a timeline with your goals in place. Maybe buy a house in 5 years rather than right at the beginning.

Are you prepared for children? I wouldn’t be surprised if many kids born are happy little accidents. You can plan for them all you want, but they have a knack of showing up when you least expect them to. Either way, these are all things you should sit down together and talk about. Write up a budget, determine what will go into savings, and grow together.

Written by adminJanuary 12, 2018

Credit & Debt Settlement , Refinance , Saving

The American dream. Financial freedom. Being able to do whatever we want, whenever we want. That’s the life so many people chase after, but often don’t know how to achieve.

We often get into the grind, thinking we’re making the right choices. The sad truth is, we’re running around and around in a giant hamster wheel, working our tails off to keep it moving, but going nowhere at all.

If you can have enough money in your bank account that you never have to worry about living month-to-month or paycheck-to-paycheck, that IS freedom.

So, how do you take your life to the next level?

Step #1: Look at your earnings and make bold calls if you need a change.

The difference between where you are now in life verses when you first got out of college or graduated high school is you’re a bit more experienced in life. Whatever you’re currently doing, you’ve most likely been working on it for nearly a decade.

You’ve learned, studied, grown, made mistakes, gave up, went after again, and so on. If you take all of this into account, what stage would you say you’re at?

And most importantly, where do you see yourself in another 10 years? On your way to becoming a millionaire? Then great! Don’t change a single thing. Keep plugging away doing exactly what you’re doing.

But be perfectly honest with yourself. Do you need to make a change? Maybe you’re in over your head? You might need to make a slight or a drastic change to stay ahead. As they say, “Insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results”.

Step #2: Make sure you focus on your top client.

Here’s the thing, you need to remember one person. And that person is yourself. We often forget about our own well-being and seek to please others first. If you work at an office while attempting to start your own business, will working those extra hours really net you anything?

This might sound selfish, but you have to ask what’s in it for you. What will you get out of it?

As long as you’re working for your boss, you’re helping them fulfill their own dreams and reality. They get to go on longer breaks and vacations while you plug away extra hours to make them more money.

And it’s a waste of your time! Instead, make sure you’re getting something out of it. If you’re not, consider it time wasted away from what you should be doing: setting up your business!

Step #3: Other Money

This might seem counterintuitive, but If you need some money, borrow it. Don’t be afraid of borrowing money and using that to get things going. It’s used most commonly perhaps in real estate, where someone takes out a mortgage, buys and fixes up a house, and then uses rent payments he collects on the interest.

As with anytime you borrow, it does come with risks. There can be a downturn in the economy, but I’m willing to bet that most successful businesses started out with an idea, drive, and a loan.

They often say that you need money to make money, so you can try borrowing if it’s worth the risk. It may be the only way you get to take that step.

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