18 Hot PiggyBob's Debt Consolidation Tips

 

PiggyBob's advice to debt consolidation and reduction:

1. Face to face: Free debt consolidation counselors talk directly with you, helping find ways for you to pay off your debt while saving you money.

2. Pay later: Remember, while debt consolidation quotes may be free, the costs for these services often aren't mentioned until the cash is practically in hand.

3. You have options: Three top strategies for debt consolidation: consolidate to a single low-or-no-interest card, get a low-interest loan, or tap into home equity.

4. Use home equity: Consider consolidating debt by getting online quotes for a Home Equity Line of Credit-which often feature lower rates than other debts.

5. Sleep better: Avoid collection calls, liens and lawsuits by consulting a professional debt reduction company; they can often eliminate debt for pennies on the dollar.

6. Read the fine print: The term "debt consolidation" may be used interchangeably by several companies offering very, very different types of services and end results.

7. Consolidate carefully: 70% of Americans taking a consolidation loan to pay off debt end up with the same or higher debt load within two years.

8. Notify lenders: The single most important thing to do if you find yourself struggling with debt is to notify your creditors as soon as possible.

9. Caveat emptor: Even if a particular credit counseling organization claims nonprofit status, there's no guarantee that its services are free, affordable, or even legitimate.

10. Check certifications: To help ensure you're working with a reputable debt consolidation firm, search for one certified by the National Institute for Financial Counseling Education.

11. Proceed with caution: Debt consolidation loans encourage tendencies already leading to financial challenges. By taking on yet another creditor, you're adding fuel to the fire.

12. Last resort: Considering signing up for a debt consolidation program ONLY after a certified credit counselor has spent time carefully reviewing your financial situation.

13. Easy quotes: Debt consolidation quotes are simple online; most sites just require filling out a few fields before matching you with a debt-relief firm.

14. Research firms: Check out any company offering debt consolidation services with your local consumer protection agency and the Better Business Bureau in the company's location.

15. Think long-term: Paying debts can improve your credit report, but delinquent and charged off accounts can still be reported for up to seven years.

16. Why consolidate? Unless you're offered a compelling, lower interest rate for consolidating multiple credit cards, the savings might not justify the effort and hassle.

17. Get going: One primary key to consolidating debt is to have a clear plan of action for making payments and reducing monthly interest charges.

18. Choose wisely: Some reputable debt-settlement firms (search several online) can often reduce your debt as much as 75% or more-without a credit check. 

 About the Author
Nakagava Ltd. nakagava.com, creator of PiggyBob?, the first truly user friendly personal finance software with free calendar. All the data you record in PiggyBob? can be handily visualized in graphs piggybob.com.

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Your Home Business Budget Foundation

Why a Budget is Important. Let it be your guide from beginning to end.

Starting your own home business is a very tricky proposition. Starting your own enterprise is exciting, but it is also inherently full of risk. Enter discipline. Unless you get yourself going on the right foot, then the chances of achieving success are very small.

Conversely, as long as you have the right foundation, and keep working on that foundation, success is almost an automatic thing. It is vital that you run your home business on a strict budget, if you aspire for long term success. Strictly budget your time and your money.

As little as one hour a day, everyday, is enough to make your personal business get better everyday and grow steadily to keep your confidence up. Avoid distractions.

One of the most important parts of running your business is operating on a budget of money and time. Every ad and every supply and tool you buy must earn the value put into it. This is a golden rule that can make you successful as you are going to be at any business.

Many men and women, mostly unsuccessful ones, prefer going with the flow rather than with actually setting goals and budgets. For the most part, this attitude is a mistake. Unless you have an incredible memory and unnatural clear sightedness, planning for both the present and the future is a prerequisite to success.

No matter how you define that elusive concept. Remember, no sloppy ad, supply or equipment buys. Check everything out scrupulously before putting your hard earned funds into it. Always shop for better prices and quality with every purchase you make.

Because this article is about home businesses, we will begin by defining success as the growth and eventual profitability of your particular business. By growth we mean that the business will expand, hopefully outgrowing your home and eventually participating in the corporate arena or whichever one you feel comfortable to work in.

By profitability, we mean that the business will become a cash generating machine, so much so that you attain financial freedom, and never have to work a single day again for someone else, if you do not feel like it. You will be your own woman or man.

This article argues that in order to achieve growth and profitability, discipline is needed, and plans must be made and acted upon. I cannot harp on and emphasize this enough to you.

Crafting your budget

One of the most important plans you must conceptualize is that of your budget. Many businesses, even if they have great ideas and wonderful products, still fail for lack of proper planning and efficient allocation of resources. Do not let this happen to you. Only a home business on a strict budget can ever be truly successful.

First, make it a habit to write down, both what you earn and what you spend, on a daily, monthly, and yearly basis. A common stenographer notebook will be perfect for this. Make a different page for every expense. Every expense and every sale must be recorded so you know where you are everyday.This is the least that you can do.

Look over what you have written down and you will easily see the areas that can be improved upon, especially in the expense column. It is astonishing how many expenses we never notice until we get them down in paper. As the business grows larger, accounting knowledge might be needed. If you have neither the time nor the inclination to acquire the knowledge yourself, find someone who does.

Second, analyze the figures and determine the areas where you can control costs, and where you should add capital. Every business has areas that generate above average returns, as well as areas that under perform. As much as possible, redirect your resources to the projects and ideas that give you the most return. You will quickly start to learn this from experience.

Many years of experience have frequently given me the positive experience of having the lowest cost item or ad working for me best.

The great secret here is to, are you ready? Shop around for the best buy and do not let your emotions run wild on you when you read or hear presentations that have wild claims or will not give you the whole detail story until you pay them first. Hah! Never do it. Give me the details or forget about it. You do not need to take unnecessary risks.

Lastly, stick to your budget. Never forget this. A plan not acted upon is essentially useless, and a budget not followed is as useful as a page of doodles. Once you have written down and finalized your budget, do not make any departures from it unless absolutely necessary. Always have a solid reason for doing so.

Be disciplined. It is the only way you will get anywhere. By running your home business on a focused budget, you are securing your future at a small expense to the present and a nice profit in the future.

 About the Author
James M. Lowe writes original articles, press releases, e-books, blogs and websites about home business opportunities. contenttomarket.com

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Another 7 Easy Ways To Save Money

In our last article we focused on a few ways to save money. This time, you'll find a few more ways to save money and maybe a couple that you didn't think of. As always, it's not my intention to make you a cheapskate, but rather to give you the choice of where to spend your money instead of wondering where it went.

I mentioned this in the previous article but it's so important that I have to repeat this again.

The first thing you should do after reading this article is grab a notebook, PDA or some other way to keep track and start recording your spending. Write down every purchase you make, even a soda or snack from a vending machine. Keep it up for at least a month and then look at where your money goes. You may start to see a trend that you want to stop before the month is over and by all means, change it. You may also want to do this more than once. It's a great way to keep from falling back into or developing new bad spending habits.

Here's a pet peeve of mine, ATM fees. Not only do you pay 1-3 bucks for the ATM you're using but another 1-3 bucks to your bank. If you stop at the wrong ATM for $20 for dinner then you may be paying $26. Take a look at your bank statement and see how much you could've saved by planning over the last month. Personally, I saved almost $100 when I stopped using other ATMs.

Bank fees Depending on your bank, you may have free checking or pay a fee each month. If you're paying a fee, then you really should think about how much it is and if it's worth changing banks. You should pick a bank that has a lot of ATMs that are convenient to you and free checking. If you pick the correct bank, you can easily cut down the number of ATM fees that you incur simply by having your bank's ATMs on the way to your destination.

Gas prices Use a search site like Gasbuddy.com Prices can vary by as much as 25 cents a gallon in the same city. It's not worth your time to drive across town for a penny a gallon but if you can detour a few blocks for 10 cents a gallon then it's worth it.

Prescription drugs According to a recent study, the prices can vary widely between pharmacies so unless you have drug coverage from your insurance, you should call around to different stores and check. You can also use a mail order pharmacy but be careful on those.

Pay down your mortgage Unless you have a loan that doesn't allow this, you can over pay each month and that money goes directly to principle. Depending on your loan and the amount you over pay, you may save thousands over the life of the loan. Incidentally, some auto loans also allow this.

Pay your bills on time. A little known bit of fine print in many credit contracts allow unrelated companies to increase your rate just because you were late on a different account. Not only that but some companies will raise your rate to 29-31% interest if you're 1 day late.

Free cycle is a group of people that choose to give away items instead of throwing them away. Not only does it save the receiver money but it keeps it out of the landfill. Do a search for your area and see if there's a group in place.

 About the Author

Brian Baldwin is an entrepreneur who enjoys saving people money by offering some of the best products and services available today southerntechservices.com.

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Budgeting For Your Regular Expenses Each Payday

When it comes to your job, many individuals are unsure how much they bring home in a given pay period. Instead of taking the number provided on your paycheck, you must first take a number of expenses into account. Factoring in these expenses will allow you to determine the exact amount of money you bring home each month that is available to your disposal.

If you are looking at quitting your current employment for any reason, you should be completely aware of how much money you make in any given pay period. This information is critical for anyone who wishes to change their current career, begin their own project, or stop working all together in order to care for a child, parent, or family member.

The reservations regarding finances have held back many an individuals from venturing into their own business. It might not be a feasible idea to limit the options for the sake of money. Consider the expenses that are factored as a result of your current employment. These can be under the heads of commuting (car and gas), food and clothing as well as other necessary items.

Commuting to work is becoming more and more expensive as the price of gas keeps rising. When you add the costs of maintaining your vehicle and all its component parts you have a necessary expense regarding your work. You need to take into account the amount of gas you use in a week's time plus its wear and tear. You can use the templates on the internet to factor this number into your take home pay.

The way you attire for your office is determined by the people of your office, hence the expenses made for these dresses also need to be factored in the take home pay as these expenses are incurred due to the fact that you are employed. The item list for factoring should be all encompassing and apart from the expenditure incurred on buying clothing items like suits, shirts, etc it should include the expenses incurred on cleaning and dry-cleaning.

Another factor in your take home pay is any food expenses you incur while on the job. These innocuous expenses can add up quickly and often go unnoticed by working individuals. That morning cup of coffee or breakfast goodie coupled with the lunch at a sit down or take out restaurant can quickly become expensive. Additionally, these meals can often pack on pounds, which can lead to health issues.

If you have kids, then the childcare costs might dig deep into your paycheck. In case you don't happen to be working, the question of meeting these bills does not arise; hence these costs also need to be factored from the take home pay.

Thus, you need to consider all related business expenses when you calculate your take home pay. These expenses are astounding. Once you realize how much of your income goes into earning it, you may find it easy to take the decision to change your career or start your own business or just quit working to take care of your home and children.

 About the Author
David Neehly is an independent Credit Counseling writer for "Credit Counseling Card" at CreditCounselingCard.com. You'll find all the latest Credit Counseling news there.

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