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As I was cruising around the internet looking for ways to help you be frugal and save money, I ran across a list that I had never seen before. It was a Top 10 list for the Causes of Debt. Not only did I see this list once, but it popped up on three different financial sites that I routinely track. Wow! I quickly scanned the list and frowned.
I could agree with some of the points of the list, but overall, I have seen variations in my data that don’t support the reasons why my clients are in debt relative to the list created by http://www.marketwatch.com. Before I launch into my rebuttal of this list let’s take a look at what Marketwatch came up with.
1-Reduced income/same expenses
2-Divorce
3-Poor money management
4-Underemployment
5-Gambling
6-Medical Expenses
7-Saving too little or not at all
8-No money communication skills
9-Banking on a windfall
10-Financial illiteracy
What I find amazing with this list is that the reason most of my clients have debt is due to one thing and one thing only. They spend more money then they earn. I know this may sound stupidly simplistic, but it is true. I have found in counseling over 362 families on their personal finances that the main cause of debt was due to their banking on money they didn’t have. Financial decisions were being made without a clear understanding of how much money they actually had coming in the door!
That’s right! Of the people I have coached, 98% of them could not give me a clear dollar figure of their earnings. I was blown away! Now, when I say how much money you earn, I mean the amount of money you have left after Uncle Sam takes his slice of your paycheck. It was amazing how many folks had to call me back or had to refigure their income. Upon figuring their income after taxes they were dumbfounded at the amount they had left. Just because you have a job that pays you $56,000 a year doesn’t mean that is the amount of money you have to “play” with. However, most of my clients have the $56,000 number in their head and they spend money like that amount is in their checking account!
I recommend that if you don’t know your exact income after taxes and other deductions that you have removed from your check, go figure it out now. Determine how much you get from every paycheck to SPEND. Then figure out what that adds up to for a year. This number will shock you into a new realization that you are not as “flush” as you thought you were. This simple exercise was enough to make many of my clients back pedal on major purchases they were planning. It put them in a whole new mind set regarding their income.
The biggest thing to remember with the causes of debt is not what other people think about and say is your financial situation, but what you think about your personal situation. The best way to pull yourself out of debt is to first get a clear understanding of your income then go from there. Most folks don’t take the time to really know their money in detail. This is why debt creeps up on them and before they know it they have spent themselves into a $9,000 credit card bill.
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Home mortgage refinance has been very popular these days. Find out why people do refinancing, and why you may be better off getting one as well.
Opting for home mortgage refinance should be a major decision to make. However, if you decide on it at the right time and at the right circumstances, it might just be the best financial move that you can ever do for yourself and for your family.
All of us are eager to buy ourselves a home. Along with this eagerness are the anxiety and the pressures from home inspections right down to escrow deadline. To cope, we often go for any mortgage that we qualify for. Eventually, you may soon realize how you could have found yourself a better deal had you given the mortgage terms more thought. This happens all too often, and this is one of the primary reasons why most people opt for a home mortgage refinance to cut down on the interest being paid for the loan.
In relation to this, loan refinancing proves to improve flexibility in terms of cash flow. What happens is that instead of looking for ways to cut down on the total mortgage payments, you can look for terms that can enable you to lower your monthly payment. So, if your monthly expenses are relatively tight, you can just imagine how saving $300 through a home mortgage refinance will give you a little more cash flexibility (this accounts for $3,600 a year, which is relatively attractive).
Another top reason for you to go for a home mortgage refinance is to get some extra cash on hand. Your home is one great resource if you want to earn extra cash for better financial or personal reasons. Your home has most likely increased in terms of value, qualifying you to earn more out of it and put it to better use. Some of the most common related reasons for opting for refinancing to get extra cash include making home improvements, car upgrade, paying off credit cards, paying tuition fees, starting a new business, or going on a dream vacation.
On the other line, there are many people who go with the home mortgage refinance route as a desperate attempt to get themselves out of overwhelming debt. The rates for refinancing are relatively favorable. If you find yourself with too many small bills with payments that are slowly getting too difficult for you to handle, you can take a lot of weight off your shoulders by getting a home mortgage refinance. This way, you can get enough cash to pay off all the smaller payments so you can concentrate on one monthly payment, which is your mortgage. Considering how some lenders can stretch to up to a 30-year terms, you can easily go back on track to your journey towards financial stability.
Remember that the decision to get a mortgage refinance is a lot less stressful than getting a new home loan. Without the pressure and the deadlines, you can surely give it some good thought to ensure that you are getting a much better deal. So, take your time and shop around for the best home mortgage refinance deal that best fits your situation.
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What does 2008 bring to the average American? Does it fill you with dread or with a promise of better things to come? If learning ten new ways to make money sounds like what you may be interested in, do read on. This article will highlight ten top ways that you can make money in 2008 to generate some extra income and hopefully one of them would prove successful for you to carry out on a more regular basis.
Firstly, start clearing your house and have a garage sale. If you are like most consumer minded people, you would find that your house has gathered lots of clutter and unwanted things over the last year and a great way to clear your house and to make some money from it is to sell it at your garage sale. If you are slightly more gutsy you can try opening an account on ebay and selling your wares there.
Secondly, start small and start giving tuition to your neighbour’s kid. Teach some simple things like English or simple low level maths. Some people have actually created industries around such teaching jobs so you might want to consider the extra income that you could make from this.
Thirdly, you might consider doing a newspaper delivery round via your bicycle and this might spark off larger ideas. Many important people started doing business when they were younger doing newspaper runs and got fitter that way. Skills that can be learnt in this endeavour include distance analysis and cost efficiency and time estimation all of which are great skills that any entrepreneur later might use in any trading endeavour.
Fourthly, you might consider making money online via forex trading or otherwise known as FX Trading. In this new year, you would want to start reading all you can on forex trading both in terms of trading strategy and also in terms of the psychology of trading. Most people generally can pick up the various fundamental trading and technical trading strategies necessary but it is always the psychology of trading that will trip people up. How many people can stomach a falling market and buy in that situation? This is what trading psychology is all about and is one key to success in online trading.
Fifthly, if you have decided online trading is for you, you might wish to examine the world of stock trading. This instrument deals with company forecasts and market psychology. You would have to learn how to read balance sheets, insomuch as to tell if the Company is doing well or not and thereafter learn technical analysis to determine what the trading public’s sentiment is with regards to the particular stock you are watching.
Sixthly, if you are risk adverse, you would want to learn the strategy otherwise known as index fund dollar cost averaging. Rather than putting money in a bank account where interest may be low depending on what bank account you are depositing in, fundamental analysis guru Benjamin Graham noted that after doing extensive back research all the way to the Great Depression, that investing in index funds on a monthly basis would yield returns that would beat saving in the bank and this is also known as defensive investing and is what I would recommend before taking any excess cash for active investing.
Seventhly, start examining your hobbies with an idea to profit. For example if you are interested in stamps, spend some time pouring over pricing guides and ebay auctions to learn all you can about what you are interested in and then start planning to become a trader of whatever collectible item that you are interested in. There are lots of collectors on ebay and this market is potentially huge. Who knows, you might have the next highly prized item lying around your house.
Eighth, as a variation of the above idea, spend some time gathering all your hobby related books and considering letting others know about your hobby by blogging. Making money by blogging in recent times has become rather fashionable with online blogging superstars that can be found by doing a quick search on google with the search terms “Pro blogger”. Making money by blogging requires some planning of content and site structure and this planning phase is critical to the success of your blog. Learn what niches are ripe for the picking and avoid niches where there are too many competitors.
Ninth, if you are a consultant or make money via the provision of services, a critical technique to making more this year is to start spending time giving free talks in your locality to trade associations and bodies and helping them along with their activities. Above all these promotional activities, the key to making money with the provision of services is to develop trust with your customers at the same time you do work for them.
Tenth, if you are not in the habit of tithing, start the habit of giving money away to the poor. People gain a sense of fulfillment when giving to their church, their charity and it is this sense of fulfillment that drives rich people like Bill Gates and Warren Buffet to make more money. Joy, peace and fulfillment are things which cannot be bought with money, but can provide the unseen impetus to propel you to greater financial achievement.
In conclusion, I hope you have benefited from this ten tips to make more money in 2008. Powerful ideas only materialize when combined with action now! Carpe Diem and here’s wishing you all the best in this new year.
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