Money Matters

One of the best things that a person can do for himself or herself is to get their finances in order. Eliminating debt is not an easy task, but it is going to go a long way toward less stress and more fun. There are a number of books and websites that purport to have the magic bullet to end debt. The sad fact is, the only way to kill debt is to slowly and consistently pay it down. It does not happen overnight, but if you are committed it will happen. Debt does not just appear and it will not disappear instantly.

The first step toward eliminating debt is to stop going into debt. Do not spend anything else on things which are not necessities. Do not make any big purchases while you are creating a plan. Hold off on any large expenditures and concentrate on identifying your debts. The next thing to do is put your debts on paper. It may be somewhat startling to see the exact debts that you have, but putting them all in black and white makes them identifiable.  One you have done this it is time to formulate a plan. It is difficult to come up with a new way of paying bills and handling finances.

The plan is one of the most important things you will do. It is important to be honest with yourself about how long it will take to get debt free and how many sacrifices you will have to make in the mean time. Setting short term goals is a good way to feel like you are accomplishing something. Another step that can aid in the reduction of debt is to refinance certain loans in order to get a better interest rate. If your credit is good enough, refinancing a car or other loan can produce excellent results and save you money in the long term.

In truth, the only way to get out of debt is to follow these simple rules. Number one, do not go into more debt. Number two, spend less money than you make. That may seem simplistic, but it is very true and probably harder than it seems. And number three, use the difference to pay off the debt that you already have. If you follow those rules you will get out of debt. How long it will take depends on how aggressively you save and how aggressively you pay down your existing debt.

The law of attraction is a fairly straight forward principal. What you focus on comes to you. If an individual focuses on something like how much they hate their job, then they will be stuck in that job without seeing other opportunities when they present themselves. The idea is that each person creates their own reality and that it is just as easy to bring negative things into your life as it is positive. The law of attraction is also called manifesting and the basic belief that what you really want you will eventually get has been around for a long time.

When it comes to the law of attraction for money, the ideas are the same. Manifesting wealth or abundance is all about focusing on the positive and not the negative. That is easier said than done, by focusing on the positive you do not dwell on the cannots or will nots that plague a lot of people. It is necessary to focus on creating an abundance rather than giving all of our attention to what we do not have. Imagining what you would do if only you had the money is an example of negative thinking. You are thinking about how little you have.

The idea is to not focus on not having enough. It is much better to concentrate on a particular scenario, such as getting a better paying job, or getting a house paid off, than to focus on just cash. Your mindset is incredibly important to attracting money. If you start to think like a wealthy person, then you will become a wealthy person. This is not as easy as it sounds. You must change your perceptions of what a lot of money is. As far as the universe is concerned the difference between five hundred and five thousand is almost nothing. You may find that strange but that is how it works.

If you start to think of yourself as a person who has more than enough money, then that is exactly what you will become. It is not enough to just wish for more wealth and then go on about your day. You must really envision yourself living the life you want and start behaving and thinking like a person with an abundance of wealth. By not thinking about large sums of money and reacting to them as though they are large, you attract them to yourself. Thinking of a lot of money is normal will put you in a position where that is normal for you.

Fuel prices continue to rise as the global demand for power threatens to outstrip supply. However the domestic market for fuel is competitive so you have the chance to make a change which could save you money as well as following these tips.

1.     Go online and shop around as there are offers out there that you may not be aware of and if you change supplier to cut down costs they will take care of the formalities for you.

2.    Make sure your heating equipment is properly maintained, such as the heat pump, furnace and filters.  Units in less than top condition can be costly as they are inefficient.  Dirty filters will reduce the efficiency of your heat pump or furnace.

3.    Do not heat areas of the house that are used infrequently, such as guest rooms or studies which are not used much.

4.    Think about a thermostat which enables you to programme pre-set times to both lower or higher the temperature.

5.    When showering don’t be tempted to stay there more than necessary, as although it is pleasant in the winter, by reducing your shower time to half you could save as much as 33% on your hot water heating costs.

6.    Check what temperature is set for you hot water heater.  For homes which have a dishwasher it needs to be 120 degrees but apart from dishwasher use it can be quite a bit lower.

7.    If the water heater is in a cold part of the house make sure it is wrapped in an insulation blanket.

8.    Many of us habitually wash clothes in hot water but it is not always necessary so when possible use cold water.

9.    Adjust your thermostat to the following recommended guidelines as they are both comfortable and work out the most economical.

When at home and not in bed:  68 to 70 degrees When out or in bed:                     60 to 65 degrees

10.    When there is winter sun open the curtains on the side of the house where it is and let the heat come in.  Be sure to close them when the sun has gone in order to retain heat.

11.    Cut down on the use of ventilation fans as they can suck the heat out of room.  In as little as one hour a bathroom fan can take almost all of the heat from the bathroom.

12.    Use space heaters in the living area so you can lower the heat.

These tips have come from the payday advance company Cash Choice.

These days most people have at least two if not more phones that they use. We live in a society where we feel the need for contact almost 24-7.  Not many of us are inclined to tell people that we can’t stay on the phone because of a big bill, as this is embarrassing.  However there are other ways to save a good bit of money on phone bills and these tips are devised by a UK payday advance company.

The very first tip is to analyse your phone bills as this can show what is costing more, what type of usage you have and the percentage to landlines and to mobiles.  Depending on the usage there are different plans which can work out more economically, so get your last bills out and see what the patterns are.  Are there international calls and if so that needs to be factored in.

The second tip is to remember that BT do not have a monopoly in the UK although it may seem as if they do.  There are many cheaper alternatives out there such as cable companies who offer a package which includes both your landline and your television.  There are also broadband internet companies who have much cheaper rates for low cost dial up services.

Consider an override provider as many of them can provide very cheap calls and are commonly used in the case of mobile calls and international calls.  You will need to check with your provider that they do not block an override provider.  The concept here is that you keep your current provider and dial up an access number of an override provider to go on their system and get access to these far cheaper calls.  Then you dial the number you wish to dial.

Check out uswitch which is a service that searches more than twenty top UK telephone suppliers and based on your current usage find out which one or ones would be the best for you. They can assess how much more or less you may save by changing providers and plans.

In the case of mobile phone bills they can sometimes be even more difficult to control.  The ideal situation is to switch to a pay as you go phone so that you are aware of what you are spending.  This is very suitable for people who use their mobile phone less or those who know that they need to cut down on usage.

If you really need to use your mobile more then it is important as in the case of a landline to assess the usage and start researching plans which fit your usage.  By following these five tips you can save hundreds of pounds on your phone bills.

Do you have some friends who even during difficult times appear to still have cash to spend? They say it is the wise who always find ways to economise and it is never too late to learn about how you can save money.

In this case the saving tip is how you can save £1000s on your mortgage.  There are not many people who can afford to pay cash for their home so the vast majority of us have mortgages.  However if you are currently paying the full standard variable rate (SVR) then you will be paying £100s extra every year.

What if you are in the position to make overpayments on your mortgage, but let’s face it there is always something nicer to spend that money on, isn’t there?  Think ahead, instead of succumbing to temptations, visualise how you could finish your repayments years earlier as well as saving lots of money in interest.

Say for example your mortgage is £200,000 over 30 years at an interest rate of 6%, then you would be looking at a monthly repayment of £1199.10 and over the period of 30 years you will be paying £431,676.38 in total of which a whopping £231,676.38 is the total charge for credit.

So let’s look at some scenarios depending on how much extra cash you could put towards your repayments and see the outcomes.  If you could afford to add in an extra just under £50, £48.87 to be precise, then you could have your mortgage paid 3 years earlier, you would pay a total of £404,342.51 of which £204,342.51 would be for credit.  In this scenario you have saved £27,333.87 and have a mortgage free 3 years.

If you can afford to add on an extra £89.50 per month then you would have 5 years mortgage free and the overall total would be £386,580.84 of which you are paying £186,580.84.  From the original mortgage scenario you would be <b>saving £45,095.54

Even if at the time of reading this you don’t think you have the extra cash to add towards these extra payments, there may be things that you haven’t considered yet that could easily be done to re-direct cash.  Sometimes we are so busy and stressed with everyday life that we don’t recognise them.

One example is your mobile phone. Many people are on contract which in turn means that they are less likely to worry about the cost when they are enjoying a phone call.  Switch to a pay as you go mobile and you can save £100s over the year this way which can be re-directed saving so much more on your mortgage plus having some mortgage free years that you hadn’t bargained for!

It may seem like a drop in the ocean compared to costs like mortgage repayments, but depending on where you live water bills can add up to a pretty penny.  To save money on water bills firstly consider installing a water meter.

In some homes water meters can save £100s off the bills however in others they may even add on a bit, so before making this choice you need to evaluate which category your house fits into.  As a general guideline, a big house with a small amount of occupants should save money by having a water meter installed, whereas a small house with a big family are unlikely to save money.

Apart from saving money when you decide to find ways to conserve water you are also being kinder to the environment.  Here are quite a few tips to help you save water use and therefore save money.

1.    For those of us with the need to shave, fill up the sink with water and rinse the razor there.

2.    We all need to wash our teeth, so get into the habit of wetting your tooth brush and fill a glass for mouth rinsing.

3.    Hopefully we all take showers..but many of us like to hang there as it is a nice feeling, but if you half your shower time this can be a great saver. 4.    For drinking water keep a bottle of water in the fridge as this will save the water that is wasted when we run a tap until it is refreshingly cold enough.

5.    When cleaning vegetables don’t leave the faucet running, instead rinse them in a sink full of water.

6.    If you hand wash dishes then don’t leave the water running for rinsing.  If you have a double basin one side can contain the soapy water and the other the rinse water.

7.    When using a dish washer make sure it is fully loaded before use.

8.    The same applies to washing clothes, always put on a full load.

9.    Water pipes can be inexpensively insulated which means you will get hot water faster leading to less waste.

10.    Check if the toilets around the house have any leaks.  You can do this by putting food colouring in the tank, and if within about half an hour the colour starts to appear in the toilet bowl then you have a leak that needs fixing.

11.    Also check pipes and faucet for leaks.

12.    This last one may seem funny but to cut down on water wastage you can get two plastic bottles, put an inch or two of pebbles or sand inside for weight, then place them in the toilet tank-this can save ten plus gallons of water every day.  You need to place them away from the operating mechanisms.

Enjoy saving money and water!

In 2007 survey in the UK showed that the average credit card holder owes close to £2000.  Credit cards have become a way of life for many people to the extent that people carry little or no cash with them.  Credit cards can end up costing more than an advance til payday and for those of us who remember life before it was so socially acceptable to live off credit today’s society can seem a bit scary.

It may surprise you to know that one in five British pensioners who have released equity from their home have credit card debts of approximately £9000 each.  So even for some of those who grew up in different times the temptation of being able to buy things whenever they wish has outweighed their more sensible upbringing.

If you feel that you have become a slave to your credit card debt then follow these tips in order to change your circumstances.  The first step to clearing credit card debt is to find ways to budget.

Simple things like not buying brand names in the supermarket but choosing the supermarket’s own labels can add up to significant savings during the shopping month.  Own brands can be just as good as branded items and more savvy shoppers are shopping this way.  Before shopping do a list and never go to the supermarket feeling hungry.  Other quick ways to budget are gym memberships that do not get used frequently enough, finding cheaper insurance packages and cutting out one night down the pub.

Once you have some budgeting plans in place then decide how much you can pay off your credit card debt and stick to this.  If you have a few credit cards in the family all of which have debt then choose either the one with the highest APR first, or the one with either the lowest or highest debt.  You choose whatever will motivate you most.

If you do not feel confident about managing the payment plans yourself it could be a good idea to go to a debt management company.  They will assess your finances, make a plan, deal with the companies to whom you owe money and sometimes they can negotiate a lower interest rate.

If you have savings that you had not considered using, think again.   At least considering using some of your savings as when you sit down and work out the interest you will pay the longer your credit card debts continue it will make sense.  Everyone likes to feel that they have a financial safety net, so do this sensibly and find a balance between still feeling you have security but also dealing with your credit card debt.

Finally you could consider a personal consolidation loan which essentially is one loan to clear off all the credit card and any other debts you may have.

Whichever route feels best for you, at the same time as starting out on this new plan also make a family decision about future credit card use.  Ideally stop using them except for when they can save money such as online purchases, but if not at least elect occasions such as holidays, flights etc where they can be very handy.

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