Displaying items by tag personal finance

Displaying items by tag: personal finance

How To Save Money

I've written before about ways to make extra money, but for many people, making more is only half the battle. To achieve real wealth, you simply must spend less than you earn, and this is where learn how to save money comes in great handy. While earning more money is a great way to grow wealth, doing so always takes time. However, when it comes to saving money, there are things you can do today to get started that will yield immediate results. Of course, this tips don't do you any good unless you get started, so be ready to take action after reading these tips. In fact, I would like you to choose one tip from this article to act on today. This will help prevent procrastination, and help you on the path of keeping more of your money today.

Tip #1: Track Your Spending

Without this tip, none of the others matter. If you're not tracking your spending in detail, you simply do not know where your money is going. Without this vital information, it's hard to spot ways to save. Fortunately, there are many online tools that make it simple to see where your money is going. Choose one that suits your needs. These tools will pull information from your bank, and help you categorize your spending. This is made easier if you do most of your spending on a debit or credit card. If you're all cash, you will need to carry around a notebook to record your transactions. Whatever it takes, don't skip this step.

Tip #2: Evaluate Subscriptions

Now that you have a record of where all for your money is going, it's time to start looking for easy ways to save. Subscriptions are a great place to start, since they take your money every month or so until you cancel. Try adding up the yearly cost of a subscription to see what you can save. Of course, you probably subscribe to these services because you enjoy them, so you don't want to cancel them all. Instead, consider cutting back. I recently realized that my three DVDs at a time Netflix subscription was a waste of money for as many movies as I watch, so I cut it down to one at a time, saving me money every month. Similarly, I find that having cable TV is not that important to me, so I save that bill every month. Your priorities may be different, but take a look at what you're spending on and decide if it's really worth it to you.

Tip #3: Cut Out Fees

Fees eat at your money for no good reason. If your checking account is charging you fees, switch. If your broker is charging high commissions, find a discount broker. If you don't want to switch financial organizations, call your current provider up on the phone, and say that you're thinking of switching because of the fees. Chances are, they will waive them in order to keep you as a customer.

Tip #4: Negotiate Lower Rates

Speaking of making phone calls, it's time to start dialing. So many things in life are negotiable, so it certainly pays to try. When renewing your lease, see if you can shave a bit off your rent. Threaten to move away as leverage. If you've been a good tenant, chances are they will want to keep you. I've been able to save money on my internet service by calling up and mentioning competitor offers. This can work for insurance, subscriptions, housing, jobs, and more. You never know what you can get until you try.

Tip #5: Consider A Major Lifestyle Change

What do I mean by major lifestyle change? If you're a two car family, consider dropping one car. You might be surprised how well you can adapt, and the savings will be incredible. If you only own one car, you might trying going car free. Other major lifestyle changes include downsizing your housing, or moving to a lower cost of living area. These moves won't be for everyone, but they are certainly ways to save some big money.

So, you have some tips. Now, get started. Set up a spending tracking plan, and start trimming the fat today!

Published in Personal Finance

How To Earn Extra Money

If you're anything like most people, you could probably use a little extra cash. Earning extra money is at the top of most people's to do lists, but few are able to make it happen. Why is this? Simply put, earning money takes time, dedication, and patience. Many people will start trying to earn extra money, encounter failure early on, and simply give up.

If you're serious about earning some cash on the side, you're going to have to push past this initial failure and keep trying. Mindset is the hardest thing to get right when it comes to making money, so it's important to make sure you have the right perspective. Remember that real, lasting money does not come without effort. Earning money on the side is hard work, and the more you acknowledge this fact internally, the better off you'll be. Prepare to put in the hours needed, and success will follow. Hard work and resilience from failure are the most important traits to have for someone serious about making a difference in their financial lives.

While all this talk about mindset is all well and good, what does one actually need to do to make extra money? As you might expect, there is no fixed answer. Just as there is no one way to become famous, there is simple way to earn extra money. Indeed, the simplest method, getting another job, is often the least appealing. Not only do you destroy the flexibility of your schedule, most part time jobs pay a poor wage compared to what you could be making doing other things with your time.

So, if getting a second job isn't the answer, what should you be doing? In my opinion, the following methods are some of the best ways to earn extra money on the side:

Buy and sell on eBay. If you have time to buy from garage sales and Craigslist, you can find items selling below what they sell for on eBay. You can then photograph and list these items for sale. If you do your homework, this can be very profitable.
Similar to the above method, if you can buy broken items (such as laptops, iPods, cars, bicycles, and more), fix them, and sell them on eBay or Craigslist for a profit.
Cultivate your talents and offer them up for an hourly rate as a freelancer. This is one of the best ways to make money, but also one of the hardest. Still, being a successful freelance can be very rewarding.
Learn how to make money online. You can create websites centered around a topic of interest, and sell products or advertising on them for money. Or, sign up here at World Wolf and start earning money for articles today!
Create your own product and sell it. This can be a physical or information based product, sold online or offline. If your product solves a real problem for people, people will buy it.
Ask for a raise. Sure, this might not be what you were expecting, but for many people this is the quickest way to earn extra money.

So, there is a list of ideas to get you started off. While each of the ideas may look simple as a bullet point, it is the execution of these ideas that really matters in the long run. Pick an idea, work hard at it, and see it through, and you will most certainly be earning more money.

Published in Entrepreneurship

Debt Consolidation: Good Or Bad?

Debt consolidation is when you take a new loan with the purpose of repaying your older ones, thus resulting in a lower interest rate for the money you’ll still have to repay from that moment on or in smaller monthly installments which may extend over a longer period of time.

A debt consolidation loan can be good, but it can as well be a very bad choice. It all depends on your will to become debt free: if taking the new loan you are just increasing the amount of debt, you did nothing for improving your financial situation. If you do what you should, and get rid of older debt such as credit card debt or short term loans, which usually have high interest rates, then consolidation is a good choice for you.

Before getting too excited about the possibility of paying less for using the bank’s money, you need to be aware that not everybody qualifies for a consolidation loan. If you have a bad credit score, nobody is going to give you any more money than you already have to repay. Banks are businesses after all, and like all businesses, they need to be profitable or die. Why then, would they lend money to people who are probably not able to pay it back? Moreover, with this financial and economic crisis that was probably generated by loans given to people who couldn’t afford them, banks and other lenders have adjusted the conditions for granting loans in order to avoid such situations for the future. Nonetheless, you still have chances, but probably the conditions won’t be as good as if you had an excellent credit history. You can always go for another mortgage or for a secured loan, but before jumping into this, put all figures down on paper and see if it is really worth the pain. Basically, think of what do you want to obtain from a debt consolidation loan: lower monthly payments, lower amount of money to repay, fewer places where you need to send money to each month, or whatever other reason you have for taking this step. After you did this, just see if the loan you want to take will get you to your final aim. If it does, take it, if not, forget about it and start considering alternatives to ease your financial burden.

Are There Alternatives To Debt Consolidation Loans?

If you have a mortgage you have troubles in paying, just keep in mind that your creditors don’t want to take your house. They don’t need it. They just want their money back, plus the interest you agreed to pay them. Your house means only trouble for them because they’d have to sell it, then they’d only take what you owe them and give you the rest (supposing there’s any rest to give, in the current market conditions). So, creditors may be willing to re-negotiate your loan agreement and give you new conditions that you can afford. Just go, set up a meeting, explain your situation and ask for advice from your creditor directly. What’s the worst that could happen anyway? To get a no as an answer? You may be surprised of how easy it is to get a better deal.

If your creditors are inflexible, maybe there’s still hope. This is not the best solution of all, but if it can get you out of trouble, it might be worth looking into it. I’m talking about the possibility of getting a secured bad credit consolidation loan. However, this should be your last resort, because it puts you in a bigger danger of seeing your home taken away by creditors, and then you’ll land in the real trouble of not having a roof above your head. If you have also a family, it’s even worse, so try not to get deeper in debt.

Regardless whether or not you’re going to get your debt consolidation loan, try to analyze your behavior towards money and to figure out why you have landed in such an uncomfortable position. This is useful for you to make adjustments to your living style and to your spending habits, in order to avoid debt accumulation at least from this moment on.

Published in Debt Management