How to Become Financially Stable the Frugal Way!

You ever wonder how people become so financially stable. I sure have. I wondered until I became financially stable. Then I started wondering if others knew this supposed secret. I figured maybe they did but they didn’t want to see what was staring back at them so obviously. I grew up having nothing. I went into adulthood not having anything. You are probably wondering where this all came from huh? I came across this site; yes it was a long night again. I can never sleep sometimes. I came across this site www.frugalwiz.com & it got me thinking again. Rut Roh

Some tips to start becoming financially stable, it’s by no means a fast road. It has taken me at least 9-10 years to be where I am at now. Let’s run the list. If you are young, these are the new Golden Rules of life

o You don’t need that brand new car at 16; you’ll be ok with something that is a few years older. You are saving more in the end with this option. Bite your pride, you’ll thank me when you are 27 and you have something to show for it. The savings will be in the fact that you aren’t paying your car note and you are what 21 by the time you are finished. Insurance companies loves responsible & society conscious young adults.

o I see you eyeing that new video game console, wait 6 months, and let it get some reviews under its belt. I have no doubt in my mind that the price will be lower. Buy used more than likely someone’s disposed system was used just enough to get bored with it.

o I know that you want to go eat lunch with all your buddies, that 20.00 dollars dad gave you is burning a hole in your pocket. Resist the force! You’ll thank me later.

o I really recommend you starting to keep up with your daily news events. Keep up on the business world; investing is a beautiful thing when you are knowledgeable in daily events. I started investing when I was 16 under my papa’s trading account. Don’t get me wrong, made a few errors here & there but all in all I came out on top.

o Get a secured credit card with a small balance, something like 200-300 dollar limit, make 5-10 dollar purchases & pay it off. Do this for at least 6 months consistently, you will for as long as you maintain your credit have reaped the benefits forever!

When you instill discipline in your finances, you have a stronger confidence in yourself & the world around you. There are many rips out there that will talk about the various tips but these are my own personal ideas & tips. Good luck & great Prosperity!10

Will That Be Debit Or Credit?

Do you know the difference between the simple phrase “will that be debit or credit”? I didn’t know until I listened to the Clark Howard consumer radio show recently. It seems that when consumers answer the “debit or credit” question with the word “credit” this is a godsend to the banking industry. Banks that issue these hybrid debit cards are collecting huge fees from the cards that sport the Visa® or Master Card® logos on them. Retailers and services that accept these hybrid debit cards are paying a premium in fees to the banks as they would with regular credit cards. If you answer, “debit” and punch in your PIN code the banks profit drops nearly to nothing and the retailer pays less fees. Guess who will eventually pay the bill for goods and services if all the retailers pay more fees?

Most people don’t realize that the bank card issuers collect fees from the retailer for the privilege of accepting their cards; then the banks pay a little “something something” to Visa® and Master Card® for their help with the process. These fees have to be absorbed by the retailer somewhere, which eventually causes them to raise their price of goods and services to compensate for the bank fees. Do you remember when there were only ATM cards? Credit card privileges were reserved for those that were credit worthy and represented a lot smaller percentage of the retailer’s overhead. Now one only needs to fog a mirror to be able to flash plastic at his or her favorite convenient store.

A lot of consumers have been tricked into thinking their debit card is really their credit card, and the banks are laughing all the way to the…well, the bank. The major differences between the “hybrid” cards and traditional credit cards are the liability issues. Credit cards are backed by your good credit; debit cards are backed by your checking account. Most, and we mean all but a very few, banks will not reimburse cardholders for all fraud related charges as traditional credit card issuers normally will. Another large difference is when you buy a bad product or service and would like to dispute the payment. Most credit cards have a mediation or stop payment policy that favors the cardholder, debit cards nada. If you charge it, you bought it.

With the rising cost and higher risks associated with debit cards we at DirectBanc.com recommend that most consumers use a regular credit card for day-to-day purchases, especially over the Internet. The disclaimer here is responsibility, for this to work in your favor you must be disciplined enough to pay your balance monthly within the grace period. Nearly all credit cards have a grace period of around 25 days, which is more than adequate for most budgets.

In the coming days I believe that savvy retailers are going to begin to lean much more heavily toward the debit card side of this issue. Even recently I have noticed fewer stores asking me the question and just pushing a keypad toward me at the time of purchase. The debit or credit issue really didn’t matter to me either way before I realized how the system worked and “the man” got paid. Now every time that I am asked “credit or debit” I remember who’s making the profit and who is ultimately paying for it and then I dial for dollars!

7 Tips for Creating a Family Budget

For many people creating a family budget is an exercise in frustration. Where to start, how to set it up, should I use budgeting software? Are all questions that nearly everyone asks? And then when they do get it set up and start tracking the money coming in and the money going out something happens. An emergency or an impulse buy that screws the whole thing up.

Unfortunately the majority of people give up on their family budget before they ever give it a chance to do what it is supposed to do. One thing everyone needs to understand is that a budget is not a rigid thing. It is flexible and needs to allow for those unintended purchases or emergencies that life is full of. And if you stick with it before long it will be a cash flow planning device you cannot live without.

That's all a budget really is, a cash flow plan for your money. That's right, your money, which should be working for you, not the other way around. A budget allows you to track your income and expenses, giving each dollar a task each and every month. This gives you a good picture for paying bills, setting aside savings, and planning for the future.

If you are having trouble creating a family budget here are 7 tips you can use to make the process easier. Get a piece of paper and list out income on one side and expenses on the other.

1. Calculate your monthly income by gathering three months worth of pay stubs and averaging the monthly earnings.

2. Figure out your monthly bills by averaging the last three months worth. Do this for expenses such as rent, mortgage, utilities, phone bills, car payments or other fixed monthly expenses. You can also do this for those monthly expenses that move up and down from month to month such as credit card bills and groceries.

3. Subtract your monthly expenses from you income and see if you have any money left over. You will start to see areas where you might be spending too much money and can cut back on. This can free up money for other purposes.

4. Now that you have everything listed out in front of you you can start assigning certain amounts of money to certain expenses. As you make those payment note them in your budget to see if you are staying on track.

5. As you find ways to cut expenses you can also start designating a certain amount of money that goes into savings or retirement accounts every month.

6. Your first budget may not work out quite right. It takes most people around three months to start getting their budget working. Be patient and keep working at it, before long it will become second nature and you will have control over your money.

7. Once you have a good grasp on your hand written budget look into getting personal budgeting software such as Quicken or Microsoft Money. This will make your budget much easier to work with and they offer additional feature that can help you plan your financial future.

These are the basic steps for creating a family budget that will get you started and on your way to taking back control of you financial life. If you stick with it before long you will start to realize how much money you used to waste and how much better it feels to know where your money is going and how it is working for you.

Immediate Annuity

Immediate annuity is a type of annuity in which the contract owner starts getting payments after a single premium is paid. Payments can be made on a monthly, quarterly, annual or semi-annual basis. The rate of payment in immediate annuity is of two types, fixed rate and variable rate. The fixed rate guarantees a set income that will not fluctuate, whereas in variable rate payments will fluctuate according to the performance of selected investment the annuity is based on.

Immediate annuity is a vehicle for distributing savings with a tax deferred growth factor. Insurance company assumes the risk of the payouts lasting annuitants whole life in case of immediate annuity. Generally one can never outlive these payments and various choices are available for payment set up as well. There are some plans available which allows change in payment structure at a later date.

Immediate Annuity provides security and stability to its buyer by providing stable lifetime income or a guaranteed income for a specified period of time. It is simple and easily manageable because the annuitant does not need to manage his/her investments, watch markets, report interest or dividends. Immediate annuities provide quality return because insurance companies generally give higher interest rates on annuities than CD or treasury rates and also the principal is returned with each payment. We suggest you to select annuity product carefully according to your need due to the fact that most conventional immediate annuities cannot be revised or cashed in.

An immediate annuity can be purchased with funds from a variety of possible sources, such as: a maturing certificate of deposit, monies which have accumulated in a deferred annuity account; or funds from a tax-qualified defined benefit, 401k or IRA account. Under current tax law, a portion of each payment received from a non-qualified immediate annuity is tax free until your total premium is recovered. The remainder of each payment will be taxed as ordinary income in the year you receive it.

Debt Management for Singles and Couples

Managing your debts by yourself is much different than doing so when you have a family. When you are single, you only have to keep track of what you are spending. When you have a family, you have to not only manage what bills you are compiling but also keep track of what your spouse and possibly children are spending, or what is being spent on your children. A good budgeting system can help you deal with these situations.

When you are only looking after your own expenses, there are not a lot of factors in the equation that make it too complicated. You track your income, your necessary bills such as rent/mortgage, electrical bills, groceries etc. Then you see at the end of the month what you have left. If you know you have overspent one week you can make up for it the next by not spending as much.

Managing your debts when you are in a family situation can be a much more complicated task. Not only are you keeping track of your expenses, but there is also what your spouse is spending. What about that extra expense you used to pay for each month when you where single such as buying luxury coffee. You used to understand that you would pay $4 for your fancy designer drink per day equaling up $120 per month, well now you find out that your spouse does likewise making the bill double. Or your car expenses, you realized you have to pay insurance but now with two cars you are paying double. This becomes a much bigger strain on the wallet, especially if one spouse is not earning anything or much at all which is often the case do to job differences or child rising. It becomes more important to determine what expenses are necessary, what ones are a luxury and what ones are in between. When children enter the picture, it becomes even cloudier as the parents try to determine what their children need and what are just wants and where to settle in between.

The solution for dealing with this is to be proactive in dealing with your expenses. Determine on a scale, what are absolute necessities, basic staple foods, paying for your power (but still being smart in turning off excess lights) etc. Then figure out what lye in the middle somewhere, such as going out for dinners, having two cars, cable TV, etc. Determine on a scale, what ones are more important that others to you. Then if you need to, cut back on the far end of the scale, the items/services that are going a little beyond what you can afford. This way you can make better financial decisions and keep the debt away.

UK Personal Loans - At Your Side In Times Of Need

To meet the growing needs of the residents of the UK, special loans have been designed called as UK personal loans. Personal loans help people in fulfilling their needs which they cannot do with their regular income. We wish and we hope that our wishes come true. But for this, we also need to put in a step and take an initiative. The rest becomes easy with UK personal loans.

UK personal loans can be taken up to fulfill any needs like medical bills, education expenses, home improvement etc. Wishes and desires like a flashy car, a wardrobe change, a vacation etc can also be realized through UK personal loans.

By placing a collateral, secured form of UK personal loans can be obtained. This involves a lower rate of interest, a larger amount ranging from ₤5000-₤75000 can be borrowed and a longer repayment term of 5-25 years is allowed too.

Unsecured form of UK personal loans can also be obtained if the borrower does not have or is not willing to pledge his asset as collateral. Money in the range of ₤5000-₤25000 can be borrowed for 5-10 years. Absence of collateral gets the borrower a slightly higher rate of interest. A lower rate can be obtained through proper research for UK personal loans.

While borrowing UK personal loans, the credit history of a borrower is also given its due share of importance. A good creditor obviously gets the best of everything. But a borrower with a bad credit history is not ignored or refused UK personal loans. To make up for his bad credit score, the bad credit borrower just has to pay a higher rate of interest for the money

UK personal loans can be used to fulfill any personal needs of the borrower. He gets a considerable sum at affordable rates. An online search will help him access many lenders and companies.

I Had a Dream

May 25,'07 I awakened from a morning dream trying to figure out how I could possibly get a mentally challenged young man and a wheelchair occupant to go to the back of a line-up in a financial institution.

Sounds cruel and uncalled for and prejudiced eh? The dream seemed to be callous, hard hearted and totally lacking compassion.

In this night vision, we were in a bank I will not name but was familiar to me. The atmosphere was still and without any positive emotions.People were lined up to deal with their money.

In a particular rigid row I spotted my oldest grandaughter Ashley, a 15 year old. Playfully I entered the spot in front of her. I also ushered a wheelchair person in front of me and a mentally challenged young man behind him as is my custom with such folk.

I thought the bank was cold before I acted but I could feel everyone's blood pressure rising so high that my aura melted away. Not a word was spoken unless glares count. I spoke quietly to the content man in front of me that we and our wheelchair friend should abandon our stolen place and get to the back of the line. He would not budge. End of unreal story.

As usual my question went to the Lord of dreams and I asked for the interpretation. It turns out that no matter what your relationship, no matter what your position in life, no matter what your disability, or ability , you never, never, never get between a person and their money, family, friend or foe.

World goods,finances and views can be tightly woven together and cause us to be unkind, unthoughtful, uncaring and rude. Jesus warns us of this in His Bible.

He says to take no thought for tomorrow, the Lord knows what we need and give and it shall be given unto us. Love is the ultimate goal for every christian and time allows lovers to be at the back of the line, no problem.