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money

Saving Money 101: How Do You Save The Easy Way?

by Evan October 4, 2019

One of the trickiest questions in the realm of personal finance would be finding the most efficient way to save. And a lot of experts and professionals will often answer that this really depends on your current financial situation. That much is true – because it really depends on how much you earn, what sorts of debts you have, what you pay for, and what you want to do with your savings. However, just because the process can be complex doesn’t mean it’s impossible to accomplish. If you want to find the most efficient ways to save money, then you’ve come to the right place. Here are some of the most efficient methods to save money:

Adjust your lifestyle.

Part of the reason why a lot of people find it hard to save money is because of their chosen lifestyle. Sometimes, what we think are “safe” nights out, or gatherings with friends, or parties, and even the occasional smartphone or two, can actually have a huge impact on our savings. Try to look at your lifestyle and eliminate components that require unnecessary spending. This might not be much at first, but a lifestyle adjustment can have a huge payoff in the form of less spending in the long run.

Record your expenses. An important part of being able to save money is to know exactly what you’re spending, and if there are adjustments you can do in the process. Are you spending too much on your transportation? Maybe commute. Are you spending too much time on eating out? Maybe you can eat at home. Noting your expenses allows you to have a better understanding of how much money you might be wasting or spending into unnecessary things.

With your budget in mind and your savings goal in your head, try to see if there are ways you can adjust your lifestyle to help you save as much money as possible. When we say “adjust your lifestyle,” we don’t mean go totally away from your means. Rather, adjust your lifestyle in such a way that lets you spend less without sacrificing comfort and quality of life. Maybe you can opt for disposable utensils to save water, or use less electricity.

If you need to have extra money, maybe you can get extra shifts, extra workload, or even a part-time job to increase the money you have on-hand. This can get in handy for paying for debt, adding into your emergency fund, your insurance, or your savings overall. Such a situation can be helpful, especially now that there’s a ton of services like my-estub login that can help you keep track of how much you’re paid by employers without having to use complicated software.

Eliminate debt as soon as possible

This might be the hardest – but perhaps the most important – element of your quest for saving money. While you might think this can be a bit detrimental to the goal of this article, this tip might also be the most meaningful. How can you properly save money on your own terms if you have looming debt? Part of the process of saving money is to develop good financial habits, and you can develop such habits while in the process of paying off your debt. Imagine, once you focus on “saving” a particular amount of money to pay your debt, you’ll likely be able to focus on “saving” a particular amount of money to actual savings in the future. It’s all in the habit.

Take note of what debts you currently have, and focus on eliminating the largest debt you have. This largest debt will likely have the biggest interest rate, and will likely demand the most attention on your finances. Having this gone will allow you to spend more time allocating money into your savings and your other debt without worrying about not meeting your monthly dues. This will likely hinder you from actually saving substantial money for a while, but once your debt is fully paid, you’ll not have much to worry about. This is also good for your credit score.
Once you’ve paid off your debt, get a “new” one – in this case, a savings goal. It’s hard for others to save money because they only think of the action of “saving” and not what you want to use it for. It might help to actually visualize what you want to save up for, as well as setting up a timeline for you to achieve it. Do you want to buy a house within a few years? Do you want to get a car? You can use the same principle as “paying off debt” to “paying off your savings.”

Focus on an emergency fund

Again, this might be another tricky thing to do – after all, why save money if you can’t immediately spend it on relevant things? However, it’s important to be able to set up emergency precautions should accidents or other things happen that might immediately affect your financial status. Accidents, family and even professional situations might have some form of impact on your financial status. Not being prepared for such an eventuality might ruin your savings plan.

If you can, try modifying your savings and checking account to do something called auto debit every payday. This allows you to automatically move money from your paycheck to your savings, which essentially sets up an emergency fund without you knowing it.

Invest on saving

Another efficient way you can save money is to spend it – weird choice of words, right? The thing is, you can actually save more money by investing in smarter choices around you – be it with yourself, or with the overall household. For instance, if you want to lessen your utility costs, don’t wait for the utility companies to lower prices for you. Instead, make measures to ensure your household doesn’t consume that much electricity and water. If you make many of these smart investments, not only will you “reclaim” what you’ve spent in a few months or years, but even save more money naturally.

Invest in improving aspects of your day-to-day operations, especially at home. If you have extra money, you can invest in rainwater storage tanks, renewable energy sources such as solar power, and even repair broken utility tools at home. This might be costly, but it’s an investment that can help you save money for years to come.
Invest in insurance, especially life and accident insurance. Aside from an emergency fund, having insurance for you and the family will allow you to be able to have financial assistance in the case of emergencies that would otherwise be too costly. Having insurance also allows you to seek the services of professionals for free, provided you get to pay your premium.

Smarter Choices, Planning Make More Money

Remember, with the tips above, you’ll likely be able to save quite a bit of money with a few lifestyle adjustments. These might not make you immediately save a ton of money on the get-go, but developing a habit of decreasing your spending this way can at least help you slowly save up money to meet your spending goals. The idea here is to slowly cultivate habits that will enable you to save up but not necessarily ruin the lifestyle you’ve set for yourself. And always remember to adjust the tips above to your needs so you’ll still live the kind of life you want with important financial adjustments.

October 4, 2019 0 comment

Personal Finance

The Best Kept Secrets of the World’s Most Successful Self-Made Millionaires

by Evan September 19, 2019

Maybe it’s not your specific goal to become a self-made millionaire, but there’s a good chance that one of your goals is to become financially comfortable. Whether you hope to earn millions of dollars or you merely wish to pay your bills, we all have the urge to make more money. This is just the way that humans are wired, especially humans living in Western consumerist societies.

Saying that you wish to become a millionaire is a lofty goal, but it’s certainly not impossible. As long as you have the education, determination, and passion for what you’re doing, making a million dollars is feasible. The road will be long and challenging, but these best-kept secrets from the world’s most successful self-made millionaires will help you get there.

Don’t Be Afraid to Take Risks

There’s nothing wrong with playing it safe. Billions of people choose to play it safe every single day by going in to work at a dead-end job, just to pay the bills. Playing it safe can even eventually make you a million dollars. But taking this path will take time, and you might not get there before it’s time to retire.

If you want to become a millionaire during your youthful years and actually enjoy the money you’ve earned, you need to learn how to take calculated risks. Taking calculated risks means that you’ve thought long and hard about a course of action. You eventually decide that, albeit risky, it is worth the risk.

The majority of the world’s self-made millionaires earned their money by taking a calculated risk. When we talk about risk, we’re not referring to spinning online slots for free. No, we’re talking about furthering your business career with an action that has the potential to bring you to the next level.

Stop Spending, Start Investing

In order to make money, you need to spend money. But in order to make millions of dollars, you need to invest money. Although the rich do indeed spend money, they also understand that the best way to continue being rich – or become richer – is to make wise investments. Part of the reason for this is that the rich understand that US tax laws favor investing over spending.

Just think about it…When you purchase a new house for personal use, you can’t simply write it off when it comes time to file property taxes. But when you invest in a property that produces income, it’s possible to write off the appreciation of the property. The same goes for purchasing luxury cars for personal use as opposed to company use. If you want to become a millionaire, start investing rather than spending.

Surround Yourself With Like-Minded People

This does not mean you need to surround yourself with millionaires and only millionaires. But you should at least be spending time with driven people who share a similar mindset. In other words, stop spending time with people who are complacent with living paycheck to paycheck. Becoming a millionaire isn’t just about hard work and smart investments; it’s also about who you choose to spend your time with.

Stop Putting All Your Eggs in One Basket

Focusing on one revenue stream or one source of income is fairly normal for the average person. But not for self-made millionaires. Most wealthy people of the world create multiple flows of income and never place all of their eggs in one single basket. Even if a multi-million dollar company has consistently been successful, that does not mean it will always remain that way.

Once you have a good amount of money in your bank account, think of an additional option for generating an income. Maybe this means investing in real estate, or perhaps it means playing around with stocks. Whatever you do, just remember that having one source of income is never a good idea, especially if you want to remain a millionaire for years to come.

Transform Weakness into Strength

We’ve all been asked that question at an interview. The one that goes something like, “Can you tell me about your weaknesses?” Most of us try to turn the question around by listing off weaknesses that could also be perceived as strengths. But this is actually not the best way to answer that question.

It is important to actually acknowledge that every human has weaknesses. Becoming aware of your weaknesses is an essential step to becoming a self-made millionaire. Once you have identified what your flaws are, you can work to improve those flaws, and eventually, you may even be able to transform them into strengths.

Take public speaking as an example. When it comes to speaking in front of an audience, you fumble over your words and begin to sweat profusely. As soon as you become aware of this flaw, you decide to take a public speaking class. After the 6-week course, you finally master the art of speaking in front of a crowd. In fact, you have acquired to tools and skills necessary to speak in front of others flawlessly.

Look at Millionaire Status as a Duty, Not a Goal

So many people view “becoming rich” as a goal, something to accomplish over time. If you want to earn millions, you need to get rid of this attitude and start treating it as a duty. You have a duty to fulfill, and that is to reach your fullest potential. Becoming a self-made millionaire is one of the best ways to accomplish that.

September 19, 2019 0 comment

Debt

Fast Ways to Borrow Money When You’re in a Pinch

by Evan September 18, 2019

There are times where we may need to borrow money quickly

When people need some additional money or need to make a large purchase, they use loans. Loans are incredibly common and over one third of Americans take out loans every year. They can help people buy homes, cars, pay for their education and a variety of other things. However, we don’t always know in advance when we may need some money.

Emergencies and accidents happen all the time and often require a lot of money to fix or make better. And with some stats showing that around 40% of Americans don’t have enough to cover a $400 emergency, there are times where we may need to borrow money quickly.

Thankfully, there are a couple of different fast ways to borrow money in a pinch, and this article is going to look at a few of them.

Ask Your Friends and Family

It’s not worth ruining a relationship for a bit of cash, so be careful when borrowing from friends

This might be tough for some people, but one of the better and cheaper ways to get money quickly is to ask friends or family members. Swallowing your pride and asking can be difficult for some, but it is a great way to get money without paying extremely high-interest rates. Of course, you will be better off only asking those who are very close to you, as others may not be willing to help.

However, if you borrow money from friends and family, be sure to pay them back in a reasonable amount of time. The last thing you want to do is take advantage of someone nice enough to help you out. It’s not worth ruining a relationship for a bit of cash, so always pay people back on time. In addition to that, you could even consider paying them back a little extra to show your appreciation.

Use Your Car or Home as Collateral

If you can’t borrow money from friends or family and don’t have enough time for a standard loan, you could consider using your home or car to borrow. Opening a HELOC (home equity line of credit) is very fast and can get you the money you need soon. Also, getting car title loans in Los Angeles or wherever you’re from is also quick and easy.

These involve you essentially borrowing money against the equity of your home or car. As you could imagine, it is quite risky to use your car or home as collateral. You need to be sure to make all of your payments on time and in full. If not, you run the risk of potentially losing your home or car. But if you know you can keep up with the payments they are a great option for getting money quickly.

Utilize Short Term or Payday Loans

While this shouldn’t be your first choice, it is certainly an option that nearly everybody has. There are likely many lenders in your local area that offer short term or payday loans. These loans are meant to hold you over for a few weeks or a month, or until you get paid next. They are incredibly convenient and quick but often come with incredibly high-interest rates. Even still, sometimes they might be the only option a person has.

Of course, it must also be mentioned many payday loans are predatory in nature and look to take advantage of borrowers. If something seems fishy or seems too good to be true, it is best to listen to your gut and avoid it. Whenever you borrow money, whether through a payday loan or not, be sure to know all the information and terms before signing anything.

Hopefully, this blog post has helped you learn some helpful methods of borrowing money quickly when you need it most.

September 18, 2019 0 comment

Personal Finance

Four Smart Ways to Lower Monthly Expenses

by Evan July 10, 2019

It happens – you did your budget meticulously, but shopping here, a high bill there, and you’re breaking the bank once again. It doesn’t have to occur, though, and there are steps you can take to smart expense management.

The best part – you won’t feel it in the long run.

Everyone’s life is different, but most have some overlapping fields that eat up your salary. Here are four areas where you can lower your expenses with very little work.

Do Some Energy Efficiency Checks

Does your electricity bill always come a bit higher than expected? There are ways to fix that.

Replace your regular light bulbs with energy-saving ones – LEDs are affordable and save up to $20 per piece. You could also install a thermostat which you can program to shut off the cooling and heating when you’re not home.

A DIY project of sealing your home is another option – it will lower your energy bill and make your home more weatherproof.

These won’t change your life quality, but they will make a difference in your bills. The money you save can go towards more important matters.

Make your home more cost-efficient with our tips

Be Smart About Your Loans

Sometimes, we have to take out a loan to handle an immediate concern. As a result, the interest rate of the loan becomes our next immediate concern. However, there are smart loopholes that can let you pay less in the long run.

First of all, even if money is tight, do your best not to miss your monthly payment. It could lead to even higher interest rates in the future, and that’s the opposite of what you need.

Then, you should check if your loan comes with a prepayment penalty. Most do, and it can be so high that it makes no financial sense to repay it earlier. This situation is especially true for those high interest, easy fixes such as title loans.

If you want to pay off your title loan early, you could take out another loan, although it might sound counterintuitive. Consolidation loans are a great way to handle several smaller liabilities in one batch.

Make smarter financial decisions with only a few easy steps

Shop Wisely

When grocery shopping, be careful not to go to extremes and buy too much or too little of any ingredient. Ideally, you will buy in bulk when you’re sure you will use up the purchased item. Only buy as much of everything else as you will need.

If you regularly shop at a particular place, you could check if they have a customer reward program. It could be a hassle to fill out their forms, but such offers most often result in coupons and discounts without continuous effort on your end.

On the other hand, if you do your shopping at several places, keep the bills from each of them. After a month, compare them to see where you can get the most for your money. Afterward, become a regular at that store.

Becoming a regular in a store or a chain can help you save money

Switch Your Phone Deal

Most phone deals come with unlimited minutes and messages you won’t use since most communication happens online. Nonetheless, you may still be paying for the contract you made years ago.

One option is to switch to a cheaper deal, which gives you data but not as many messages and minutes. Another is to drop the contract altogether and pay as you use – most places have WiFi nowadays, so it shouldn’t be an issue.

Switch to a more inexpensive phone plan, but keep the data

Final Thoughts

Of course, there are many other techniques to budget your expenses, but the fields we mentioned are close to universal. Besides, once you introduce them, you won’t need to think about it a lot. Follow them and alleviate your money-related concerns at least to some extent.

July 10, 2019 0 comment

Personal Finance

What They Don’t Teach You in School: 8 Financial Mistakes Millennials Tend to Do and How to Avoid Them

by Evan January 18, 2019

The older generation has received a lot of backlash from the millennials that it’s not tech savvy. While this might hold some truth, the millennials have a significant weakness. They do not know how to manage their finances. Even though this varies from one person to another, most of the millennials have demonstrated that they are poor financial managers.

With the challenging economic times, these younger generation doesn’t seem to care. They are spending their hard-earned cash on things they actually don’t need. From designer clothes, expensive electronics, and living in posh neighborhoods, millennials love the thrill that comes with spending.

What are the major financial mistakes this young generation is making? Are they justified? Let’s have a look at them how they can avoid them altogether.

Engaging in unnecessary expenses

Most young people justify their spendthrift culture by insisting that they want to live a better life. However, the cost of living this better life is way beyond their capability. Most of them are yet to get married and so do not have responsibilities.

Instead of saving part of their earnings for a rainy day, young people are just spending their earnings recklessly. One of the ways these young adults can use to minimize spending is by embracing a saving culture. This might involve opening a savings account with the many commercial banks available and securing their future.

Moreover, they need to cut on unnecessary expenses such as lavish holidays, affluent foods, and clothes. For those who do not have basic financial literacy, it’s important for them to contact a professional financial advisor who can guide them on the way forward.

Being over-reliant on their parents

It is not wrong to rely on one’s parents. Parents have the experience on how to manage cash. In addition, parents can be quite useful to young adults who are in their first job. They can offer them vital advice on how to manage their income and secure their future. However, the problem arises when these millennials tend to overly rely on their parents for every financial decision. Perhaps the reason behind this is the naive thinking among the millennials that their parents will always be there to assist them.

What these millennials need to know is that parental advice can only lay the necessary foundation for financial literacy. After that, they need to master the art of managing their finances. The world is radically changing. This means that the strategies their parents used to manage their income might not be necessarily viable in the modern world.

For them to find a lasting solution to this problem, they have to research more on the contemporary ways of saving and investing their money. There is a lot of information on the internet. Moreover, they can attend seminars and visit personal financial managers who can guide them.

Living beyond their means

This stands out as one of the biggest financial mistakes the millennials often make in the modern times. They want to impress their peers and everyone else and show them that they are living a high life. As a result, they are forced to spend all their income and at times, resort into borrowing in a bid to fund their expensive lifestyle.

With the rise of social media channels such as Instagram and Facebook, everyone wants to upload photos which indicate that he or she is doing well in life. Since their social media pages have to be filled with pictures of expensive gadgets and destinations, they have to dig more into their pockets to maintain such a costly lifestyle.

The solution to this problem is pretty simple; one needs to live a life which their income can allow them to live. There is no point in using all their income to fake it on social media.

The mentality that you only live once

This is one of the most famous terms used by the current generation. However, it is quite shocking to see that the term is only serving to ruin their future lives. Millennials are used to spending their cash in excessive partying, traveling, and other non-essential things.

In their minds, they justify this careless life by insisting that they deserve happiness. Thus, for those who are in formal employment, the payday is their defining moment. Immediately after getting their paychecks, the casual lifestyle begins until all the income gets exhausted.

This is the cycle these generation is undergoing, and they seem to be comfortable with it. When they take a break from work, all they do is spend and spend more. While it’s not wrong to have fun, one needs to mind the costs that come with having “fun”. Sometimes, too much of it can cause some serious damage to their finances. To avoid this mess, they need to plan for their income. After receiving their salaries, the first thing to think about is investing. This will generate future income streams. They can thus spend what is left after investing.

Failing to seek financial advice

One problem with the millennials is that they are know-it-alls. Often, they do not bother to listen to the advice of older people even on sensitive issues such as how to manage their finances. This can be disastrous especially when making major financial decisions such as buying a car. An excellent place for millennials to find the best information when buying a car is at www.car-buying-strategies.com.

However, it is important for them to have financial advisors who will give them the best tips on how to manage their hard-earned cash. Some of them think that keeping their money in banks or at home is a perfect strategy. However, this is not the case. Having their finances lie idle denies them an opportunity to earn any returns from their savings. What they need to do is find an expert in financial management who can assist them in investing their money in the right places.

Lack of experience

Even though most of the millennials feel they know everything, the sad reality is that they may not be as knowledgeable when it comes to finances. That is why they only think of spending their cash rather than investing it. Lack of experience in money matters is one of the reasons why they do not have the required confidence to invest. Thus, they miss a chance to grow their income.

Most millennials are practicing professions such as medicine, law, engineering, and hospitality among other careers, and they do not see the need for paying a personal investment professional. They forget that just as they have skills in their different fields, these other professionals also have expertise in the world of investment. They need to appreciate this fact and learn how to approach them and trust them with their money. That way, they will be given basic advice on the most viable investment opportunities which can grow their income streams.

Waiting for the perfect time to invest

Millennials are of the opinion that they need to have millions so that they can start investing. This is a false belief. They forget that what is needed is the right idea and a clear mindset. You do not even need to have the cash for you to start and run a successful business. With the right approach and the little savings, one has, they can get started.

It is the small ideas that grow into big enterprises. Even some of the biggest corporations started small. The most important thing is to focus and consistency in one’s plans and operations. Once they start an enterprise, they need to channel all their energies in the business and research on the best ways of growing it to make themselves a fortune.

The “I am still young mentality.”

This is what is killing many millennials. They think that they still have all the time in this world. Thus, they cannot initiate any tangible enterprises with the false belief that they have all the time on their side. They think that the best time to start serious things is when they are past the age 30. What they do not realize is that at this age, they will be having a lot of duties. Therefore, all their income will be going towards funding these responsibilities.

Furthermore, at this time, things such as family will demand a lot of their time. Consequently, they may not have enough time to concentrate on their ventures. The best time to start investing is when they are young. Immediately they start earning; they need to start putting their money in income-generating activities. By the time they hit thirty years, they will have accumulated a fortune and mastered the art of running a business.

Conclusion

Millennials should do away with the culture of spending everything they earn. Unnecessary expenses, living beyond their means and thinking they know everything are some of the things that are working against them. It’s important for this generation to learn the importance of planning for their future early.

January 18, 2019 1 comment