Posts Tagged ‘how to get out of debt’

Ways To Make Cents at Home

In the midst of all these skyrocketing prices, come the how’s, ways and means to save money and earn extra.

There are creative but practical ways you can engage in to help the family save and at the same time earn extra. The things that have been sitting in your attic for sometime and those that become all too familiar and useless might mean extra bucks. This way, it saves you space, cleaning materials and containers. This reduces maintenance expenses.

Save More Money

Garage sale at home is a save-and-earn endeavor for starters. Look at the success of flea markets where people can buy almost anything at a lower price but large amount of income for vendors.

How to maximize the potential of flea markets and bargain sales to help you save? Primarily, a flea market is a place where almost all who have something to sell can sell for tremendously lower costs but good quality items. If you have the right tools and enough preparation for a day’s trip to a flea market, then you are ready to go with some handy tips:

1. Ready your tools, maps, measurements and cash:
• easy-to-carry tool kit with screwdrivers, pliers, tape measure, pencil, ropes, set of swatches, paper and plastic bags and boxes;
• floorplan measurements;
• maps, directions and phone numbers;
• bring enough cash and checks for high-priced items;
• dress yourself appropriately for bargain hunting.
2. Early birds usually get the best selections.
3. Keep a critical eye during shopping.
• Be ready to negotiate and haggle on the prices of items.
• Items sold here have greater possibilities, either you can redecorate or repaint them to make it look unique and attractive.

How to make this activity an earning endeavor? After your hands-on training in an established flea market, hope you took note of your observations and ideas; it is time to try out on your own.

Bear in mind five things crucial to garage sale success: location, date and time, variety of goods, organization/presentation, advertisements and prices.

• Spot a strategic location where people can access and drop by easily. Your house is the perfect venue for this. Weekends are the best to schedule your sale.
• During your cleaning session, take note of candidate items for the sale, label them (keep, for repair, must go) and give them a brand new look.
• Organize them well according to prices, use arrangement styles, decide on the tables, baskets and boxes for the items and decorate your venue with fabrics and other helpful materials.
• Lower your prices. The idea here is to dispose of the things but earn from them reasonably.

Keep Them Handy: Budgeting Tools that Work

Budgeting your monthly expenses in order to get the greatest return on your income (and perhaps, even put aside some for saving!) doesn’t have to be extremely hard.

Various budgeting programs are available for use. Money management programs provide you with a usual package that allows you to enter your cash inflows and outflows, categorizes your expenditures, and at times, presents to you analysis of your spending behavior. Through these programs you can also input the various payments you have to make monthly, and subsequently track if you’ve paid your dues on time. Moreover, some programs also offer you a tax form draft that will help you make sure you’re not missing out on any dues or any deductibles, for that matter.

Another budgeting tool that you can utilize are coupons. Various stores and magazines contain coupons that you can use to get discounts on various products. Should there be a need to purchase a particular product for which you have a coupon for, you will end up saving a fraction of what you might have had to spend on a regular purchase.

Lists—whether on a piece of paper, on your cellular phone, or on your personal digital assistant (PDA) will help you keep focused on what you have to buy, and in effect, keep track of the purchases you make. A classic example is your regular grocery trip. Prior to making the trip, plan out the week’s entire menu and identify what food items and materials you need to purchase that are unavailable in your pantry. Then, make a list of other household items that you’ve run out of (or are eventually going to run out of before you can make the next trip to the grocery). Armed with these lists, you can go to the grocery and know exactly where to go and what you’re going to buy. Without these lists, you will walk idly along aisles, and will likely pick up various food items that you won’t likely need in the immediate future, or already have at home.

A filing system is perhaps one of the best budgeting tools you can have in your home. With simple, labeled file folders, you can put together your bills, your receipts, and whatever bank documents are issued to you when you save or pay. By putting together your bills, your credit card receipts, and the like, you are able to keep track of how much you owe and when your payments are due.

Effective budgeting tools are those that best address your needs as a consumer. Create your own budgeting tool or find a program to do it for you—just make sure it suits your lifestyle.

Wisconsin Blacks Don’t Have Bank Accounts

The largest survey ever of how many families in the U.S. have bank accounts revealed both good news and bad news for Wisconsin.

The good news: The percentage of households without a bank account is smaller in Wisconsin than nationally, 4.3% vs. 7.7%.

The bad news: The state fares worse than the U.S. average when it comes to bank accounts for blacks and Hispanics. The survey found that 30.4% of African-American and 32.6% of Hispanic households in the Wisconsin were “unbanked” – meaning no one in the family had a checking or savings account. That compares with 21.7% for blacks nationally and 19.3% for Hispanics.

The upshot, according to the FDIC, which released the survey findings Wednesday, is that banks and credit unions need to develop more low-cost ways to conduct transactions such as check cashing, educate more people about the value and safety of savings accounts, and offer reasonably priced alternatives for small-dollar loans.

“I think our challenge is to make sure banks have the appropriate range of products and services to meet the needs of all people, including low-income communities, and have the right fee mix that is cost effective,” Sheila Bair, chairman of the FDIC, said during a conference call Wednesday.

At 4.3%, the amount of Wisconsin households without an account at a bank or credit union was tied with Alaska for 11th-lowest.

The survey asked households without bank accounts why they don’t have any. The No. 1 reason was that they didn’t have enough money to need an account. Among other top reasons: They didn’t want or see the value of an account, the service charges were too high, they did not write enough checks, the minimum balance requirements were too high, they’ve bounced too many checks or did not trust banks.

The survey also looked at “underbanked” households – those that have a checking or savings account but still rely on alternative financial service providers, such as payday lenders. In Wisconsin, 16% overall were found to be underbanked, compared with 17.9% nationally. Among Wisconsin blacks and Hispanics, 39.4% and 15.6% were underbanked, respectively, compared with 31.6% for blacks and 24% for Hispanics in the U.S.

“What it shows is we still have a lot of work to do, but we’re up for the task,” said Deloris Sims, chairman and chief executive of Legacy Bank, which operates in Milwaukee’s central city.

Sims said in some cases, bringing people into the mainstream financial system means overcoming years of tradition.

“I think some generations of people have definitely been raised on check cashing outlets versus banks,” Sims said. “That’s the way they are raised, and that’s what they do. That’s how they take care of their business. They could do things differently if they were educated.”

Legacy and many other banks here have outreach efforts to show people the value of using checking and savings accounts.

Wisconsin’s biggest bank, M&I Bank, has two full-time staff members whose job is to conduct financial education and find ways to attract consumers into the banking system, said Ammar Askari, M&I community education administrator. He said immigrants, particularly Hispanics, often are reluctant to put their confidence in the banking system and prefer to deal in cash.

“They come in with a great deal of mistrust of financial institutions based on their experience back home,” Askari said.

Some consumers have had bad experiences with American banks, such as penalties for bounced checks, and find it easier to operate through other types of financial services providers, he said.

“I’m sure you could say that there’s always more that could be done, but I think we do quite a bit in terms of educating people about the benefits of bank accounts and traditional accounts,” said Rose Oswald Poels, senior vice president of the Wisconsin Bankers Association.

Is Legacy Bank Down For The Count?

from JSOnline Report
Milwaukee’s Legacy Bank, wrestling with losses on loans, has been told by regulators to raise capital or sell itself to another financial institution.

Legacy Bank In Trouble

The Federal Reserve has issued a directive that declares Legacy “significantly undercapitalized,” and gives the bank and its parent company, Legacy Bancorp Inc., 60 days to remedy the situation.

Legacy Bank, which was founded 11 years ago with the goal of focusing on lending in Milwaukee’s central city, has lost almost $6.4 million this year after losing $15.2 million in 2009, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data shows.

Last spring, Legacy entered into an agreement with the Fed that required a plan to strengthen the bank’s credit risk management practices and prepare a strategic plan to improve the bank’s earnings and overall condition.

Legacy Bank President José Mantilla said Wednesday that the bank hired an investment banking firm “some months back” to help with a plan to restore capital.

“We continue to raise capital, and we believe that prospects for us are still to move forward. Some work to do, but still moving forward,” Mantilla said.

The new directive also prohibits Legacy from soliciting, accepting or renewing deposit accounts paying higher-than-market interest rates.

Legacy is one of 20 Wisconsin banks that received an infusion of capital from the U.S. Treasury through the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP. Legacy received a $5.5 million government investment in early 2009. At the time, the Treasury noted Legacy was one of the fastest-growing community banks in the nation.

But FDIC records show many types of loans have soured at Legacy. Through Sept. 30 this year, its ratio of non-current loans to total loans had grown to more than 23%, up from nearly 11% – an already high ratio – a year earlier.

According to the FDIC, 37% of Legacy’s home-purchase loans were delinquent through the end of September, and 34% of its credit card loans were in arrears.

“The loans that are problematic were loans that are right here in Milwaukee, in the community we serve, which was impacted by the macro events of this economy,” Mantilla said. “We are seeing some significant turnaround in that process.”

How To Get Through The Holidays With Less Stress and Less Debt!

The holiday season is suppose to be a time for joy and celebration…but all too often it can become Stressful for Families and Relationships!

During the holidays we have seen a rise in:
*Domestic Violence
*Stress
*Depression
*Debt
*Heart Attacks
*Stroke
*and many other illnesses

For A Limited Time…I’m Giving away
3 Free E-books To Help You Make It Through The Holidays With Less Stress and Less Debt!

CLICK ON THE IMAGES BELOW TO DOWNLOAD YOUR EBOOK.

Keep Reading…

Tips on How to Teach Your Kids to Save Money

A lot of teens nowadays do not understand the value of earning and spending money. They were not oriented that investing is necessary even if they are still students. As parents, you play a crucial role in this area.

You should be able to teach your kids on how to save money. They should be able to understand the concept of money and investment as early as childhood. This will prepare them to learn money management, as they grow old.

Here are some tips on how you can teach your children how to save money:

1. Your children should be educated of the meaning of money. Once your children have learned how to count, that is the perfect time for you teach them the real meaning of money. You should be consistent and explain to them in simple ways and do this frequently so that they may be able to remember what you taught them.

2. Always explain to them the value of saving money. Make them understand its importance and how it will impact their life. It is important that you entertain questions from them about money and you should be able to answer them right away.

3. When giving them their allowances. You need to give them their allowances in denominations. Then you can encourage them that they should keep a certain bill for the future. You can motivate them to do this by telling them that the money can be saved and they can buy new pair of shoes or the toys they want once they are able to save.

4. You can also teach them to work for money. You can start this at your own home. You can pay them fifty cents to one dollar every time they clean their rooms, do the dishes or feed their pets. This concept of earning little money will make them think that money is something they have worked for and should be spent wisely.

5. You can teach them to save money by giving them piggy banks where they can put coins and wait until they get full. You can also open bank accounts for them and let them deposit money from their allowance. You should always show them how much they have earned to keep them motivated.

Money and saving is not something that is learned by children in one sitting. You should be patient in teaching them and relating the value of money in all of their activities. Children will learn this easily if you are patient and consistent in guiding them and encouraging them in this endeavor.

Frank Lucas vs Chris Gardner

Today I purchased a new computer for an employee that will be joining my company on Monday.  The programming and data transfers were going to take 4 hours.  I didn’t have to do anything but press a button once.  But I did have to sit in my office to make sure the process didn’t stop without being finished.

So I was flipping through the TV channels and I ran across ‘American Gangster’ about The notorious drug dealer from the 70′s Frank Lucas.  The next movie was ‘The Pursuit of Happiness’ about the single parent/homeless/medical supply salesman Chris Gardner who transformed his life to become a multi-millionaire stock broker.

They both had choices to make.  Frank chose the wrong path by dealing drugs and Chris took the right path by transforming his mind into doing something that most people didn’t think he could do.

I guess what I’m trying to get across is that we do have choices.  I see a lot of people hurting financially and they don’t think they have a choice.  Maybe if they started thinking positive that could be a small step towards success.

Don’t be afraid to take some small steps…the regrets in life come from not trying.

Money Isn’t Everything…????

After a long day of meeting with clients and my staff I was listening to a radio show and a caller stated that “Money Isn’t Everything”.  I thought about what the caller said and I think we accept that statement to remain civil with each other, after all its not good to brag about your finances.  Even though we brag with our possessions rather than our words most of the time.

I continued to think about that statement…”Money Isn’t Everything” I couldn’t get it out of my mind.  As I started to analyze the statement I came to the conclusion that…Money Is Everything!

We need money to pay our…

Rent

Mortgage

groceries

electric bill

water bill

medicine

clothing

shoes

wedding rings/jewelry

car payment

credit card bills

student loans

vacations

traveling air plane, bus, train, etc.

savings

there’s really too many things to list!

I think that when a person makes the statement “Money Isn’t Everything” they have given up the pursuit of financial independence.

I use to be afraid to talk about money because I didn’t come from money and I always wondered by I was so fortunate rather than my friends and family members.  This was a very had thing for me to get over and I’ve really just did way with it about 6 months ago.

To me Money Is Everything!!!  It allows me and my family to experience life at a level that most never will.  I feel FREE!  I’m not bound my by my pocket book.  I experience life and I enjoy seeing my family experience life.

Here are the 7 Steps to getting your financial house in order…

1. Stabilizing your household situation – you’ll never be able to pay any debt if you can’t ensure that you and your family has a roof over your head, food on the table, utilities paid and transportation to and from work.

2. Set-up a budget – you’ll never understand how to management your money unless you know to the dollar what’s coming in and what’s going out.

3. Put together a debt elimination plan – when you have a budget you can put together a strategy to pay off your debt faster because you see what’s in front of you.

4. Establish an emergency fund – this is very important because most people use a credit card for an emergency fund and that’s a problem. If you have cash on hand more than likely you’ll rarely have emergencies and if you do have one you won’t have to go into debt to take care of it. I recommend at least $500 to $1,000 accessible cash with no penalties if used. While getting out of debt.

5. Review for acceleration of your debt elimination plan – once you have the other steps on paper there are several options that will open up for settlement offers on credit cards, automobiles, payday loans, etc.

6. Action + Action + Belief + Concentration = Tremendous Results – nothing will happen without you taking definite action with belief you can accomplish your goals and a high level of concentration to keep you focused on your goals.

7. Start saving for life experiences…Fun, Retirement, Generational Wealth

Before you sign up for any debt relief program such as bankruptcy, debt consolidation or credit counseling please read this FREE Consumer Guide To Getting Out Of Debt

http://therealdebtsolution.com/debtsolutionblog/getting-out-of-debt-consumers-guide-newly-released/

A Little Goes a Long Way: Smart Secrets to Budgeting

There’s nothing more we want than to be able to efficiently manage our money. After all, the money that we want to manage is money that is oftentimes, hard earned. This is where a budget comes in. A budget executed properly, should help you see where your money is going, get more utility out of every buck, and help you save some extra for future use.

The first smart secret to a budget is to set a goal. What do you want to achieve? Do you want to correctly appropriate your income into bills payments? Do you want to put an amount aside for a big purchase or a huge investment? By having a goal, you will be able to shape your budget to best serve your interests.

Secondly, you would want to take note of where your money usually goes. This includes bills, major but regular purchases (like grocery costs, healthcare costs, and the like), and everyday miscellaneous purchases. Only when you list down where you know your money usually goes will you be able to identify which expenses you can do without. Once you’ve identified these regular expenditures, take into consideration what you can cut back on. How much do you spend on your daily caffeine fix in the morning? How much do you spend on newspaper deliveries to your front door? The measly $2 or $5 of these small purchases cumulatively translates to more than $3600 a year! Instead of buying your expensive latte or reading the newspaper on print, put aside the amount you would usually pay for these small routine purchases in a small container. You will be surprised at how much you’re saving out of your older budget.

Being indebted is a vicious cycle on its own. You’re talking about continuous payments, not to mention huge interest rates. The best way to deal with this is to pay the minimum on all of your debts in order to avoid paying extraneous late fees. Whatever cash excesses you may have, you can opt to add on to the payments you make in your biggest debt. This way, you are concentrated on getting the biggest debts first that cost you the greatest interest rates. Doing this progressively, you’ll be amazed at how much you’ll get off your huge debts.

The last and most important step is to jot down the amount you earn the sum you spend. You can make use of computer cash management programs, or make database sheets of your own. Make a system that works for you and will help you keep track of your monthly budgeting progress.

Here are the 7 Steps to getting your debtsolution.com/debtsolutionblog”>financial house in order…

1. Stabilizing your household situation – you’ll never be able to pay any debt if you can’t ensure that you and your family has a roof over your head, food on the table, utilities paid and transportation to and from work.

2. Set-up a budget – you’ll never understand how to management your money unless you know to the dollar what’s coming in and what’s going out.

3. Put together a debt elimination plan – when you have a budget you can put together a strategy to pay off your debt faster because you see what’s in front of you.

4. Establish an emergency fund – this is very important because most people use a credit card for an emergency fund and that’s a problem. If you have cash on hand more than likely you’ll rarely have emergencies and if you do have one you won’t have to go into debt to take care of it. I recommend at least $500 to $1,000 accessible cash with no penalties if used. While getting out of debt.

5. Review for acceleration of your debt elimination plan – once you have the other steps on paper there are several options that will open up for settlement offers on credit cards, automobiles, payday loans, etc.

6. Action + Action + Belief + Concentration = Tremendous Results – nothing will happen without you taking definite action with belief you can accomplish your goals and a high level of concentration to keep you focused on your goals.

7. Start saving for life experiences…Fun, Retirement, Generational Wealth

Before you sign up for any debt relief program such as bankruptcy, debt consolidation or credit counseling please read this FREE Consumer Guide To Getting Out Of Debt

http://therealdebtsolution.com/debtsolutionblog/getting-out-of-debt-consumers-guide-newly-released/

Federal Reserve Dumps $600 Billion Into US Economy

This week we learned that the Federal Reserve (a non-governmental agency) will be buying US treasury notes in an effort to stimulate the US economy. Many pundits have express concerns about this strategy. They are afraid that it will cause major inflation and weaken the US dollar more.

In my opinion the US dollar is weak because we need it to be weak. When our dollar is weak prices do increase some but we become cheaper to other countries to buy and produce our products and services. The US market is primed for a huge rebound. There have been several so called gurus such as Gerald Celente the Trends Forecaster and other that have been totally wrong about the US dollar collapsing. These so called trend forecasters are just gambling on the future and they don’t really understand what’s really going on.

I’m not hear to tell you what to do or what’s going to happen for sure. But history has shown that the US dollar will rebound and just about every other country will keep the dollar because America is everything they could ever want.