Financial Solution News

This is a reprint of an article I wrote for Bible Money Matters.

Make a better budget!
1. Know your budget-busters and stay away!
If this is the mall don’t go, if it is QVC, turn it off, if is buying stuff online - throw your computer out the window! (Well, not really ).
2. Wait before purchasing.
Never buy large purchase items with out waiting a week to really be sure that it is the best use of your money.
3. Budget for Giving.
It makes it a whole heckuva lot more fun to give if you have the money sitting there waiting to be spent.
4. Make budgeting fun.
It is not a diet. Quit telling yourself that budgeting is just like a diet for you checkbook. In my opinion, the reasons that most budgets fail is because they are out of balance. Fun should be budgeted for. Going out to dinner, vacation, date […]

Original post by bob

Save money on your car
1. Car Insurance (Don’t skip this)
Believe me, if you haven’t shopped around for car insurance in a couple years - it is worth your while. I really was sure that I had the lowest rates I could get, but then I checked out Geico and found that I could save $330 a year for the same coverage. I was so blown away that they could save me $330 that I didn’t shop anywhere else.
Six months later my old insurance broker called trying to get me back and she had found another insurance company (America First) who was $250 cheaper than Geico. And again it was for the same coverage. So just to repeat - I thought I was paying a good rate, but by shopping around I was able to knock almost $600 off my car insurance bill.
2. Save money on gas
While everyone wants gas prices […]

Original post by bob

While I think few would argue that paying off debts is a good thing, there is a better way to accurately see the big picture of your finances. It is called your NET WORTH.
And no it is not just a number that rich people talk about at cocktail parties. It is what financially saavy people use to track their progress.
The simple definition of it is:
Assets(stuff you own) - Liabilities(debts) = Net Worth
It is simple to calculate and I will get to that shortly, but first…
Why Net Worth rather than just debt?
Your Net Worth is more encouraging
The primary reason for using your Net Worth as a gauge of your financial progress rather than the amount of debt you have is because it is more encouraging. When you look at your amount of debt to track progress you are only seeing the fruit of paying down those debts. On the other hand, […]

Original post by bob

Are you looking for help getting out of debt?

Great, I think you have come to the right place. At the time of this writing, I am right there with you on this journey to break free from the “slavery” that the Bible calls debt (Proverbs 22:7). It is not easy, but it also isn’t that difficult either. Over the last two years my wife and I have paid off nearly $30,000 in consumer debts from some mistakes that we made in the past.
The 7 steps that I am going to take you through are things that we did to pay down our debt or we would have done if we had the opportunity. Each article is fairly long, so you can feel free to bookmark it and come back later or use the print button towards the bottom of each article to print them out.
If you are serious about getting […]

Original post by bob

Unlike the rest of the world, owning a car in most parts of the western world is required.  Without it, most of us can never get to work nor go to many other places for that matter.
We have public transportation too.  Like everywhere else, there are trains, buses and metros.  It’s just that the routes cover so little of the area that it is impractical for most of us.  So over at this side of the pond, many of us are used to calling car expenses a necessity.
As a frugal minded person, there is no need to be upset because we cannot eliminate this expense.  We can still drastically reduce the money we spend on a car by making financially sound decisions.  Here are a few areas to look out for.
When to Replace Your Car
The easy answer is to drive the car until it no longer functions but for most […]

Original post by MoneyNing

This is a guest post from Debt Lead, who has a debt consolidation website by Kimberly Credit Counseling.
Many consumers underestimate the potential cost of a mismanaged check account so let’s look at how to stay organized with a managed checkbook and protecting ourselves with overdraft protection.
Staying Organize with a Balanced Checkbook
When you balance your checkbook, it requires that you keep track of all transactions you have made through your checking account, including direct deposits and debit card purchases. Most ATMs will give you a receipt with your withdrawal, but this balance may not include outstanding checks that have not cleared your account. Once you get home make sure you put all transaction that you did into your checkbook.
To keep an accurate balance of your checking account, make sure you balance your checking account every month and review it against your monthly bank statement to make sure your numbers are correct. […]

Original post by MoneyNing

Larry King Live on CNN interviewed two families in trouble because of the recent housing crisis last night.  The first family was starting to get behind on their payment, while the other already lost her home and is now living in her car!
Overview of the Two Situations
Family Hope
The first family (which we will referred to as Family Hope) lived in what they believed a $300,000 house.  They are starting to get behind in payments but they haven’t received their default notice yet.  They want to save their house but here are a few signs of why I think they haven’t really been doing something about it.

Larry asked them how many months they are behind and they did not really know.
When asked what their monthly mortgage is, they “think” it is around $2,100 - $2,200 instead of knowing
They seem to have 2 jobs, but they believe it is impossible to come […]

Original post by MoneyNing

This is a reprint of an article I wrote for Being Frugal a few days ago…
When I was about 14 years old, my uncle suddenly and unexpectedly went home to be with the Lord. He had meticulously taken care of the finances for their family and left my aunt on a very solid financial foundation. Obviously, this didn’t take away the pain of him being gone, but his preparation eliminated additional stress that would have been present without it.
It’s one of those things we all prefer not to think about, but it is always better to be prepared. My aunt is still reaping from what my uncle sowed by having his things in order.
My FLOP
Being impacted by my uncle’s premature death and wanting to do everything I can do to help my wife, I decided to create a system for keeping things organized.
It has been a work in progress over […]

Original post by bob

My parents taught me so much of what I know today.  The importance of living below our means, the understanding of money matters and the appreciation of compound interest are all values that were ingrained into me at a very young age.  I remember my mom used to tell me “there are always ways to save more money so keep looking”.
So mom, I am practicing this today.  I will keep looking for ways to cut my spending.  To help me do this, I listed out my average expenses for the last 3 months.
Expenses for the Past 3 Months (April to June 2008):

Category
Average
Low
High

Rent
$1230.00
$1230.00
$1230.00

Food
$159.63
$66.02
$223.21

Gas
$135.37
$92.62
$182.18

Goods
$77.65
$0.00
$152.99

Entertainment
$150.08
$19.24
$241.00

Misc
$122.45
$9.26
$347.85

Total
$1875.18
$1417.14
$2377.23

There seems to be major differences with just 3 months alone! The total for “low” represents me being ultra frugal while the total for “high” represents me as a major spender. Just this quick look has already established a dream goal of just spending $1417.14 per month. […]

Original post by MoneyNing

I signed up with ING about 4 years ago and have had a great experience with them. They have been a model business that has worked very hard to satisfy and meet the changing needs of their customers. These are just a few of the ways they have helped me.
1. They are nuts about safety.
A study from the University of California, Berkeley was just published that measured occurrences of identity theft at the top banks. Guess who came out the winner. Yep, ING was rated the safest bank from that study. It is really no surprise to me, just going through their login process you become well aware that it would be a tough feat to hack into someone’s account.
2. Consistently good interest rates.
You may occasionally be able to find a better interest rate online, but ING consistently has good rates. And the rates still clobber any brick-and-mortar bank.
3. Free […]

Original post by bob