Budgeting

Whether you are looking to hone your skills in a specific career or just seeking to climb the education ladder, several options are available. Unfortunately, not every option available will look attractive, especially if you’re working with a tight budget. It is an undeniable fact that those with better education or academic qualifications mostly earn more. For example, people with college degrees earn over 50% more over their lifetime. 

Unfortunately, for any adult, the higher you seek to climb on the academic ladder, the more you can expect to pay. And this situation has caused loads of people to postpone or abandon higher education. But getting further education doesn’t have to be expensive. So, are you looking for ways to continue your education without going into debt? Here are a few budget-friendly ideas you can use. 

Leverage on low-cost and free online training; learn at an Ivy league 

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The internet has made it possible for billions of people to further their education, with online courses available in almost any field of studies. An Ivy League education has a lot of prestige associated with it, mainly because of its years of offering unmatched higher education quality. But you don’t need to study in an Ivy League school, as many individuals have succeeded in smaller known institutions. Plus, it sounds great to learn something from an Ivy League school without paying for it. 

Through Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC), you have the opportunity to learn from Ivy League professors right from home. Today, you can find a rapidly growing movement of MOOCs offering various people an opportunity to advance their studies. For example, you’ll find options like Udemy, Khan Academy, Code Academy, Fluent U, Alison, etc. Khan Academy and Alison are popular for most people, as they offer free studying resources, study videos, assessments, and assignments in various fields. They cover various professional disciplines, including the humanities, science, and math. Udemy, Code Academy, and Fluent U offer law courses at low costs, ranging from as little as $20 to as much as $200.

Opt for an adult education program for the basics

Perhaps you could not complete your high school education, and you’re interested in getting your GED done. In that case, there are several opportunities available for you as an adult to go back and complete those basics. Most of these adult education centers offer very low-cost and budget-friendly education. Indeed, some of these options are also free or covered financially by different nonprofit organizations. 

What about the paid options?

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If you prefer to pursue a certificate course or opt for a degree course, these options will probably cost some money. However, they provide greater returns. One option is to sign up for an online certification course from a reputable higher learning institution that offers low-cost education. Today, no matter what you’re looking for, you’ll find options available online, from an online master’s degree in nursing to even law courses. All you need to do is find low-cost alternatives that’ll fit easily in your budget.

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A salary is extremely important as it’s what someone gets paid for a living. This is the money that ends up in your bank account for doing a job, and you need to have a big enough salary to cope with all the various expenses in life. Speaking of which, one of the biggest problems people have is that they need a better salary. They aren’t getting paid enough by their employers, so they want to take action.

There’s an issue for employers as well! They know that salaries are crucial, but they’re also managing a budget. It becomes a question of trying to pay your employees what they deserve without spending too much.

On the topic of salaries, we’re going to go over a few things that both employees & employers can learn from the world of professional sports. Pro sports is arguably the most expensive industry in the world, but it’s also one where salaries are made public. When you look at this world, you start to see that there are a few things we can maybe adopt in the normal world…

Demanding new contracts

You will see that a lot of professional athletes flat-out demand new contracts when they think they deserve to be paid more. This happens a lot when young players break into a team, start performing really well, but are still stuck on a youth contract. They’re being paid way less than people in other teams who perform worse than them. So, they make it widely known that they want a better contract or they’ll leave. 

It’s an ultimatum that puts the employer on the spot. They need to decide if they’re willing to give them a raise or lose a valuable team member. The same can apply in your workplace. If you think you’re being paid less than you deserve, make a fuss about it. Give your boss an ultimatum, then alert any other companies about the situation. If you’re good at your job, you will be snapped up by a rival company in no time. This is further encouragement for the employer to act fast and give in to your demands, increasing your wages. 

Going above and beyond to reward loyalty

If you are an employer with a small business, one lesson you can take from pro sports is to go above and beyond to reward your loyal employees. We can look at a couple of instances where this has been shown, so let’s look at the NHL for an example. In 2018, Drew Doughty signed an 8-year contract worth $88 million for the LA Kings. It followed many impressive performances for the team, and they rewarded him with a long-term contract that saw him as one of the top-paid athletes in the division. 

Patrick Mahomes in the NFL is another great example. Again, his excellent play and loyalty were rewarded with a 7-year contract worth $150 million in 2020. In both of these cases, you see the employer doesn’t just reward them financially, they also ensure they’re locked in for a long time. As an employer, this is something to consider when setting salaries. Give them a contract that includes a salary for many years, making them feel financially secure at their job. It helps you retain employees, which is great for business!

Constantly providing raises

It is incredibly rare that any athlete will play for a sports team and not get a raise when signing a new contract. In the real world without million-dollar contracts, raises are harder to come by. It seems that businesses are less inclined to give them out, but it’s something they should start doing. If you employ people, raising their salary is the easiest way to give back and show appreciation for what they’ve done. 

From an employee’s perspective, you should learn from this as well. It’s a case of knowing your worth and knowing when you deserve a raise. So many people will stay at the same job for years without a raise, purely because they don’t think they deserve one, or are maybe resigned to the idea that raises are rarely given. Learn from sports; good performance deserves rewards. Ask for raises if you think you deserve one!

Obviously, there are huge differences between pro sports and most of our jobs! The money involved is completely different, so you can’t expect huge raises of million-dollar contracts. Nevertheless, there are certainly ways of doing things that you see in pro sports that can be applied to normal jobs. If you have salary issues at work, this post should give you a few things to mull over.

There are a million ways that you can improve your financial standing. But one of the most effective ways is to simply do your best to avoid the common financial mistakes that people can easily fall into. While people are paying attention to other things, they often let their financial side run on autopilot, and that’s an incredibly troubling scenario to be in. While things won’t unravel in the space of a week, if those mistakes are committed over a long period of time, then you might find that you’re in a deep hole.

In this blog, we’re going to run through some of the most common errors that people make and offer advice on how you can avoid and overcome them.

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Bills Pile Up

There was a time when you had no bills in your life. But at some point, you picked up your first bill — and then more and more followed. While there are, of course, some expenses that you’ll always have to pay, it’s always worthwhile looking at trimming your expenses from time to time. Do you still need that cable bill? Or the fastest internet package available? Just taking the time to go through your bills and make cuts can lead to significant savings.

Handling Everything Yourself

You’ll have the expertise required to do many things in life, but it’s unlikely that you have the expertise to handle all aspects of your financial situation. Some things are complicated, after all. For instance, let’s think about your taxes. If you’re in a complicated working arrangement (self-employed, and so on), then you’ll find that there’s value in handing the job over to a tax expert. Similarly, if you have an accident that wasn’t your fault, then it’ll be better to work with someone who can offer legal help after an injury rather than trying to fight for justice on your own. Make a habit of taking care of the basics on your own, but outsourcing the more complicated tasks to someone else.

Not Investing In Your Career 

Your career is going to be your biggest money-making resource at your disposal. In fact, for many people, it will be the only money-making resource. So it’s important that you’re investing in yourself and ensuring that you’re in a position to make as much money as possible. Rather than just going with the flow and waiting for cash to come your way, it’d make more sense to identify which courses will allow you to earn more, and study for the qualifications. A little bit of effort can go a long way — you’ll certainly notice the impact when you look at your bank balance. 

Short-Term Gains 

Finally, look at eliminating or reducing your short-term gains. A daily cup of coffee and lunch might sound like a treat, but when you multiply the value by, say, five years, they might not look as tempting. Take the money that you save and put it in a savings account. Your future self will thank you! 

These days, the internet is a pretty non-negotiable aspect of our lives. Since the remote switch of 2020, especially, the ability to get online has been a literal job-saver. Especially for work-from-home small business owners and freelancers. As everything from communication to shopping is now easier online. 

Unfortunately, like any trend, the internet remains at the cutting edge, with advancements like broadband, wifi, and fiber optics to name just a few leaving packages that are even a few years old pretty much obsolete. This is especially the case where video conferences and online meetings are concerned, with a decent connection speed now expected. 

This can be a real point of worry for those in financial difficulties given that, as a rule, these newer offerings cost a fair amount more than standard connections over utilizing a private pix network. But, what if we told you that switching to high-speed could save you money despite all that? And, we’re going to prove it. 

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The ability to enhance your earnings

Above all, right now, high-speed internet is a fantastic way to boost your earnings which, if done right, could altogether negate any additional costs. Most notably, the ability to impress, show up on time, and generally boss remote work could see you earning more/up for promotions and pay rises.

What’s more, many people are making money through platforms like YouTube and TikTok. In that instance, a decent internet connection that can withstand video uploads, etc. is as non-negotiable as a good idea. And, if you do earn from your efforts, then that increased income should soon start paying for your internet and more. 

Cutting cable costs altogether

It’s also worth noting potential savings you could make elsewhere with high-speed broadband behind you, including cutting costs on your cable. After all, many cable channels now have a website on which they both streams live and upload programs that have been on in the past, whether that be recently or way back in the archive. So getting free cable legally is really as simple as getting online. Again, though, a decent internet connection is vital for avoiding that dreaded buffering circle every time you try to watch something. Luckily, the $100+ you’ll save on cable itself makes splashing out on your connection more than worthwhile. 

Bundle bargains

At the very least, upgrading your internet could mean saving through bundles with other things, including cable, phone contract, and more. After all, suppliers are pushing for you to upgrade your internet however they can, meaning that the vast majority will offer you decent deals elsewhere. While this could still mean paying more for your internet itself, you could, therefore, end up paying a lot less in other areas, more than covering that expense. 

Conclusion

Even if an upgraded internet package seems like an expense you don’t need, there are ways to offset those extra costs, and even end up better off as a result. With the best internet connection only set to become more important, you could certainly benefit from considering these savings sooner rather than later.

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Research has shown that the current generation of banking apps has enhanced customer’s experiences.  However, there is still a wide margin between financial apps and others like Uber, WhatsApp, etc. These simple and intuitive applications have raised consumer expectations.

With the global pandemic progressing, digital banking has become a necessity in the wake of social distancing. Creating a low-friction user experience is an effective approach to serve customers in the best way. Like other sectors, the banking community has been revolutionized by advances in mobile tech. Internet consumers’ adoption of digital banking solutions has doubled up over the previous two years. 64% of digital-loving customers engage with fintech applications, EY’s Global FinTech Adoption Index 2019 reported. Here are four ways banks can improve their mobile apps.

Feature parity with banking websites

Although many customers now do their banking on their mobile devices, some users express their frustrations at the lack of flexible features in their banking apps. On banking websites, consumers often complain about limited features. It is thought that adding flexible functions that allow customers to see their pending payments, add new payees, and manage their direct debits/standing orders is a big plus for consumers’ mobile banking experiences.

Balance security features with convenience

For the majority of users, checking their balance is the number one reason to install mobile banking apps. However, end-users also have a better understanding of the need for security and convenience to go hand-in-hand. Some banks are unable to strike a fair balance between these, which makes their banking apps not that great. It can be stressful for customers to have to type in several complex passwords and usernames each time they simply want to check their balance.

Banks can improve their mobile services by matching their security protocols to the risk level of the task required. While high-risk transactions like adding new payees and changing sensitive personal info could require stricter security measures, checking balances could be allowed without customers having to always type in passwords.

Personalize customers’ mobile banking experience

To stand out and be a successful financial institution, banks need to offer personalized mobile banking experiences to their customers. This will create an amazing experience and satisfy the needs of digitally active and branch-dependent customers. For mobile banking apps, data analytics could be used to track how customers interact with their applications. Insights from their behavior could be leveraged to tailor services to individual users. With the rising acceleration of artificial intelligence, there is more room for banking institutions to cater their services to their unique consumers.

Create a continuous delivery model

One serious challenge to digital banking transformation is innovating a culture that is conventionally bureaucratic or hierarchical. It can be hard to drive innovation in a big banking organization, partly due to changes in management initiatives. However, it helps to rethink the waterfall methodology and implement an agile culture. This is instrumental in keeping pace with technology and creating a continuous delivery model.

A growing family can be an expensive thing; whether you’re bringing a new life into the fold, or your children are rapidly growing and seemingly eating everything in sight, you’re going to be spending a lot more than your budget might be comfortable with! 

And that’s something we should focus on tackling, for the sake of your household turnover and your peace of mind. So, without further ado, here are three top things to do to help cut down the costs of raising children – better yet, they can be done right now! 

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Negotiate for Cheaper Child Care

Child care can be hard to pay for if you don’t have any family members to step in. But we can try to change this. After all, one of the best ways to cut down on child care costs is via working from home, or remote working. If your workplace does not already offer this as an option, there are some great ways to suggest it out there – a bit of confidence can go a long way to saving you money! 

Invest in Insurance

Insurance is a great thing for a family to have, simply because so many things can get broken when there are young children in the house! However, some insurance policies are better than others, so you’ve got to be smart about what type you take out here. 

Life insurance, for example, is going to be a worthy type to invest in. If you can rest easy at night, knowing that if anything happened to you your family would have the money to guide them through, you’ll be dealing with far less financial stress. 

So make sure you do your research; take a look at the most popular providers and compare them – you can start with these Primerica reviews, but make sure you look a little deeper into the contract and what’s on offer. You may also want to look into health insurance, or refining your current policy, and it never hurts to look into long-term disability insurance as well. 

Tackling the Food Shop

The food shop is probably the number one thing you dread; shopping for two or more people is difficult, and kids are notoriously fussy eaters! However, if you always buy when something is on offer, and buy in bulk, you’re going to be able to save a lot of money in the long run. 

Try to practice this principle with non-perishables, as they’ll keep it in the cupboard for a long time. Similarly, make sure you know how to properly store fresh food, and always mix those small leftovers into other, more substantial meals. Try to buy frozen wherever you can. The cost of a growing family can be huge – at last count, it stood at over $200,000 to raise just one child! So when you have a bigger family, it can feel impossible to manage a budget; make sure you keep the above ideas in mind to tackle the most troubling areas.

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In business, your aim is to do what you can to build an empire. We’re all in it to see lots of success, after all. In order to make your money grow in this world, you need to ensure that you have vast amounts of knowledge and that you work hard. You also need to make sure that you’re diligently going through pretty much every aspect of your business so that faults do not occur. If you do these three things, then longevity is likely to happen. 

In order to make profits, you also need to lower the money that goes out. Saving money while building a business matters so much. There are plenty of tricks and trips to achieve this, of course. One of which is through knowing the right people or right groups. Why does this save so much money? Well, here are five reasons: 

Trial And Error Won’t Exist 

If you have the right people in your list of phone contacts, then you won’t have to spend time and effort looking for the right individuals or companies to work with. You won’t have to continually try new things, fail, and learn the hard way. While learning this way helps a little, it’s much better when you work smarter and get things done in half the time. Stress, money, time, and effort will all be gone after getting in touch with the perfect contact. 

They’ll Give You Discounts Based On Their Closeness To You

If you know somebody that works in a particular position of power, then they’ll likely give you something for a little less than what others would normally get. This works in the lowest of positions and in the highest. Your negotiations could be a lot simpler if you were friendly with a particular group that would likely benefit you in the future. 

You Can Be Pointed To The Right People All Of The Time

The world of business is like a huge spider web of contacts that typically all know one another in some way, shape, or form. The more people you know, the more mutual friends you’re going to have in the industry (and in other industries). You could get in touch with someone and they could help you to get significant savings on LTL freight shipping at a time where you thought the prices were at an extremely unforgiving high. Don’t be afraid to introduce yourself – it could benefit you more than you think. 

You Won’t Have To Go Through Rigorous Vetting Processes 

Finding the right individual or group can be quite a pain in the backside. If you know the right person, then you could just run straight to them and the job could be finished in a matter of hours. 

The Reputation Of Your Business Could Skyrocket

It really is who you know in this game. If you have the right contacts, then your business will likely rise through the ranks quicker than if you don’t have them. You need to ensure that your business is growing, and the right people can make that happen.