My finance tips

Archive for May, 2010

Why You Should NOT Try To Save Money In A Down Economy

The newspaper headlines tell the story of the global economic crisis we face; stock market drops bank closures government rescue plans and organized efforts by the US Canada Europe and Asia to control the declining global economy all with little effect on our personal financial challenges. Home values are down Wall Street has lost five years of value in one week retirement plans are wiped out and unemployment is rising. Can you do anything to change your financial situation?

Yes you can. And interestingly it doesnt involve cutting back saving money or trying to live more frugally. The first step is unbelievably simple and to most folks its counter intuitive.

Dont Waste Time Trying to Save Money Spend Money to Save Time

This is opposite of what we grow up believing and its opposite of all that most people consider truth. Thats why most people continue trying to save money and why they will never have much of it.

When I was 25 years old all I did was come up with 15 to 25 dollars a month to pay a lawn service. Thats all it took to make the difference in my life.

Find whatever money you can scrape up whether it be 5 10 or 15 and pay for anything you can to save a tiny amount of your time. Stop your cable service if you have to for a month and use the money to pay a lawn service to mow your lawn or hire a house cleaning service to clean your home so you save an hour or two a week.

I took the time I saved not mowing the lawn to work some extra hours at my job. That more than paid for the mowing service and still allowed me some time to work on my wealth plan. From there it was a domino affect.

Back then I drove a 24year old car that broke down every week. I was fixing it myself because I didnt have much money. But now I took some of the extra money from working overtime and paid someone to fix the car. Now I had even more time to work on my wealth plan.

Every week and every month I worked on it. Two years later I became owner of a multimillion dollar business making a lot of money. I used all that money to pay a bunch more people to do things for me to save me even more money. I began spending money anyway I could in order to save time. And I invested all that extra time into my wealthbuilding plan.

So what are the rest of the steps for you to create wealth? I studied hundreds of multi millionaires and discovered a formula for how to create wealth. Fortunately you can make millions of dollars with anything you love to do when you share it with others in a way that brings value to hundreds thousands or even millions of people and they pay you millions for that value.

If you love horses you can bring value to those who want to learn to ride if you love singing you can make CDs and share your voice to those who would pay to hear you sing if you love fishing you can bring value to others by starting a company that takes company executives on three day fishing trips for a handsome fee if you love real estate you can bring value by renting or selling buildings for people to live or work in and the list goes on.

Find out the details of how to think about money opportunity and how to focus your mind to create the plans you need that will make your dreams of being wealthy come true. By following my formula anyone can become a millionaire in 36 months. And you will never need to worry about the economy again.

More information articles and free downloads on Paul McCormicks 7Step Formula for Becoming a Millionaire are available at www.FormulaForMillionaires.com

About the writer:nbsp;nbsp;Paul McCormick began his career working with dozens of multimillionaire investors and entrepreneurs. Over that time he discovered something truly amazing: there is an exact formula for becoming a millionaire. He discovered the common principles that all of the wealthiest people use to almostguarantee financial success. When combined these principles create a powerful system for creating wealth and opportunity that literally anyone can use in any economy. Paul took what he learned and packaged it into what he calls The Formula For Becoming a Millionaire. No one has ever revealed this Formula…until now.Paul is living proof that it works. Using the very same formula he became the owner of a multimillion dollar company at age twentyseven and CEO by twentynine. While still in his thirties Paul was able to walk away from his career realizing that you dont need a job to create massive amounts of money.In fact having a job is almost a surefire way to ensure youll never get rich!Because of the Formula Paul is richer and happier than hes ever been. Now he writes speaks and travels teaching his Formula For Millionaires to audiences all over the U.S.

Banking And Money Transfer Advice For Brits Moving Abroad

Each year more and more British people are moving abroad. Currently there are approximately 5.5 million people living abroad according to a 2006 survey. Besides this there are many many more Brits planning to make the move for good. The most common destinations being: Spain Australia Canada USA Ireland South Africa New Zealand France Cyprus and Germany.

Of course everyone has their own reasons for moving abroad amongst the most common are:

Rising costs With London now being the second most expensive city in the world to live in not too far behind Tokyo many people yearn to see their money provide them with a better standard of living elsewhere. Out of this group are of course retirees who wish to make their pension stretch that bit further. However one further growing group of people are in the 1825 year old age group. This group has been forced to suffer silently with little help from the government whom seem satisfied to see them struggle in their own country. Student loans no grants high house prices high tax levels all contribute to pushing them away. This combined with the fact that the new generation are much better traveled and understand the potential for living abroad better than previous generations mean the group is likely to continue to grow.

Increasing crime rate This is probably the most worrying of factors. People are becoming afraid of living in their own country. Walking around alone at night with groups of drunken youths about is no the most enjoyable experience 27 of British youths are regularly drunk unrelenting drug issues and binge drinking all impact on how much people are enjoying their lives.

Further common reasons are: better weather excitement adventure disapproval of government policies taxation Immigration etcetera….

So with people looking to move abroad one of the most important things to think about is how to manage your finances or even transfer money overseas. Here are a few guidelines to consider regarding this situation:

There are three main options to consider:

1 Keep your UK bank account. If you choose to keep your account look for a bank that does not charge commission on ATM transactions overseas also make sure they are quite clear as regards to what commission they are taking from you and most importantly make sure you are getting a fair exchange rate! Check it against the daily papers.

2 Switch your bank account to one that is specifically geared towards expats. These type of bank accounts are offered by the major high street banks and are often based in locations such as Jersey that benefit from different taxation laws. They usually provide multiple currency services whereby they can provide both euros and sterling for you to use. This would easily allow you to live in Europe and have a euro checkbook and cash but still pay bills at home in sterling. As ever though there are certain terms and conditions for benefiting from one of these types of accounts such as minimum balances and annual fees.

3 Try working through the host countries administrative process and open an account with them. This may or may not be possible depending on their requirements of your new country. Some countries require work permits and so on and the process can be made doubly difficult if you’re having difficulty with the local language. Of course if you plan on working abroad then the chances are your employer will be able to have one opened for you to allow payments. If you do gain a local bank account you are then faced with having to transfer money from the UK to this bank account. Depending on what bank it is you may be able to arrange a wire transfer from your UK account. Another simple way would be to use an online transfer service. These money transfer companies can transfer money directly from your UK account to you wherever you are in the world. They are very fast and efficient but again different companies require different fees.

The best advice would be to take a step back and look at your overall situation. Consider what is going to be the cheapest and most sustainable way for you to manage your finances abroad. Remember a 1 saving on several thousand pounds saves you a considerable amount of money. With the above tips in mind take your time shop around and you will soon be able to start living in your new country worry free.

About the writer:  Money Transfer Review provides free money saving comparison charts safety tips and money saving advice for all your money transfer needs. Simply click: Money Transfer or Transfer Money Overseas to discover more.

Choose Wisely — Finding The Best Payday Loans

We’ve all found ourselves low on funds at the end of any given month. The money we earn sometimes doesn’t cover all the bills that might come in especially if there was an unexpected expense such as a car repair or an illness. Even with working hard and being thrifty sometimes the money just cant be stretched out any further. A payday loan can be somewhat of a safety valve and an alternative to borrowing money from family and friends.

A payday loan is a short term unsecured consumer loan. You do need to be working full time and have a bank account to apply for one. Usually the amount borrowed is a relatively small amount between 100 to 500. It’s up to the consumer to shop around and get as much information as they possibly can before applying for this type of loan. There are definitely some pros and cons here but the more informed your choice is the better the end result will be.

First it’s absolutely necessary to find out about the lending institution and how long theyve been in business. Its wise to begin with the better known lenders. You will need to consider the fees and terms of this loan and just compare the rates among several lenders. The fees charged for these loans is usually a percentage of the amount you borrow which is why you need to get the best one you can find.

This fee has to by law be disclosed to you ahead of time. If a lender isn’t up front about either the fees or the terms rule them out right away. This applies to whether you are looking online or in person. Before you sign or agree to anything find out if the interest rate would change should you want to or be able to pay the loan back early. Some firms offer rebates for paying the loan back before the due date.

Another important fact to find out about are any additional fees should you require an extension for the loan. The typical term for payday loans ranges from 5 to 30 days and usually coincides with your next payday. It’s best to borrow the least amount you possibly can to save on fees and to make repayment easier. Shopping and applying for these loans online makes the whole process a bit faster.

As a smart shopper you should also know that payday loans aren’t the only way to get quick needed cash advances. There are salary advances credit card advances though theses tend to have very high fees and working out some kind of repayment plan for the bills you owe on is also an option. Secured credit cards can be a good way to go. They are tied to your savings account and so they usually have a much lower interest rate than regular credit card cash advances.

You might also consider religious institutions or social service agencies. They are there to help and might be a good resource to tap into. It will just take a little research on your part.

Also most creditors will negotiate partial payments once you establish a repayment plan with them. This will allow you some extra time to pay off your bills without the stress of having to come up with a lump sum.

There are also emergency assistance programs and community organizations which are sometimes partnered with social service or state agencies. They have programs set up to help with home heating and cooling costs for households that qualify. Life is expensive and no family should have to be cold in their own home nor should they suffer during the hottest summer months without any relief.

Another possible resource are military loans. If you have ever been in the military you could tap into the option of applying for a payday loan through the branch of the military in which you are or were connected. These rates typically have a much lower rate than regular payday loans. The repayment terms are flexible so that is another plus. Some companies that specialize
in military loans also provide disaster relief loans with no interest at all for 3 months if requested or rates that are market competitive.

Whichever route you choose get every bit of information that applies to your circumstances. Dont go with any lending institution that doesn’t have a good reputation or one that you dont have confidence in. Find their contact information and make a list of pointed questions to ask them. Let them instill that confidence in you with by providing complete answers to your questions. You can also look them up in the Better Business Bureau to see if they have a good track record or complaints against them.

About the writer:  Louise Green is a freelance writer and researcher. The consumer demand for low cost solutions to life situations has led to the creation of http://www.yourpaydayloans.org where consumers are provided with facts about smart borrowing.