Budgeting

Looking to improve your credit rating?

Well, we don’t blame you! A quality credit score comes in handy in a whole host of ways. Among other benefits, you get access to the best credit cards and affordable loans, saving huge sums of money in the process.

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to build good credit either. All it takes is the right approach and a commitment to the cause. Want to learn how it’s done?

Keep reading for a selection of top tips for building good credit.

amazed small businessman with open mouth looking at big bag with money over light grey background

Don’t Be Late With Bill Payments

The key to building credit ratings is demonstrating that you’re a low-risk borrower. In other words, you’re trying to prove that anybody lending you money (be it through this website or any other) can expect to be paid back in full and on time.

That’s where your bills come into play.

Basically, late bill payments are a bad omen as far as credit officials are concerned! They’re taken as evidence that loan repayments would suffer the same fate, causing your credit score to take a tumble as a result.

Conversely, keeping on top of your bills is a great way to give it a boost. Pay your bills on time every month and you’re sure to see your credit rating improve.

Lower Your Credit Utilization Ratio

Credit utilization is the percentage of your overall credit limit that you use.

Imagine having 2 credit cards, each with a $5,000 limit. Max them out each month and your utilization ratio would be a whopping 100%. However, if you only spent $1,000, then it’d be a paltry 10%.

Keeping that utilization ratio as low as possible (somewhere around 20% is best) is another effective way to improve your credit rating. It lets lenders know that you’re sensible with credit and in control of your monthly finances.

Identify and Correct Credit Report Problems

Make sure you check your credit reports each year as well. You can access them from each of the three credit bureaus once per annum (without impacting your credit score) to assess your current credit score standing.

Sometimes, though, you’ll also notice errors, inaccuracies, and inconsistencies that have damaged your rating.

Clearly, it’s in your interest to identify such issues and dispute them with the relevant parties. If you’re successful, you can see an immediate improvement to your credit score.

Remember These Tips to Build Good Credit

Anybody who improves their credit rating stands to gain in a plethora of ways.

Loans become accessible and more affordable, better credit cards are made available, landlords are happier to accommodate you as a tenant, and so on and so forth. The list goes on and on.

The tricky bit is knowing how to get started! Hopefully, the tips in this post will help in this regard. Keep them in mind and you should be able to build good credit in no time at all.

Want to read more articles like this one? Search ‘credit’ on the website now.

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You might have mastered the art of managing your money, but just because your education is finished doesn’t mean you can’t pass on this knowledge to the next generation: your kids. 

Teaching your kids excellent money habits will make them more confident once they become old enough to earn a wage. Too often, parents neglect to give their kids a crash course in saving, budgeting, and spending money. When they finally get their own money, they end up irresponsible, splurging money on video games, clothes, and candy. While they are allowed to indulge now and again, this could be the start of bad habits which are hard to break. 

Clear Savings Jar 

It’s always best to start early, and if you’ve got younger children learning about money for the first time, you will be able to teach them about money management by giving them a physical representation of the cash. A clear savings jar is the best way to do this.

With a jar, they can see how much or how little money is available. It will teach them the consequences of spending, and that there is no such thing as an evergreen money tree. Savings jars are a better alternative than piggy banks, as kids will get to see the changes in real-time, rather than fill up the piggy bank and wait for the surprise. 

Be An Example to Them

Even though you’ve got plenty of money lying around, tucked behind sofa cushions, or protected in your bank account, you can’t buy on every whim. Children will model your behavior in all aspects of life, and just like they will copy your diet and actions, they will also want to mimic your spending habits. 

If you spend your money frivolously, they will think this is normal. It isn’t normal, though, even if you’re a millionaire. It’s vital to demonstrate your restraint when teaching your kids how to manage their money, as you will be the first person they learn from. 

Demonstrate Opportunity Cost

What does the opportunity cost? It is merely a way of comparing the effects of purchasing certain things. This is a useful method to do with kids who are old enough to understand what money is, but not old enough to earn their own money from a part-time job. 

When faced with opportunity cost, you can remind them that if they buy x, they will not be able to afford y. This tactic can encourage them to be more careful about their spending and consider whether or not this is the right purchase to make right now. By understanding outcomes, they should become more sensible with their spending. 

Commissions vs. Allowance

You shouldn’t give kids money just because you think you should. Consider the benefits of an allowance versus a commission. With an allowance, you will give your kids money every week even if the dishes pile up, they don’t take the dog for a walk, and their grades are at rock bottom. 

Compare this to a commission that rewards kids for chores and hard work. They won’t have money for free in the future, so a commission instills a positive work ethic. When they are paid for their work, they will understand how vital contribution is if they want to earn a living. 

Advise Against Impulse 

Impulse buys are the energy of proper budgeting. Kids will see something they want, and they will buy it straight away. It might be a new video game to play with friends, or it could be a dress for them to wear to the school dance to impress their friends and their crush. 

However, it’s vital to advise against impulses at all opportunities. Even if you understand their need for it, encourage them to wait at least 24 hours (although, preferably a week) to make the purchase. If they still care enough to buy it once this time has passed, then it’s clearly not an impulse. 

Give Them a Bank Account

When your kids are old enough, you can help them set up a bank account. You can usually open an account as young as 13, and whether they get paid with an allowance or a paper route, they can deposit this money into their account and watch it grow. 

Compare this to the clear savings jar you used when they were little nippers. While they won’t see the money increase, they will see numbers tick up and up with every deposit. This will help teach them more mature money management, which should prepare them for dealing with more substantial sums later on. 

Help Them Budget

Nobody knows how to budget naturally; it is something that you must learn. You learned how to do it, and now you can pass on this wisdom to your kids. 

Teenagers don’t pay for much. However, once they get to an age where they need to be responsible for themselves, such as paying for a phone contract or their car, they need to know where the money is going and how much they can afford to spend. Sit down with them and set up a budgeting plan so they can visualize where each payment goes. 

Show Them Different Options

As your kids get older, you will want to help them get into the most comfortable financial position possible without padding their bank accounts yourself. After teaching them all about budgeting, you can consider looking into other options to help them build their bank balance. 

One of these options is investing. While they might think they aren’t old enough to consider investing, there are lots of different platform types for them to explore, while micro-investing is also a low-risk avenue to consider. 

Smart Money For Smart Kids

Your kid is unlikely to listen to your endless lectures on managing their money correctly, but the more you persevere, the more appreciative they will become. By catching them early and drilling excellent habits into their heads (not literally, of course), you can prepare them for the rest of their lives, be more sensible and careful with their spending, and reap the benefits by doing so.

Running a business is tough at the best of times, but the emergence of Coronavirus is the biggest challenge most companies have ever faced. Unfortunately, not all will survive.

The effects of the virus have been all-encompassing, felt by businesses big and small around the globe. The figures are frankly terrifying and, on a scale, not seen since the Great Wars. By September 2020, it’s forecast as many as 195 million workers could lose their jobs.

Nobody knows for sure how Coronavirus is going to pan out, but most experts agree we are at the thin end of the wedge, and things are likely to get much worse before they get better. Including finding the rights balance of communication, advertising, and business management strategies. Working with professionals like Pedram Zohrevand, who can help guide you towards making the most of your at-home business.

For those who cannot or are not in a position to hire an external business management firm, there are still steps you can take now to mitigate the future impact of the virus on your business. 

Invest in your website

Without exception, the businesses which have survived best through the outbreak (and in some cases even profited) are those that already had a streamlined website and prominent web presence. 

With so many consumers moving online and a general fear of going outdoors, in today’s new reality, your website is quite possibly your company’s greatest asset. 

Moreover, with the increase in home-working, businesses are being forced to embrace new technologies to operate and survive. There has never been a more critical time to invest in your online infrastructure and, in particular, your website.

Improve your use of social media and your social marketing

Social media has been an integral part of the corporate marketing mix for a good number of years; however, during the virus – with more people spending more time at home and online – effective social marketing has become crucial. 

A well-implemented social strategy increases your company exposure while allowing interaction with your clients (new and existing). Invest more time and, if required, money in your social media marketing. 

While the usual suspects will always be valuable (i.e., Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn), don’t forget the smaller channels like Pinterest, Instagram, and YouTube – each of which can be hugely beneficial for your company’s marketing. In particular, YouTube is the world’s second-biggest search engine – ignore it at your peril. 

Apply for a business loan

The bottom line is that companies need capital to operate and, if the forecasts prove true, it’s quite likely your company is going to need a cash injection to see you through the pressures of the coming months. 

Online financing has exploded in recent years, with independent companies offering tailored solutions at unbeatable rates and staggered repayment schedules. There is now a huge range of loan companies operating online such as Biz2Credit offering bespoke funding plans for businesses of all sizes and sectors.

Consolidate assets

In times of financial difficulty, consolidating your business assets and resources can help streamline your business and reduce your overall operating costs. 

Look at re-purposing assets or perhaps even retraining members of staff, so they have special skills. By increasing your productivity and mitigating downtime, you will gain added value from existing resources while reducing your operational overhead.

Outsource more

Outsourcing presents many advantages to companies – particularly companies looking to reduce fixed costs. By outsourcing, you only use resources when they’re needed and can also pick freelancers on a project-by-project basis, precisely matching their particular skills to the job in hand. 

Outsourcing removes downtime and your liability for covering sickness/unemployment benefits. Resources are enlisted purely on an ad-hoc basis – as and when you need them.

The short-term (and possibly long-term) future for business points to a rocky road ahead. It will be a case of survival of the fittest, and unfortunately, not all will make it through to the other side. Making sensible preparations today will help you weather the predicted storms of tomorrow. 

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We will all go through periods in our lives when money is tight, and we need to learn to stretch the money we have until things even out again. A lot of people are going through that struggle right now. No need to worry, there are many different ways that you can make those dollars last. 

Make a Budget

It is always important to make a budget. You need to have a clear understanding of what money is coming out and what your expenses are totaling. When you can see where your money is going, then you will be able to see ways you can cut down on spending or spend your money in a more efficient way. 

Some things you may discover when you create a budget is that you are spending more money than you realized. Things like recurring payments, monthly subscriptions, or small impulse buying can all add up over time. 

Evaluate Your Savings

Hopefully, you have been saving a little bit before and have some money to fall back on. If this is your situation, then that means you need to evaluate your savings account and determine how much you have to help support you and how long it will last. You will also want to make a plan to build your savings account back up once you are back on your feet. 

Meal Plan

Planning meals is an important way you can save money. It will help you save money when you go grocery shopping, and it will make you less prone to eating out spontaneously, which is more expensive than cooking at home. 

Making a meal plan will allow you to know the food you will need to create the meals for a week or a couple of weeks. Once you have that information gathered, you can make a focused grocery list that will cut down on impulse buying. It will also help ensure that the food you are buying actually gets eaten instead of going bad in the fridge. 

Earn Extra Money

Even if you have scaled back and started using your money wisely, you may still be a little short. Luckily, there can be a few easy ways to make some extra money online. Some ways will require a lot of time and some specialized knowledge, but some can be done quickly and with little experience. 

Using opinion sites to bring in a little extra cash is easy and can be done while you are watching television in the evenings. Taking surveys or reviewing products at home on your computer or phone is easy, and there are a lot of options. You will want to look around and find the best places for surveys that pay and then sign up. Once you are signed up, you can start right away. 

Receipt trackers are another way that you can earn a little extra money with just a little bit of effort. Simply snapping a picture of your receipt can earn you points that then accumulate into cash. You can also use apps to earn money back on the regular food and household items that you normally buy the same way.

Getting into a car accident is a physical and mental upheaval and can be a huge struggle for many. It comes as a shock, then after it comes with problems and issues that can control your life or make life more difficult for you.  

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A lot of people choose to claim compensation after a car accident, if they are able to and if they have suffered mental and physical damage. Most car settlements are between $14,000 and $28,000 and you can go online and take a look at what you may be entitled to before you claim. Claiming should not be seen as a taboo subject, as it is something that you are legally entitled to claim for. If you want to get a rough estimate on your own car accident settlement, then add up your expenses and multiply that sum by three. You must also look at adding up any expenses for medical bills, car repairs, and lost wages from taking time off work also. 

My claim doesn’t suit me, I believe I should have received more 

Your claim may be processed quickly or it may take a little more time and once you hear the feedback, you may feel that you have not been given enough money and you feel you are entitled to more. You may want to reduce or deny your claim but you must be aware that you may have to give further evidence and statements to back up any changes.

Initially, you will be asked to give a statement and so will any eyewitnesses or other drivers who saw what happened. It’s important, to be honest from start to finish as any uncertainty or dishonest behavior could affect your claim and you may have to settle for less or nothing at all. You may also want to back up your claim with any medical notes or doctor notes, which will show the severity of your issues following the accident. As much information as possible will be important for your claim but a good lawyer will be able to talk you through all this and advise when necessary.

If you are claiming compensation as a passenger and not a driver, it’s worth noting that a passenger can never be responsible or at fault for the accident. It is the driver’s responsibility, so do not feel that you can’t claim because you are a passenger. You have rights and will not be held responsible in any way for the accident. 

Car accidents can affect the mind greatly, so if you or anyone you know has suffered, then it’s important to reach out to them and give them some support. Be sure to reach out when you should and to file your claim as soon as possible. It is best to get the ball rolling ASAP so that you can really have all the information and accounts fresh in your mind and be able to convey information well. This is going to really assist you. 

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As well as putting hundreds of thousands of people through pain and heartbreak, the Coronavirus crisis has put peoples’ bank balances in jeopardy. If you haven’t experienced COVID-19 symptoms, you’ve probably still been impacted via a lack of earning opportunities.

With a global recession expected in the short-term, there’s no doubt that the Coronavirus pandemic is money-related as well as health-centric. As a result, everyone can take powerful money lessons from the past couple of weeks that will stand you in good stead in the future.

Hopefully, the following will safeguard your family’s finances should a second wave hit, or a new crisis occurs.

Save, Save, Save

Previously, there was a change in the guard as more households stopped saving as much and invested their nest eggs instead. While riskier, the risks are few and far between if you spend cleverly, and the returns are often two, three, or four times higher. As a result, creating a sizable rainy day fund may not appear as appealing as channeling your funds into investment opportunities.

Investing is undoubtedly an incredible way to enhance your wealth, yet it does tie up your liquidity. Therefore, you still require emergency savings big enough to cover your expenses for three to six months.

Don’t Overspend On A Vacation

Vacations are no longer perks – they are viewed as basic rites. Almost 100 million Americans went on a holiday in 2019, and more were expected to go this year until the crisis hit. Not only did a cluster of COVID-19 cases occur when Americans went abroad, but the cost is very high. You can expect to pay thousands of dollars for a week or two in Europe, which is a huge amount. Yes, a holiday is an excellent way to rest and recharge your batteries, but you need to factor in the expenses, too.

You may, for example, try and be more financially responsible when you reach your destination instead of using a vacation as an excuse to splash the cash.

Create Comprehensive Coverage

Insurance companies haven’t covered themselves in glory during the health crisis. Rather than pitching in like everybody else, they cited reasons why they wouldn’t pick up the bill. If anything, this proves the necessity for comprehensive policies that cover you regardless of the situation. Otherwise, you may find yourself being unable to pay for medical bills or travel fees to return home.

You can do this by doubling up on your insurance.

Prepare A Will

You have no plans on going anywhere anytime soon, and most people who contract COVID-19 only experience mild symptoms. Still, this pandemic has probably made you think about what happens should the worst-case scenario happen. Of course, the last thing you want is for your family to mourn your passing and run into financial trouble, which is why a will is critical.

Writing one will prevent any confusion as to who gets what and why. Plus, you can tweak it at any time to reflect your preferences.

What money lessons have you taken from the Coronavirus pandemic?