Cornerstone Personal Finance

Items That Will Pay For Themselves In A Year.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 25 Jul 2015 17:16:00 +0000

Items That Will Pay For Themselves In A Year.

We all are looking to save money where ever we can, we work hard for our money so why should we be throwing out the window on utilities and other items if we don't need too. Here is a list of ideas and gadgets that will pay for themselves in a short period of time and save you money in the long run.

Solar Outdoor Lighting

I have switched all my outdoor lighting to solar this past year. Even my emergency lights around my home all work on solar now. Solar is a great choice if you want to light up your yard, drive wave or patio. Over the past year or so solar powered lighting has come down in price. You have a one-time investment but over the course of a year it will diffidently for itself.

Programmable Thermostat

These thermostats will pay for themselves in no time if you use them correctly. If you have central a/c this is the way to go to save money on your utility bills. These devices will lower or raise your heat and air conditioning while you are gone so energy and dollars will be saved. These devices are under a hundred dollars and can save you several hundreds of dollars a year.

Water Saving Devices

If you have city water and you have hot water tank you will want to install high efficient water saving devices on all your faucets, especially your shower heads. These devices are very inexpensive and can save you thousands of gallons of water each year. Also by saving water you will also cut down on the amount of hot water you will be generating with your hot water heater. You will save money by reducing the cost of electricity to generate hot water, plus you will save money by reducing the amount of water you purchase from your utility company.

LED Lighting

LED lighting is fairly new to the market place. This type of lighting can be a little expensive when first being purchased. I have heard where families have saved a few hundred dollars a year by switching their lighting in their home to LED. I have tried this yet, but with the cost of electricity going through the roof I may look into this myself.

Hot Water Heater Blankets

I remember years ago purchasing hot water heater blankets to save money on electricity. These items are fairly cheap and easy to install. They basically are an insulation blanket that wraps around your hot water heater giving the hot water heater a double layer of insulation to keep the water hot on the inside. You can also save more money by lowering the hot water temperature on the thermostat on the tank, by doing this and installing a blanket on the hot water heater you can save ten to twenty percent on energy cost which will put more money in your pocket.

Water Filtration System

An average American family drinks about 30 gallons of bottled water each year studies have shown. Tap water cost is pennies while bottled water is equal to dollars. People seem to think that bottled water is cleaner and healthier than tap water, while studies have shown that this is false. Filtration systems like Brita and PUR will cost some money in the beginning and for filters but the cost over a year is much cheaper than purchasing bottled water. Plus you will be helping the environment by less plastic bottles clogging up our landfills.

Smart Power Strips

These little gadgets are awesome especially if you have a desktop computer. When all your computer parts monitor, printer, scanner, speakers, etc. are plugged into this device and you power off your main computer these over devices will power off also. When you power off and everything shuts off there will be no phantom “standby” electricity drawn to the other devices. In the long run you will save money on the powered down devices but you will also save money from the lack of phantom electric usage.

Slow Cooker

A slow cooker is a simple and easy to use device that can save you on your electric usage and save you money on your grocery bill. A slow cooker will use less electricity than a stove or oven, produce less heat which saves your air conditioning from coming on saving your money on your utilities. Also you can purchase cheaper cuts of meat at the grocery store. By cooking slow the crock pot tenderizes the meat as it is cooking. This saves me a lot of money on my groceries each week.

Hopefully this has been helpful for you, I would love to hear back from you on your ideas that save you money each month.

Personal APPS to Help You Keep Track Of Your Finances

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 23 Jul 2015 23:52:00 +0000

Personal APPS to Help You Keep Track Of Your Finances

By Tom Johnson

Looking for apps to install on your smartphone or tablet to help you with your finances, or setting up a budget? Here is a list of some of the ones that I highly recommend.

Personal Capital

This app is amazing, with over 800,000 people using this application to keep track of their personal finances. This is the app of all apps. With its mobile dashboard you can track your net worth, analyze your portfolio by seeing all your accounts on the dashboard, plan for your future with the retirement planner, these tools are all free with this awesome app.

Money Stream

This has been a highly recommended app, this app has been in publications like Wired, Forbes and U.S. News. According to their web site this app will help with organizing your bills and cash flow. The app will create a bill calendar to help you not forget about bill due dates. The application is protected with Military Grade software keeping your data private and secure.

Billcutterz

This powerful tool is designed to assist you in cutting your monthly bills. They advertised to negotiate with your providers like your cable company, cell phone service, internet service, electric and gas companies, plus many more. There expert negotiators analyze your bills to make sure that you are on the best plan for the money, they will also keep track of the service provider you have to make sure you are getting promotions and other discounts that they offer. This way you will always be paying the best rate for your services.

Swagbucks

Swagbucks is an online rewards and cashback program for earning these awards for simply doing your normal things online, such as searching the web, answering polling questions, watch videos, play online games, and doing your shopping online. Whenever you sign into Swagbucks you will get rewards for everything you do, these reward points then can be redeemed for Gift cards or another wide range of prizes. In some of the reviews I did for Swagbucks I found people who were earning up to $400 - $500 a month in gifts and prizes.

Level Money

This superior app can take the headaches and frustration out of budgeting. Many of us hate to budget so this app has been great for me to use. Level Money automatically updates your available cash as you make purchases each and every day. With this app you can set up tools to do the work for you. You can track what means the most for you and your budgeting system and you can put to the side the things that don’t mean as much for you. Level Money is safe and secure. With its 128-bit encryption service Level Money is just as safe as banks and financial institutions. Give it a try today.

ISpending

With this app you can monitor your daily, weekly, quarterly and even yearly expenses so that you can set up an effective budget. This seems to be a very simplistic app. You can do some customization to the app and in the long run it is a very effect app for your finances.

Budgt

This application for smartphones has been mentioned in several business and financial journals to help with your expenses. Day by day it will create a new budget for you based on how much you have spent each day. This app has many useful features and tools for helping you budget, track and forecast your finances.

All these apps for your smartphone and tablet technology are awesome. I have not had any negative experiences with any of these applications. To get the best use out of these tools is just to use them to help you get better control of your financial dreams.

How To Make Extra Income

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 22 Jul 2015 23:43:00 +0000

Are you in need for some extra income to supplement your full time job?

By Tom Johnson

There are many of us out in the work force that just need a little bit more income each month to help supplement the pay that your present full time job offers us. Many of us just need a side job or business to put an additional $500 - $1000 a month in our pocket to pay off bills, or make ends meet, or to put away for retirement. The list of jobs that I am going to talk about I have actually done most of these jobs myself or know someone who has done one of these jobs while holding a 40 hour a week regular job.

Let’s take a look at the list and see if one of these jobs can help you.

Office Cleaning

I was able to do this job in the evenings and on the weekends when businesses were closed. I would work from 6:00 – 9:00 pm four nights a week. Most of the time I would do the work for about $20.00 an hour. If you do the math I would clear about $850 - $900 a month. This is a great part time business that a person can do with their spouse. I have known several people that started doing this as a part time income source and turned it into a full time business.

House Cleaning

This is one job that I have not done myself, but several friends of mine have done this or are doing this presently. One particular friend works full time at a hospital in our town and she gets off of work at 3:00pm. When she gets off work she goes home and changes clothes and runs out for a couple hours and cleans two houses. So she does not get burned out she does this three nights a week. She is paid $40.00 per house and if you do the calculations she makes around $900 a month average.

Grass Cutting

Since I live in Florida lawn business can be big money. When I have needed some extra cash I have hooked my small trailer to the car and loaded up my mower and weed trimmer and gone out and cut lawns. A small lawn I charged $25.00 and a larger yard I would charge $40.00 dollars. In our area we see several husband and wife teams out cutting and trimming lawns. This also can start off small and grow into a full time business.

Pressure Washing Homes and Driveways

This is a great job to do in the summer, especially here in Florida when it is hot nine months out of the year. I have paid friends of mine up to $150.00 to pressure wash my house and $100.00 to pressure wash my roof. This is another job that can be done in the evening like my friends do or on a weekend.

Blogging

This is a great opportunity to sit at home in the evening and write articles about what you like. This is what I did to get my business off the ground. You do not have to quit your day job and it can be done in just a couple hours a few nights a week. You may have to invest some time to build up credibility and grow a following, but once this has been accomplished it can bring in a great side income or full time income. I personally do it for my future in order to have a nice residual income when I retire.

Handy Man Service

This has really put been a blessing for me and many of my friends. There are a huge population of people that do not know or are scared to death too try and tackle small jobs around their homes. Sometimes it can be a 10 minute small job that can put an extra $25.00 - $50.00 in your pocket. Larger jobs can put much more money in your pocket every month. Both here in Florida and in Chicago I was able to find work just by word of mouth. There are plenty of people that just don’t know how to do things for themselves or don’t have the time, this is where a good and honest handyman comes in handy.

Computer Repair

I have fixed people’s computers for years, and have made some serious extra income while still holding down a full time job. The only expense I had was a small add in the local paper in the classifieds. I also would put a small ad on Craigslist which I picked up a few computers each month from. I would charge less than the competition and I was always totally honest with the people and not sell them something that they did not need. By doing this I would get a lot of referrals and repeat customers. I have paid for several vacations and mission trips to Central America.

Music Lessons / Tutoring

If you are musically talented like my neighbor is you can make some serious money giving in home music lessons. My service manager’s wife is a full time teacher and she does private tutoring on the side to help supplement her family’s income. Both of these do require some special talent, but most of us do have our own things that we are talented at that we can offer people.

In today’s tough financial times most of us need extra money from time to time. I hope that these ideas have opened up some thoughts of what you can offer people in exchange for being paid for your services. All of us have talents in one thing or another, sometimes you just need to sit down and give some thought to what you can offer to the general public. Just put on your creative thinking cap!

Live Positive, and Be Positive

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 20 Jul 2015 17:54:00 +0000

I just came back from a four day convention and it was fantastic to be around people with a positive attitude. People that are positive and think positive thoughts seem to have a happier life and seem to have a great outlook at life. Even look at how much more healthier people that are positive seem to be, they are more relaxed, they do not get stressed out over little things, most dont have to take high blood pressure medication or any sort of anti-depressants.

The line of work I am in tends to put a large number of negative people in my life. When sitting back and watching these people I find that they are short tempered, they have a poor outlook on life, they are most likely on some sort of ant-depressant medication, and are terrible people to be around.
After spending these past four days with people that are positive I could actually feel my body take on a whole new feel to it. I was not stressed all the time, my muscles did not ache, my headaches were minimal, and I could feel my breathing was a lot more smooth. It is amazing what stress can do to your health, and it is amazing how you feel when you are surrounded by positive thoughts and happy people.

In our day to day walk we are surrounded by negative people, they tend to prey on positive people trying to convert them to their way of being negative. We have to learn to stay positive and keep a positive outlook on life. A persons attitude is just a frame of mind that you have to keep control of and manage what you listen too and manage what you allow to go into your sub-consequence. The old adage, garbage in garbage out.

A good example of this would be, watching the 24 hour news and weather stations. One out of every one hundred news reports are always negative. Negative media sells! People thrive on watching these stations, you very rarely ever hear a positive news article, all the breaking news is about shootings, death and murder, never about something positive that has happened. If a person was to sit and watch these news channels, that person would eventually live in a sense of fear.

Change your life and change your attitude.

Living in a positive environment can lead to a much more healthier outlook on life. Positive energy attracts positive people. this being the "Law of attraction". Studies have proven that goals in life are much easier achieved by having a positive outlook on life.

Here are some positive exercises to help you keep a positive and healthy life style.

Meditation - Setting some time daily even if it is just 15 minuets a day and focus on positive thoughts can change your life and make you a healthier person.

Calming music - The music that you listen to can affect your life and your thinking. Look at country music for an example, most of the songs focus on death, drinking, sex, and negative messages. Getto Rap music focuses on death, killing, sex and drugs. The Blues music focuses on being depressed and blue. Music can play a major role in your feelings, and your attitude on life. To think and a positive outlook you need to listen to music that calming and or energizing and promotes positive messages.

Exercise - Exercise is a great way to uplift your body, a great time to meditate. Exercise is a great time to spend time alone and think about positive thoughts.

Sleep - Sleep is getting harder and harder to come by in this materialistic world. Studies have shown that a body needs to have at least 8 good hours of quality sleep in order for the body to run at peak performance.

These are just a few of many ways for the body and mind to run at a positive rate. It is hard to be positive all the time, when you feel negativity coming into your thoughts, stop and take action to curb these negative influences out of your existence. Do some meditation, or listen to some positive uplifting music, do something,take some action and don't

allow negative energy back into your life.

Cash Back Rewards Credit Cards

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 16 Jul 2015 02:14:00 +0000

Cash back reward credit cards are a wonderful thing, if you use the credit card wisely. It is a great to earn points that can be redeemed for cash, travel vouchers or others types of merchandise just for using your credit card.

Not all credit cards give back, so be careful and do your research and read the fine print on the credit card application. The cards that do offer cash back do not all give back the same amount, each card offers different incentives when rewarding the purchaser.

Here are some guidelines for choosing the best rewards credit card for you.

Credit Score

Each card company will have different qualifications for their cards. Know your credit score and check with the card company to see what their average approved credit score is for their rewards card. If you have a medium or low credit score then most likely you will have a hard time getting approved for a rewards credit card.

High Cash Back Rewards

Not all rewards cards offer the same cash back. Some credit cards only offer 1 percent cash back on purchases, while other card companies will offer a higher cash back reward. Again do your research and try to get approved for one that offers higher cash back rewards.

Unlimited Cash Back

Again not all cards are the same even when it comes to the amount of cash back they will award you. Some companies put a cap on the amount of money they will reward you, while others have no cap on their cash back rewards.

Sign Up Bonus

Several of the rewards cards offer great bonuses if you spend $500 dollars within the first 90 days of having the rewards credit card. This is a great way to maximize the cash back benefits right in the beginning. Some card companies offer different types of promotions from time to time, check with your card company and see what types of promotions they offer.

Annual Fee’s

Check around, you should be able to find a rewards card that does not have an annual fee tied to it. Some cards may have an annual fee but the cash back rewards outweigh the annual fee being charged so in this case the fee is worth it.

Remember these rewards cards are credit cards, so if you want the best from the rewards then you need to pay off the balance every month so you don’t start acquiring interest. Having interest charges on these cards negates the cash back rewards, Another thing to remember is just because you are getting cash back rewards does not mean you can go out and overspend and ruin your budget. It can be tempting to overspend and purchase items you really don’t need. These cash back rewards cards are great if used responsibly and used sensibly.

Home Real Estate Mortgages

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 14 Jul 2015 23:52:00 +0000

Financing a home can be very tricky and confusing to many and can bring with it many risks that are difficult to see from the beginning. During the real estate boom I was a realtor and a mortgage consultant; many lenders were offering home buyers all sorts of mortgage programs with confusing term, they would do this to keep the purchaser confused just in hopes to entice the home buyer into getting their loan from them. With all these weird mortgage deals it helped to cause the real estate melt down in 2008 Many people had no idea how their mortgage worked and all the crazy fees that were built into their mortgage, because of this many people walked away from their homes thus the

starting of the real estate meld down. This melt down caused the latest economic recession that we are still trying to come out of today. Back before the melt down lenders were giving away money on loans like it was candy. I went to a lot of mortgage closings as a mortgage closing agent and could not believe what people were signing, they had no idea what the terms of the loan were for, or they had no clue as to the thousands of dollars in closing fees that were rolled up into their loan. People would not read the documents, all they wanted to do was sign the forms and be done with the whole mortgage process.

Since the melt down lenders have gotten smarter and more conservative. Even today you need to be smart on finding a mortgage that works best for you and your family. You do not want to get yourself in over your head in debt in order to have that dream home you and your spouse has always wanted. You want to be smart and get a home that is comfortable for you and your family to afford.

There are a lot of different types of mortgage programs out on the street even today after the melt down. Let’s take a look at some of the more common mortgage programs that you may want to consider when purchasing your dream home.

Fixed Interest Rate Plans

A fixed interest rate mortgage is a home loan that has an interest rate that does not go up or down during the life of the loan. The loan is amortized which means that the lender takes the total principle amount and adds in the interest that will accrue to give the lender a total figure. The lender then divides up the total amount into monthly payments usually 360 monthly payments if it is a 30 year loan. The lender will front end load the interest which means that the majority of your early monthly payments go’s towards the interest that is due on the loan. Once a majority of the interest is paid then more of the portion of your monthly payment will be paid towards the principle. Your payments still remain the same from day one till the end of the mortgage.

Adjustable Interest Rate Mortgages

Adjustable interest rate mortgages sometimes called ARMs have interest rates that change from time to time. These mortgages can sound very complex and confusing but many homeowners find these mortgage plans very attractive. Fixed interest rate mortgages will have a little bit higher interest rate when signing the mortgage papers where ARMs will have a lesser interest rate in the beginning to intice home buyers to purchase them over a fixed rate loan.

Lenders create these loans based on an index number which is essentially a measure of money current value. The value of money goes up and down and these ARMs allow lenders to respond to this increase of decrease of the value of the money. If you are looking at an ARM take a look at the terms of the loan, lenders will have a low interest rate in the beginning of the loan, this rate will be locked in from three to five years. After this fixed rate of time has expired the rate of your loan may go up a few percentage points. But don’t get scared, these ARMs always have a cap which prevents rates from jumping to high.

Interest Only Mortgage Plans

These hybrid loans I do not care for. They are very confusing because the lender take parts of a fixed interest rate loan and parts of an adjustable rate mortgage to make these loans attractive. These loans are usually for home buyers on a tight budget. They allow the borrower to make payments towards the interest part of the loan for the first few years. This allows the purchaser to make lower monthly payments at first in order to adjust their budget to start making larger payments which will go towards the principle.

Assumable Mortgage

You may come across a property that has an assumable mortgage on it. This is where an owner of a property can sell you the property and you can take over his or her mortgage. There can be several issues with these loans so make sure that you have an attorney review and explain all details and drawbacks that you may inquire from these types of mortgages.

Conclusion

Mortgages and home financing can be difficult and time consuming. Knowing the basics before you get started can save you a lot of frustration and sleepless nights. Take a look at your budget and your finances and know where you stand today and in the coming years and then take action and find a mortgage program that suits your family’s needs. Again don’t go overboard, find a mortgage program that you and your family can comfortable afford.

Do you coupon?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 08 Jul 2015 20:58:00 +0000

Do you coupon? Do you ever wonder if couponing is really saving me money or am I just spending money on things I really don’t need?

There are researchers that state that couponing can be bad for you and can hurt your finances in the long run.

Like ever good thing, there are pro’s and con’s to couponing.

Let’s take a look at some of these con’s in couponing.

Coupons can cause impulse buying. When shopping especially for groceries it is always recommended to use a grocery list so you don’t over spend. But most people that use coupons will usually make purchases of items that they have coupons for. You may not have a need for the item but because you have a coupon for it you purchase it.

Junk food. Studies have shown that a large portion of online coupons are redeemed junk food and candy. If you are trying to diet then couponing might not be good for you.

Processed foods. If you are into purchasing processed food then couponing will be good for you. Studies have shown that many of the coupons in papers and online are for processed foods like frozen pizzas, tv dinners and other frozen of frozen food. These prepackaged foods are typically higher in sodium, fat, calories and preservatives. If you are into making your own meals with fresh products then couponing may not work for you.

Unhealthy drinks. Most coupons for soda’s and energy drinks may be appealing to people that don’t drink a lot of water. Most of these drinks are high in sugars and caffeine. 12% of coupons are for drinks that are not really good for you.

Online coupon. I do a lot of computer repairs and virus removals from computers. I find that several of the computers I have worked on removing viruses the people got the virus from couponing sites. I try to tell the people to not use these sites, many of the stores don’t take coupons from these sites anymore and the sites seem to be loaded with computer viruses. A local restaurant chain I just visited would not take a coupon I had found on my smart phone. The owner said that there has been several sites that make online coupons to look like real coupons but they are a scam. So even stay away from couponing on your smartphone.

There are some good to couponing if it is done correctly. I just advocate that you be careful and not overspend and purchase things that are not needed when using coupons. If you use coupons correctly you can diffidently save some serious money, we will take a look at this later on in a different post.

But like everything there is both pro’s and con’s to couponing. Just be careful and don’t get taken by some of the scams that are out there in couponing.

Take time when making a major purchase.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 08 Jul 2015 20:33:00 +0000

How often do you ever think of what you are purchasing before you buy it? I try to take a couple of days before I make my purchases. I am talking about groceries and essentials but what I am talking about are things that I am wanting and not really needing. For an example I just bought a fishing pole. I saw the one I wanted and the cost of it was $150.00 but before I purchased it I went to the store to really make sure that this was the one that I really wanted. I really thought this was the one that I really wanted, but before I would spend that kind of money for a fishing pole I would check around at a couple of other stores before spending that kind of money. I went to a couple of stores and I found one that was just as good if not better for $60.00. Now if I was an impulse buyer I would have wasted $90.00 on something that is just as comparable as the one for $150.00.

I was really glad that I did not purchase the one for $150.00 even though I would have liked it very much but if I would have purchased the more expensive one then I would have had buyer’s remorse when I saw the one for $60.00. We have all had buyer’s remorse at one time or another. I find that taking my time when purchasing things I can usually avoid getting upset for spending extra money on something that I could have found cheaper.

Here are a few questions that I ask myself before I make purchases.

Am I just making this purchase because of emotion or logic? You should never make a serious purchase just out of emotion. Most of the time when you make a purchase with just emotion then you will probably regret the purchase later on. For an example you are walking through a store and a new television catches your eye and you make the purchase just because you get attached emotionally to the item, then a week later you get hit with the credit card bill you forgot about and you don’t have the money to pay for it because you spent it on the television. You let your emotions get the best of you and you did not think the purchase through all the way.

Do I really need this item? I ask this question at every purchase I make. A lot of times I find that the purchase is a want, so I weigh out how much enjoyment am I going to get out of this item. Wants are fine as long as they will give you plenty of enjoyment over the years.

Do I have the spare money for this item? I will not make a purchase unless I know for sure my bills are paid and there are enough funds in my account for any emergency that may come up, If I have any question about whether my bills are paid or not then I will hold off on the purchase until I know for sure that all my bills are paid for the month.

Have I done my research on the item? I will not make any purchase until I have shopped around to make sure that I am getting the best price. There are many times when you can make the purchase online. Most of the time by shopping online you will save money on gas and time. Again by not being an impulse buyer I save a lot of money by shopping around.

In today’s times it is hard to save money and we are all trying to become financially independent. We all need to make our purchases smart and wise. Each purchase needs to be thought through and analyzed to make sure the purchase is the right decision and we are getting the best price for it.

Set Up an Emergency Fund

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 02 Jul 2015 00:20:00 +0000

A very common question that keep's popping up when talking to people about finances is “How much money should I set aside for emergencies”? This question has many variable answers but when I did my research most financial advisers suggested to start with a goal of three months. But the ultimate goal would be to have six months of income set aside in an interest bearing account.

I would shoot for the six month goal in order to give yourself a good cushion to fall back on if an emergency arises. Back about twelve years ago I was laid off work without any warning sign or knowledge of it coming. I was out of work for six months but thankfully I had six months of income set aside, if I did not have this cushion I and my family may have ended up on the street without a roof over our heads.

Back in 2008 during the great meltdown of the economy many people were without work for long periods of time. With the economy today and the unstable governments in other countries the American economy is very fragile. At any given moment we could have something major happen here in the United States and our money system could have a major collapse and people would be out of work and have no income. Having a nice financial cushion of money set aside makes life a lot easier and less stressful if you find yourself like me out of work for any given period of time.

The truth is that anything could happen to anyone of us at any given moment. We could find out that we have some major illness, or we get into a car accident, your spouse dies out of the blue, etc. One just never knows what may happen at the blink of an eye. We are not guaranteed our next breath. My best advice is, be prepared and if you are not then make it a goal to get yourself prepared.

Let’s look at how we can get this started.

You first need to know what your bills are. You need to take some time and sit down and write out what your fixed monthly bills are, this way you will know what your fixed expenses are. Now figure out what your variable expenses (gas, groceries, entertainment, etc.) are.

Once you know what your total expense picture is you can then determine how much money you will need to save. Take all your expenses and multiply by three for three months emergency fund or six for a six month emergency fund.

To set up emergency account correctly do not try and save the money in your checking account. I have tried this and if it is sitting where it can be seen you will spend it, trust me. Set up another account preferably with another financial institution like a credit union and make sure it is an interest bearing account.

Be extremely disciplined to get this account filled up, this is a very important fund and needs to be handled as a do not touch me account. Only draw money out of this account for emergencies only. You can decide what you call an emergency; some examples would be car repairs, hospital bills, money to live on if you or your spouse loses their job, things like this. Not vacations or money for a down payment on a new car.

No one expects to lose their job, I didn’t twelve years ago, but things happen. That is why it is wise to have this emergency fund set up and the fund filled as soon as possible. It is better to be prepared then to be caught with empty handed and you and your family be caught in a financial disaster. But if you do have an emergency and you have an emergency fund set up then you can sleep at night soundly if you are prepared.

Envelope Budget System That Works

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 01 Jul 2015 19:57:00 +0000

If you are new to planning a budget or if you are not technologically advanced, this simple budgeting process of using envelopes may be right for you. I remember back many years ago when I was just around twenty years of age this technique was introduced to me. This particular budgeting system is very effective and has a proven track record for working for most people as long as they stick to the program. Many people today rely on technology to do their budget and finances but if you look back you will probably see that a large portion of population is in debt because of technology. It is so easy for people to pull out that plastic card to pay for things even when they don’t have the money to pay for them. We all have been guilty of this in one way or another and that is why we are in debt, and many us are deep in debt way over our heads.

Let’s take a look at these simple steps to setting up an envelope budget.

The first thing you will want to do is go to a Dollar store and purchase a box of envelopes. I like e to use the yellow envelopes that has a clasp on the top.
Next write on each envelope preferably with a Sharpie the items you need to budget for. The envelopes need to be categorized and labeled. For example, label one for groceries, one for gasoline, one for credit cards, and so on. I would also make a miscellaneous envelope and a backup envelope. These will be used only for a couple of months to make sure that you do not run out of cash in a particular envelope. This will be your cushion while you are adjusting your budget per category.
Now that you have your envelopes set up you will need to sit down and figure out the monthly dollar amount for each envelope. You should have a good idea of how much you spend on each of the categories. If for some reason you have no clue what you spend on these then you will need to keep track over a month or two on paper to see what you are spending so you have an idea of what to put on the envelopes.
Now pay your recurring fixed bills like your mortgage, utilities, car payment, etc. The money left over is what you are going to use to set up the envelope budget.
Take cash out of your account at the bank and put in the allocated funds into each envelope. When you make a purchase you will pay for the item with the cash in the envelope. Get a receipt for the item even if it is for gas, take the cash from the envelope and replace it with the receipt. When all the cash is gone in the envelope you are finished for the month in spending in that category. The idea of the receipt is for review, if you are upset because you have no more cash in that category and you want to know where it went you can go back and look at the receipts and see what you spent the money on.

You will find it takes a couple three months of tweaking this system to make it work smoothly. This is why you have a miscellaneous and a backup envelope with spare cash in them to fall back on so one of your envelopes runs dry and a emergency happens in one of these categories.

At the end of the month and you have left over money in any of the envelopes you will want to take this money and put it into a savings account. If you are like most and you don’t have a savings, now is the time to start one. Once you have three to six months of income saved up in your savings you will want to take the money that is left over each month to start paying down your debts until you are fully financially free of debt.

Why Should I Use a Credit Union

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 30 Jun 2015 01:10:00 +0000

Credit Unions - Why Should I Use Them?

When driving around town you will see both credit unions and banks in your neighborhood. People sometimes do not know or understand how a credit union works. Plus everybody is different especially when you are talking about their money and savings, some people may prefer to open an account with a large commercial bank while others may prefer to go with a small credit union where they get more personal attention. Here are some advantages and and a couple of disadvantages of credit unions.

Credit unions are similar to banks but are owned and operated by its members. A credit union is a not-for-profit, cooperative financial institution that is owned and controlled by its members. A credit union is obligated to take the money it makes and invest it back into the operation or uses the profits to better the institution.

Once you open an account with a credit union you automatically become a member. A credit unions goal is to deliver great customer service and please their members. At credit unions you the members are the owners. At some credit unions they even allow members to vote on policies concerning the operation of the facility. At banking institutions especially the larger one’s their main focus is to make a profit and making their stock holders happy. This is why there are so many fees for every little transaction you make. Anything they can do to increase the revenue of the bank they will do. At credit unions if there are any fees they are much less than regular banking institution. The lower the fee’s the more money you can keep in your pocket.

Credit union employees you usually will see time after time, this is nice because you can build a relationship with the person that you deal with and gain their trust. This can come in handy when you have questions about your account or need a loan. At a regular bank you hardly ever get a chance to build a relationship with your banker, so when you have a question or need a loan you may not feel as comfortable as you would at a credit union. Credit unions are here to help you but a bank is only here to make money.

ATM's at credit unions is service that you usually don’t get charged for if you use the credit union ATM, the disadvantage is that the ATM’s can be hard to find because there are very few of them. They usually will only be located at the credit union location. You can save money on ATM fees but the con is you will have to travel out of the way to use the ATM or pay a service fee for using a ATM that is not connected to your credit union.

Credit unions like to offer its members lower interest on their loans, such as lines of credit, credit cards, auto loans and other types of small loans. Credit unions usually don’t like to do home loans because it ties up the credit unions money for a long period of time. Credit unions usually don’t have strong stipulations on their loans and offer lower interest rate which makes their loans look more appealing than the larger banking institutions. If a member has poor or weak credit most credit unions are willing to sit and work with you to obtain a loan that fits your needs. Most of the time they will be able to help you get the loan that you need.

Disadvantages to belonging to a credit union are few, one of the minor disadvantages is that not everyone qualifies to be a member. Unlike banks that are open to anyone, laws require credit unions to have a defined field of membership, which means you'll have to be a member of that group to access the credit union and its services.

The field of membership can be broad, including an employer, church, school, community and employee group.

Gaining access through an employer is the easiest way to become a member, but community-based credit unions are also widely available in many cities and towns across the country. The vast majority of consumers, especially in large communities and cities have an opportunity to join a credit union.

As you can see the pros do heavily outweigh the cons for belonging to a credit union. Look around in your community to find a local credit union to see if you qualify to be one of their members. If you don’t check out others in your area, you will probably find one that you can meet their qualification’s.

Once you do find one that you can belong to make sure you sit down with one of the credit union advisers to find out all the services that they offer.

Detailed Steps to Setup An Ebay Business.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 29 Jun 2015 17:26:00 +0000

Today we are going to take a deeper look into setting up an EBay business.

We talked about in the previous post about opening an EBay business and the basics of what it took to opening this type of business. Now we will dive in a little deeper as too setting up an EBay account and running the business. I listed several steps to help guide you along the process, hopefully they

will answer some of your questions.

Step 1. The very first thing you will need to do is open and EBay account and a PayPal account. You will need to do this in order to sell on EBay and to collect the funds that you are owed for the items that you have sold. Paypal is truly an awesome site that is easy to use and they accept all major credit cards and will do international processing as well.

Step 2. Since you have just opened your first EBay account you will want to build up some positive feedback. I would recommend purchasing a few small inexpensive items to build up positive credibility and a positive feedback score. Positive feedback will set your buyers minds at ease and it will show people that you are a trustworthy person and that you have good integrity.

Step 3. When it comes to selling items you will find a lot of opinions on the web both positive and negative. Try to not look at the negative opinions because there is no way to know why their EBay business did not work for them. Focus on the positive comments and learn from these power sellers.

In order to learn how to sell items on EBay I would recommend selling some items that you may have laying around the house at first so you can experiment with wording and pictures and if you make a mistake it won’t cost you an arm and leg. Plus this will help you de-clutter your home, garage and shed and put a few extra dollars in your pocket.

If you are selling items like clothing, jewelry, or anything that has a brand name, make sure that you put the brand name in the title and description. Most people will be searching brand names in their search criteria on EBay and if you do not have the name of the brand in the title or description your item will not show up on their search list.

When it comes to condition of items, be 100% accurate and up front in the description of the item. If there is a flaw or scratch in the item make sure you mention it, I go as far as to take a picture of the flaw so people will know about it and cannot come back after me for not mentioning the scratch. People love it when you are honest and don’t try to sell something as mint condition when in reality it has a flaw. This also go’s in helping to build your credibility and good feedback on EBay.

Step 4. Take good pictures with a simple digital camera, you do not need anything fancy or expensive save your money. I use a point and shoot automatic camera, I do not use any kind of fancy high dollar camera. I do spend some extra time staging the item so it has good clarity, and there are no other items in the picture that would confuse the buyer.

With jewelry I try to use a black background that is nice looking. I may take a cardboard box and put it on top of a table and cover it with a clean black sheet. I smooth out the wrinkles, and place the item on top of the covered box. I take several pictures from the front, top, and sides. I then download the pictures into my computer and use a simple free picture editing program in the computer to crop the photo and clean up any distortion to the picture.

I have four or five different backgrounds that I use, it just depends what I am selling and the color of the items. Staging to me is a very important along with writing a good description, spending time with the staging will make your item look more professional than your competitors.

Step 5. Pricing an item on EBay can be a little tricky. Do some research on EBay or Amazon Auction for the same item that you are selling? You do not want to over price your item and it does not sell, this is a waste of time and listing fee’s. Find what everyone else is selling the item for, as you will see some people take one or two pics of the item and write a brief description of the item in hope that it sells. If you want a few more dollars for your item, put on multiple pictures and write a detailed description of your item. You may find that you will get a few more dollars for your item than your competition since you put more effort into your listing.

Sometimes I will hold off on listing an item for 3 to 6 months in order for the market to turn around and the price to come back up. Once in a great while I will put something on a shelf for a year because the same exact item is selling to cheap and I have more invested in the item than what it is selling for. A little patients does pay off.

Step 6. Writing a description and listing your items to sell is at the top of the list of priority of importance. You do not want to take a short cut on this.

a. Brand Names
b. Item Name
c. Model Numbers
d. Sizes
e. Color
f. Make of the material
g. Circa
h. Measurements

You Must! Give an extreme detailed description of the item. Remember that you want your item to sell and not lose the customer to the competition. There is a lot of competition on EBay so you want to make sure that you stand out above the rest of them.

EBay selling manager is a great tool to use. They offer different styles and templates to help you sell items. A listing template contains everything you need to design your listing page. There is other listing template software on the internet that you can use to dress up your product listing page.

Step 7. Answering Customer Question. Buyers will have all sort of questions for you. It is imperative that you answer these questions as soon as possible. Customers would not be asking questions about your product if they were not interested in purchasing the item. Several of my customers ask questions about each item they purchase and will not make a bid until their question is answered. Customers can be fickle so do not let a customer slip away because you forgot to respond to their question.

Step 8. Shipping and handling. There are many ways to ship your items to the purchaser. I find that USPS has worked out the best for me. You still can receive free shipping supplies from the USPS if you order them correctly. Do some research online with the postal website to find these free items for shipping.

You will find that you get positive feedback from customers when you ship quickly and you use good packaging. Do not go cheap when it comes to packing the item to be shipped. I still remember receiving a 20” computer monitor from a seller on EBay that came in a box with no protection put around the monitor. There was no bubble wrap or peanuts in the box to protect it. I was very upset and I never bought another item from this customer, I also did give him negative feedback.

Customers want their items fast and in good condition, so take that extra few minuets to package the item extremely good, it pays off in positive feedback from your customers.

These steps should help you in setting up your EBay business. You will find a lot of positive and negative comments on having an EBay business on the internet. But like any business it takes work and commitment in order to make it successful. It is not one of those businesses that will make you get rich overnight, but it can make you some serious money part time and could eventually turn into a full time business if you devote the time and energy to make it one.

Starting an EBay Business

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 25 Jun 2015 20:12:00 +0000

If you are thinking about starting an online EBay business there are many thing you need to know to so you can be successful. A lot of people I know have been successful in EBay and some have even given up the corporate life in order to do eBay full time. Now EBay is work, don’t kid yourself. But if you want a stay at home business this is one that has been around for some time and it has made a lot of people like yourself successful.

First thing first, be smart and do some homework before diving in with both feet. Explore around and find the power sellers, check out their sites. Power sellers are very successful EBay business owners, look at they are selling and see how they set up their item descriptions and their about me page. Find out what is working for them and take some good notes. They would not be power sellers if they did not know what they are doing.

Now open up an EBay seller’s account. There are a few pages of information you will need to set up with EBay, you will also need to setup a PayPal account in order for your customers to pay you. PayPal is one of the best and easiest accounts for people to pay you through especially with a credit card.

Find items that are in high demand, this will take some research on your part. This is where you do some investigative work on power seller’s sights, and check out the “hot topic area” on EBay. What I did was I started selling items that were lying around my home and items that were cluttering up my garage and my shed. I started with these because these items were pure profit for me; I also had some old college text books that were in the closet doing me no good. I listed these on EBay and sold them for two to three times more profit than what I would have gotten for them at a yard sale.

Once you have your EBay business up and going and you have learnt the basics of what to do and how to do it. You will want to think about opening up an EBay store. An EBay store is a great place to show off all the items you have listed on EBay. People may be searching for one item and then they go to your store and find something that they just can’t live without, they would not have known about that item if they did not see it in your store.

One of the power sellers that I know uses Google “Trends”. Trends finds out what people are searching for on the internet. Google searches for hot topics that people all over the world are searching each and every day. What my friends do is explore the list and see what they can get their hands on in order to sell on EBay. Just keep in mind that EBay is international, so if something does not sell in your area does not mean it may not be a hot topic in another part of the world. Stay positive and don’t get discourage, EBay takes work and commitment, treat it like a business and it will provide an extra income to you.

In a future article we will look at some of the finer details of how to run an EBay business. We will look at deeper of how to list items, how to add pictures, how to ship the best way, how to track your feedback, and good customer satisfaction ratings.

11 Ways for Saving Money

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 25 Jun 2015 19:20:00 +0000

11 Ways for Saving Money

Are you new at budgeting your finances? Do you really need to start saving up for a new vehicle, plan a vacation, save for retirement, pay on some medical bills? Here are some thoughts of how you can say for these items.

1. Make a total of all your monthly bills. Monthly bills are ones that occur every month, usually on the same day. Insurances, house payments, cell phone bills, and car/school loans are all considered routine monthly expenses. Don't include things like grocery shopping, clothing, or eating out, these are flexible and can change from month to month.

2. Make a list of net income after taxes you receive each month. This would also include rental income, child support, interest you receive from investment, and etc.

3. Subtract your monthly bills from your income and what is left over is your true free income.

4. Take a look at your credit cards. Put your highest interest cards at the top of the list to pay off first. We need to get rid of these first and only keep the one with the lowest interest rate in your wallet. The ones in your wallet should only be used for emergencies only, like car repairs, medical emergencies, and home repairs that are a must!

5. Think about all the money you need to spend to SURVIVE. Not on dinners out, new toys, or clothing. Things you need to keep your family fed and healthy. Subtract this money from your free income, it should only be half or less of your free income money.

6. Use the rest of your free income to start paying down your credit cards. If you just pay the minimum each month you will not see your credit card debt drop. You must make a diligent effort to pay more than the minimum.

7. Repeat these steps until your credit card debt is under control. This doesn't mean having absolutely no debt, but I would recommend an amount you can pay off in 3 months or less.

8. Congratulations on making it to step eight and getting your debt somewhat under control! Now let's start saving. If you like to see what you need to save to retire, here is a free retirement calculator for helping figure our what you may need. Retirement Calculator

9. If your company has a 401k and they offer any sort of match (any percentage), start the 401k. This is free money that your company is giving you, if you do not take advantage of this you are losing out.

10. With you car loans, mortgage companies, and credit cards you may want to try and connect with the lenders and ask if they would consider lowering your interest rates. Even if you only get one yes, it is better than not asking at all and continue to pay high interest rates.

11. If your employer directly deposits money into your bank account, set up an extra account to add money into. Since you don't ever see it, you won't think about it. If you deposit your checks yourself, take advantage of a savings account or do what I did and set up an account at another bank and then on my bill pay each month I automatically transfer funds from my working account to my other bank account, what do they say, out of sight out of mind.

As hard as it sounds, try not to indulge. Cut back your cable package, go out to eat once a month, and instead of seeing movies on the big screen with your entire family, wait until you can rent the movie. Chances are you can rent movies through red box for less than $2.00! You can save a lot of money if you just put some effort into it. Our family had to make adjustments, but now we can sleep at night and don't have get scared if the phone rings thinking what collection agency is after me now.

10 Ways to Get Out of Debt Without Ruining Your Future Credit

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 24 Jun 2015 21:15:00 +0000

10 Ways to Get Out of Debt Without Ruining Your Future Credit
By Steve M Williams

Are you sick of spending large portions of your monthly income on repaying loans, credit cards and hire purchases? Do you wish you had made better financial choices when you were younger? Or are you still feeling the financial pinch following a personal crisis?

Whatever it is that got you into debt, you're not alone. Literally millions of people are repaying money they wish they had never spent, or being penalized month after month for a time when they were forced to rely on credit.

There is hope. You can get out of debt and take control of your financial future.

These ten simple steps show how you can get started:

Work out where you are financially - it sounds obvious, but so many people begin to bury their heads in the sand when finances are hard. Be brave and confront your debt. Make a record of exactly how much you owe, to whom. Include the repayment period, the monthly installments, and the interest rates for each, as well as the dates each of these payments are required each month.

Budget yourself - now you know exactly where you are in terms of debt, you need to consider this in terms of your total income and other outgoings. Make a record of all sources of income you receive as a family, together with all outgoings. Are there some luxuries you can temporarily sacrifice to overpay your loans and get out of debt faster? By having one take-away less each month, how much can you overpay your mortgage or credit cards by? Be careful to examine your direct debits - these are often forgotten about instead of canceled. Do you need and make use of all of the services and products you are charged for? If you have a newspaper or magazine subscription, consider reading this free online instead - it's surprising how much daily newspapers especially add up to each month.

Using this information, create a sensible plan to overpay the debts with the highest interest rates. Include the whole family in this process so they understand why they are sacrificing the takeaway or newspaper - this is a great financial education for children and something the school won't teach them, so don't feel bad for involving them.

Be disciplined in your spending - when you feel the financial pinch, it's tempting to resort to getting further in debt. Previously, this has been an option for almost everyone, but as the economic climate changes, more and more people will be refused further debts. Get out of the habit of relying on additional credit right away. If you need additional money, firstly question whether you do really need it, and then brainstorm ways of raising that amount without going further into debt. Websites like eBay and CraigsList make it easy to sell anything you no longer use, and a pre-Christmas clear out can usually raise a surprising amount of money for Christmas gifts. (I mention Christmas as it is the most popular time for new applications for loans and credit cards - don't do it. Plan ahead.)

Track daily spending habits - often, when completing step two (budgeting), people will not understand how they spend all of their income. In other words, the numbers don't add up. To obtain a clear view of your finances, it's essential to track daily spending. Each family member should do this, and honesty is key. If you are spending £5 on lunch each day and your spouse is having a Starbucks coffee each day, you are spending a sizable chunk of money every single month on things that are not necessary. Using these examples, you're spending around £158 each month! What a difference that could make if it was used to overpay your highest-interest debts. To lower this spending, only take your debit and credit cards out when necessary (often we fool ourselves that we need them 'in case of an emergency') and take just as much cash as you will definitely need for vital outgoings like bus fairs, parking expenses, etc.

Bond with your bills - most service providers will offer you a discount for paying by direct debit. Give them a call today and arrange this, taking note of the amount saved each month. Use this extra cash to overpay your highest-interest debt.

Shop around - it's very likely that you are not being charged the lowest price possible for your utilities. Using a quick Google search you can find impartial comparison sites for everything from telephone to electricity and internet providers. Find one of these sites for your country and switch to a cheaper provider. You guessed it; use the amount you save by doing this to over-pay your highest-interest debt.

Transfer debt - repeat step 6 but in terms of your credit cards and loans. Shop around for ones that charge lower interest rates than your current ones, but don't get fooled into topping up loans or taking on extra sums and extending the period of the loan.

No more store credit cards - these usually charge by far the highest interest rates and see you paying well over the odds for the original items bought. Cut up any existing store cards and don't be tempted into getting new ones. Despite the great initial discounts they may offer, the danger of getting into more high-interest debt is too great. Get used to paying for things with cash, which forces you to recognize the amount you are spending and often makes you realize you don't want the item in question that badly!

Bye bye bank - repeat step 6 but this time, for your bank account. Look at online banks particularly, as these are often much more favorable than the larger high-street banks.

Review your mortgage - for most people, the mortgage is the biggest expense each month. Spend some time ensuring you are getting the best deal. Speak to an independent financial advisor to see whether you can save money by changing, but remember to take into account any transfer fees and other penalties.

Using just these ten steps you can monitor your outgoings, allowing you to overpay your debts. This will get you free from debt quicker and will also give you a sense of achievement from saving money, instead of the happiness many people get from spending it. As your highest-interest debt is repaid in full, you can then apply that complete sum to the next-highest, and so on.

With discipline, you can set your family free from financial debt.

Steve Williams is a renowned Wealth Coach, helping people around the world get out of debt and create wealth. He is currently offering a FREE special report entitled '15 Secrets of Wealth That Will Transform Your Finances & Lifestyle'

Grow Vegetables and Save Money

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 23 Jun 2015 23:33:00 +0000

Grow Vegetables and Save Money
By Lawrence L. Hoyle

A Vegetable Garden can help feed your family in to days tough economic times. I grew up in the 40s and 50s and a vegetable Garden was a very popular thing. In the summer, my family lived off of the garden and preserved what grew for the winter months.

Making a garden can go a long way toward putting food on the table for your love ones. Fresh garden vegetables from you garden are more nutritious and taste better than what you buy in your local supermarket. Vegetable gardening is no different than growing flowers and if proper care your plant will flourish and produce a great crop.

First, you must decide what size the garden will be and it's location. A sunny location is a must. Vegetables like full sun all day. If you want a small garden, maybe raised planters would be your answer. Raised planters can be made using timbers or concrete wall blocks. The size and shape of your raised garden depends on your needs and the area you have to work with. Leave a path in

between planters for easy access.

What animals are present in your area? Tasty vegetables are liked by rabbits, deer and many others. One way to prevent this is to surround the garden with a fence.

Before planting, the soil must be properly prepared. Either use a roto-tiller or a spade to dig up the soil. Rake the soil to prepare the soil surface before planting garden seeds and plants.

Plan your garden arrangement, plant tall growing plants toward the back of the garden and the shorter ones in the front so that the sunlight does not get blocked.

Organic matter added to the soil releases nitrogen, minerals and other plant nutrients, plants need to thrive. There are some garden plants that need specific needs; leafy plants like lettuce, spinach and cabbage grow better with more nitrogen while root crops like potatoes, beets, turnips and carrots require more potash. Tomatoes And beans use a small amount of fertilizer, while plants like onions and potatoes need a large amount.

When to plant vegetables, here are some golden rules. Radishes, lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, spinach are some of the vegetables that like cool weather, so plant them in early spring. Tomatoes, beans, corn, carrots, eggplant, beets and potatoes like warm weather. They have to be planted after the last frost has pasted.

Plant and enjoy the great taste of home grown vegetables from your own garden.

Lawrence L. Hoyle, author, 48 years in the Landscape Profession. Check out his main websites at: www.web-landscape-design-ideas.com

4 Awesome Financial Applications That Are Free

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 23 Jun 2015 23:13:00 +0000

There are several free budgeting tool applications that can help everybody keep better track of their finances, and spending habits. These tools allows users to sign into their own personal account and electronically connect through a security portal and have their spending habits broke down to show the consumer an overall picture of their accounts. We are going to take a look at what I feel are the top four money management and budget management tools that are free to consumers to use.

The first one that we are going to look at is BillGuard.

Billguard was rated number one application in 2013 and 2014 by PCMag and TechCrunch magazine and along with being rated number one by CNNMoney for being the best application for money management.

The application is great for tracking your spending habits over time and comparing your habits to months previous in order to show you where you are doing great or where you are doing bad with spending or tracking on your budget. This app will also compare your spending habits and scans the internet for coupons that match your habits in order to save you time and money when you go to the store.

BillGuard sends personalized messages to it members in order to notify users if they've shopped at a merchant who has been breached, this is very helpful especially for the last couple of years where large department stores data has been breached and consumers credit cards has been compromised.

There are three categories to BillGuard, there is the free version that entitles you too: Smart Inbox, Spending Analytic's, Transaction Intelligence, Card Fraud Alerts, Data Breach Alerts, and Card Concierge.

The second version cost $2.99 a month and it entitles you will too: everything the free version offers plus, Live support 24/7, Lost wallet recovery, Credit Monitoring from one bureau, Identity Restoration.

The third version cost $6.99 a month and entitles you too: everything the first two versions offers plus Credit Monitoring from all three credit bureaus, Full Identity Restoration, Black Market Surveillance, SSN Fraud Alerts and $1 million ID Theft Insurance.

The second service that we will look at is Mint.com

Many of you have heard of this awesome application called Mint.com. This is a free money management tool that is built by Intuit which brought us Quicken. The key features of this application is for you to be able to view all your accounts in one place so you know where you are spending to much money and the areas that you are saving money in.

Mint.com is a great tool to help you build your financial budget, especially for people that have never lived by a budget before. This budget tool comes with all the step by step instructions to help you build your budget, start a savings plan, and helps you pay down your bills.

If you are an investor in the stock or commodities market Mint.com offers a nice tool to help you track your stocks and commodities. There are also some good learning tools to help new investors learn about investment strategies.

Another great feature with Mint is that you can keep track of your credit score at anytime with this program.

When you sign up for Mint you do not have to give them any credit card information. Many people including myself get really skeptical about being charged for something when it is advertised as a free service. But with Mint you do not have to worry about this, they will never ask for your credit card information.

The third app we will look at is called Checkbook.

This application is very similar to the Mint.com application but with Checkbook you can transfer funds from one account to another account. This application is a great tool to manage your personal written checkbook, set up a budget for your home, keep track of spending habits and etc.

This tool is also free and easy to use.

The forth tool we are looking at is Spending Tracker.

Spending Tracker is another easy to use free application for tracking your expenses and helps you setup and run a household budget. Just like the other apps it offers you great looking charts and graphs to help you with all your budget needs.

Reverse Mortgage Pro's and Con's

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 23 Jun 2015 00:55:00 +0000

Have you seen all the television advertisements about reverse mortgages? Have you ever wondered if a reverse mortgage is right for me or if I qualify for one of these types mortgages or are they some sort of scam? In this article we will take a look at what a reverse mortgage is, what you must do to qualify for one of these loans and what you can use the money for.

What is a reverse mortgage?

A reverse mortgage is a loan that you take out against the equity in your primary residence. You are allowed to draw against the equity but not all the equity only a portion of the equity that has built up over the years. The amount of money that you can have a loan for is determined by the age of the youngest person that is borrowing, interest rates and the lesser of the homes appraised value, and the FHA lending limit for the county the home resides in.

The borrower continues to retain ownership of the property and they do still have to pay taxes and insurance on the home but they do not have to make any payments on the loan as long as they continue living in the home till they pass away. If you move out of the home to a new home or if you move into a full time care facility you will need to pay back the loan, usually the loan payments would start anywhere from six months to a year after you have left your home.

How do I receive the money from the loan?

There are several ways that you could take the loan payout. You may take the loan amount as one lump sum. You could ask for it to be paid out to you monthly to help with monthly living expenses. You could take it out like a line of credit and draw only what you need, not to exceed the mortgage limit. This money can be used for almost anything, but think it through because it is a loan. Most people use the funds to pay off other forms of high interest debt, use it to pay for medical expenses, they opt to take out monthly payments like an annuity to help pay for monthly expenses, or if funds are tight and you need to do some home renovations the money could be used for this type of thing, You are not really directed to what you use the money for, but again this is a loan so make some well educated choices.

How does the loan get paid back if I do not make payments?

Like I keep repeating this is a loan and it is governed by the Department of Human and Urban Development HUD for short and the Federal Housing Administration FHA for short. Homeowners still retain ownership of the home and like I mentioned you do not have to make any monthly payments. Even if the property value drops you still do not have to make any monthly payments to pay back the loan. So you ask who pays back the government, I am glad you asked and here is the answer. When the loan is called or due, the heir or estate can choose to repay back the loan or they can sell the home and repay back the loan and keep what ever is left of the estate. If the home sells for more than what is due on the mortgage the remaining balance after the reverse loan is paid off go's to the estate as an inheritance.

A reverse mortgage loan is “non-recourse”, meaning that if you sell the home to repay the loan, you or your heirs will never owe more than the loan balance or the value of the property, whichever is less; and no assets other than the home must be used to repay the debt.

Pros and cons of a reverse mortgage.

Pros – Homeowner still owns the home, flexible disbursement options, many times the proceeds can be tax free, heirs of the estate will receive the remaining positive balance of the estate after the reverse mortgage is paid off, if the estate value is less than the reverse mortgage balance the heirs are not responsible for the remaining balance, Interest rates may be less than a traditional mortgage or other types of loans.

Cons - hidden administrative cost, some reverse mortgage programs are very complicated, the value of the estate will be affected and will decrease over time as the proceeds are paid out, FHA mortgage insurance premiums can be expensive.

Alternative to reverse mortgage.

A simple line of credit can be taken against the equity of the home from a local bank. The advantage is that the fees for these types of loans are a lot less. But these loans do require a monthly payment.

Home refinancing is another option, but like a line of credit you do have to make monthly payments. Again the administrative fees are a lot less than a reverse mortgage.

Conclusion.

Reverse mortgages are for some but not for all. Do not just jump into a reverse mortgage make sure you investigate the company that is promoting the program and make sure you read all the fine print. It is also advised that you talk to a HUD advisor since the agent selling the reverse mortgage may not spell out all the negatives to the program and how it will affect the heirs of your estate. It would be best that you talk to a financial advisor or if you have an attorney that is a friend or on retainer it would be best for them to go over the paperwork and the application before you sign any documents.

Debt settlement is sometimes the only way to turn.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 20 Jun 2015 16:28:00 +0000

This article is from personal experience of hitting a financial wall and coming to a sudden stop. I was 40 years old and my whole life stopped. I was financially devastated and did not know where to turn. I had been making a good income and my wife at the time was working full time and making very good money. But then I walked into work one day and my job had come to an end. I had no clue that this was going to happen. We had been living high on the hog and had not been putting away any funds for times like this, we had no nest egg or financial cushion to fall back onto. I was devastated, I felt like my world was crashing in around me and I had no clue of where to turn or what to do.

My credit cards were close to being maxed out and I had other bills that were closing in on me. I had reached out to credit counseling agencies to try and help me get my bills in order. They worked except they took every red cent I had and put it all towards my debt, which is fine but it leaves you with nothing which hurts when you have unexpected car repairs or home repairs or a medical emergency. You cannot just pick up the phone and call your credit counselor and say I am skipping this months payment to fix my car, the credit counseling agents do not want to hear this from you and they will not help when you have these situation's. So unfortunately I had to take out other credit cards to help when these issues came about.

I had also looked into a consolidation loans to wrap all my debt into one account and one payment with a much lower interest rate and a payment that I could afford. This would have been great but with no job and only my wife's income I could not qualify for loan, I was what is called “upside down”, my debt to income ratio was backwards or upside down, I owed more monthly than what I had coming in as income. A consolidation loan was out of the question, it would have been great but there was no bank or loan company out there that would give me the time of day.

Unfortunately a lot of these types of programs do not work for people and they did not work for me either. One thing that I did do that worked for me was to go and find a professional debt settlement representative that could talk to the collection agencies, credit card companies, and other people I was in debt to and come up with a debt settlement that we all agreed too. A lot of people frown on debt settlement because it does hurt your credit report and credit score, but when you are in a position like I was my credit score sucked anyways. I opted to take a hit on my credit and pay off my debt at an agreed upon settlement instead of filing bankruptcy. The process can take two to three years of work but I was able to get my bills paid off and in the process I had found a new job and I took that income and applied it to my overall debt.

The whole situation was a wake up call for me. I knew from this that I needed to start storing away some funds on a weekly basis to cover me for three to six months just in case one of us loses our job again or we get sick and cannot go to work and we have to live on one income again. Everybody needs to make sure that they have at least six months of income stored away in case of emergencies.

Can you save money raising chickens?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 20 Jun 2015 12:54:00 +0000

Can raising chickens save you money?

Backyard chicken farming is taking off like wildfire across the nation, but the question is do you really save any money on your grocery bill with raising chickens that produce eggs?

I have raised chickens myself in my backyard, what I found was that I was giving away more eggs than what we could really eat in a week. The cost of raising chickens is really pretty cheap. Most people will go out and purchase a chicken coop to house their chickens in, but if you are on a shoestring budget then do what I did

and use recycled materials. I had taken some old lumber I had laying around and some chicken wire fencing to make my chicken coop, by doing this I saved about $300.00 Since living in Florida I had to build it in the shade to keep the coop cooler, but I did not have to worry about heat or insulation to keep the chickens warm in the winter. The cost of the baby chicks were extremely cheap, the cost we paid was in the neighborhood of $3.00 each. The baby chicks we bought were only a couple days old. The downside is that you will have to wait from four to six months before receiving eggs from them.

If you purchase chicks that are only a few days old you will need a brooder to keep them in until they are old enough to be in the chicken coop. As you will see in this post I am a very frugal person. I used an old rubbermaid tub and some pine straw from my backyard and made my own makeshift brooder. It was just a few weeks before they could be left alone in the coop.

For the chicken coop you will need to purchase a bail of straw about every 6 months or so and that would cost me about $10.00. Then the chicken feed would cost me about $10 to $15 dollars a month. There are a few incidental items you may want to purchase for your mini egg farm, but overall the cost of raising chickens is very inexpensive if you shop around for your feed and supplies. Also if you build your coop out of recycled products you can save money there also. The cost of feed and straw was about the only cost that was after building the chicken coop and purchasing the baby chicks.

On our mini chicken farm we had six hens, and they pretty much laid one egg a day, once in a while we would be surprised and receive two to three eggs from one of our hens.

The nice thing about raising your own chicken eggs is that you know that the eggs are fresh and are organic. No telling how long the eggs have been sitting around in storage that you purchase from a grocery store.

We loved raising chickens and loved helping out friends and family with eggs. We also would donate a lot of the eggs to feeding groups that fed the homeless in our area. People really love getting farm fresh eggs. It is fun raising chickens and children love seeing and being around them also. This is a great family hobby that all will get a benefit from.

We would love to hear your thoughts, comments, and experiences on raising farm fresh eggs.

How do you feel about debt?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 19 Jun 2015 18:14:00 +0000

How do you feel about debt?

All of us have heard many times over and over again, debt is bad! Even the bible talks about debt, “Proverbs 22:7 The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is a servant to the lender.” The one misconception that many Christians talk about is, going into debt is a sin. Nowhere in the bible does it say that debt is a sin or that you have broken one of God's commandments if you find yourself in debt. The bible does talk about being in debt is dangerous and the bible also talks about not repaying your debt “Psalm 37:21 The wicked borrow and do not repay”.

One of the issues we see today that our own leaders in government is borrowing money like mad and going deeper and deeper into debt, which is teaching us to do the same. Our own government is setting a bad example for us to follow. Back in 2008 the government was saying that the people of the nation are not

borrowing enough money to purchase items and the Federal Reserve had to step in to help bail out companies that were hurting because we were not buying things to help companies pay their debt. The government has been in debt since the last great depression, but over the past several years the debt that the government owes has skyrocketed out of the roof. Most of the country’s debt is either mortgage debt or student loan debt. We have seen both of these categories explode over the years. Back just a few years ago when the housing market balloon busted we saw many homeowners leave their homes and dumped this debt back onto the government through bankruptcies. The government was handing out money to homeowners like handing out candy to children. I was working at the time doing loan closings for individuals and people were taking out two and three loans against their home equity just to purchase toys and etc. I knew something bad was going to happen, there was just too much money being handed out all around the country and I was correct. Banks and financial institutions began to fold and the market value on homeowners homes began to drop like a rock. Soon homes that had two and three mortgages on them were upside down, that is when you owe more on the home than what it is worth. When people realized this they just packed up their personal belongings and left their home and gave it back to the lenders (the government in most cases).

Let’s look at some reasons people go into debt or have to go into debt.

Income has been cut. For many, their income has taken a hit or they had to change jobs and their monthly income is less now. Many people fall into this category and they have not tried to cut their expenses. They want to continue to live like they were before their income was cut so they take out loans or charge credit cards to fill in the gap between their income and their expenses.

No savings. It is too easy to spend money that you have left over at the end of the week or month. A person or family should take any left over money and stick it away for a rainy day. Many families have no money or savings set aside for unexpected bills or job layoff or illness. A family should try and set aside three to six months of salary just for times like this, if they don’t they have to use credit cards and other types of loans to make ends meet.

Spending money before you get it. You are banking on a big bonus, or inheritance and it does not come in, but you have already spent this money and now you cannot payoff that credit card bill. I have learnt this one the hard way myself. I was informed of a big bonus and went out and bought some new fishing gear and then the company told me that they made a mistake in calculating my bonus and it was more than half less than it was supposed to be. The moral to this example is, never spend the money until the check clears the bank.

Lack of communication in the family. I find that a lot of family’s have terrible communication skills when it comes to talking about finances. When it comes to money people are afraid to talk to their significant other about buying habits, or the bank statement, or savings and etc. I know families where the husband runs the finances and the wife has no clue what is in the bank and she is afraid to ask anything to her husband about the bank account. I know other families where each spouse has their own bank accounts and they have no clue what the other does with his or her money. Each person has his and hers charge cards and there is no communication between the two of how far in debt they are. This is a terrible way to live as a union. This tells me that there is no trust in the household.

Medical Bills. Medical bills are just getting out of hand. Even with medical insurance you still have large deductibles, copay's, and the insurance is denying many types of surgeries that a person may need to have done. My nephew for an example has hepatitis C from a blood transfusion from when he was a child and he has to take a medication that cost a thousand dollars a day. His insurance will only pay for fifty percent of the cost, there is no generic medication and if he does not take the medication it will kill him. Unfortunately he cannot pay for the medication without going into debt. Another example is my wife, she had to have major surgery, the hospital required a twenty thousand dollar copay, and she has great medical coverage. The hospital required for her to take out a credit card with them in order for her to have the surgery. The hospital is not in the credit card business, they have a third party company that issues the credit, but the hospital has seen too many times when they have not gotten paid after the surgery, and the hospital is just trying to protect themselves from financial failure.

Divorce. Most of us have been through a divorce once or twice in your life. I can count on one hand the number of friends that have not gone through a divorce. As most of us know, a divorce is extremely expensive, even a simple divorce will cost about $3,000.00, then if you have children and assets it will drive the cost of the divorce through the roof. I have one family member that has to fly from Florida to Alaska every time his wife takes him back to court for one thing or another, can you imagine what his divorce is costing him. I know two others that have been separated for over three years and still legally married because they cannot afford to go through the divorce. Many people opt to go into deeper debt just to get the divorce over with.

These here are just a few reasons why people fall into debt. We would love to hear from you some other reasons why maybe you have gone into this dark deep hole called debt.

Can money make us happy

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 18 Jun 2015 00:11:00 +0000

Can money really buy happiness?

This is a really tough question to answer because you have to look at in different ways. First the Bible says that “For the love of money is the root of all evil 1 Timothy 6:10”. But many people take this out of context. It is when we trade our Christian life to serve making money over everything and everybody else. Being greedy and covet money is the evil part of money. It is what we do with the money that either brings us happiness or evil.

In today's society the use of money to pay our bills, to help us get out of debt, take a vacation, purchase groceries, get us a vehicle so we can have dependable transportation, and of course put a roof over our heads is what we are suppose to use money for. Without these basic essentials we would not be able to be

happy and it takes money to have these items so we can live. To say can money purchase happiness, my answer would have to be yes.

People look at happiness in all different ways. A friend of mine who is not a Christian looks at what makes him happy is buying things. He is a spontaneous buyer. He walks into a furniture store and walks out purchasing a $6000.00 bed. He had no plans of purchasing a bed when he entered the store, it was an impulse purchase. He ended up putting the expenditure on a credit card because he had no money to pay for it, but he felt the need to buy something. Now he is $6000.00 deeper in debt and is unhappy because he has this debt. So for the moment he was happy but it was short lived when he received his credit card bill and the happiness is gone.

In today’s society we are pounded over and over again to make purchases and buy new things, even if we do not need them or can afford them. The world tells us just go ahead and charge it, we can pay for it later. In 2014 there were over 1 million dollars of personal bankruptcies mostly because people over purchased and could not dig themselves out of debt.

Relationships not things is what brings us happiness. It has been said many times, that relationships with people, not things is what brings a person happiness. In a report in the Huffington Post that shared many studies of this same exact thing. Even the bible talks about this in Matthew 6:19-20 says “Do not store up for yourselves treasures (material items) here on earth, where moths and rust will destroy and where thieves will break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth or rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.

Now let’s look at some steps of how money can buy us happiness the correct way.

Step 1; Get out of debt.

Debt is the number one killer of a happy home. Debt brings on misery, unhappiness, physical damage to your health by being stressed over debt, and if you get yourself so deep in debt you have to file bankruptcy you will have many years of hard work bringing your credit back up to a good standard. This is why I listed getting out of debt as being step one.

Step 2; Give to others.

Luke 6:38 Give and it shall be given unto you. Proverbs 19:17 One who is gracious to a poor man lends to the Lord, and HE will repay him for his good deed. Proverbs 28:27 He who gives to the poor will never want, but he who shuts his eyes will have many curses. It has been proven over and over again from bible scholars to psychologist that giving and making others happy in turn makes us feel better and makes us happy.

Step 3; Look at what brings happiness.

For me it is spending time with my family and also helping others that are in despair. I would love to be able to be financially free from the bonds of work in order to do this but at this present time I am not. I am working on taking the money I make from my present job and from working on this blog to be able to make myself financially free in order to help others as much as I can. To me a job is an anchor around my neck that is holding me back from giving aid to others that are much less fortunate.

But each of us has to look at ourselves to see what brings us happiness. Hopefully it is not material things, but if it is them that is something that you have to work with and for. Whatever it is it takes money to get us the happiness that we are striving for.

Money can bring us happiness if we use it correctly to help us get out of debt, pay your bills, help others, and share it with those who do not have it. But if we covet money and be greedy with it money can be the root to unhappiness.

Save money when grocery shopping.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 15 Jun 2015 23:52:00 +0000

Save money when grocery shopping.

Have you noticed that over the years food prices are sky rocketing through the roof? I go shopping pretty much every time that my wife goes to the grocery store, not to monitor her purchasing habits but just because I like shopping just as much as she does and it is a great time for us to spend together.

We both work well together when it comes to purchasing food. We shop for the best prices, but we do not buy generic unless we know for sure that it is just as good as the name brand items. We have ran across a few generic items that were definitely not worth the compromise to buying generic to save money.

We are not health nuts and only eat vegetarian style far from it, but we do eat a wide variety of items. We try to stay away from processed foods and eat more of a healthier diet of fresh vegetable, fruit, and meats. We do try and stay away from foods that are high in sugars and carbs, just because we are trying to watch our weight. So many pre-packaged foods and processed foods are loaded with ingredients that are not good for human consumption.

There are many ways to save on your food bill no matter what type of diet or how your family lives and eats , but it does take some work on your part to make some changes in your lifestyle to make this work. Her are a few ideas that have helped my wife and I save money in the past on our grocery bill, I hope these will help you out also.

Make a shopping list. With today’s technology there are many apps for smartphones out on the market for making a shopping list, pick one at put it to use. On my smartphone my wife and I will work on a shopping list at least a week ahead. When something comes to her mind she will shoot me a text to put it on the shopping list, then on pay day we will take the list and do our grocery shopping. We always go to the store with a plan, and if we stick to this plan and stay focused we do not over purchase and waste money. Another reason to make a shopping list is so we can sit down the night before and go through our coupons and find the ones that line up with our list, this way we do not forget about giving the clerk the coupon for the item's we buy, using coupons can save us a lot of money if we use them correctly.

Don’t shop hungry. This has been said for years, but it is a good statement to live by. When you are hungry you will buy out the store and most of it you dont need. One thing that I found is that when I shop while I am hungry I will have less patience and I will not grab the first thing I see on the shelf and I will not comparison shop for the best price. When you are hungry you will also make some serious bad choices for the food you eat especially if you are on any sort of diet.

Shop at warehouse stores. You will find a lot of items at discount prices if you purchase in case lots. Yes you have to pay for a membership fee, but the most I ever had to pay was $35.00 for year. I made that up the first time I went shopping. Canned vegetables, soups, rice, pasta, cereal, chips, these are just a few items that have long shelf life and can be purchased at a fraction f the price than at a normal grocery store. This is an excellent way to purchase at a reduced rate and stock the shelves at home.

Discount Food Stores. This is really popular in Florida, we have several discount food stores all around the state. These stores are a no thrill type of store where you even have to bring your own grocery bags and you have to bag your own groceries. I can walk into one of these store and cut my weekly grocery bill in half. Granted a lot of the food at these discount stores are generic, but most of what I have purchased at these places is just as good as name brand food at normal grocery stores.

Purchase fresh fruit and vegetables locally. Most communities have farmer markets and local fruit stands. These are excellent places to purchase home grown fruits, vegetables, eggs, and sometimes even locally grown beef, pork and chicken. Usually the food from these places are very high quality, organic and most of the time free of hormones. I love shopping at these types of places, I build a rep-or with the farmer or the owner of the fruit stand and I can sometime make a barter with the person or find out if they have something seasonal that is coming in shortly.

Prepackaged Food. Don’t ever purchase food that is prepackaged for you. For an example, in the produce area of the store you will find vegetables like onions, peppers, and celery already cut up and packaged. If you look at the price it will be three to four times more expensive than the non-cut up product. Also when you go through the frozen food section you will find bags of frozen vegetables, frozen meals and many other pre-packaged food and processed food. The cost of these foods will definitely drive up the price of you grocery.

Comparison shop. Keep all your receipts from shopping for strictly groceries. At the end of a month write down the main items that you usually purchase with the prices. Take the list to several different grocery stores in your community and compare prices. You may be astounded to find that even though you thought you were getting a great deal at the store you most often shop at you could save money by shopping at a couple different stores. My wife and I do this, we will purchase all our canned goods at warehouse store, then all our meat products at our local butcher shop, and then our remaining items at a big box store along with our toiletries, and household items.

For many people the grocery bill is one of the most costly expenditure in their budget. Saving money on your grocery bill will help put money back into the budget to help pay off other debts you want to get rid of or save this money to add to your investment portfolio. Every area where you can save money will help to make your dreams come true and help you to be financially independent.

Sell Clutter Around Your Home for Fast Money

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 14 Jun 2015 17:45:00 +0000

There has been a few times in my life when I have needed some extra cash, for either a vacation, a mission trip or just to pay off some bills early. One of the best ways I found to make some money was by going through the house and find things I did not need anymore or I just don't use. This way is a great way to get rid of the clutter around the house, garage and sheds, plus make some extra serious cash to boot.

Yard sale to sell clutter and make money!

Many people tend to think that the only way to sell things is by having a yard sale. A yard sale is one way to do it, but there are many down falls for doing yard selling. First it is a lot of hard work setting up tables and pricing things, plus you have to sit outside in the blazing heat (especially here in Florida) all day, then you have the professional yard selling purchasers that will offer you pennies on a dollar for your items. Then if the items don't sell you still have not made much money and you are still stuck with the junk.

Here are a few recommendations of other ways to sell your clutter and make some nice cash.

Craiglist is a great way to sell items and another reason it is so good is that it is free to use. We just recently sold a boat that we had not been using, we listed it one day and sold it the next. We also use Craiglist to rent our rental home. Over the past several years we had lost renters and when we list it on Craiglist it always rents in a matter of a few days.

Two things I recommend when dealing with buyers from racialist, first only accept cash from the buyer, and if you are uncomfortable about people coming to your home then I would recommend that you meet the buyer at a local place like a public parking lot.

Amazon Auction site is a great way to sell your items. Amazon allows you to sell many different items, some of these items would include books, electronics, toys, games, baby products, musical instruments, CD's, DVDs and many other items like these. The only thing you need to do is sign up as a non-professional seller and sell less than 40 items per month.

Online Facebook For Sale Pages in the past couple of years people have been setting online sale pages up on Facebook. This has been a great way for people to advertise their items for sale with no fee's. People sell all sort of things from large items like car's and truck's to smaller items like kids toy's, clothing, furniture, and etc. To find one of these pages all you need to do is search Facebook for one in your area. If you cant find one for your location then you could start one yourself.

Consignment Stores are another great place to sell your items you wish to get rid of. Even in the small town that I live in there are least four or five of these consignment shops. These are great because all you need to do is drop off your stuff and negotiate a fee and they will ask a few questions for a description of the items and how much you want for them. When the items sell then they get a hold of you and give you the money they received from the buyers. Some consignment shops only deal in antiques, some deal only in clothing, while others may handle anything that you bring in. Just stop by one of these stores and get the details of what they sell and how much they charge and you could be selling your stuff that day.

Ebay I have used many times in the past to sell items that I wanted to get rid of and made some pretty serious money. Ebay is a great source to sell your items. What I love about it is that I can do it at anytime that I have some free time on my hands. I don't have to waste a whole weekend sitting out in the heat waiting for someone to purchase my stuff, all I need to do is take a couple good pictures on my items, write a description and list the item for sale. When someone purchases the item, I pack it up and take it to the post office and mail the item to the buyer. It is as simple as that. In a later post I will go more in depth of how to sell your items on Ebay and set up an Ebay store.

The key to selling items on Craigslist, Ebay, Amazon, Facebook, or any other online source is to write an awesome description of the item, take some good photographs of the items and have an amazing title for the item. Be upfront with your shipping times and prices, don't try and scam people for selling the item dirt cheap and charge a ridiculous price for shipping. The best practice is when the items sells package the item up really well and get the item shipped as soon as possible. Your purchaser will love this and give you a good rating.

Help with building a budget

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 12 Jun 2015 19:47:00 +0000

A good budget is the number one tool to helping a person pay off debt, build their retirement accounts, and plan for their financial future. A budget is a road map to help you with your everyday finances. A person should not look at a budget as being a negative item, but a helpful tool. When you take a vacation you use a road map or google maps in order to map your way from point “A” to point “B”, well a budget is the same thing, a map to help you manage your finances.

Many Americans have troubles with their bank accounts and other finances because many of us lack the skills to manage their accounts and their debt. There are many tools out there to help us with skills but most people do not know where to look or what to look for. Many financial tools are free of charge if you know where to look.

Before putting together a budget the first thing you need to do is track all your expenses for a month. There are mobile apps that can help you record all of your purchases. Every purchase, from small ones to large ones need to be recorded for this month. Even ATM fee’s and bank fees need to be recorded in order to get a good picture of you spending habits.

Take this data after a month of tracking and sit down and you will probably be surprised to see where your money has gone. This is best way to get an overall picture about how you allocate your funds and spend your hard earned money..

When you finally sit down to put together your first month’s budget the number one thing you do not want to do is cut out all the fun things you do. Don’t make this a punishment and take all the fun out of your life. If you are too strict on yourself you will probably fail in a short time period. You will find yourself cheating and eventually you will stop following your budget and you find yourself back in the same boat your are trying to leave. Instead learn to limit yourself. Example would be, “if you stop every morning for a starbucks coffee or eat out for lunch everyday, don’t stop doing these things you enjoy all together. Just set yourself some limits, instead of doing these things daily, cut yourself back to once or twice a week, you will see the benefits add up in your wallet at the end of the month.

Now take your bills for the month and separate them into categories. The first category should be your fixed expenses, such as your mortgage or rent, your utilities, car payment and any sort of membership fees that you pay monthly. Hopefully this does not go over fifty percent of your monthly take home pay.

The next category would be savings. Experts recommend putting away ten to twenty percent of your take home pay into a auto deposit savings account that earns interest. They recommend an auto deposit, this is where the money comes out of your check before you notice it is missing so these funds will not be seen, “out of sight out of mind” kind of thinking.

The third category would be flexible spending. Your monthly budget should not exceed thirty percent of your take home pay for this category. This would consist of eating out, morning Starbucks coffee runs, groceries, gas, entertainment, hobbies, and etc. This category is called flexible because these items can be adjusted. For example, when shopping for groceries, try cutting coupons and look at adds in the paper to save yourself some money. Shopping for clothes, is another area that you can compare prices in order to save money. Filling the car with gas, shop around the area for cheaper prices for fuel. Cut back to once or twice a week for going to Starbucks instead of going daily. These are just a few examples of where you can be flexible and save money.

So if you see, fifty percent of your money goes toward your large ticket items like rent or mortgage, twenty percent goes to savings of some kind, and thirty percent goes toward your more flexible items.

Here is a list of tools to help you build your budget. These tools are online so I have put the links here for you to click on.