Budgeting

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At some point in your life, there’s a high possibility you’ll end up in debt. It happens to most people for one reason or another – and it isn’t always a bad thing. Sometimes, you need to be in debt to achieve certain things. For example, you need a loan to buy your first house, which means you have to be in debt. Of course, some debts are worse than others, and they can be financially damaging.

Speaking of which, you have to learn how to tackle your debts. Today, you’ll see the top three WORST things you can do to deal with your money problems. Give them a read, then be sure you don’t do any of them!

Ignore the debt

It’s never a good idea to ignore your debt as it will just get worse. Debt doesn’t care if you pay attention to it or not. If you ignore your debt, it will just accrue more interest, meaning you have more money to repay. In turn, this obviously makes it a lot harder for you to pay your debts, which sends you into a spiral that you can’t get out of. The thing is, there’s no excuse for avoiding your debt! It’s something you can tackle on your own, or you can get legal advice from companies like Wyolaw Law Firm. Either way, the worst thing you can do is turn a blind eye and hope everything turns out okay. Here’s a spoiler alert: it won’t!

Get a short-term loan to pay off the debt

Never ever get a short-term loan to pay off your debts. Why? Because short-term loans are deadly! They’re almost designed to catch you out, which is why banks don’t provide them anymore. You’ll often see them advertised as payday loans, and the concept is that you get quick money to pay for something. In this case, you pay your debts. The problem is that this lands you in debt once more. To make matters worse, short-term loans usually come with outrageous interest rates and all sorts of fees and penalties. So, if you can’t repay the payday loan in a few days, you’ll be charged extra and the loan starts to grow. Instead of getting out of debt, you’ve got yourself into a deeper and stickier mess. 

If you can get a longer-term loan or a consolidation loan, that could be a better idea depending on your circumstances, but you may need to ask the question ‘What does self-employment change in your loan application?’ If you happen to work for yourself before you go down that route, and you should always, no matter what your situation, work out how much interest you’ll be paid back first.

Lose hope

Finally, it’s never a good idea to lose hope when tackling your debts. Lots of people slip into a dark pit of despair when money problems come their way. Sadly, this leads to some individuals taking their lives as they can’t see a way out. Understand that all debt can be solved in one way or another. Speak to professionals to get the advice you need, and don’t forget that bankruptcy is a viable option. There’s a stigma surrounding bankruptcy, but it can help you clear your debts and enjoy a fresh start. It’s not ideal, but it shows there is still hope to start again. 

In summary, the three worst things you can do when tackling debt are: lose hope, ignore it, and take out a payday loan. Pay attention to these points as you really don’t want to be guilty of doing any of these three things!

Life can be your oyster, but you need to create the seeds of success yourself. No one is going to give your dreams on a plate, you could be lucky to find a pot of gold, but you may also have to do a little leg work yourself.

The National Life Group reviews are committed to giving back to their clients as they grow. The groups’ infamous motto: “Do Good, Be Good, Make Good” gives the customer the confidence to make the group part of their lives.

Growing your net worth, in every area of your life is a valuable skill that can help you live the life of your dreams, knowing you have 1`a Fairy Godmother standing by your side to champion you on to the finish line.

Everyone Needs A Helping Hand

When setting up a business or trying to rejuvenate an existing business, you may need to cast your net wide to find the necessary support. You could try to do all of the legwork yourself, or you could reach out for help from business networks, business support agencies or a trusted friend. Whatever route you take, don’t struggle on alone?

After all, you want your business to succeed, don’t you?

Here are a few helpful tips to keep up the momentum:

• Don’t get bogged down in too much business-speak.
• Give yourself some time out; it’s not all work and no play.
• Construct a plan or a schedule and stick to it.
• Seek help from reliable sources.
• Be kind to yourself.

 Growing A Green Business

There are many incentives to incorporate green ethics into your business, that could help it to flourish and seeds a sustainable way of living.

As more and more people gain greater awareness of climate change, environmental and socially conscious ways of working, you move a narrow viewpoint into the mainstream. You can then open up new business concepts, products, and pathways through collaborate with other businesses, allowing you all to grow as a collective. 

Through taking this approach, you may also reduce your businesses carbon footprint by working with nature to create a better world for everyone. All this from taking a more mindful approach to business, and it truly works. Read more here.

Seeds Of Success

You can grow your business and work with external sources to do this, or you may wish to consider a few ideas listed below:

• Consider franchising your business; this can help it to snowball.
• Build passive income streams to support your primary business instead of loading your business with expensive high-interest business loans.
• Diversify your offers.
• Create a webinar or a podcast.
• Build a sales funnel.
• Actively engage in online marketing.
• Keep connected with your customers and clients.

Whatever options you decide to take, they will need to be the right ones that work for you and your business. Do not try to fit into someone else’s shoes, what has worked for another business may not work for you and your business and success.

You’re trying to buy the house of your dreams. It’s a little hard to get the buyer to go down to a price you’re comfortable with though. Guess you should have done more than the minimum down payment but that’s all you could do. Why is saving money important for buying a home?

One reason is that buying a house is often expensive and this means you should keep more money in your savings. It’s not the only reason why you should be fluffing up your savings account though. Keep reading to find out more about why saving money is important and see how you can keep track of it all.

1. Why Save Money?

There are a million reasons why it’s good to have plenty of money in your savings account. The main three are it acts as an emergency cushion, retirement, and house downpayments. 

It Acts as an Emergency Cushion 

You never know when your car is going to break down or some kind of medical emergency is going to come up. If you’re not prepared you may be left with no other option than spending money you don’t have or sell something. Having cash in your savings account gives you a little cushion for emergencies such as these so you don’t have to make that choice.  

Retirement 

Are you planning to retire at some point? If so then you’ll need money in your savings account to cover you when you aren’t working anymore. All it takes is saving at least a hundred dollars a month to make your retirement fund build up in no time. 

Downpayment for a House

Being able to make a large downpayment on a house will impact how much you can negotiate. You may be able to get your dream home for a much lower price or at least get a smaller interest rate.  Larger down payments will mean a smaller mortgage as well so you’ll be spending less on your home each month. 

You can calculate how much you’ll be able to spend on a downpayment, as well as how much you can afford for a monthly mortgage payment by using a compound interest calculator. They’re also great for investments, so keep this resource in mind whenever you’re trying to save money and get a better understanding of what the outcome might be.

2. Have a Notebook 

Now that you know why you need to save money let’s go over how you can keep track of it. The easiest way is to use a notebook to write down every dollar you spend. At the end of the month, you can transfer this data to a spreadsheet so you’ll still have it when you inevitably have to buy a new notebook. You can also use a check stub maker to create copies of your paystubs to stash away in the pockets of your notebook. 

Why is Saving Money Important and How You Can Do It?

Why is saving money important? If you want to be able to retire or buy a house you’ll need to have a lot saved up. The extra money also works as a nice cushion in the event that an emergency comes up. The great thing is that it’s not too hard to keep track of your expenses. All you need is a trusty notebook to get started. 

Keeping track of your expenses is only half the battle. Check out my blog’s other daily tips on how to save your cash better, too. Read more here.

Please note, this post is sponsored by Diamond Links. Thank you.

It’s official, 2020 is almost over. But before the holiday season, other important goals must be met. Including moving to your next apartment, and giving your new space an intense clean. Personally, I love the idea of cleaning up many facets of my life each Spring season. And not just the proverbial sprucing up of the interior of my home but the location of my home too!

Fall is arguably the best season when it comes to the new rentals this season. And I should know. As all of my best leasing opportunities have always occurred during the Fall of the year. 

So if you too have the wanderlust for a new local, here are 5 ways to maximize your chances of moving into your new home:

1. Be decisive

With so much economic upheaval the nation over, apartment space is at a premium. Making this a landlord’s market, for sure. But just because it’s a seller’s market doesn’t mean renters are seeking to wait exasperatingly long periods of time to entertain applicant selection this season. 

It’s also a buyers market. Which is why many homeowners are preferring to rent and not sell properties. Making them more likely to offer amenities, utility inclusion, application fee waiving, and even impromptu showings. As for cleaning, schedule disruption, and child and pet care arrangements that need to be made to accommodate potential renters.

According to ApartSEO, renters can save money by looking for new advertisements on social media networks including Facebook Marketplace. Where agents can be directly contacted, potential buyers profiles can be combed through, and, on occasion, rental fees can be negotiated.

Making it essential to be properly prepared to rent your next space this season. Including a copy of your credit report, explanations for a previous apartment/leasing-related offenses, pet disclosures, application fee money orders, and having your first and last month’s rent on-hand. Fall is not the season for hesitating when it comes to making housing offers. As the saying goes, fortune favors the bold.

2. Inventory can be an issue

When it comes to renting your next space, timing is key. As the most coveted leasing properties, in the best of neighborhoods and school districts, have been on a decline since 2016 and the trend will continue this season. According to Zillow, rentable inventory declined by 10.5% in the past 12 months. 

With fewer homes being available for rental, now is the season to reassess your actual square footage needs. Gone are the days of living in McMansions and ethical, smaller footprint homes are all the rage. Which makes knowing how large a home you actually need a great asset to buyers as smaller homes will be easier to acquire at an affordable price than homes larger than 2,000 square feet in size according to Zumper and Apartments.com. As landlords and leasing agents will raise the price of rent to cover the cost of land, skilled labor, building material, lack of buildable space, density rates, and advertising costs.

2. Prepare for disappointment

In a competitive market, it’s likely that there will be several applicants for each rentable space. With bidding wars becoming the new norm for many renters. Because unless you’re an applicant with impeccable credit and renting history, you face the very real possibility of not securing your rental of choice.

One way to lessen the blow of renters’ disappointment? Accept beforehand that this may be your renter’s outcome. It’s tough when you’ve fallen in love with a location, but it happens. Always be realistic about renting. As what you love about a particular apartment is also likely to also beloved by dozens of other prospective renters as well.

3. Know your budget

The best way to prevent the apartment of your dreams from slipping away is to be able to build strong offers for leasing agents.

Generally speaking, you should allocate no more than 30% of your gross monthly income. So, if you gross $5,000 per month, the max you should be paying for housing costs, including rent, is $1,500.

Knowing the exact amount of wiggle room in your budget will allow you to avoid having your budget-tight low-ball immediately rejected in this seller’s market. Because with multiple rental applications potentially on the table, agents and landlords are less inclined to play games with renters. Sometimes you just have to leverage your dream against your instinct to frugally haggle your way to your next home.

4. Be realistic

If there was ever a time to be financially realistic, it’s during a pandemic. Again, national home prices have climbed for 23 consecutive months. And the trend of high-value property rentals will also continue. Experts say prices will continue to increase in 2021. For some people, the uncertainty of the current market combined with rising prices may make renting more prudent in your area than buying. Knowing your personal rent versus buy equation could tilt toward renting in costly markets. Making you a more sought-after renter. 

5. Get Pre-Approved

Because landlords live in the real world they know the world is full of unknowns, and have no idea about your income, credit score, or debt to income ratio. In this seller’s market, being a pre-approved renter, by way of your individual leasing agent’s requirements, will give you a leg-up in renting your next property. Reassure agents that you are are a qualified, serious renter.

All-in-all, remember that Fall is kicking up its heels making now the perfect time to start figuring out how you can best afford to buy your next home this season! But if you follow the tips outlined above, the only thing you’ll have to worry about when summer comes are tan lines and garden gatherings.

Now, friends, I want to ask, are you looking to relocate or rent your next home this season? Share your journey below! 

Whether you love to travel or you only occasionally go away, most people have one place that they really want to visit. If it’s somewhere close to home or easy to visit, you might have already ticked it off your bucket list. But sometimes you have that one trip of a lifetime that’s not so easy to accomplish. That might be because the destination is far away, you want to hit multiple locations at once or travel for longer, or just because you have expensive dreams. Instead of just fantasizing about your dream trip, why not actually work to make it a reality? If money is what’s making it seem out of reach, there are ways to make your trip more affordable.

Consider How to Fund Your Trip

The first thing to think about with a trip of this nature is how you’re going to fund it. It’s usually the sort of thing that you save up for, at least in part. You might spend months or even years saving for the trip that you want to go on. The best way to save for something is to set a goal and make sure you’re steadily putting aside money toward it. You might have a certain amount of money each month that you put in your travel fund. Alternatively, you might just save whatever you have leftover at the end of the month or any money that you happen to have available to save at random intervals.

Savings should probably fund the bulk of your trip, but you might also consider other ways to pay for it. Maybe you don’t want to wait until you’re able to save up, especially if it’s going to take a few years. You could get financial freedom with Wise Loan or a similar service for finding the right loan. Taking out a loan means you can spread the cost of your trip, instead of having to save up first. Another way to pay off some or all of your trip later is to use a credit card. You can put some of your expenses on your card and pay for it later. Of course, if you borrow any money, you need to make sure that you’re going to be able to repay it, plus any interest.

Look for Deals on Flights and Transport

Flights can be one of the most expensive parts of planning a big trip. If you’re looking at long-haul flights, you might be spending a lot of money just to get to and from where you’re going. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to save money on the flights that you need. Firstly, you can try to book at the right time. Booking too far away or too close to the dates that you want to fly could mean that you pay more. However, you can sometimes get last-minute deals by booking closer to your departure date. When you’re searching for flights, consider different routes that you can take, including alternatives to major airports and layovers.

You can save on other forms of transport too. Maybe your dream trip is by train. In many countries, you could save by getting a ticket or pass that lasts for several weeks or months, or takes you along certain routes. For example, if you’re traveling in Europe, you could get some good deals from EuroRail. Maybe your trip of a lifetime is a road trip, and you need to find ways to save on fuel. Caring for your vehicle and packing light can help you to use less fuel during your trip.

Find Packages to Help You Save

Sometimes the best way to save money on a trip is to book everything as a package. You can book your flights, hotel or other accommodation, and even activities all at the same time. Putting everything together like this means you have one company managing your whole trip, which can have both advantages and disadvantages. You have one point of contact, which can be helpful if anything goes wrong. Booking your trip in this way often works out the cheapest if you’re going to a popular destination. If you’re planning a trip to somewhere a little more unusual, you might find that you’re limited to private tours or can’t find anything suitable.

Compare the Cost of Tours and Packages with DIY Planning

On the other hand, booking a package won’t always work out as the cheapest option. Sometimes it’s best to book everything yourself, choosing the individual things that you want. It also means that you won’t end up doing any activities that you’re not so keen on, and you’ll get to have more control over everything. Before you decide which option is right for you, check the prices for each one. It can take a bit more time to research prices for a DIY trip, but it could be worth it if it turns out to be cheaper.

You can create a spreadsheet to help you note down the general prices you might pay. Alternatively, there are some downloadable sheets that you can find online, which you can just fill in as you conduct your research. You should think about all of the things that you might get as part of a package, tour, or all-inclusive deal. Your expenses might include transport, accommodation, food and drink, activities, and more.

Travel Off-season

It’s entirely possible that part of your dream trip is traveling during a particular season. Maybe you want to go skiing or spend your summer lounging on the beach. But if you’re more interested in a particular destination and you’re not that bothered about the weather or the temperature, you could consider planning your trip off-season. You can find much lower prices if you don’t travel during the busiest times. To make sure you know when it’s going to be the most expensive, you need to know important dates both at home and at your destination. What local events or festivals might make it more expensive? What seasons are more popular? Not all places work on a “spring, summer, fall, winter” basis. For other countries, it might be more important to know when the wet season and when the dry season occurs.

Consider Working During Your Trip

For some people, their dream trip involves long-term traveling or settling into one place to live like a local. If you’re thinking about one of these options, you might also consider working during your trip. It can be a way to really get to know somewhere new and fund your trip at the same time. Of course, if you’re considering this, you need to make sure you’re working legally. Some countries have working holiday visas or short-term work visas that are designed for exactly this purpose. They’re ideal for seasonal work, as well as for jobs suited to those looking for a cultural experience, such as au pairs. Of course, there’s no need for a visa if you’re not going abroad.

Another option is to consider creating a form of passive income. While you’re on your trip, you could still have money coming in. However, be careful about actually doing any work if you don’t have the right visa. It’s likely that you’re not even allowed to do remote work if you’re in another country as a tourist.

Keep a Tight Budget

When you’re finally on your dream trip, you can save further by keeping a strict budget. Limiting your spending doesn’t have to mean not having any fun. You can still have a great time while avoiding spending too much. Firstly, you can look for free or cheap activities to do that will entertain you. A lot of sightseeing and exploration can be enjoyed for very little money. You can also look for cheaper places to eat and drink. Avoiding tourist traps will help you to save money and make it easier to find tasty local food too. It’s also smart to book accommodation with access to a kitchen so you can make your own food. Even just a fridge can be useful, allowing you to store leftovers from the meals that you eat out.

Give yourself a daily or weekly budget so you know what you can spend. You can track your expenses on your phone using an app or create a spreadsheet to add your costs too. Or if you want to keep it old school, you could just use a pen and paper to keep track.

Learn to Haggle

Haggling is a great skill to have when you’re traveling, especially in places where it’s common to haggle. Haggling gives you the chance to bring down the price of lots of things, from food to souvenirs. However, before you start haggling, make sure it’s acceptable to do in the place you’re visiting. It may be seen as rude in some places, so do a little research before you start trying to argue prices.

Once you have your budget nailed down and plans in place, tie up the final few pieces of trip admin. You can save time – and money – by applying for visas, travel permits, etc. online, such as a Dominican Republic eticket; click here for a guide on how to apply for yours online. 

All to help turn your dream trip into a dream destination-turning affordablity into reality. Friends, how do you plan to turn youir affordability into reality? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

When organizing a wedding, setting a budget can be essential for keeping a lid on costs. Overspend on your wedding and you could end up having to take out large loans and debts that could make the next few years a financial struggle. This could cause you to regret your wedding day rather than looking back on it fondly.

On top of having a budget in place, you need to be able to break down that budget effectively so that all necessary costs are covered. This can be an area where couples commonly fail – it’s easy to overspend on one thing and then have to scrimp and save just to afford everything else.

By having a budget and knowing how to break down this budget, you can put on a wedding that’s affordable, while also not having to sacrifice too much. Below are just some of the main budgeting mistakes to avoid and what you should be doing instead.  

Not tracking costs

It’s important to keep a record of costs as you’re spending them so that you know exactly how much you’ve spent. If costs go untracked, you could find that you have less of your budget left than you expected.

You can track costs by buying a diary to document costs or by keeping notes on your phone. There are also apps that can help you to track your wedding budget. You can compare some of the best wedding budgeting apps at Paste Magazine.

Not considering the time, day, and season

The time, day, and season that you get married can have a big impact on the overall cost. This is something that shouldn’t be overlooked when planning your big day.

Summer is the peak season for weddings due to the greater chance of good weather. It’s also the most expensive time to get married. Opt for a winter, spring, or fall wedding and you could halve your wedding costs in some cases – because there’s less demand, vendors often offer deals to help attract business during these months.

The day you get married can also affect the cost. Weekend weddings are most popular because they don’t require as many guests to book time off work. Getting married on a weekday could result in reduced costs – venues often find it harder to attract business during the week and so often offer discounts to couples.

Finally, you should consider the time of day. In most cases, a morning wedding is cheaper than an afternoon wedding. This depends of course if you want to reserve the venue for the whole day – this will work out much more expensive and you’ll have to provide more food and drink, so maybe best avoided if you’re on a tight budget.

Some couples may have their hearts set on an afternoon weekend summer wedding. However, if this isn’t the case, consider taking advantage of the off-peak discounts that are out there.

Not booking far enough ahead

You can also save costs by booking far in advance. The closer you leave bookings to your wedding date, the less availability there’s likely to be when it comes to venues, photographers, caterers, and other professionals. You could find that all the best deals have gone, in which case you’ll be stuck hiring overpriced vendors. Some vendors may also charge more because they have less time to prepare – for instance, a wedding dress tailor may have less time to do alterations and may charge extra if they’re already queued up with clients.

Many of the vital aspects and most in-demand aspects – such as the venue, photographer, entertainment, and transport – should be booked six months to a year in advance so that you get the best choice and the best deals. Booking far ahead will also allow you to pay for things in installments, which could help you to spread out the costs.

Blowing most your budget on the dress

The dress is the biggest thing that couples overspend on. It’s all too easy to fall in love with a dress that is completely out of your price range. Buying this dress could then mean having to make compromises on everything else.

To avoid falling trap to this, set a separate dress budget within your overall budget, and only try on dresses that fall within this budget. Once you start trying on dresses that are outside your budget, you’re more likely to be tempted into overspending.

Remember that alterations can be an added cost to factor in. On average, people pay $250 to $450 on alterations – which can be a big chunk of money if you’re on a small budget.

Planning to slim into a dress – and failing

Some people deliberately buy a dress that is too small in order to spur them into losing weight before the big day. This is dangerous – if you don’t lose the weight, you could end up with a dress that doesn’t fit you. Last-minute alterations may be able to fix this, but in some cases, even this might not be an option, which means you’ll have to buy a new dress.

It’s easier to alter a dress that’s too big than a dress that’s too small. For this reason, you should always buy a dress in your current size – if you do lose weight between now and your wedding day it might be easier to adjust it.

Underestimating the cost of an outdoor wedding

An outdoor wedding might seem like an opportunity to save costs, particularly if you’re getting married on land that you own. However, it can work out more expensive than many people assume due to all the extras that are necessary.

A few of the extra costs that come with an outdoor wedding include marquee hire (important in case it rains), electric generator hire (for lighting and entertainment), table and chair hire, portable toilet hire, and specialist equipment hire (for instance, a DJ may charge more for use of outdoor speakers).  

Outdoor weddings can cost as low as $4000 (which is a lot slower than the average $29,200 indoor wedding), however, they can be just as expensive as indoor weddings if you hire expensive land to get married on or overspend on outdoor equipment. This Wayfaring Weddings guide to outdoor wedding costs could be worth a read to help you understand how you can save costs.

Inviting too many guests

The more guests you invite, the bigger the venue you’ll need, and the more food and drink you’ll have to supply. Consequently, you should be careful about letting your wedding invite list explode.

Consider having only your closest circle of friends and family at the ceremony and meal – the reception can be a chance to invite everyone else. Understand the costs that come with each person so that you can work this into your budget. If you’re inviting kids along, consider whether there may be discounts (if you’re planning a sit-down meal, any kid’s meals should be cheaper than adult meals). 

Not knowing your numbers

Not keeping track of how many people you’ve invited could also cause you to overspend. This could include ordering too many invites or paying for more meals than is necessary.

Make sure that you know precisely how many guests you’ve invited. It can also be important for preventing the opposite problem – which is not ordering enough food and drinks or not supplying enough chairs.

Overlooking all the small extras

A lot of couples get side-tracked by the big costs and forget about all the little extras such as the guest book, wedding invites, licenses, and wedding favors. These extras can add up, so make sure to include them within your budget.

You may be able to find deals online such as these discounts on MagnetStreet’s wedding thank you cards. These deals are worth hunting for – lots of small savings could result in big savings overall. You may be able to DIY some of these extras without affecting the overall quality of your day (such as making your own invites). This could be another way to save some money providing that you’ve got the time and resources.   

Not reading the small print

Last but not least, you should be careful of hidden costs included in the small print. These hidden costs can often catch couples out and add huge amounts to the overall wedding bill.

For instance, some vendors may charge extra service fees, travel fees and money for equipment hire than may not be included in the initial price. Venues meanwhile may bill extra if you stay over your allotted time even for a few minutes. 

By reading the small print, you can get a good idea of what is included before committing to anything. If you believe that may be billing errors or there are extras included that you don’t want, make sure to bring this up with vendors to avoid paying for more than is necessary.