Get Rid of Debt and Financial Freedom

Debt could be something you could hardly manage. Unfortunately, it could be easier to accumulate more of it than to get rid of it. The key to eliminating it and preventing being deeply indebted is to observe sound debt management. Financial and self discipline would practically play an important role.

To get into a sought-after financial freedom, start observing strategies to become debt-free. Start by reviewing all your current debts regularly. By monitoring your own finances, you would be more aware of how much you could make and spend in a month. By keeping track of your debts, you would know how much you should spend on repayments and until when you would shoulder debt obligations.
Now is the time to consider debt consolidation. It is one effective strategy to lower your interest payments. Many debt consolidation loans offer lower interest rates and waived charges. If your debts are consolidated, you could avoid late payments and possible defaults, which are both costly. You could also obtain better terms on loans. Here are some other tips that could help you get rid of your debts so you could take the path towards your sought-after financial freedom.


Credit card management

Always intend to settle your credit card balances at the end of the interest-free period. By doing so, you could effectively prevent incurring any interest cost. Thus, you should take note of your credit cards’ cutoff periods so you know when to pay in advance to avoid interest payments.

Close your credit card accounts that are not useful and are imposing higher interest rates or charges. Resist the temptation to obtain more credit cards, no matter how attractive the features and offers are. It could be ideal to retain just a single credit card. Choose to keep the one with a longer interest-free period, lower rates, and good balance transfer offers.

If you have decided to keep some credit cards, ask the credit card firms to lower your credit limit. This is an effective way to start observing financial and spending discipline. Take note of each minimum amount payable. You may decide to pay more than minimum required to prevent accumulation of interest-incurring credit card debt.

Disciplined approach

Emphasis is always on disciplined approach to spending. There is a need to make sure that debts are not obtained just to make unnecessary or luxurious purchases. Another guide is to keep your debts lower than the valuation of your current assets. Borrow an amount that you could comfortably and possibly shoulder each month. Do not obtain debts that command monthly repayments that are greater than how much you could afford.

Lastly, aim to take control back to your hands. Intend not to get into any trouble involving your debts. Never try to ignore or hide it. You could never run away from any financial obligation. Trying not to shoulder debt repayments would only take you to so much trouble. Work out a feasible budget for debt management and try to stick with it, no matter what.

Chip Away at Debt

Debt is a burden. It’s overwhelming. It sits on our shoulders. But it doesn’t have to be this way. We often think of debt as something that requires a lot of work to manage. We think it requires getting a second job, going to debt management counseling or even winning the lottery! However, there are actually a lot of little things that you can do to chip away at your debt and making it more manageable.


Here are ten easy ideas for chipping away at your debt:

1. Put 10% of every paycheck towards paying off your debt. This should be in addition to the minimum payments that you are making each month. It sounds like a hard thing to do but once you get in the habit of it you’ll find that it’s a really simple way to start bringing your debt down to a more manageable place.

2. Increase your minimum payment by $10 each month. If you only make minimum payments each month then just start pretending that the number on the statement is $10 higher than it says it is. Pay the new amount.

3. Use discount codes when you shop online. Take whatever amount you’ve saved and immediately put it towards paying off your debt. The little bits will add up without straining your budget. Same deal goes for using in-store coupons.

4. Stop paying one monthly fee. Find a payment that you make every month that you can give up. Examples include your second car, a membership to a local yoga studio or your cable TV. Put all of that money towards paying off your debt.

5. Skip one entire section of the grocery store on each trip. This week skip the milk aisle and figure out how to do without dairy for a week. Next week skip the meat aisle and make vegetarian meals. Put the savings towards your debt.

6. Have a yard sale. Springtime is a great time to de-clutter your home and sell off all of the things that you no longer need. Take all of the cash that you’ve earned and make a payment on the balance of your debt.

7. Skip your annual vacation. You can go for one year without visiting your hometown or going to Disneyland. That money can make a nice dent in your credit card balance.

8. Check if you have any rewards. Many people have rewards on their credit cards that they haven’t cashed in. Get the cash back immediately and use it to pay down the amount you owe on the card.

9. Look at your bill statement once a week. The point of this exercise is to keep you focused on your debt repayment goals. Just reminding yourself of why you’re trying to pay off your debt really will help!

10. Set one more small goal. Learning to set debt repayment goals and meet them will assist you in paying off your debt bit by bit while making it feel more manageable at the same time.

This is a guest post by Kathryn Vercillo, a personal finance writer who writes about debt management, smart credit card use and saving money.

Home Insurance and Stamp Collections

The UK has a wide range of home insurance providers so you may decide to compare quotes online. Whilst this can provide you with cheap home insurance options, it is always worth investigating the full extent of the contents cover offered. This is especially important if you have a treasured collection of stamps that you want to insure.

Most of us have a collection of some sort or another, whether it is an impressive assortment of handbags or recipes, or an array of toy owls or brass doorknobs. More often than not the value of these collections is more emotional than economic. Nevertheless, you may be shocked by the prices that some collectors’ items fetch, especially if you have been collecting stamps for some time.

The “Treskilling” yellow is the most valuable postage stamp in the world. In 1996 it sold for 2,500,000 Swiss francs. Each successive sale has produced a world record price for a postage stamp. Even a used Penny Black can fetch between £10 and £110 depending on its condition and if you’re lucky enough to have an unused penny black in your collection, you’re looking at a price tag of around £1,600!

In the 1860s and 1870s when stamp collecting began, it was mainly done by children and teenagers and was generally thought of as a childish pursuit. However, when these youngsters grew up, they became the founders of what is still one of the world’s most popular indoor hobbies. Even today when the popularity of stamp collecting has dwindled somewhat, there are still an estimated 200 million stamp collectors world wide.

Throughout history, some impressive figures have been keen on this hobby including Freddie Mercury and John Lennon who both enjoyed stamp collecting as children. Their collections are now held by postal museums; the British Postal Museum and Archive and the National Postal Museum respectively.

If you’ve spent years building up a valuable stamp collection, it can be reassuring to know that it’s covered in your buildings and contents insurance policy.

With suitable home insurance in place, you can get back to scouring archives for the elusive missing piece that will complete your collection

A Peep into Equity Release Genres

Equity release the term itself bears the definition and role of the same. The release equity refers to the scheme that gives the aged and retired individual an additional source of income in lieu of the property that the retired individual has mortgaged. Though the benefits drawn from the scheme irrespective of the types are more or less the same, yet there are slight variations as per the specifications of the respective genre. The scheme has indeed proved to be very handy and timely as far as the post retirement financial requirements are concerned.

The different types of equity release are as follows:

Lifetime Mortgage: In this type of release equity the retired individual mortgages the property, in lieu of which the money is received. The individual can take up the sum for use. He or she can use it again avail for this option if required however in that case the individual has to apply again.

Drawdown Equity Release Plans: The concept is similar to that of the lifetime mortgage however with a greater flexibility, as in the retired individual in this scheme can avail for the option again and again without going through the hassle of applying every time.

Interest Only Mortgage: This option allows the retired individual to get the interest as the income. This way only the capital needs to be paid back after the demise of the retired individual.

Home Reversion Plans: In this case the retired individual sells off a part of the property and in return gets the required amount. This way the ownership of the rest of the property is retained by the retired individual.

The equity release option thereby offers numerous flexible alternatives suiting the respective needs of the separate retired individuals making it a retirement friendly option for the old ones.

Tips on How to Fetch Profit in a Fulfillment Company

In the present times, the importance of fulfillment business has increased in leaps and bounds. In fact, fulfillment business owners have grown in abundance throughout various corners of the globe. A fulfillment business includes a wide array of transactions like warehousing, pick and pack, mailing, shipping, delivering merchandise and many more. Although there are ample fulfillment companies, its better you approach such companies that can provide you flawless service. Now, how can you get to know of the offerings and services of a fulfillment company and trust them? Well, it’s the online connectivity that can help you do so.

If you visit the relevant sites, you will come across a good number of fulfillment companies with a wide range of services. Remember, all of them might not prove true to their word and therefore the consequences might bring your business at stake. So, the best way to get ensured is to compare the prices and offerings of these companies with others and check whether you are able to make your business shine.

There are certain strategies for establishing a fulfillment business. One of them is order management. Remember, the reputation of a fulfillment company rests solely on the quality of services that the fulfillment company provides. So, if at any point of time you commit a blunder in delivering goods to your concerned client, you might be in big trouble. If it happens, you might fail to be in the good books of the client. As a result, you might be enlisted in the list of unfortunates.

Warehousing also counts to be among the primary initiatives for every fulfillment company. Make sure you choose your fulfillment company in close proximity to your service providing agency. This will in fact help your goods to get safely delivered to your client. A fulfillment business is bound to grow if proper strategies can be taken.

Learn How to Save Money by Hanging Out With Frugal Folks!

If you want to learn how to save money, start spending more time with your frugal friends! You might just be surprised how much you can learn!


20 Frugal Living Habits to adopt NOW!

1. Never pay full price!
2. Avoid brand loyalty. You’ll cut your grocery bill by about 25% just by switching to store brands!
3. Stop wasting food and learn to love leftovers.
4. Make a written household budget and stick to it!
5. Eat out for special occasions only. It’s time to break the dinner at the drive-thru habit.
6. Find your inner coupon queen – those 50¢ coupons really will add up to hundreds of dollars in savings each month.
7. Grow your own fruits and veggies – they’ll even taste better!
8. Don’t keep up with the Joneses, keep up with your frugal friends!
9. Learn to love shopping at Goodwill, Thrift Stores, Garage Sales and Consignment Shops.
10. Do It Yourself – thanks to You Tube, there’s a video to teach you how to do just about anything! Give it a try before you call the repair guy!
11. STOP making impulse purchases – make yourself wait at least 1 day before you make a purchase and really think about it.
12. Ask yourself if it’s a need or a want. You can quickly trim your budget by eliminating the “wants.”
13. Walk or ride your bike whenever possible – gas isn’t cheap!
14. Once a year, call your cable company, electric company, phone company and cell phone company to make sure you are getting the best possible rate, and that you are not paying for services that you don’t need.
15. Don’t give your teens $20 every time they go out with their friends. Give them an allowance and teach them how to budget.
16. Pack a brown bag lunch everyday!
17. Drive 55 m.p.h. instead of 65 m.p.h. and you’ll save nearly 40¢ a gallon!
18. Make your own coffee, you can even splurge and buy Starbucks coffee beans!
19. Make money with your unwanted items – have a garage sale, use e-bay, etc.
20. Don’t waste anything! Re-use, re-purpose or re-do!

Kristl is the CEO of her family and also the maid, the cook, the coupon queen and yes, the bargain shopper. She’s not a financial planner or an accountant, just a mom that knows how to live life on a budget! Visit TheBudgetDiet.com for more money saving tips.

Hard Money – A Quick Solution to Financial Aid

Owing to the stringent laws and regulations of banks, borrowers are finding difficult to seek financial assistance. Earlier, banks were considered to be the only and easiest way-out to get loans. There was neither any hard and fast rule nor any investigation procedure prior to granting loans to people. Keeping in view the frequency of fraud cases, banks have been compelled to stand firm against loan borrowers. So why not choose some other option that can smoothly fetch your desired loan? Hard money is the only option that can fulfill your urgent need. In fact, if you browse the sites, you can get in touch with an online lender and get your matter solved.

There are several advantages of borrowing hard money. Just imagine the time period that banks take for getting your loan processed. In some cases, it might take a few weeks and sometimes you have to wait for an entire month. In this context, the private hard money lenders act like rockets. Once they come to hear of your need, they take instant initiatives and try to get your amount as soon as possible, may be within a couple of days. Since you are taking advantage to get your loan within a very short time, your interest might be charged a bit high compared to those given by banks. Well, there is nothing to worry as the interest rates will be a just a bit high.

One of the vital steps prior to borrowing hard money is selecting a good hard money lender. Contacting them online might not help you in knowing them professionally. So the best way to know them is by arranging a personal meeting where you can get to know about their service facilities and charges. Make sure you get everything written before committing to any of their policies.

Disasters At Your Work Premises, Loss Assessors and Getting The Claim You Deserve

Sometimes, often due to budget, businesses can under estimate the cover they need to ensure that their business in covered following a disaster like fire, flood and theft. Such disasters can rip through the premises of your place of business and leave a trail of destruction. You may lose stock and parts of the building that you operate from – would you insurance cover this? You may lose valuable trading time and subsequently you may not have the funds to carry you through this period – would your insurance cover this?

Loss of profit following a disaster can be devastating to businesses and even those with adequate cover can find themselves in trouble. When you put your claim in to the insurance company it is you and your business that is expected to deal with claim. If you are large business you may have the appropriate staff to guide you through this – but if you are one of the smaller guys what happens? Do you have the time, the knowledge and the inclination to fight your corner? You have just lost a good portion of your life; you will have enough to deal with – without learning the intricacies of business insurance claims.

Insurance companies are going to try and pay out fairly – but don’t for one second think that means that your business will receive the money it needs to continue trading successfully in the future. If you want to secure the future of your business following a disaster like flood or fire then you need to get proactive – consider tracking down the skills of a loss assessor.

Loss assessors are the secret weapon for smaller businesses and getting the money you deserve (and require) following one of these major disasters. A loss assessor is employed by you and your business and works with your businesses well being in mind.

You may be familiar with the work of a loss adjuster – a loss adjuster is employed by the insurance company to go through all the details of your claim- if anything doesn’t add up, or the cover isn’t sufficient in the eyes of the law – they adjust the claim. A loss assessor essentially does the same job but approaches it from your businesses angle.

The loss assessor can bring their skills, knowledge and expertise to the table ensuring that the playing field is levelled out. In all honesty can you say that you would be able to represent the interests of your business successfully against the loss adjuster and insurance company?

You owe to it to yourself and your business to get the most money following a claim for a major disaster – and a loss assessor is the key to getting it.

Wayne Barker writes for Harris Balcombe – the UK’s leading loss assessors, claims recovery and claims management company. Harris Balcombe specialises in fire insurance claims, flood insurance claims and business interruption claims.

Feel Financially Secure by Understanding Social Security

Learning what you need to know about social security can help with financial security.

The Importance of Understanding Social Security

There is a lot of differing information about health care, retirement, and Social Security, that has been exchanged in the public forums and online for some time now. All of this information can be overwhelming and at times disheartening because for many people, it is confusing to think about social security benefits and the future. This is especially true at a time when the economy is struggling to pull itself out of a recession, jobs are at a low, and financial bubbles bursting all over Wall Street have drained and destroyed various people's Social Security funds. However, planning for your financial future is critical. It is important that everyone who is a working adult or has a family has an understanding of what you need to know about social security. This information is particularly critical for people who are in need of Social Security disability.

What is Social Security Disability?

Social Security Disability or SSD, is a program that is designed to help benefit workers who have put money into a social security account but who have, for whatever reason, become temporarily unable to continue working, to guarantee income for themselves, or have become permanently disabled. Eligibility for these benefits is determined by inability to work, possible inability to adjust to new work, and the length of your disability. It is important that everyone who has a job, and particularly those who have families, is aware of what exactly Social Security disability is and the different ways that they will or will not be able to qualify. There are a myriad of disabilities that qualify a person for SSD benefits. These include, but are not limited to, mental, physical, respiratory, musculoskeletal disorders, as well as loss of senses and various neurological disorders. It can be tough to say which of these disabilities and how extreme the case, a patient would be required to suffer before he or she could be effectively considered for SSD benefits, but this is why it is so crucial to make a concerted effort to learn about Social Security.

Benefits to Being Financially Informed

It is very easy to go through the better part of your life uniformed about Social Security, as well as the the financial needs and challenges of living and investing money. Very few people learn about financial management or planning for their future in school. And unless you had a particularly financial-savvy parent, it is very difficult to come by the kind of financial knowledge you need without the aid of a dedicated financial planner. Many people find that when they work out the information for themselves their understanding of what Social Security and its benefits are, they are better poised to take advantage of programs, benefits packages and other options offered by their company or employer. They are also better poised to make important contributions to their retirement plan or their Social Security, which, in the case of a devastating disability, or even a temporary disability, can make the difference between feeling in control and secure in knowing that your family's future is safe and feeling lost, terrified and concerned that you will not be able to generate enough income for your spouse or children to comfortably move forward. There is an insecurity that all adults experience when faced with the reality of both their own mortality and the possibility of financial ruin. Once you take the steps to learn what you need to know about social security, you will feel much more comfortable and capable in dealing with whatever issues may arise in the future.

Renters Insurance: Why You Need It

If you own a home, it is likely a condition of your mortgage agreement that you purchase insurance to protect your house in the case of a natural disaster. But what if you don't own your own house and instead rent? Renters insurance isn't legally required in most cases, but if you don't purchase it, you could find yourself in financial trouble. So why do you need renters insurance?

What Renters Insurance Protect

It is a common misconception that you landlord's insurance will cover you financially if something goes wrong. That's not usually the case. While your landlord does have insurance on the property, this insurance will only cover the building itself in most cases, not the possessions within. So, you'll be forced to pay to replace all your clothing, furniture, and other belongings in the case of a fire, flood, or other disaster unless you buy renters insurance.

Protection for your Guests

In addition to protecting your possessions, your renters insurance will also cover injury your guests may sustain while visiting you. Your landlord has a duty to ensure that his or her insurance will cover guests who are hurt when issue arise with the property itself, such as a lose step leading to a fall, but what if one of your guests trips over a cord or burns a hand on your stove? Your renters insurance makes sure that their injuries are covered.

Lost and Stolen Items

Do you ever travel with your possessions? Most of us do – and renters insurance can actually provide some coverage if these items are lost or stolen. Every policy is different, but most cover your possessions no matter where they are located, which can give you peace of mind when on vacation. Of course, if there's a break-in at your home, you can also turn to your renters insurance in this case to replace anything that was stolen.

Renters insurance costs just a few dollars a month, but can provide you with thousands of dollars worth of coverage should you need it. There's really no reason not to purchase a policy to protect yourself and your family.

Allison works with RentersInsurance.org, where you can go to learn more about this kind of insurance and get a renters insurance quote for you and your family.

Unsecured Loans: Arrange Fund without Asset

Lack of fund cause problem when you are in need of urgent cash and especially at the time when your loan application get regret because you don’t have security against loan. In such a situation you tend to borrow from friend and relative which is not advisable thing to do. What can you do in such a situation? The answer to this question is unsecured loan. Unsecured loan provides speedy cash assistance without any security.


Unsecured loan is unsecured in nature it doesn’t demand any security against the loan amount if you are in need of urgent cash than unsecured loan is the best loan to go for as it is free from hassle of paperwork and complicated formality. The loan amount can be use for various purpose like paying medical bills, credit card dues; consolidating old debts, purchasing a car, reconstruction of home, wedding, vacation and so forth.

The fund you can gain from this loan £1000-£25000 as per your requirement for a flexible time period of 1 to 10 year so the repayment easy but the rates if interest charge is to high as here the lender are at risk because they cannot repossession as it is collateral free loan.

Foreclosures, bankruptcy, CCJs, IVA, arrears and defaults are welcome for this loan as the loan doesn’t have credit check involved in the process so people with bad credit also can apply and gain fund and the time repayment can improve their credit score.

Use the online application method for faster approach and it also better way to go for loan because in online you don’t have to stand in queue waiting for your time to come instead you can do a proper research of market and you just have to fill an online application form with a few detail and loan get approved within 24 hrs if time in your account.

Pay Off your Credit Card debt through cheapest way

If you have credit card debts when they are possibly taking into account more than one option to get rid of that credit. But do you know what the cheapest ways to pay off credit cards now? The financial market is changing every day, and there are new arrangements that might not have considered. But the choice is yours and that deal you choose depends on your personal circumstances and your budget.


It makes no sense to make commitments that can not be satisfied for the long term, just to make it appear that the best way to get credit cards to pay, and really can not make payments on time will incur and ruin your credit rating. In this case, your cheapest option and has become very expensive.

1.Zero percent credit card offers

These offers may be really useful if you are sure you can clear the balance within a reasonable time, and make sure you meet the payments. This does not mean you can continue to make minimum payments on your card, because you will not get rid of your debt balance of credit. You have to aim to finish the whole letter before the higher interest that is activated and you will save about 19%, the interest paid within 12 months of age card.

2.Personal loans

Personal loans are one of the cheapest ways to pay off credit cards and benefit from them is that as a card is considered unsecured financing, therefore, not be protected against property. With a personal loan you will be able to budget better as you have a fixed interest rate and a fixed payment for a period of time. Ideal for people who want to see the end of their misery of debt. The interest rate on these loans is much lower than credit cards.

3.Remortgaging

If you have a very large debt that seems to be difficult to handle, but can not transfer the total balance or balances of a personal loan or a zero percent credit card deal because of the amount, you can still go ahead and have new sources financing on your property, so transferring your card balance of your mortgage loan. Secured loans are considered as one of the cheapest ways to pay off credit cards, insurance, but you have to think about the risk of losing your home if you are not the maintenance reimbursements, so you only have an agreement can pay in time for the long term.
Rewrite

7 Tips on How to Save Money

With the current financial crisis that we are facing, handling money effectively is becoming more and more important. People often wonder how others were able to get by with only a little money. This proves the point that it is not the amount you have but how you utilize it that’s important. Here are some practical tips on how you can manage money more effectively thus saving in the process.

Manage your checking account: Getting a passbook will bring you peace of mind. It will help you figure out where your money went, if an issued check will bounce or if you are nearing an overdraft. This will help avoid incurring charges in that checking account.

Make your own bank statement: Tracking your outstanding balance can be beneficial. Use tools like Microsoft Excel or similar programs to create your own bank statement. This has to be updated regularly so you’ll know if your next balance will be covered by your next check.

Budget. You should be realistic when preparing a general budget. Your list should include all known expenses. Make sure that you allocate money for emergencies and miscellaneous expenses. Do not forget to write down your target savings, too. This should be updated regularly to ensure that it is accurate and that you are able to follow it. If you feel that your projected income will not cover your budgeted expenses, you may have to cut down some of the things in your list.

Maintain a good relationship with your bank: Customer service is a priority among banks. You should go to your bank regularly to establish good relationship. Talk with the bank personnel. Chat with the branch manager and make them feel that you are a loyal client. Most of the time, doing this will help you save on penalties.

Take care of your credit card balance: Paying just the minimum amount required often results in penalties if you have unpaid amounts. There is nothing wrong with paying just the minimum but you should always pay them on time.

Use your credit card wisely: Always keep in mind that credit cards are not money. Never use them to buy things that you cannot afford as this will result to a disaster. Never max out your credit card just because you are expecting a hefty bonus. This is not a healthy practice.

Pay your debts on time: Interest-bearing debts should always be paid on time. This will help you avoid paying penalties and more interest. If you can, pay ahead of time. You may even manage to cut down your loan payment term! You can save a lot in terms of the foregone interest. Also, it’ll be a big relief to finally know that you is debt-free.

There are a lot more practices out there for managing cash and for saving money. However, what works for one may not work for another. Make sure that you adopt the practices that will work for you. Always be flexible. If you think that a technique no longer suits you, don’t stick to it. Look for new ones that will work better. Bear in mind that cash is not the king. Handling it wisely is.

You can use all these strategies to save money, reduce debt and improve your life but it will not last unless you have a system automatically set up to continually work without your input. Get Dan Cavalli's FREE money saving secrets set on auto pilot at: www.the-richest-man-in-babylon.com.