by Guest on January 25, 2012
Wine, gold, real estate and collectibles are popular alternative investments to cash and stocks. Trading currencies, or forex, however, is an investment gaining popularity among investors looking for alternatives to the volatile stock market. Here, we will look at how to start trading forex.
Warning: You should always seek professional advice before commencing with forex trading as it is a highly leveraged financial product which comes with risks. Never invest more than you can afford to lose. If in doubt, do NOT trade.
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by Guest on January 24, 2012
Owning or renting a large home, condo, or apartment comes with a ton of responsibility both financially and physically. For many looking to take a few burdens out of their life, downsizing their homes may be a good option – especially if you are now empty-nesters. Downsizing your home space can save you a couple, if not several, hundred dollars a month – giving you the financial freedom you’ve been seeking. A few of the most advantageous ways downsizing saves you money includes:
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by Pam on January 23, 2012
Can you believe that most households in North America waste about 25% of their food? Want to reduce the amount of food you waste every year? Below are some great freezer tips that will help you to do just that.
1. If you have leftovers from dinner, put them directly into the freezer so that they don’t go to waste, rather than forgetting about them in the fridge and then throwing them out because they’ve gone bad.
2 Prevent freezer burn by double bagging your food. Put individual items into inexpensive sandwich bags and then put a number of the smaller bags together in a larger freezer bag. You can reuse the freezer bag over and over since it never touches the food directly.
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by Guest on January 23, 2012
In the UK PPI claiming is a huge market, some of the biggest banks and lenders have set aside billions of pounds worth of capital to cope with all the complaints they are likely to receive in 2012. The problems began when it became evident that lenders were selling the controversial financial policy to people who were not eligible to utilise it if needed.
What is PPI?
Payment Protection Insurance is a policy that is bought in conjunction with a credit card or loan that protects the holder against being unable to meet future repayments because of sickness, accident or unemployment. It’s a product that is widely sold around the USA and Canada but has seen little or no issues as yet, whether that is because the complaints are being protected by state so that they do not follow in the footsteps of the UK or the problem does not exist is unclear.
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by Guest on January 20, 2012
Imagine you’re looking to buy a big screen TV. When you walk into the store, a salesman approached you and after talking to you about your needs, he gave you three choices:
- Toshiba – $2000
- Samsung – $2300
- Sony – $2500
Other than the brand, you couldn’t see any difference in them – and you didn’t care about the design of the TV. Which would you choose?
Most people would be stumped. Yet we face similar choices on a daily basis. Would you buy a $5, $6 or $7 pen? Which shampoo should you try this month? What about your toothpaste?
According to Dan Ariely, author of Predictably Irrational 
, when faced with a choice we can’t make, most people would go for the safe choice, which in this case, would be Samsung. Why? Because we are wary of the cheapest choice yet afraid of paying too much for something we are not sure about.
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by Guest on January 18, 2012
The New Year is a great time to set a personal budget and to begin looking at ways to better manage your financial resources. Doing so can not only help you to take better control of your money today, but will also help you to prosper in the future.
If you do not already have one, the first step should be to establish a budget. Sit down and take the time to make sure you know exactly how much income you have coming in and how much is going out. After you have done this, carefully review your income and expenses to look for areas where you can possibly scale back. While you may not be able to budget for some fixed expenses such as car loans and rent or your mortgage payment, there are other areas where you can establish a budget and stick to it.
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by Guest on January 18, 2012
The season of resolutions is upon us, and one resolution we could all serve to make (and keep) is to cut down on our credit card missteps. After all, consumers are quickly racking up new credit card debt, which is the type of dangerous overleveraging that got us into deep you-know-what during the Great Recession. What’s more, 41% of U.S. adults would give their personal finance knowledge a grade of “C” or worse, according to the National Foundation for Credit Counseling’s 2011 Consumer Financial Literacy Survey. So, to help get this resolution started, here are 5 credit card mistakes that we can all excise from our lives during 2012:
1. Not having an open credit card in your own name
Whether or not you feel comfortable making purchases with a credit card is basically immaterial. Simply having a credit card under your own name (not as an authorized user) is the easiest way to add positive information to your major credit reports on a monthly basis, and this information will be relayed even if you lock your card away in a drawer. Since one’s credit score is integral to getting the best loan terms, leasing a car, renting an apartment or getting certain jobs, this advice applies to pretty much everyone over the age of 18.
Wait, doesn’t the new credit card law preclude people under the age of 21 from opening credit cards? Actually, no. Young people must simply ask a relative to be a co-signer or indicate on their application that they have sufficient assets/income to cover a credit card’s monthly minimum payments (typically around $15 for newcomers).
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