Debt Management: 5 Tips For Concurring Your Debt In A Set Amount Of Time

No one intentionally gets themselves into debt. Debt is something that can happen quickly, and eliminating that debt can be difficult. Eliminating debt before it gets out of control is necessary to eliminate stress in our lives. Using a payday advance loan, cutting up credit cards, budgeting and common sense are just a few of the ways you can begin eliminating debt. Below are five ways you can start the process of eliminating debt in a short amount of time.

1. Common Sense

Everyone wants nice things, and we want to buy nice things for our loved ones, but sometimes we need to tell ourselves “that’s enough!” Listen to your common sense to help eliminate debt. If you know that you don’t have the money to buy something, don’t buy it. Don’t swipe your credit card as an answer. Always use cash to keep your high interest credit cards from putting you further in debt.

2. Budgeting

The only way to get a grip on finances is to budget. Take the time necessary to set out a budget plan you can follow. Sit down with your partner and think about what you can cut spending on to help eliminate debt faster. Use coupons for groceries. Eat at home more often and stop going out to dinner. Check the cost of your cellular and television cable plans to see if you can cut some costs. Set realistic goals and follow them. A good budget can get you out of debt fast.

3. Cut Credit Cards

Getting out of debt fast is about paying off old debt and avoiding new debt. It’s time to prepare for emergencies like medical bills, car repairs and time off work unexpected. Try to build a cushion for these things so if they do happen, you don’t resort to the credit cards. Set aside something every paycheck, even if it’s only $10 for these things.

4. Payday Loans

Payday loans are great to take out if you can’t pay your bills on time, but you want to avoid late fees and unnecessary charges. If you find you can’t pay a bill on time, investigate taking out a payday loan to get your bill paid so that you don’t have rising interest fees or late fees on your bill.

5. Eliminate Debt

Now that you are saving a little money, apply that money to your debt. If you can pay just $5 more on every credit card or $15 more on your car loan each month, you will eventually eliminate that debt. Keep going until all of your debt is eliminated.

Give yourself a time line and follow that time line. If you want to be out of debt in a year, make every effort to follow the steps above. Make an effort to pay all you can towards your debt to become debt-free.



Brionna Kennedy is native to the Pacific Northwest, growing up in Washington, then moving down to Oregon for college. She enjoys writing on fashion and business, but any subject will do, she loves to learn about new topics. When she isn't writing, she lives for the outdoors. Oregon has been the perfect setting to indulge her love of kayaking, rock climbing, and hiking.

3 Tips to Make Filing a Home Owners Claim Easier

Filing a home owners claim can protect you against paying for damaged or stolen property out of your own pocket. As long as you have adequate coverage, you may be able to receive a pay out that covers all of your expenses while you’re putting your home back together. Whether you’re the victim of a home invasion or experience some sort of natural disaster, home insurance can be a saving grace. In order to make the process run as smoothly as possible, follow these three tips.

Understand What Your Policy Covers

Read your policy now and take some notes, so that when and if you actually need to file a claim you will have an idea about what your coverage dictates. Being educated on your policy can stop you from filing a claim that is sure to be rejected, or failing to claim damage that you would have been reimbursed for. Make a note of which property can be replaced, the financial limit of your claims, and the time frame during which your claim must be submitted after the damage occurs. Talk to an insurance agent if you have questions about your policy so you can purchase additional coverage now if you need to do so.

Report the Damage in a Timely Manner

Reporting damage right away may be within the terms of your contract, but even if it’s not required it’s still a good idea. The more time that goes by after a break in or disaster, the more difficult it will be to prove exactly when the damage occurred. Your insurance company could claim that it looks suspicious that you filed a claim so long after the damage happened, and it will be harder for you to prove how and when the events occurred as time goes on. Always report your damage within one week whenever it’s possible.

Take Photos

Having photos of the damage will help your insurance adjuster determine how much damage occurred and it will also provide proof about when the incident happened. You may be required to submit images for larger claims, but it’s better to be safe than sorry and capture pictures of the damage right away to keep for your records. Sometimes submitting a photos is easier than trying to explain to an insurance adjuster what was broken or the nature of the accident. Take more images than you think you’ll need, and save them online for safe keeping.

Filing a home insurance claim can involve a lot of paperwork and red tape, but the better prepared you are the less painful the experience will be. The most important step you can take now is to research the process for filing a claim so it won’t seem so overwhelming when the time comes. Keep a file with your policy and the instructions for claim submission. If you can file a claim online, it may expedite the process, so find out how to do that in advance and save any appropriate URLs into your browser bookmarks.

Barry Johnson is a personal finance consultant. He enjoys passing on his insights through blogging. Check out the BuyHomeInsurance.net website for more information.

Investment Basics: Six Steps To Successful Long-Term investment

In order to successfully invest for a child’s educational costs and your own retirement, you must start now and think long-term. Investing successfully over the a longer period of time is not as complex as you might think. Keep these six steps in mind to help you make wise financial decision:

Don’t Time The Market

Day trading is something that became incredibly popular during the tech boom. Large amounts of cash combined with small upticks in the market, and frequent trades were able to create full time incomes for many investors. When it comes to long term investing however, less is more. There is no need to sit in front of your computer all day to be successful. Research an investment, select it, and stay with it.

Past Performance

Though past performance does not guarantee future success or failure, it can be a strong indicator, and should be thoroughly reviewed. Stocks and mutual funds are easy to track performance with earnings and rates of return. Many mutual funds mix stocks and bonds in order to diversify. There are plenty of experts with bond market research and investments tips that you can learn from to avoid past mistakes and understand the market better.

Don’t Panic

Remember that you are a long-term investor. Short term market fluctuations and sell offs are nothing to be feared. These should be viewed merely as buying opportunities where your cost basis can be greatly reduced by buying low to later sell high. If you panic and try to sell when the market drops just a little, you will end up losing much more. Again, think long-term, because there will be small dips and spikes in every stock.

Re-Balance

Even excluding short term market fluctuations, as a wise investor, you should still review your portfolio periodically to ensure that your portfolio performance is on the right track. This may be an opportunity to invest more in a particular fund that is outperforming others. Keep in mind that diversification is still critical to ensure success.

Never Chase a Trade

You have completed your research and resolve to purchase a stock, bond, or mutual fund at a strike price. If something unexpected happens that no longer makes the trade an attractive one, don’t chase the trade, move on. Although it is good to invest long-term, that doesn't mean you should chase after an investment that is clearly not going to have a positive benefit for you in the long run.

Cheap is Not Always Good

Penny stocks may seem like a good idea because they allow you to execute large purchase orders with only a small cash investment. As with any investment, you must factor in risk. Penny stocks are so cheap because they are extremely risky. Though some risk is acceptable in the successful long term portfolio for diversification, penny stocks are too volatile, and should not be considered.

Investing for education or retirement can by simple when you take these tips into consideration. Understanding to to successfully invest long-term is essential to help you meet your financial goals. Remember these tips when investing, and you will be able to gain the return on your money that will make a significant difference for you financially.

Best Tips for Networking in Chamber of Commerce

Relationship marketing should be the foundation of every business. It is because in order to be great, a company has to set itself apart. Looking at how tough the competition is nowadays in any industry, only few factors are left that a company could bank on for separation form the competition. One very important factor is trust building. Very few can argue with the effectiveness trust could bring between competitors. For example, let’s suppose there are three coffee shops, and all does not stand more than four blocks away from each other. They can only tweak the taste of their coffees’ by so little, which also leaves very few differentiations on which shop would reign supreme.

In cases like this, the company that is able to garner the most trust from consumers and other businesses around it often shows up on top.

So how do we construct a trustworthy company?

Well, the first thing you have to know about it is that there’s no shortcut in building it. You’ll have to brush up on your people skills, browse networking channels (whether offline or online), and get back to networking. When it comes to networking channels, you cannot miss being a part of your local chamber of commerce. A chamber of commerce happens when local business owners decides to form a community amongst themselves to push each of their business interests.

In this post, we’ll arm you with tips on how to get the most trust from your local chamber of commerce.

The Early Bird Gets the Worm

When a chamber of commerce gathers into a conference, registrants are made aware of attendees and speakers well in advance. With quick thinking, you should realize that the best time to start networking is as soon as you get the list of people that you’re interested to meet. Look them up in Twitter, find out their email address on their website, and see if you can hook up a meeting even before the actual event. This way, you won’t have to claw your way during the networking haze of the event itself.

Value Your Time

Remember that it might take quite a while before the same networking opportunity presents itself. Therefore, you have to do your homework and have a list of people you want to talk to. You can’t just settle with the first person you meet. You have to be bold and have a priority list based on their value on your business.

Don’t Run Out Of Business Cards

This one is so basic that forgetting about it before the chamber of commerce conference is considered a mortal sin. Keep in mind that almost everyone in that event is there because of the same reason – for business networking’s sake. If you don’t have a business card to giveaway to someone you’ve met, he or she will forget your name right after and there will be no chance of him or her getting back at you.

Be A Conversationalist, Not A Chatterbox

Great discussions are always a two way street. Practice and find mentors who can teach you a thing or two about keeping a conversation interesting. You’ll be able to build trust much faster. Another important thing is that everyone hates to stand in front of a talker; so don’t be one.

Consider Returning To Work As A Manager

In Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs the top most thing that a person will aspire for in his life is self-actualization. This is what everyone strives for and for most people who are already in their 50's, it is expected that they are near this point already. At age 50 most persons have already reached most of the typical milestones in their lives. They have sent all their children to schools, their children now have their own lives and it is now time for them to sit back and relax.

For some persons however, this is not the case. Over the recent years many baby boomers have been forced to go back to the workforce simply because they need to finance themselves, to support their day-to-day needs and to keep up with the cost of their lifestyles. Some 50-somethings also go back to work simply because they want to remain connected, stay engaged, and keep their minds sharp. Some simply want to go to work just because they are bored and would want to do something productive with their time. If you are currently in your 50's and for any of the reasons mentioned above, you would want to return to the work force to have gainful employment you will need to think hard and deep if you really have what it takes to go back out there.

Use Your Network

By now you probably have built a huge network of friends, former colleagues, children of friends and peers who you have met and worked with during the time that you were still employed. Do not hesitate to ask help from them because they can definitely put in a recommendation for you. Reach out and let them know that you are currently looking for new opportunities. 

Do Your Research

With the internet just within easy reach use the dearth of information right at your fingertips to look for job opportunities. Just recently the AARP Best Employers for Workers Over 50 published their list of awardees. Head on to their website to check out the winners and try to see if your skills and qualifications match any of the job openings in those industries. The list varies from different industry sectors such as financial services, construction, the healthcare industry, educational institutions, and government offices. In the construction industry you can even go back to work as an engineering manager. This is highly possible especially if you already have many years of experience to back you up. 

Learn New Skills and be Flexible

It is an extremely competitive world out there. Remember that you are going to be competing with fresh graduates and young professionals so you have to start by learning new skills. There are a lot of online courses that you could take and you can enroll in vocational courses too. Stay flexible and learn how to adapt to changes because that will be the only way for you to earn good money even if you return to work at the age of 50 and above. 

Seize Opportunities

Considering your age, you actually have more experience and more knowledge compared to your younger counterparts. Do not hesitate to go for higher positions. You can even consider going back to work as a manager in your previous company or in the industry that you worked for. Remember that by this time you have already established a name for yourself so your previous employers will see you as somebody who is way more experienced than the younger employees who are also vying for a position in the management team.

Being in a managerial position has a lot of advantages. Now that you are 50 your company will be paying you a higher premium because of your past working experiences. You can earn good money, which will help finance you throughout your retirement years. There will be a lot that is expected of you which is why you have to be up for the challenge.

Going back to work at this age can be very beneficial for you in order to keep your mind sharp and your body actively engaged. While most of your peers are slowing down you are once again the workhorse that you once was. You just might surprise yourself knowing that you still have what it takes to become a great manager and to be a mentor to your younger colleagues. Now that's called self-actualization.

Author Bio
Joshua Turner is a writer who creates informative articles in relation to business. In this article, he explains the process of returning to work as a manager and aims to encourage further study with a OU Engineering Management Masters. 

Protecting Against Identity Theft

Here are some figures to ponder over -- In the US alone, 2012 saw over 12.6 million people fall victim to identity theft. This translates to roughly a victim every three seconds. From the finance point, almost $21 billion was lost as a result of such theft. Close to 1 in every 4 customers had their identities hacked into because they responded to a fraudulent data breach letter.

With every passing day, cyber criminals are getting smarter in the way they go about their work, and they are able to scale most safety protocols put in place. Individuals 50 and older may be use to simpler times, but with a large number of senior citizens now turning to the Net for their banking and finance requirements, it is important for them to understand how to protect themselves.

Here are a few simple ways for individuals older than 50, and anyone else, to avoid being scammed and hacked and to keep their identity details safe from cyber criminals.

The core of your identity is your social security number, and it is the simplest piece of information with which a cybercriminal can create a whole new identity for themselves. Never carry your number on your person or in your wallet. Ideally, have it memorized and use it only when absolutely required in public places.

Pins are an essential part of every banking instrument. You have one for your credit card, debit card, any banking related privilege cards and more. Many people who are prone to forgetting their PINs tend to write them down on a piece of paper and keep it in their wallet or save it on their mobile phone. Losing both of these can mean that your PINs are out for all to see. When keying in your PINs, always place a palm over the keypad.

One way identity theft occurs is when people actually take the trouble of going through your garbage or stealing your mail. Having a secure place for disposal and ensuring that any document with your account number or other private details is thoroughly shredded before being thrown away is important.

Make it a habit to scrutinize all bills and statements, especially those related to online transactions, to make sure private information is not left for prying eyes.

By default, no authorized bank or official representative will ask for your password or secret personal details. Any phishing mails received soliciting the same should be reported as spam.

Keep personal details safe by storing them in secure places. Never leave important documentation around and always make sure to completely shred and dispose of anything with such information that you no longer need.

Hacking sites is a common affair these days. Hackers are able to recreate, quite closely, bank sites and have found means of directing traffic there. Always make sure that you have a secure Internet connection before you log on to websites. Securing your Wi-Fi network will ensure no one can access it and see your history. All URLs or website addresses should be accurate; this means that they will have to start with http:///www.bankname.com

Many times, people receive strange looking mails from folks who may be familiar to them asking for monetary help from distant countries. These are phishing mails, and they mean that your friends' IDs have been hacked and used for such dubious messaging.

It is important to invest in a quality malware and anti-virus system for your computer. These are constantly updated to deal with newer threats in the cyber world and are a must on every system.

Choose passwords that will sound convoluted to others but make perfect sense to you. At the end of the financial year, have your credit rating evaluated and check for any finance loopholes. These are some of the ways in which consumers of all ages can protect themselves from identity theft.

Author BioJoshua Turner is a writer who creates informative articles in relation to business. In this article, he offers advice against identity theft and aims to encourage further study through a Norwich Online Masters in Information Assurance.