Top 10 Ways to Cut Spending

By: Kristine A McKinley

Do you run out of money before you run out of month? Do you wonder where your money goes each month? Do you struggle to find money to invest for retirement, emergencies and other financial goals? Here are 10 tips to cut your spending and stretch your dollar to the max:

1. Consider dropping your home telephone line. Your cell phone is probably all you really need, and most likely it has free long distance. You could save $30 or more per month by dropping your "land line".

2. Cut back on trips to Starbucks or other premium coffee shops. Often called the "latte factor", spending several dollars per day on luxuries like premium coffee can really add up. For example, if you spend $4 for a cappuccino five times a week for 50 weeks out of the year (you're on vacation the other two weeks), you would spend $1,000 in a year. Try treating your trip to Starbucks as a treat instead of a habit. You'll save money and probably lose weight too!

3. Pay your mortgage payment bi-weekly instead of monthly. You'll pay less interest and pay off your mortgage faster.

4. Carry cash instead of credit cards. Psychologically it's harder to spend cash than it is to use the credit card. You'll spend less and save on interest charges.

5. Use the "envelope system" for groceries, dining out, entertainment, and other discretionary spending categories. This will help you track how much you spend in these categories as well as prioritizing your spending.

6. Raise the deductible on your homeowners and auto insurance policies. It's not wise to file claims for small losses anyway (insurance companies love to raise rates after you file a claim), so a higher deductible will save you money now and in the future.

7. Buy regular gas instead of premium. Most cars don't need premium gasoline. Also, take public transportation if it's available in your area. Take advantage of "park and ride" and carpooling options.

8. Plan your purchases to avoid impulse buying. Take a list with you to the grocery store and stick with it. Studies show that impulse buying can add $10-50 to your grocery bill - ouch!

9. Go to the library instead of the bookstore. If you're an avid reader, give yourself a book budget for books that you will want to keep, and go to the library for everything else.

10. Take a vacation at home. Check out all the local sites and happenings. You'll rediscover your hometown and save on travel and hotel costs.

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

Kristine A McKinley, CPA, and Certified Financial Planner, is a fee-only financial planner. For more personal finance and tax tips, please visit our blog at beaconfinancialtips.typepad.com/financialtipsforwahms/

Understand Debt to be Debt Free

Understand Debt to be Debt Free

By: Regina Maniam

The essence of being debt free is dependent on one's ability to keep the expenses less than the total income of the household. Being able to budget will go a long way in keeping you debt free. Those who are very good at budgeting can even come up with savings even if they have meager incomes.

The problem sets in when a person fails to make an efficient financial plan and his expenses exceeds his earnings. When this happens, a person has no choice but to borrow money to make up for his financial deficiencies. Borrowing once or twice because of a mismanaged financial plan is normal but when borrowing becomes a regular thing, it can put a person in serious debt problems.

A person who borrows money from another is said to be in debt. The debts of a person can be minimal or it can reach up to millions depending on the credit limits of this person. Sometimes, a person who has assets but isn't liquid can use these assets to get cash. Under this term, the person can be indebted for an amount less or more than his assets.

There are laws which provide that a person can never be forced to render services as payment for his debts. This is already called undue servitude which is prohibited by the laws of some countries. However, there are situations when the person who is in debt opts to settle his obligation by rendering his services.

This can happen if a person is so talented in his craft like painting and he opts to pay for his debts by creating a painting of the creditor or the assignee of the creditor. Sometimes, a person can pay his debts gradually or on an installment basis.

When a person dies, the law has provided for a hierarchy of preferences in the payment of such debts. Of course, payment of taxes to the government will always come first. The second priority for debt payments includes funeral expenses of the deceased and the payment for the wages of people.

Debt is really just a simple concept. It provides that a person who borrowed something from another is duty bound to pay that debt. However, the concept of debt becomes more complicated with the introduction of other concepts like mortgage, interest rates and other charges. Interest makes most debts double or even triple in amount. More often, the interest rates due for a certain debt is even higher than the principal amount borrowed.

A person who wants to get credit can do so in the form of a loan. A loan can either be secured to unsecured. A secured loan means the debtor borrowed some money and supported by collateral or a security for the loan. The security or collateral can come in the form of a house and lot, a car or any asset of the debtor. An unsecured loan means otherwise.

Most creditors require a security before granting a loan because it gives them something to hold on to or to forfeit in case the debtor defaults in payment. When the debtor fails to pay the debt within the agreed timeframe, then the creditor can foreclose the security or the collateral.

However, having an unsecured loan doesn't mean that the debtor can renege on his debts. When the debtor fails to pay his loans, the creditor can still run after him by filing a case in court. When this happens, the debtor who has no cash can sell some of his assets to pay for his outstanding loan.

Being in debt is common even for the rich and the famous, the only difference between them and the common people is that their debts can be in the millions since they have more assets to support their loan. Unsecured loans most often have higher interest rates to make up for the lack of security.

Even third world countries are indebted to more developed countries. However, the debts of a country can go on forever because they keep on paying their loan but they also get new credits as their credit ratings go up.

There are instances when a pure lack of understanding of debts and hence managing debts has led people to get into worst debt situations than necessary. It is important to understand debt so that you can get to be as debt free as possible.

Regina Maniam shares information on understanding debts so that one can be as debt free as possible. More information is available at www.yourdebtreliefguide.com.

Free Checking

Banks and Credit Unions in the U.S.

Search for local banks nearest you!
Find local banks near you such as Citibank, Washington Mutual, and Wells Fargo.
Search for local Credit Unions and banks in your area. Banks offering free checking and free savings!

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Plan Retirement Early

If I want to gain financial freedom way before retirement age or latest at the age of retirement, I need to accumulate enough wealth to achieve the lifestyle that I want. This requires planning as gathered from the Rich Dad's series by Robert Kiyosaki. If I want to be cautious, I feel that I should have two plans.

The first plan is to plan for retirement. The second plan is to plan to retire way before the age of retirement. This is because in case the second plan fails, I still have the first plan to fall back to. In the worst scenario, I will gain financial freedom at the retirement age.

In order to implement the first plan, I need to embark on the journey to research on retirement planning. After studying and reading a lot on retirement planning, I realize that retirement planning should be done as early as possible in my life. Why?

Firstly, I can capitalize more on the compounding interest of investment return. If I invest early in my life, then my investment has more time to grow. This advantage is gone if I have only invested near my retirement age.

For example, let assume the rate of investment return is 5 percent per annum and my retirement age is 60 years old. If I invest at the age of 30 years old, then my investment has 30 years to grow at the compounding interest rate of 5 percent per annum. If I have invested at the age of 55 years old, then my investment has only 5 years to grow at the compounding interest rate of 5 percent per annum. Of course, I will gain more if I have invested at the age of 30 years old.

Secondly, I can afford to make mistakes in my investment and recover from my mistakes. When I learn to invest initially, I will definitely make mistakes here and there. Because I start to learn to invest at a younger age, I have more time to learn and recover from my mistakes. Learning form mistakes is the key to accumulate wealth based on my understanding of the Rich Dad's series by Robert Kiyosaki.

For example, if I have made a mistake in investment that result in a loss of $10,000 at the age of 30 years old, I still can earn back the money. But if I have made the same mistake at the age of 60 years, I may not be employable to earn back the lost amount.

Even if I decide to hire a financial planner to help me, it is still my responsibility to know enough about investment so that I do not hire the wrong guy. This knowledge cannot be gained through purely reading. Some kind of practical experience is required to understand more about investments to enable one to decide on the proposed solution given by the financial planner.

Thirdly, I can be more aggressive in my investment. That is I can put my money into more risky investments. More risks usually mean better return on investment. But that may not be always true. If I can manage the risks well, I can get better return on risky investment.

For example, I can invest in currency. That is provided that I know how to manage the high risks in currency investment. Even if I have all the necessary risk management in place, there is still a possibility that the investment still goes wrong due to unforeseen circumstances. In which case, I have time to recover from the loss.

Then, I can invest in long-term investments. This is not possible if I invest near retirement age. At near retirement age, I should only be investing in assets that give me cash or near cash, as I will need the money to support my retirement lifestyle. In fact, most of my investments should be converted to the type that can give me regular income near my retirement age.

For example, it maybe impractical for me to invest in a property and hoping that it will appreciate. A property may take quite a number of years to appreciate to a substantial amount. In other words, I should not be looking for investments that give capital appreciation. I should be focusing on investments that give me regular income such as annuity.

Even though that it is good to plan for retirement early, it is important that I have addressed the more urgent needs first. I should have already planned and insured properly so that I will not face a financial disaster due any unexpected accidents or illness or any other events. Also, I should have already set aside an emergency fund equivalent to 3 to 6 months of monthly expenditure. In this way, I should be able to survive till my retirement age to see the fruits of my retirement plan.

Max Ng helps people who desire success to learn from his mistakes and realizations by sharing his personal struggle for success at www.richdadsecrets4me.com. He is the author of "Your Greatest Gift! Why Waste It?" at www.yourgreatestgift.com

How To Rebuild Your Credit

By: Sharon Givens

The number of Americans struggling with bad credit is not showing any signs of decreasing. Rather this segment of the American population is rising in numbers. This reality, does not come as a surprise to most people.

Consumers can attest to the fact that rising health insurance costs, gas prices, education fees, rent/mortgage costs are taking a toll, on the best of us. Mix in the predicament of job cuts, low increases in pay and you have the perfect storm of consumers, relying on their credit cards and loans to pay for everyday expenses.

If you’ve been through the pain of a car repossession, bankruptcy or foreclosure – you may feel like, you will never get out of the hole.

This is not true.

The key to restoring your financial health is to understand that the situation is temporary. Bad credit is not a permanent situation. Your FICO score is an indication of how you’ve handled lines of credit, in the past. What this means is that, if you are serious about fixing your credit, you can get a new line of credit and start paying your bills on time. This will prove to your creditors that you are responsible.

If you have not done so already, you can get a copy of your government credit report – it’s free per the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). Your credit report will detail any loans and credit card bills that are delinquent and/or in good standing.

Anytime, is a good time to start rebuilding your credit. Start today.

For a list of credit cards that can be used to rebuild credit and additional bad credit repair advice, visit www.poorcreditgenie.com

Refinancing a Mortgage at the Best Time Possible

Author: Joel Cohen

There are some dilemmas that people have to cope with before refinancing. Among the most popular ones is the timing. It often can be frustrating when planning on refinancing a mortgage because you don't want to pay the down payment or for any other reason. When proper research is done prior taking action, one will understand the market better and eventually make an educated decision.

Identify the Main Reason for Refinancing

In cases where you need extra cash for home improvements it is said that any time is a best time for refinancing. You may also use this opportunity to lengthen the repayment period which will eventually give some relief with the monthly payments that are to be paid.

When the main purpose is to consolidate debt things tend to be a bit tricky. You know that you need the cash to pay off debt but are worried about placing your house as collateral against unsecured credit card debt. The best advice you can get is to refinance as the last option.

Refinancing at an Early Stage

If you have obtained a mortgage and are at an early stage of repayment, however, you've found that the repayment plan you chose to work with is too high and for any reason, find it difficult to keep up with the payments, refinancing may be the best option you have. It will give you a chance to spread out the payments for a longer time, eventually giving you some peace of mind.

Calculate Before You Take Action

Make sure that if you refinance don't do it more than once. It will be expensive and time consuming. If at any point you get the idea to refinance for the main purpose of improving your credit score you are headed in the wrong way. Paying your bills on time is the best way to improve your credit ratings.

Obtaining a loan online from a home mortgage lender is what will make your loan worth while. Comparing debt consolidation with bad credit loans offers is useful.

Do You Want More Money in the Bank?

Do You Want More Money in the Bank?
Author: Eric Fields

Everyone wants more money in the bank. There are a couple things you will need to do in order to get more money. Consider this, most people are afraid to take any chances in life and there is nothing wrong with that. But you can never win if you never take a chance. Taking risks is apart of life. Take dating for example, if you never go up to and talk to that certain someone they will most likely just pass you by. Now if you take the chance and talk to them, sure they could turn you down but at least you still would have a chance of going out with them. The same applies in business as well you must take the chance in order to succeed.

Do not expect to wake up one day and find more money in the bank. And even if you did what would you do when the money ran out. Making money is a skill that you must develop. You must see the opportunity while everyone else sees the negative. Most people are afraid of things they do not understand or are not familiar with. That is why they are so negative about new things you may be doing. It is easy to criticize and put down people. Learn to develop tough skin and these types of people should not be a problem for you. Never let your fears or anyone else's fears get in the way of you succeeding.

In order for you to succeed in anything you must want it for yourself. No one is going to give you a golden ticket but people will help you out. Everyone wants more money in the bank, the real question is how badly and what are you willing to risk in order to have more money in the bank.

About the Author:
Do you want more money in the Bank was written by Eric Fields. For 31 free business ebooks (valued at over 400 dollars) go to http://www.zipbz.com. This article may be reprinted provided no part thereof is edited in any way and this resource box is included.