Can remember learning about how to manage your finances? Anything come to mind? Some of us may have had a class on it back at school, but for the most part, it’s a good question to ask “where did you learn how to manage your cash?”. Being smart with money and staying out of financial trouble is a goal many of us want to achieve, but without the proper tools to do so, we might find ourselves staring a mountain of debt straight in the eye!

It’s more than likely that your cash savviness, or lack thereof, came from watching your parents manage their money. For some people, this is a feather in their cap as their family finances were in order. For others this may have continued the financial disaster leaving your with financial trouble. Being smart with money, is not hopeless, if you haven’t been good about it until now. In fact, this is a skill that just about anyone can learn, and with a bit of discipline your finances can be in great shape in no time!

So how does one learn how to be smart with money and stay out of financial trouble? The first step is to learn how to budget. Budget entails knowing how much money you’re actually bringing in, and how much money you are spending. If you set yourself a monthly budget and you use focus and discipline, you can stay out of debt, by only spending what you have, and nothing more. Make a list of the monthly essentials, including your bills and putting food on the table. Once you have that, write another list of your monthly “wants”. If you have covered all your needs and stocked a little cash away into your savings, then you can take out your “want” list and get an item or two. When it comes to budgeting, knowing exactly what you spend is key to success.

If you want to continue being smart with your money and kissing financial trouble goodbye, then using cash for all your purchases is essential! Parting with your crisp bills, becomes a  lot harder when you notice your stack in your wallet getting smaller and smaller. Far too often we take out our little plastic number and swipe away at our purchases. It’s great for convenience, but detrimental to our finances! Why? Because with credit cards, your money never runs out, and what’s more is you don’t notice how much you’re spending, until you’re hit with a fat bill at the end of the month! If you want to keep an eye on your spending, stick to cash!

Financial trouble can come in many shapes and sizes and if you’re being smart with your money, then paying off your debt should be a big focus! Start with paying off your smaller debts first, and once they are paid in full, move onto the larger ones. It’s a great sense of accomplishment to see your debt knocked down to size.

It’s a question that millions find ourselves asking on a daily basis. However, the quest to make our money last longer is one that often feels utterly helpless.

But it doesn’t’ have to be that way. With the right plan of action, there’s no way that you can’t increase your savings drastically. Whether this is to plan for your retirement or take a family vacation doesn’t matter. We all want more money, and you should not miss out due to bad financial habits.

Employ these tips now, and you should see your bank balance swell.

Lower Your Bills

It’s easy to concern yourself with thoughts of making more money. But one of the best ways to acquire more disposable cash is to stop wasting it unnecessarily.

We’re all guilty of wasting money in our lives. Whether it’s paying too much for our internet bills or buying more food than we’ll ever eat. Meanwhile, simple changes to our driving habits and other daily rituals can make a noticeable difference.

You work hard to earn your money, so it would be foolish to spend it frivolously. If you can reduce your bills without sacrificing your enjoyment, it’s imperative that you do.

Invest

Most people tend to leave their savings in a bank. While it might be the easiest option, it’s certainly not the best. If you really want to make your money grow, then it’s time to look for an alternative investment.

How much does gold cost? What’s the current exchange rate? How does the current property market look? These are all questions that you should ask yourself on a regular basis. After all, if you can find the right investment opportunity, then you could see your money grow at an extortionate rate.

Even if you aren’t sure about the different types of investment, you can always hire an expert to help.

Earn More Money

One of the easiest ways to make your money work harder is to have more of it. Fortunately, there are a number of ways to get it.

Firstly, you could ask your boss for a raise or keep working towards that promotion. If those opportunities don’t arise, you’ll have to start creating some for yourself. You could start an online business to form a second source of income. Alternatively, you could offer your skills on a freelance basis. You’ll be surprised at how much extra money you’ll earn.

Keep reminding yourself that hard work will be rewarded and you shouldn’t go too far wrong.

Escape Debt

Ultimately, the number one way to improve your financial situation is to climb out of the hole formed from debt.

The longer you’re in debt, the more money you are wasting on interest charges. Trying to escape at the earliest time possible should be your main priority. Alternatively, you could look to a consolidation loan to lower those overall charges. Either way, reducing those fees will make a huge difference to your wallet.

Getting out of debt won’t just improve your finances, it will take a huge weight off your shoulders too.

We all have to pay property tax. How much we pay depends on several things, including the price of your house and the state you live in. However, property tax can be confusing, so we thought we would go over some of the finer points with you today. 

Tax service

Whenever you buy a house, you will see a little charge on your home loan documents for $75. This is for your tax service. You will pay it, probably without thinking. But most people don’t realise what it is. The tax service payment is sent to a third party company. They write a letter to your local tax office, who will then send you a letter stating you need to pay your property taxes. Why do they do this? Because, if you were to go delinquent on your property and end up with a foreclosure, the tax payment would generally come out of the property value. And that means your lender will have to pay instead. So, they make it very hard for you to skip your taxes by sending your local office the letters.

Tax and your loan

You will also find that a lot of lenders include a clause in your contract. It will include a provision that states you are responsible for paying your property tax. This will be regardless of whether you default and go delinquent. So, when it comes to paying the tax on your home, don’t be late. According to Reliance Tax Loans, you could get a charge of anything up to 44% of what you owe - which isn't the best start to your new home. 

Escrow 

This is why mortgage lenders began to charge escrow - or impound - accounts came into being. So, instead of paying a lump sum, you pay your property tax across the space of twelve months, and they pay the lump sum. Now, this might seem a little unfair to you. After all, it’s your money, and you should be able to put it where you want. But, it’s a very real problem for lenders. If you go delinquent on your property without paying tax, they get charged. That much they can probably handle. But when you multiply that over few thousand cases a year, you can see why it gets expensive. 

Benefits

There aren’t many benefits to property tax - other than once you pay it, you won’t face extra charges! But you might find some minor benefits from escrow and impound accounts. Lenders may give you a small sliver of interest on the total amount of your tax. And, in some states where impounds aren’t allowed, you may even get a discount on your loan. It won’t be much, but it all counts. Paying your property tax in this way is also convenient - it just comes out of your mortgage payment, and you don’t even notice. There’s no chance of you forgetting to pay, and you will avoid the enormous cloud of foreclosure hanging over you.

Well, I hope that has helped you understand property taxes a little better. Nobody likes paying them, of course. But, using the escrow system will make your payments more manageable, and stop you forgetting about it. Contact your lender for more details.

Becoming unemployed can be a very scary step for a lot of people. This is especially true nowadays when the job market is so tough. People worry themselves sick over how they’re going to make ends meet. Well, the good news is that jobless doesn’t have to mean hopeless. There’s still plenty you can do to get back on your feet financially, even without a job.

Check out these suggestions, and try to use them in to make your life a little easier:

Loan

Believe it or not, these days you can get a loan without a job! A few years ago this just wasn’t possible. But times have changed, and many institutions are a lot more understanding of circumstances. So, nowadays unemployed people can get access to a cash loan. And this can prove to be very helpful. It gives you that cash injection you need to put food on the table and keep a roof over your head. The financial security this kind of loan provides is hugely important. And you don’t need to worry about interest rates and repayment terms. These will all be catered to suit your situation.

Vouchers

A lot of people don’t take this into account, but vouchers can be a godsend. And the brilliant thing is that because of the internet you can get vouchers and coupons for anything these days. So, if you’ve recently become unemployed and money is much tighter, these are invaluable. You can use vouchers and coupons for discounts and money off on purchases. These allow you to keep the necessities coming into the home, and save you money while you’re doing it.

Sell a Few Things

There is bound to be stuff lying around at home that you no longer need or want. So you can use this as an excellent opportunity to make a little extra income. Rather than throwing the stuff in the loft why not sell it? Start photographing the bits and get them listed on eBay. You’ll have the time to do this now you’re not working, and it makes good sense. All this stuff lying around is just free money going to waste. So, make the most of it, and start selling anything you don’t need; you’ll be thankful you did in the end.

Be Strict With Yourself

Okay, I’m not going to lie to you; this is going to be the hardest part for you. You’ll have to transition from secure, regular income to unemployment. And this means you’re going to have to curtail a lot of your spending habits. This is going to be tricky because you’re probably used to living a certain quality of life. Well, for now you’re going to have to embrace frugal living. This means cutting down on luxuries, not eating out, and only buying the bare necessities.

Take Care of Essentials

And, while we’re on the subject of being strict you need to make sure you take care of essentials first. This means you need to make sure you buy food for the kids and pay bills before anything else. There are easy ways to manage your bills; it’s just a case of finding out what they are. Put the family first, and focus on providing for them. Any money leftover can go on other things.

As you can see, you do have a fair few options that will help you when you’re unemployed. So it’s important not to panic or freak out. Try to remain calm and collected. Address the problems you have, and come up with ways to fix them.

Are you thinking about investing in some gold coins and then later selling them for a profit margin? In order to be successful, you need to keep several things into account such as your budget, what kind of gold you're planning to invest in, and where you're planning to store said gold. These tips will help you get started.

Tips for Buying Gold

Storing your Physical Gold at Home Tips

Tips for Selling Your Gold

Do you have any gold coins that you've inherited that you wish to sell? If you have any other tips, please share them below.

Today I've a cool infographich for you, which will explain you the Popular San Francisco Neighborhoods, Demographics & Auto Insurance Rates in a very informative manner. I hope you'll enjoy it.

Managing your bills is not always easy - especially if you have old bills to pay off that have high interest rates. For these bills, it can even be hard to get past the minimum monthly payment. So the bills get stretched out over months and years without ever getting paid off. It can be even worse if it's expensive credit card debt and you are still using that credit card account for new purchases. You can find yourself on a never ending roller coaster of increasing debt with no way out. There are ways you can manage your bills better so that you are able to get them down to zero. Here are 5 tips to do that:

1) As in most budgets, to manage your bills you need to make a list of all of them. Sometimes just in the act of making the list you realize how many bills you have and you will reduce your spending. But to manage them, you need to understand how many bills you have, how much you owe on each one of them and when each one is due. So in your list, include the date due for each bill and the minimum payment due each month.

2) Organize your bills by dates due. The last thing you want is to pay your bills a day or two late and then get slapped with penalties. Set up a calendar system where you can clearly see when bills are due and plan to pay them ahead of time. If you pay your bills online, you can easily set this up ahead of time so the payments will be deducted on the correct date.

3) Never pay only the minimum on old bills. Always add some amount to the minimum so you will be moving in a positive direction on those bills. Otherwise, you can get dragged down for months or even years without ever making any positive progress on your bills.

4) If you find that you do not have money to pay all of the old bills, or if the interest rates that credit card companies are charging you are too high, you can apply for a car title loan. Car title loans use your car as security for bad credit loans of up to $20,000. The amount you can get depends on the type and model of car that you own. Auto title loans are reduced interest, so you can use that money to pay off high interest debt. In this way, you can save a lot of money in interest fees and late penalties. The process is easy and fast with the emergency cash being ready in one hour.

5) On your list of expenses, jot down how much you can pay on each bill every month. This will help your organize your monthly income and expenses and you will be able to see ahead of time when one of your old bills will finally be paid off. 

Getting on the property ladder is becoming harder and harder, especially for young people. It’s still the biggest financial investment you’ll ever make. Nothing fully prepares you for the amount of money that changes hands! It’s an enormous life decision, but it’s the best way to build a financial asset. If you’re thinking about getting on the housing market, there are a few things you need to understand. First and foremost, you’ll need to apply for a mortgage. You’re looking for an exceptional deal with low rates and beneficial terms. Let’s look at some of the factors that affect your ability to get a home loan.

Your deposit

When it comes to buying property, you always need a strong downpayment to secure the loan. In many cases, you’ll need a strong 20% of the house value. That’s a huge amount of money for any family or young couple. The bigger the deposit you can save, the more favourable your mortgage rate. It’s time to start saving! So, before you start thinking about applying for a mortgage, ask yourself how much you can afford as down payment.

Your earnings

Mortgages are typically granted as a percentage of your household income. In most cases, mortgages are offered at four times your total income. Unfortunately, that immediately prices out a large portion of the population. House prices are rising faster than incomes in most parts of the country! So, before you approach a mortgage advisor, make sure you know exactly what your annual income is. 

Job security

You’ll also have to provide details about your employment to your mortgage lender. Remember, a mortgage is often paid back over 20 years. They need to know that you have a stable economic base to pay back that loan. For this reason, self-employed applicants often struggle to secure a traditional bank mortgage. Don’t worry, though. There are other real estate finance options like portfolio loans. These are outside the bank loan system and have fewer restrictions.

Credit score

Lenders also like to know that you have a reliable history of paying your loans and debts on time. If you have a lot of red marks on your credit history, mortgage lenders will be suspicious. If it’s clean and debt free, you’ll secure a better interest rate, and favourable mortgage terms. If you currently have outstanding debts on credit cards, car loans, or personal finances, pay them off in full before you apply.

Where are you looking to buy?

The area you choose to purchase property has a big impact on the loan agreement. The reason for this is the variation in property prices. If you’re looking to buy in a city centre area, you’re looking at paying a much higher premium. That means a bigger deposit, bigger repayments, and a higher interest rate. Make sure you can afford the rates in your area before you make a commitment.

If you’ve reached the end of this article, and you’re confident you’re in a place to buy, then congratulations! Best of luck in your new home!

Planning for your retirement can be rather tricky. There are so many different ways you could save the money you need. However, you’ll never retire with hundreds of thousands of pounds if you don’t think outside the box. Workplace pension schemes offer some level of support, but you need to keep cash in your accounts too. We’ll show you how to use that money to your advantage. By making careful investments now, it is possible to triple your funds by the time you stop working. Just ensure you don’t rush into anything and always research your options. There are plenty of money-making schemes out there that will leave you penniless. 

Invest in property

There are a few different ways you can invest in property. Some people choose to buy homes, renovate them, and sell them for a profit. Others choose to acquire properties and become a landlord. Both of those solutions are good, but they require a lot of hard work. So, you might consider an alternative. There are lots of companies that specialise in property investments on your behalf. Representatives from Redbrick Wealth say it is the easiest way to make more money without having to change your priorities. 

Invest in local business

Small business owners are always looking for people with cash to invest. There are sure to be lots of good firms in your local area that could benefit from a financial injection. Your money could help them to expand their operation and reach more customers. Just make sure you pay a legal representative to draw up all the contracts. You need to be 100% certain you will get a good return on your investment. Perhaps you should ask the business owner to provide you with some shares. That way, you will take part-ownership and receive all the advantages that bring. 

Invest in precious metals

The precious metals market is one of the stablest in the world. Prices have risen at a steady pace since records began. If you’re going to put your money into any products, you should consider gold and silver. Just be aware that you won’t make a huge return in the first couple of months. People who invest in precious metals will have to wait ten years or more to triple their money. However, that isn’t an issue if you don’t plan to retire for longer. So long as you can afford to live without the cash for the next decade, it could be the best move you ever make. 

With a bit of luck, you should now have a good idea about the best ways to increase your retirement fund. Those solutions should mean there is no need to sell your family home when you cease to become employed. They might even create enough income for you to take that special round the world cruise. Everyone dreams about a trip of that nature in the twilight of their lives. You just need to take positive action today to ensure you don’t miss out on lucrative opportunities. We can’t tell you which idea is best because there are too many other factors at play. 

Did you know that getting a mortgage is now harder than ever? Of course you do! If you recently tried looking for a home, you’ll know that deposits are no joke. For some people, winning a lottery or receiving a large inheritance from your grandfather’s grandparents is the last hope for owning a house.

If you think about it for a few minutes, you’ll begin to realize that there are a couple of ways to raise some cash. But don’t go busting your brain; here I’ve put together a few ideas to give your mortgage saving a serious boost.

1) Sell everything you don't need

Sometimes what you need is just lying near you. Look around your house and see what you’re not using. One of the fastest ways to make some money on all these unwanted items is to post them on an online store like eBay. There are hundreds of posting sites right now. What’s best? Posting to them are free of charge!

2) Give up your luxuries

Be honest. How many subscriptions do you have? High speed broadband, cable TV, magazines, they can all add up. Even a medium-sized package with a combination of phone and broadband service can cost you a lot. The worst part is if you’re not really using these subscriptions to their fullest potential because of your work. If you really want a home of your own, then it’s time to consider if you really NEED these luxuries.

3) Shun your credit card bills

These cursed cards of the Lord of the Debts is a no-no for people who wants to save for something truly worth their money. While credit cards offer you the chance to live like a king, in return for manageable monthly repayments, your spending can steer out of control. You don’t want that.

4) Start saving

Aside from your luxuries, how much money are you wasting every month? Instead of throwing your extra money away, why not simply set a fixed sum of your wages every cutoff and drop the money into a savings account? For most people, this is the easiest way to start saving money. 

5) Getting a grant

Now, did you know that first time homeowner grant has been increased from $7000 to $10,000? If you're in WA, first home owners grant via Homestart, will enable you to take advantage of this. Set up a free consultation and see if you qualify. With this, you won’t need to save for a long time.

6) Move in with your parents

This may sound like a bad option, but it sure makes sense. Recent news reports say that many people are returning home with the hopes of saving a decent deposit for their homes. The main reason is the increasing cost of renting. Some landlords are slowly raising rental fees to take advantage of tenant who are locked out of the housing market. If your parents are understanding, you should consider living with them… I bet they’ll be happy to have their loving son/daughter back. *wink* *wink*

Take the first step today. Best of luck!

As a homeowner, most of your personal finance revolves around your mortgage. It is the biggest outgoing every month, and a constant rock around your ankle. Owning property is a wonderful thing. And it’s something that is becoming more and more difficult for first-time buyers. However, that inevitable mortgage can quickly become a burden. The sooner you can pay it off, the better. Once it’s gone, you’ll have financial freedom. So, how do you pay it off early? We spoke to some savvy financiers who did just that.

Start with the best rates

If you want to pay your mortgage off quickly, you’ve got to start with the very best rates. Remember, every home loan comes with a heavy interest rate attached. That interest rate will keep the mortgage figure at arm’s length, unless it’s manageable. So, your first job is finding the lowest home loan interest rates. By doing that, you’ll pay much less in the long run.

Pay as much as possible every month

Once you sign your mortgage papers, your lender will give you a minimum payment. This is the smallest amount you must pay every month. However, if you pay only this amount, you’ll be paying the mortgage for the rest of your life. It’s in your interests to pay as much as you can possibly afford. Do bear in mind that most mortgages also come with a maximum payment. If you want our honest advice, try to pay this maximum payment every month. It’s the best way to bite huge chunks out of the remaining mortgage.

Boost your earnings

If you’re struggling to hit that monthly minimum, perhaps it’s time to boost your income. We know that’s easier said than done, but there are always new opportunities out there. If you’ve been at your job for a while, ask the boss for a pay rise. Put the increased salary towards your mortgage. Maybe it’s time for a new job entirely. Use your experience and skills to secure a promotion or higher paid job elsewhere. If this isn’t possible, there are lots of ways to earn some extra cash. From freelancing to selling things online, use your initiative!

Start investing

You’ve already made one savvy investment in your property. Why not take the opportunity to find other lucrative investments? Speak to a local financial advisor about your options here. A diverse portfolio of stocks, shares, currency and bonds will help bring in some extra money. You’ll gain some monthly dividends that you can use to pay off the mortgage faster. There is always a small element of risk involved in investment. However, approach it with caution, and you’ll always offset the danger.

Make your property work harder

Why not use your property to generate more income? There are so many self-made millionaires on the property market, and you could be one of them. Start by renting out a room. You can direct that money straight into the mortgage pot and take the pressure off. Or, invest money in refurbishing the house. Then, sell it on for a profit!

Don’t spend decades paying off that pesky mortgage. Take active steps towards your financial freedom.

Upon the commencement of an EU Regulation, the interchange fee banks and acquirers are charged on consumer credit cards must be capped at 0.3%. Given that many of the existing credit card company interchange fees are in excess of this, they will be forced to reduce their fees accordingly in order to comply with the new regulations.

Visa and MasterCard are leading the way and have already announced that they will be reducing their interchange fee to 0.3% on the 9th December 2015. For MasterCard this is the final stage of a phased approach that began in mid 2015 and has seen them reduce their rates from 0.8%.

What will the change mean for Business-owners?

According to Card Cutters this may not just be good news for the banks and acquirers; it may also be good news for businesses. This, however, is dependent upon them passing on the savings to the businesses. To do this, as many businesses are currently charged a set % for their consumer’s credit card transactions, they would have to either reduce this fee accordingly or change them to interchange plus pricing.

Although the full reduction would result in substantial savings it is unlikely that the banks and acquirers will pass the full benefit on. The benefit that this regulation actually results in for businesses, if indeed it results in any all, will therefore be at the complete discretion of each individual organisation.

The Last Word

How generous the banks and acquirers are going to be, may take some time to be unveiled. This is because, given that they are under no obligation to pass on the savings at all, they are not under any time constraints to decide that if they are going to, by how much. Further, they may, for instance, wish to put off what is sure to be a huge undertaking. After all, re-pricing all of their customers would be a huge task for even the most moderate of sized banks or acquirers and will therefore not be one that they will be eager to commence.

They may also wish to wait to see how much of a saving they themselves are going to be able to make before accessing how much of this saving they wish to pass on to their customers. Finally, given that they are under no obligation to pass any of the savings on, they may choose not to do so at all and there is no requirement for them to advice their customers of this decision. This is certainly something for business-owners to look out for in the next 12 months and beyond.

The three basic needs of every human being are food, clothing and shelter. These are the primary and most important for every individual. This is the reason why we all have jobs such that we can earn money to earn these three needs. Money is an important factor as a result of which we can afford either the basic minimum or lavish amounts of the same. Whereas earlier people used to live in caves and make shelters out of trees, in the modern times, we have quite a few arrangements for the ‘shelter’ part of the story. Having a residence of our own is increasingly difficult in recent times. Earlier there was a lot of space and few people populating this entire space- and thus they could get their own residence built on the large pieces of land they owned. 

To get a residence of your own in these days you cannot hope to pay the entire amount at one go. There are loan options from banks and other personal financial institutions. To get a loan for the same, you need to fulfill some basic eligibility criteria that every institution has set for itself. Firstly you need to get a hang of which organization you would opt for a loan from. And then you need to calculate home loan eligibility. If you find yourself fulfilling all the criteria set for you, then you can go ahead and apply for the loan. 

How do you know if you are eligible for a home loan?

There are many options today from where you can get a loan for your dream home. Banks approve only eighty percent of the loan and the remaining twenty percent has to be given from your own pocket. You need to set a budget for the registration and other stuff that you need to do other than buy the basic home of yours. All this would be borne by you and not the bank. To know if you are eligible for the basic home loan or not you can calculate your eligibility on the bank website.

There are few basic criteria that you need to fulfill. For example you need to be a salaried person or have a steady source of income. Without this, no bank would give you a loan. You need to bring out your salary slips or even your bank statement for few years so as to get an approval. You need to be working for a few years before you can get a loan. Sometimes you also need a minimum income of an amount stated by the bank- below which the loan might not be approved. Your age limit should be within what the bank has laid out in its norms. In general terms it is 18 to 65. This may vary from bank to bank. Having proof of residence or identity is very important to opt for any loan. Without this, you loan might get rejected. 

In conclusion

The interest rate in a bank is lower than any private financial organization which gives out loans. It is best to fulfill all the criteria set down by a bank, calculate the eligibility for home loan, and then work towards achieving it if you aren't already qualified for the same.