Managing Debt By Eliminating It

As predicted on my Week 5 results, I was able to double my emergency fund as early as on the first week of June. I received the $200 payout from my two new blogs. Here are the figures:

Target = extra $500

Windfall = $36 (no change)

ReviewMe = $40 (no change)

Temp Blogging = $45 (no change)

Text-Link-Ads = $54.24 (no change)

AdBrite = $14.85 (no change)

Data Entry Contract Work = $35

Writing Contract Work = $155.55

Blogs = $200

Total Extra Income from May to June 1st Week = $580.64

Emergency Fund Total = $1080.64

Setting up this financial management challenge is a surefire way to help one get his or her financial act together. Right when I started with the goal of doubling my emergency fund which was sitting quite lazily in my savings account, I became very eager to get hold of as many part-time gigs or any source of extra funds I can get. The common trip to the mall splurging has become a once-in-a-while affair, too, making me take a tighter grip on my earnings. It was a fun and definitely rewarding challenge for me.

I’ll be starting another money saving or extra income generation challenge next week so better stay tuned!

Tags: contingency fund, financial goal, income

Your credit score indicates the status of your finances and will play a major part when you decide to take out a loan someday. When you get your credit report, you can also ask for your credit score. But to get it, you’ll need to pay about $7 to $15. These days, there are certain resources that can give you your credit score at no cost. Here’s how to get your credit score for free:

Free online resources
There are websites that offer to give you your credit score for free. Sites such as CreditReport.com and FreeCreditReport.com offer this service at no charge.

CreditReport.com, for example, allows you a free copy of your credit score and your credit report for 30 days. You simply have to sign up for their credit monitoring service online. Within this period, you’ll get updates of certain changes in your credit. When the period is over, you will be automatically billed $9.95 a month.

FreeCreditReport.com also offers free access to your credit score, but you’ll have to sign up for their Triple AdvantageSM Credit Monitoring service. You don’t have to pay for it initially, because the service is free for 30 days. You’ll receive your credit score courtesy of Experian.

However, your credit score is liquid. It’s bound to change, depending on the activities of your finances. The credit score you got last month may not be the same figure today. If you need your latest credit score figure, you might not be able to get it for free the next time. Online companies who offer to help you obtain your credit score for free will later charge you for the transaction. If you don’t want to pay, simply cancel before the trial period for their service ends. Otherwise, expect to spend for your credit score.

Tags: free credit score, check credit score

Tired of your old credit card’s high interest rates and annual fees? Why not transfer your balance to another credit card, one that offers better interest rates and zero fee balance transfers? You get to enjoy the same privileges of having a credit card but can rest easy at night knowing your interest rates aren’t draining money away from your pocket. Here are some of the credit card companies that offer zero fee balance transfers you might want to get in touch with.

For credit cards that offer zero balance transfer fees of up to 12 months, try:

1. Discover Platinum Card
2. Citi Platinum Select Mastercard
3. CitiBusiness Premier Pass Card

For credit cards that offer zero balance transfer fees of up to 9 months, try:

Citi Professional Mastercard

Other credit cards worth looking at:

1. Discover Platinum Clear Card
2. Citi Upromise Card
3. CitiBusiness Card
4. CitiBusiness Card with ThankYou Network
5. Discover Miles Card

All these cards offer zero balance transfer fees, so you can switch credit cards with confidence. A few of them even offer sign up bonuses which could sweeten up your deal.

There are also cards that offer at least 3% balance transfer fee but may be willing to waive them – just don’t forget to ask. They are:

1. Citi Platinum Select Card
2. Citi Driver’s Edge Platinum Select Card
3. AT&T Universal Platinum Card
4. AT&T Universal Rewards Card

When you’re looking for zero fee balance transfers, don’t forget to ask the credit card company how long the agreement will last. You can take advantage of the great deal and try to pay off your debt as fast as you can. Otherwise, you could end up with higher fees and might have to look for other credit cards again.

More credit cards with zero balance transfers here.

Know more companies offering zero balance transfers?

[image from kwei]

Do you really know how to use your credit card properly? Not the steps on how to get it out of your wallet and giving it to the cashier or swiping it you… I mean, how to use a credit card so that you don’t get your credit card debt piling up?

Here are the do’s and don’ts that sum it up if you want to avoid getting into debt trap caused by credit card abuse:

Do’s:

You feel like your cash isn’t safe when you go to some place that’s why you’d rather bring with you your credit card.

You purchase a big ticket item as long as you pay it off in the short term.

Don’ts:

Your paycheck won’t be arriving until the next few weeks so you think it’s fine if you use your credit card now for your impulsive lunch out.

You let your friends make you use your credit card for their purchases when you have an impulsive lunch out AND shopping spree with you.

If you are looking for a list of high yield savings accounts, eMoneyCentral has a frequently updated list. High yield savings accounts are the best if you are looking for an account that will earn you most interest over time. Emergency funds and down payment savings are best placed in these bank accounts.

As of this writing, here are on the top 10 in the list of high yield savings accounts which includes money market accounts provided by eMoneyCentral:

1. Everbank Yield Pledge Money Market (3 month introductory promo) has an APY of 6.01% and a balance requirement of $1.00 - $50,000 to obtain APY.

2. FNBO Direct Online Savings account has an APY of 6.00% and a balance requirement of $1.00 to obtain APY.

3. Gloucester County Federal Savings GCF CyberSaver has a 90-day promo of 5.50% APY and a balance requirement of $100+ to obtain APY.

4. Countrywide Bank Savingslink has an APY of 5.40% and a balance requirement of $50,000 - $2,499,999 to obtain APY.

5. AmTrust Direct e-Money Market has an APY of 5.36% with a balance requirement of $1.00 to obtain APY.

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Binary Dollar posted an open mic discussion about How Much Money Does One Need to Retire. When I have read the comments just a few hours ago, I’ve noticed that many responded that they need millions of dollars to retire comfortably. Now although I haven’t really given much thought about it in the past, it only took me a few minutes to compute and decide to leave a response that I only need $200k to spend for the last few decades of my life.

Why? Simply because I live in the Philippines. Although the US dollar has depreciated considerably this year - it’s down to Php46 per dollar compared to Php55 per dollar last year I think, a dollar grows 46 times here! So if I have $200,000 when I reach the age of 30, my dream retirement age, I’ll have 9.2 million pesos, which when divided into two (inflation issues) is still approximately 4 million pesos. Four million pesos will allow me to have about 11,000 pesos ($239) for monthly expenses, which I think is more than enough if I get to retire with good health. Why only Php11,000 monthly budget? I never intend to retire with any debts and I believe in living cheaply.

How about my beneficiaries? Of course, I don’t want to, God forbid, die without leaving anything for my beneficiaries. So I also included in my comment that I need another $200,000 for my family and other people who I think deserve some inheritance. And while that money’s earning interest from any investment service I decide to keep it in, I’ll keep on reinvesting portions of its interest somewhere else to keep the ball rolling and maybe for me to afford some bits of luxury with my loved ones every now and then.

So yeah, technically, I’m planning to go for $400,000 for my retirement fund.

Anyone who thinks I’m crazy to have these financial goals? I’d love to hear from you.

Tags: retirement, dollar depreciation, living cheaply

Things are getting rosier and rosier each day for me. Good karma from not being so stingy when it comes to sharing what you have occasionally is so speedy that I’m almost done with this challenge although I still have three weeks left to complete doubling my emergency fund of $500. Yeah, maybe that’s the reason why I’m not encountering as much difficulty as I’ve expected in surmounting this financial management challenge I’ve set up for myself. So what’s this jubilation all about?

The original plan is to get most of the funds from the two new blogging jobs I got and other blog monetization methods. What happened is just before the month of May ended, I was able to close deals with two new clients that have contacted me to do contract work - one data entry tasks and one on SEO content writing. So I can include my payout from them as extra income to boost my emergency fund savings!

Now take a look at my fifth week results for this Double My Emergency Fund Challenge compared to the fourth week results :

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June is the month for you know what? The month for wedding-related businesses to blow up their rates.

How would you be able to make your wedding most remembered and special to all those who attended it, especially you the to-be-weds?

There many ways on how you would make your wedding memorable to you and your guest and that is by planning everything and every detail of the wedding ahead of time.

Some couples who are too busy to prepare their own weddings resort to wedding planners. Weddings planners are coordinators who prepare the details of the wedding for the couple going be wed for a fee. The fee would depend on the kind of wedding package chosen by the couple. There was actually a movie with Jennifer Lopez on this, although the movie showed only a few details on how the work was done. But should you wish to know something about wedding planners and have time to watch the movie, it could be a useful material before you decide to go to the real ones.

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According to survey, 80% of US households hold at least one credit card. An average American earner, has 8 credit cards on his wallet, all accumulating interests and debts! It has also been found out that only 2% of credit card holders pay their entire bill each month. $574 billion are accrued as interest for all carried over debt per month! Well, it’s not easy to own 1 card, all the more managing 8 credit cards!

So how do you avoid having to resort credit card debt consolidation services or credit card debt counseling? SELF-CONTROL!

But what if it’s too late and you’ve already amassed headache-inducing credit card debt? Read on.

Ask your credit companies to help you lower your interest rate. You can phone these companies and request them to lessen your interest rates by negotiating and setting some limits. You can do this every six months; target the months of December or June.

Seeking the help of credit companies to lower your interest rates can also be disadvantageous. While most credit companies offer good services, be wary of those which take advantage. Here are some of the pitfalls:

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You finally decided that it is about time to get a house. You have your dream house in mind but you don’t know how you’re going to buy it. You don’t know if you have the financial capacity to purchase a house of your own. You are suddenly overwhelmed with the things to do.

Sure, it is difficult to buy a house. But there are steps you can follow so that making that move becomes manageable in smaller steps. One of the most important part of making buying a home a rewarding endeavor is preparing your finances, which include saving for a downpayment.

To start saving for a down payment, it is important that you set a goal. You can do this better if you consult your realtor to discuss honestly and realistically your expectations and budget. Stay within your budget and determine how much cash you need for the initial payment.

Write to Start to Save for Down Payment the Right Way

Get a piece of paper and start jotting down all the incoming and outgoing cash within a month in two separate columns. It would be good to itemize all your expenses - car payment, rent, food, clothing, entertainment, gifts, etc. Do this for a couple of months to see the actual cash flow. This way, you see the expenses that you can cut down on.

You’ll be amazed at how much you will save once you actually see in paper the unnecessary things you’ve been spending on. Tightening your belt will allow you to save more cash. You should be able to allot a regular amount from your incoming cash for your down payment.

Keep Your Down Payment Savings Secure

Open a bank account, most preferably a high yield savings account, especially for your down payment. Having a fixed amount transferred to this account automatically leaves you with no choice but to save. Now you are sure that it would be harder for you to spend it for something else than when it’s somewhere too accessible.

How Much Down Payment to Save for a House

You should be able to save up to at least 20% of the amount of the house you are buying for the down payment. This is actually an amount determined by lenders because, based on surveys, home buyers are most likely to push through with the purchase if they have already put up at least 20% of the amount. Having a bigger down payment also means lower interest rates and bigger savings.

But if the mortgage is insured, you can pay a home down payment of as little as 3 to 5 percent of the purchase price. Low down payment mortgages now abound. You just have to meet all the requirements of a low down payment home loan.

[image from lisette lawrie]