Tag Archives: debt

Dec15

Simple Steps To Improve Your Well Being

Posted on by
Standard
Simple Steps To Improve Your Well Being

If you want to have a better quality of life, you should look for ways to increase your sense of well being. Well being is a much easier way to arrive at the position you want to be in rather than focusing on a mood, like happiness. Well being is far more loaded too. Instead of being a single thing, it is about your quality of life and all of the individual things that go into that. Let’s find out how you can increase your level of well being:

Get Organized:

A lot of stress in our lives comes from being unorganized. This can mean a lot of different things, like always forgetting dates and times of things; it can mean that your house is untidy and cluttered. It can even mean getting in control of your finances. All of these things can have a huge power to bring down your quality of life. Clutter makes it difficult to find anything, among other things; always forgetting things can cause you a lot of emotional stress from other people as well as yourself. And your finances can ruin your whole life if you keep getting into debt. To get organized, start by decluttering and tidying the home. Then, buy a calendar and write things down on it as well as set reminders on your phone. If money is an issue for you, see a financial advisor and start getting your life in order.

Fix Things:

Having a massive to-do list is not great, especially if it’s consistently getting longer, not smaller. A lot of broken things around you is not conducive for your well being. Not only is it depressing, but constantly trying something that’s broken puts you right back to the initial stage or realizing that it’s broken. This can raise your blood pressure and seriously annoy you. It is in your best interest to fix things. Some issues you will need to get professionally sorted, like getting a Honda windshield repair. However, a lot of smaller issues you may well be able to fix yourself. Look online; YouTube has a lot of DIY videos you can use, for example. The sense of satisfaction you get from learning and fixing something broken will be an awesome reward!

Exercise:

Exercise is one of the best things you can do to increase your sense of well being. It has so many benefits. Clearly, it is good for your health. It can reduce your fat mass and tone you up. It can make you feel happier as it increases the happy hormones in the brain, like serotonin. It is a great way to drive out toxins. It can reduce your stress levels, boost your immunity, and generally make you feel a lot better. If you haven’t exercised in a long time, perhaps have a word with your doctor first. It is best to start small and slow and build up to more intense exercise.

During the frigid winter, it’s easy to lose the sense of well being you had during months of fun in the sun. Start with the simple steps above to get your wellness back on track!

Featured Image By: Pixabay

Advertisement
Dec2

How To Better Protect Your Money

Posted on by
Standard
How To Better Protect Your Money

If you want a secure life, then you need to look after your money. Money buys security and can prevent you from a lot of stress and worry. It is not a good feeling wondering if you can pay the heating bill this winter. As we get older, this security is ever more needed. We are going to have to retire with no real set income coming in and making do with the money we protected in our youth. So, let’s discover a few ways we can protect our money better:

Get Out of Debt:

If you have debts, then you must get out of debt and stay out of it too. There is nothing worse for your finances than paying interest rates. This is a great way to have nothing. If you can, contact your creditors and increase your payments to get rid of the debt as fast as possible. For some of you, it may be wise to enlist the help of a financial planner. You may be able to consolidate all your debts to make them far easier to understand and more manageable. 

Learn to Live Within your Means:

A lot of people spend more than their wages every month, which means they dip into their overdraft. If this is a continual thing, you will end up further and further into your overdraft and this leads to debt. It is not like a mortgage where you will have something at the end of it, it is simply wasted money. So, you need to start living within your means. There are many methods to do this. First, you need to become more financially aware so you need to track your spending better. You can download a banking app if you have not done this already and keep an eye on your balance. You can even set alerts to message you when your account is running low. Other methods include disabling the contactless feature on your bank card, trying to save your income that is not used for essentials, and only using a set amount for spending cash. You also need to learn how to practice delayed gratification. Instead of caving into your urges to buy something, you need to wait and see if you still want it in thirty days or once you have saved the cash for it.

Invest:

Investing wisely is one of the best ways to protect your money. Unlike savings, you can actually invest and keep up with inflation. One of the best ways to do this is invest in property. Buying your own home is wise. It can actuary end up being a lot cheaper than renting. A dual occupancy home from Meadan Homes, for example, allows you to rent out part of your home and make money on it too. Other ways to invest are with bonds, either corporate or government, the stock market, and collectibles. Investing in yourself is another great one, meaning paying for a higher education. You can do things like side hustles too, which is essentially running your own business and giving you valuable experience.

Spending money is an obvious part of life but you need to be smart about it to keep increasing your savings. Get started with the tips above today!

Featured Image By: Pixabay

Jul28

Why Debt To Success Could Aid You And Your Career

Posted on by
Standard
Why Debt To Success Could Aid You And Your Career

When we have debt of any type, it can greatly impact our lives, from the way in which we handle our career choices to our personal lives. These issues offer further problems that allow us to be set up to fail. When trying to pay off debt, you may have found the repayments are too much or your debts are not minimizing as quickly as you would have liked. There are options, however.

Debt to success systems have been implemented for a while and provide assistance that could be hugely beneficial to you. They are both transparent and affordable and open to discuss the scheme as well as how it could work for you. If debts are left unpaid, then they can easily spiral and, with added interest and other hidden costs of debts, you can be left with hefty bills for years on end, which is completely stressful for you.

Releasing yourself from the grasps of government chains can be the best way to aid you in moving forward, but with a simple automated system, you can be sure that you can create a positive move. With Debt to Success System, you can learn about the ways that you can start to repay in a neat and secure monthly payment program, which allows you to remove yourself from the throws of debt and move away from the societal schemes that create bigger stresses in our lives.

Why is removing debt so important?

Even if you feel as if you are managing your debts well, you are still tied into a system that is constantly hanging over your head. If your income drops, you are still having to pay that hefty sum of money. Debts can affect all areas of your life, including mortgages and insurance. By paying off your debt in a secure and affordable way, you may find that you have less stress and more disposable income in your life. They say that the average person should be debt free by the age of 58, unless you choose to extend your payments. However, if you are in your early thirties, you may feel that this is a long way off and can really affect the way that you view money. For business, time may be more limited in order to sink finances back into it.

You should also consider using a disciplined budget, which will assist with repayments. If you are struggling with budgeting, then there are plenty of online assistance tools to ensure that you can meet these requirements. You must be sure that you are prepared to rid yourself of debt in order to move forward in business. During the Covid-19 crisis, the amount of debt in the average household has heightened. With job losses and money loss, it is easier to slip into debt. By looking at a system that works such as DTS, you can move towards the business goals that you have really wanted to focus on.

Use the tips above to get your money write and continue moving forward in your life!

Featured Image By: Unsplash

Jul28

Making Big Purchases Possible Even If You Are In Debt

Posted on by
Standard
Making Big Purchases Possible Even If You Are In Debt

In late 2017, Americans had an all-time high outstanding debt total of $13.1 trillion. Experts also estimate that “student loan balances soared by 146%” in the last 10 years, and that roughly 80% of Americans are in debt. If you are one of the millions of people who find themselves under a mountain of student loan, credit card, or personal loan debt, you’re not alone. As a result of the level of debt that most individuals carry, many are delaying the process of making big life purchases (e.g. homes, cars). However, there are many instances in which big purchases are not completely avoidable.

Need to make a big purchase while in debt? Explore three expert strategies to make your goals a reality:

Figure out where your money is going:

Having a large amount of debt doesn’t mean that you can’t make big purchases. Although you have to be more strategic in your approach, there is almost always a way to find the funds you need. The first (and most crucial) step that you should take, is to find out where your money is going. In other words, it’s time to create a budget (if you haven’t done so already). One study recently revealed that “only 41% of Americans use a budget.” While many people see a budget as something that is restrictive, it will actually show you how much money you have leftover after paying your bills. This enables you to know how much money you have to put aside toward your big purchase.

Make a savings plan (if possible):

The best strategy for making a big purchase while in debt is to not add more of it. Rather than applying for another credit card or loan right away, see what you can do to save up for the item that you need. Since you’ve already made a budget, you should know exactly how much you can set aside each week. If your finances and timing allow, create a savings goal and an estimated date for when you plan to reasonably reach that milestone. Depending on the urgency of the big purchase you’ll be making, see how long you can go without in order to avoid further debt.

Quickly clean up your credit if you will need financing:

Need to make a big purchase right away? Whether you have to find a replacement car or appliance, you may not be able to pay off all of your existing debt before going into more debt. What should you do if this is the case? Prior to making the purchase, do whatever you can to quickly clean up your credit. Experts recommend paying down your revolving credit balances as much as possible, looking for and disputing any errors on your credit report, and continuing to make all payments on time. Any boost to your credit score (and reduction of your current debt) will give you the best chance of getting approved for a new loan, and for receiving a low interest rate.

Although it can seem daunting, making a big purchase while in debt is possible. Utilizing the tips listed above will help you reduce the impact to your current financial situation, and assist you in achieving your goal.

Featured Image By: Unsplash

Jan15

Is Further Education Worth It?

Posted on by
Standard
Is Further Education Worth It?

Going into further education after leaving school seems like the best option for many. At eighteen years old, you don’t know what you want to do. So instead of going full time at a job you despise and would love to bring down from the inside, you choose to pursue the highs and lows of university life.

But is it all worth it? Tuition fees have skyrocketed, and continue to raise, leaving graduates mired in debt. Furthermore, the jobs you wanted aren’t available, too many applicants, not enough positions. Was your three, four, or five years sitting hungover in lecture halls a waste of time?

Finances:

Paying for college is expensive and a student loan will ease a lot of money troubles when at university and websites like SoFi (read here) can help to find the best loan for you. While some choose to work while they study, there are others who don’t want to or can’t and will need to consider what financial shape they will be in upon graduating.

While there are national student debt relief programs available to help graduates through this, you should also consider other ways of paying off your loans. It is smart to begin paying back as soon as you graduate. Otherwise, you will find it hard to start prioritizing your debt when you need to pay for rent, food, and everything in between.

Health:

You are allowed to let loose at college. If you aren’t there for the social side, then you will miss out big time on some priceless experiences. But doing this can cause your health to suffer in the long run. People get so into the party lifestyle that they can develop conditions such as alcoholism or nicotine addiction due to their actions while studying.

It’s hard to keep on top of your health; you eat what and when you can and many often suffer from the Freshman Fifteen when first starting. You have so much free time at university that it pays to get into good habits then and not try to repair the damage later. Furthermore, the stress that comes from student debt and deadlines can hurt your mental health, as well. However, universities will offer free counseling if you find yourself struggling to cope with the demands.

Career:

Studying something at university is supposed to set you up for entering a related career in the future. But how many people have you met who studied something, say marketing, and are still droning away behind a till?

It takes time to find the job that you want, and getting it straight out of university is unlikely, but now we are seeing people some five or more years in the future still working away at the same job they had in school. Some people have taken steps towards fixing this by retraining later in life to give them much-needed experience, without having to quit their job.

So, if you want to go to university, then go for it. This isn’t supposed to warn you off pursuing further education. But you know yourself, and you need to be aware of what the future may hold upon graduation. Most people who graduated will tell you that university is worth it, but not necessarily in the way that you might think.

Featured Image By: Unsplash

Sep28

Can I Trust My College With My Student Loans?

Posted on by
Standard
Can I Trust My College With My Student Loans?

Congrats! You’re going to college. All of those years of studying hard and living at home have finally paid off. Within a couple of months, the bags and boxes will be full and you’ll be ready to meet your roommate. What a time to be alive (lol). Well, it is as long as you make it that far. If there is one thing that we know about higher education, it’s the price. According to The Economist, the average student loan debt is $37,172. It doesn’t matter how many weekend jobs you have because you ain’t going to save that money.

So, this is where the government comes in handy and finally pulls its weight and lends you the money. And, you gladly hand it over to the college of your choice without a second thought. Wait a minute, though. What if that was a mistake? These are the signs that you can trust a college with your student loan, because things can go south very quickly:

Retail Price:

Career coaches won’t tell you to do this, but what’s the point of being a teenager if you aren’t going to rebel (YOLO.)? Think of a college like property. Before you make an offer, the savvy thing to do is check the prices throughout the neighborhood. That way, no one gets conned over the price. Universities are the same because they will try and charge extra for a course which is no different to its competitors. They might have an “excuse”, but it has to be a good one. As a rule, the majority of the courses throughout the major colleges are the same, barring a feature or two. An establishment that is trying to milk you for as much as possible isn’t a trustworthy one.

The Paper Trail:

The foundations of a con doesn’t change from the bottom to the very top. Whether you’re dealing with a petty criminal or a rogue college, they all require trust. Not to be cynical, but keep your cards close to your chest. Again, not something a counselor would advocate, yet an important piece of advice, nonetheless. Fake unis and colleges attempting to improve their bottom line act like butter wouldn’t melt. So, the idea of education fraud doesn’t even appear on a potential student’s radar, not unless it’s on Call of Duty. However, it’s a problem which is impacting the school systems around the world. The good news, is that a receipt of payment is a simple fix. I know you wanted something a bit more James Bondish, but there are no fancy gadgets here. Nope, it’s just a piece of paper with the time, date, and a total amount.

Their Reputation:

Universities aren’t exempt from the rumor mill. Whether it’s Oxford and Harvard or a community college, campus gossip is something that you shouldn’t always take with a grain of salt. There will always be rumors and experiences from previous students. If you hear anything that sounds sketchy in the murky underworld that is higher education, don’t be afraid to investigate. A little piece of gossip can be the difference between tens of thousands of good debt, and a fraud case.

Keep in mind that all colleges aren’t the beacon of morality of which they claim. Some are dishonest and unreliable, plain and simple. Do your research, because your student loans are going to impact you until you finally pay them off.

Featured Image By: Flickr via CafeCredit

May22

How To Stay In Control Of Your Cash

Posted on by
Standard
How To Stay In Control Of Your Cash

When you’re just starting out in the world of work and education, you’ve got a big shot at life. No matter your circumstances, your relationship with money will define your future, your level of stability and security, and, of course – the rest of your life. We’re sorry to say, but money really does make the world go round, and you could lock yourself out of a future and enter a world of financial insecurity if you are not careful with your cash. If money makes the world go round, you can easily find yourself lost in that same cycle.

cash

Say “money”!

The good news, though? You’re young, you’re just starting out, and you have the internet. This means that you’ve got time, opportunities, and knowledge on your side (if you choose to read up and learn, that is!). With some valuable tools, you can avoid making financial mistakes and you can – for the most part – develop a healthy relationship with money quite easily. The key? It’s to never let your spending outweigh your earnings. Major shopping sprees, vacations, and spending with reckless abandon? It’s an easy path into pointless debt. It’s an easy path to financial misery.

People will get into debt. When you take out a loan to fund a car purchase after passing your test, you’ll be in debt to the provider of the finance. When you get your mortgage, you’re in debt with the lender. When you take out a loan to fund a business venture, you’ll be in debt. This, for the most part, can be seen as “good debt”. It’s debt that is acquired for a purpose. What’s bad debt? Well it has a different definition in business, but to us, it’s the debt that you acquire with high-interest values because you can’t hold yourself back from spending. It’s payday loans; it is credit cards.

Debt is a real danger and for a number of reasons. Debt, of any size, will affect our credit rating. This can affect the future of a young person quite drastically. It can mean that you are rejected from having a mobile phone contract. It can mean that your mortgage is turned down. It can seriously affect any future decisions that you choose to make.

Debt also creates emotional stress and worry. Debt isn’t the end of the world, we all get into debt – it’s how we pay it off that matters. Getting out of debt might include asking for a few extra hours a week at work or asking family or friends for some help. It may be awkward – a lot of us don’t know how to ask a friend for money but it will definitely help give you some peace of mind about your overdue payments.

Being in debt isn’t a bad thing – it is when we choose to live in debt that things turn nasty. There are always methods to paying off debt and anyone that you owe will prefer that some attempt at paying can be made. When you are in debt, you will always have options like student loan forgiveness. Getting stressed about being in debt can quickly lead to one avoiding paying for their way out of it.

To stay in control of your cash, you need to manage debt and your spending. This can be hard for youngsters – because they are explicitly targeted by those who seek to profit from debt. However, control of cash is an invaluable skill for anyone and your bank account will be thanking you! Not today, debt. Not today.

Featured Image By: Wikimedia

Dec19

The Redemption of Debt: Can It Ever Be A Good Thing?

Posted on by
Standard
The Redemption of Debt: Can It Ever Be A Good Thing?

If you were writing a film of modern life, it’d be pretty easy to cast the good guys and the bad guys. The good guys – medicine, financial freedom, political freedom – basically cast themselves. So do the bad guys: illness, political strife, debt –

Now, hang on a second.

It’s time someone did this. It’s not popular; it’s not the kind of thing that we’re supposed to say. It rubs against the grain of all of those sayings we constantly hear; against being implored to live within our means.

It needs saying, though: Debt is not always a bad thing.

[ Audience gasps, women grab their pearls, and mustached men shake their heads with disappointment at such a statement. ]

Don’t believe me? Here are some examples of points in life in which debt is actually a useful thing. When it can be constructive. When, for once in the story of life, debt can wear a white hat.

The Case For Debt – Student Debt: We hear a lot about student debt in the media. We hear about it rising uncontrollably, how students fear not being able to pay it off and will spend their working lives trying to do so. No one is saying that the cost of a college education doesn’t need to come down. However, without student debt – without the bad guy – people wouldn’t have college degrees. In this instance, debt is the price you pay (figuratively as well as literally) for an education and for career prospects. Without it, these things would be out of reach for many people.

debt1.png

Pixabay Image

The Case For Debt – Home Remodeling: For homeowners, debt is frequent. We don’t tend to think of a mortgage as a debt, but it is – technically, the issuing bank owns the property. So there’s the first good debt, and it’s not even the point I wanted to make.

Home remodeling is a wise investment. It can increase not only your enjoyment of your home but the price of your house. In a rising housing market, you could make a huge return on the cost you paid for the home improvement. You don’t have to get into debt to make home improvements, but it’s not uncommon. The cost of good renovation work that will have the benefits as mentioned above is not cheap; personal loans is the quickest and easiest solution. You can then pay it back and make money back when you sell the house. Who’s the good guy now?

debt2.png

 Pixabay Image

The Case For Debt – Reassuring Creditors: It isn’t necessarily just financial products that you have to pass a credit check for now – so you need your credit file to be in good shape. Creditors don’t want you to be a mystery. If you have no debt, you’d think that would be a good thing – but to potential creditors, it’s a leap into the unknown. They don’t know if you make your repayments, as they have no prior history to judge off of. Keeping a small, well-managed debt on your credit file is more reassuring and makes you more likely to be approved.

So while debt may never be a permanent white hat, it’s not always the darkest of blacks either.

debt3.png

 Woohoo!

 Featured Image By: Pixabay

Nov30

Personal Debt: Answers You Need To Put Yourself Back In Control

Posted on by
Standard
Personal Debt: Answers You Need To Put Yourself Back In Control

There comes a certain point in human lives when we think that we are in sole possession of the “right” outlook on life. People younger than us haven’t lived as long, haven’t seen what we’ve seen. Those older than us don’t understand how the world has changed and haven’t changed with it. An older person’s attitude to mental health may seem unenlightened to us because we expect them to be more conservative.

What we sometimes don’t grasp is that they do understand mental health issues and know a bit more about avoiding them. Consumer debt totals keep rising pretty much worldwide; certainly in the West, anyway. We’ve become almost comfortable with a “manageable” amount of personal debt. The older you get, the less likely you are to be okay with it, though, and there are signs that the seniors have it right.

Debt Is Linked To Mental Health Issues: If you looked through your accounts and found that you owed more than you thought, but weren’t at risk of default, would you be okay with that? And when I say “okay” I don’t mean “could you push it to the back of your mind for the moment?”. We know it’s there, but it’s inconvenient. So we end up resolving to get it sorted out later. There’s always a later. And though you may think it’s locked up safely in the back of your mind, the door is wide open. Though you may not perceive it, the stress is there.

Why The Seniors May Have It Right: Young adults and those in their thirties and forties have an attitude to debt that has arisen with the greater availability of it. On one hand you always know someone worse off than yourself. On the other hand there is the fact that if you’re managing it now, it’s easy to think a little more won’t hurt.

Here it is useful to think of the boiling frog theory. If you put a frog into boiling water, it will instantly leap out. Of course it will, it’s too hot. But if you put a frog in cold or lukewarm water, and gradually increase the heat, it will stay in there until it is boiled to death*. Debt can be like that – you don’t perceive it as a problem until it quite clearly and damagingly is. Because older people are less conditioned to be okay with debt, they’re less likely to borrow. They’re also more likely to refuse to take on any more debt.

money2.png

Wikipedia Image

What Should You Do About It? If you look at your accounts and your debt is above what you earn in a year, consider homeowner loans. These may allow you to consolidate all your debt into a single payment which will be more manageable than all the smaller ones. Having it all in the one place also makes you less likely to overlook a payment and get landed with fees and charges.

Secondly, if you feel swamped by debt payments, speak to someone about it. In the first instance, a parent is the right person to speak to. They can bring a steadier perspective to the issue which will help you see it less as a tidal wave and more as an issue to be overcome. Debt need never be a terminal problem. It can be highly inconvenient. However, if you’ve made the mistake of over-extending your borrowing, don’t compound it by panicking. All this will do is increase the stress you are trying to banish.

*Don’t worry – this has been tested by scientists and it has been established that a frog will jump out if the water gets too hot. People in a certain amount of debt may not be so proactive, though. 🙂

Featured Image By: Public Domain Pictures