From the mundane to the catastrophic, there’s never a good time for a financial emergency. The funny thing about these emergencies, though, is the fact that they’re never surprising at the core; they’re all inevitable at some time or another, but few are prepared when it happens to them. Continue reading
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Making consecutively poor spending decisions can leave you drowning in a sea of debt. The following article explains the most common ways you could end up shooting yourself in the foot financially.
You may be good at keeping up with big expenditures but not so good at monitoring your spending habits when making small purchases. Small purchases can quickly add up, especially when they’re made on impulse or done by habit. Continue reading
In this day and age, spending money like water often seems like part of the American way. Unfortunately, it’s this kind of frivolous spending that gets so many people deep in debt and cripples their ability to save money for their future security.
In order to combat the problem, it’s necessary to rethink the way you spend money. Here are some tips that can help you achieve this. Continue reading
Maybe you’re a new graduate embarking on your first full-time job. Or, after much effort, you’ve managed to pay off all your credit card charges. Or you’ve just gotten a big raise, so that your income comfortably exceeds your expenses.
Isn’t it great not having to worry either about having to pay interest or whether you’ll have the money to meet next month’s bills? If you want to keep yourself in your happy state, follow these tips for staying debt-free: Continue reading
Whether you are a teenager or about to retire, it is important that you are able to manage your money effectively. Although your financial goals may be different as you get older, it is never too early or too late to learn and master sound fiscal habits.
Let’s take a look at some common financial goals and how you can achieve them. Continue reading
One of the most shocking pieces of information that most people eventually discover is that their spending habits can literally control their lives.
While most people want to believe that they have full power over what they spend, habits are what truly set the pace for what ends up being spent or saved. Realizing that habits have a dramatic impact on how much money we have is the first step in taking control, but after that, critical decisions must be made in order to create a life of wealth and freedom.
This summer, avoid making terrible financial decisions by understanding how to get rid of the worst of the offenders. The following three bad decisions are some of the worst that can be made, and anyone would be wise to eliminate them from their day-to-day habits. Continue reading
Great financial advice is like a golden egg, you need to treasure it. For recent graduates, this concept rings even more true.
Many financial analysts point out that recent graduates tend to be extremely reckless with their finances after they graduate. Most find themselves the victims of lifestyle inflation, poor money habits, and burdensome debt.
Rather than suffocate yourself with the same financial woes as your peers, the advisable thing to do is to read excellent financial advice and to simply follow it. By taking the initiative, you’ll find yourself less stressed and ahead of the game.
Live Within Your Means
First and foremost, you should always live within your means.
Landing that $50,000 a year position does not mean that purchasing a new car, a condo, and new furniture is a sound financial decision.
To determine how much you should spend on your rent, your needs, your wants, and on your savings, financial professionals employ what is known as the 50-30-20 rule.
The rule indicates that you should regulate 50% of your take home pay to your needs, 30% to your wants, and 20% to your savings. Your “needs” is the category that includes rent, so you should take that factor into account.
Build an Emergency Fund
There is nothing wrong with living in an optimistic world, but it is also important to recognize that reality tends to come with unexpected surprises.
Your emergency fund will come in handy when you’re faced with a sudden car repair bill, a medical expense, or even that unanticipated job loss.
When building your emergency fund, your goal should be to save up at least a few thousand dollars and using your fund when you need it will prevent you from needing to rely on credit cards of financial assistance until you get back on your feet.
Credit Cards Aren’t Always the Answer
These days, the average American household has a credit card debt of nearly $16,000. This debt is the result of a financial philosophy that sets no limit upon spending.
The debt itself is also not fixed but is subject to hefty interest payments that only grow over time.
Instead of putting yourself in the unfortunate situation of credit card debt and growing interest payments, the best thing to do is to understand how credit cards work and to use your credit card to make purchases that you’ll be able to pay off.
At the end of the day, if you cannot afford something, it is best to not buy it.
Student Loan Debt is Secured Debt
Many graduates and seasoned graduates have the misconception that federal student loans are unsecured loans. An unsecured loan is a loan where there is no collateral put up, which means that if you default on your loan, there is no way for the financial institution to secure its loss.
The truth is that while you may not have put anything up as collateral for your federal student loans, the government can take steps to guarantee that it gets its money back.
If you do not pay your student loans off, you could find yourself subject to a lien on your possessions or even government deductions from your monthly paycheck.
Therefore, you should take steps to make steady and regular payments on your student loans so that you will be debt free before age 35.
Financial security is something that many Americans would trade anything for. As a recent graduate, you have the opportunity to truly start your finances on steady ground by taking the above steps.
In the long term, you’ll find that starting to work on your finances is one of the best steps you’ll ever make.
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Credit scores are an important part of life and can greatly influence the livelihood of people.
Credit scores are established through payment history, credit utilization, length of credit history, types of credit in use, and new credit.
Due to loans taken out or having debt on credit cards, credit scores can often be low. Low credit scores make it hard to be able to apply for credit cards or get loans when money is needed.
One of the ways people can improve their credit scores is by making sure to pay their payments on time. Payment history makes up a good chunk of the credit score itself.
One way to make sure payments are made on time is by writing down on a calendar when the bill is due. Also, a reminder can be put on the phone to make sure to pay a bill.
Also, some companies allow customers to opt into a text service, which will provide a text as a reminder to pay the bill. It is just as important to pay credit card bills as well as normal utility bills on time.
Credit scores can be improved by opening up a new credit card and keeping it open.
As long as there is no annual fee involved when it comes to the credit card, there is no reason to cancel the card. This will help with the length of the payment history component of the credit score.
It is just as important to make sure to be using the credit card once in a while because it might be closed due to non-usage.
Along with usage, it is just as important to make sure to be able to pay off the credit card purchases in a timely manner. It is very important to make sure not to open up too many credit cards because that is not helpful to improving the credit score.
Credit scores are greatly influenced by any debt that is accrued over time.
Everyone knows there are interest rates on loans and credit cards. These interest rates become steeper and make it hard to pay back the longer the balance goes unpaid.
When there is debt involved, people tend to try to pay off the debt by opening other credit cards or taking out more loans. This might seem like a great idea at the time, but often times the new loans end up being even harder to pay off later on.
The best thing to do is put aside certain money each month as part of the budget to pay off the debt. By doing this, the debt will slowly be paid off without adding on any more debt or loans, which will have to be repaid later.
It is important to plan out a budget of all the expenses and to make sure to include a portion of the money toward debts or loans involved. Also, people should pay off any loans or debt in small amounts without letting the balance continue to stay open.
Although credit scores are circulated every day, there can be errors in the calculation itself. It is important to double check to make sure no error were made when calculating the credit score.
There are many online sites, which could give the credit score and if any errors are present, they can be disputed. Sometimes due to these errors, credit scores can be affected without actually having any actual debts.
Credit card companies often put credit limits on credit cards based off the credit score. By continuing to make payments on time and leaving the credit card open, credit card companies will be willing to create a higher limit.
It is important to make sure customer’s spending habits don’t change as well even though the credit limits change.
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Every generation wants to believe that it is the last, greatest generation. It believes that technology has never been better.
But here are 5 reasons that you should continue to balance your checkbook, even with all of the technological gains.
Have you ever read the terms and conditions on your bank account? Do you really understand what the financial jargon means?
Banks must notify you usually about 30 days before they add on new fees, charges or penalties.
You should balance your checkbook to ensure that you don’t receive a “non-sufficient funds” (NSF) charge; the bank might have been subtracting money from your account for new fees and you bounced a check because you didn’t know how much was available.
Many banks go through numerous customer service representatives in a short amount of time. One mistyped “0” can mean a big difference in your account.
People are only human, we all make mistakes. Balancing your checkbook can find these errors before they become big.
There may be a statute of limitations on certain errors. You want to bring mistakes to your bank’s attention as soon as possible.
Computers are programmed by humans. While it is extremely rare, there may be a computer glitch in dealing with fractions that could effect your bank account.
Remember that your interest is a percentage of the value of money in your account. If the computer does not properly handle these mathematical calculations, there could be an error.
Your credit score could be unduly damaged by human or computer errors.
Malware allows hackers to steal millions every day according to federal cyber crime police.
One of the negatives of mobile banking is that the security features are still not completely safe.
Balancing your checkbook can lead you to becoming aware of hacking attacks or identity theft before these dangers can completely ruin your life.
Wealth management skills are learned not innate. By continually balancing your checkbook, you become aware of how much you have, how much you added and any discrepancies in your account. Y
our bank account information remains in the forefront of your mind. You also develop better financial discipline. This can help you when there is an unexpected downturn in your financial situation.
Banking technology is better, but nothing is foolproof. Children and adults should learn how to balance a checkbook in order to manage their money. Wealth management skills can be the difference between life success and failure.
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Are you a new graduate on the job hunt? Are you in an established career and you’re looking for a new challenge?
If you’re getting ready to venture into the world of job searching, you need a great business card that will be memorable, is clear and will get you noticed.
Don’t know where to start? Follow our guide of creative ideas for business cards and get started on making an impression with your future employers.
The key to remember in deciding on a business card is to avoid cards that are too gimmicky or cute that they leave an impression that you shouldn’t be taken seriously. That’s a fine line to walk, but we’ll help you right now:
There is something that happens in the psyche when you have a weightier card. It feels like more a library card or a credit card. It feels more serious.
Consider increasing the weight of your business card’s paper stock, and you’ll have an instant payoff in the minds of whomever is holding your card next.
If you’ve got the budget for it, consider adding an element of letter-pressing or embossing to your card. It’s going to be a little pricey, as this is a craft, niche operation, but your card will look beautiful.
This is something for designers especially to consider. Your business card needs to match your profession or the field you hope to enter.
One trend in business cards today is to try an alternate shape from the traditional rectangle. A square card or even a smaller rectangle add interest and set your card apart from the pile of others.
Are you going into a field involving sustainability or the environment? Are you a craft woodworker? Consider a wood business card.
These cards are made of layers of thin wood, but they are sturdy, creative and are much different than any other card your future employer may receive.
Add some creativity and professionalism to your card by adding a die-cut element to your business card. This could just be in the form of your business logo or the initial of your last name.
It may be a little pricey to get a die-cut because it is a custom design element. However, it will add some style and interest to your card and make it memorable to future employers.
A new trend in business cards is to forego paper altogether and make your business card digital. You can do this by making a digital card on your iPad.
Take the iPad with you to visits with employers. The card needs to have a QR code on it so that the person can scan your card with his or her smart phone and record the information about you.
An alternative is to keep the traditional business card but to include a QR code directly on the card. You’ll not only make it easy for a future employer to keep up with you, but you’ll score major cool points for being tech savvy.
Are you inspired yet? Use our guide of handy tips for finding an innovative business card that is professional and memorable. You’re on your way to finding a great job — or least leaving a really great impression by investing in a great card. Good luck in your search!
