5 Ways to Save Money on Home Repairs

If you own a home, you know that repairs are going to be required periodically. While it is a good idea to build savings for these costs, sometimes we get caught by surprise. Whether prepared or not, everyone wants to save money on home repairs, and here are a few tips for doing that.

Do It Yourself

If you have the skill and experience, you may be able to handle basic home repairs on your own. With the help of a few youtube videos, you can probably paint the living room or replace the aging toilet with a new one. Be sure you know how to do the job before getting started, or you could end up with a bigger job for someone else to do.

Shop for Discounted Materials

If you are able to handle the job and save the cost of hiring a professional, buy discounted products, equipment, and materials whenever possible. Compare prices online and check with local building supply or home repair product stores. You can often find discounts and rebates that will keep your overall repair costs low.

Call an Expert

Several kinds of home repairs require professional assistance. Roofing, electric, plumbing, and heating problems should be handled by licensed contractors because they have the training and certifications to do the job right. 

If problems develop, you can have the company come back out to address them. The work is usually done promptly and correctly and is worth the cost you will have to pay. 



For example, a roof repair involves climbing up on the roof, maintaining balance, knowing how to fix the problem, and ensuring there are no leaks or weaknesses in the underlying structure. An expert can handle the job efficiently and safely, which can save time and money. Ask about special rates or sale prices that may apply.

Trade Services

If you know someone who is able to do the needed repair, especially if he or she is licensed and certified, you may be able to exchange services instead of monetary payment. For example, an electrician friend may be able to install a ground wire in your home in exchange for your landscaping skill in laying mulch in his yard.

Ask for Recommendations

Friends and coworkers may be able to suggest someone who can do the job more cheaply because of the referral. Ask around to see if someone knows an expert who will charge less than market value for the repair work.

Take a proactive approach to getting repairs done correctly and efficiently. The time and stress you save will be worth as much as the reduced cost.

Brooke Chaplan is a freelance writer and blogger. She lives and works out of her home in Los Lunas, New Mexico. She loves the outdoors and spends most of her time hiking, biking, and gardening. For more information, contact Brooke via Facebook at facebook.com/brooke.chaplan or Twitter @BrookeChaplan

4 Things Millionaires Never Do

Millionaires don't look at the world in the same way as other people. In fact, the reason that many self-made millionaires reach that point isn't just because of what they do - it's because of the things that they don't do. Below are four of those very important things that millionaires never do.

Spend Without a Plan

People who become - and stay - millionaires don't go on spending sprees. This isn't to say that they can't splurge from time to time or that they can't be generous, but they don't spend their money without knowing how it will be spent. Part of becoming wealthy is learning the value of a dollar, so many millionaires are careful about their budgets.

Let Their Money Rest

Putting your money to work is one of the most important habits you'll need to get into if you're looking at how to get rich in the military. Millionaires rarely get rich from their day jobs, but their multiple income streams keep them wealthy. 



Investing money in the markets, buying properties, and taking calculated risks on new companies are just some of the ways that the wealthy ensure that they will keep money flowing into their accounts.

Flaunt Their Wealth

Another good way to tell the difference between someone who is a millionaire and someone who has experienced a temporary windfall is how they present themselves. 

Those who are going to hold onto their money rarely go in for gaudy displays of wealth. Their cars might have a bit nicer trim level than average, and their furniture might be high-quality, but these aren't people who use their money to show off.

Stop Looking at the Future

Finally, millionaires always have an eye on the future. Few assume that they will always be wealthy, and thus they are always planning for a rainy day. Those who have more money than they can reasonably lose are still looking to the future of their families. 

It's not enough to make a million dollars - once you get there, you have to figure out how you are going to stay there.

If you want to be a millionaire, you have to learn to do the things that millionaires do. Take a look at what they avoid as well, as this will help you figure out how to stay financially sound. If you can follow in their footsteps, you might find yourself better positioned to join their ranks.

4 Ways to Diversify Your Investments for Maximum Profit

Diversifying your portfolio is a great way to protect yourself should there ever be a market crash. While it sounds complicated, it’s easy. Many people hoard their money in banking accounts because they are afraid of investing and losing one dime of their hard-earned money.

Once you truly grasp the concept of diversification, you will understand it’s one of the best risk management techniques around. Additionally, scattering your wealth among many investments protects you if one stock is booming, and the other is tanking. Here are four steps you must learn for proper investing.

Use Different Types of Investments

Have you ever heard the saying don’t put all your eggs in one basket? Well, the same concept applies to investments. By using EFTs, mutual funds, and various stocks, you are diversifying the easy way. 

You don’t want to put everything you have in the stock market. Should it crash tomorrow, you will lose everything. Rather, you want to have a variety of investments so that your chances of failure reduced. Your stock accounts may be doing poorly, but your mutual funds may be through the roof.

Diversify with Different Rate of Returns

Just as important as diversifying your investments is picking those that have a different rate of return. It’s challenging when it comes to the stock market since you want to invest enough to make it a worthwhile adventure. 



For instance, if you’re going to invest, then you don’t want to limit yourself to a mere $200 on the stock. Rather, you want to put down a significant amount so that you don’t have to pay a great deal in fees. If your portfolio is loaded with only stocks, then it puts you at risk.

Consider Investments with Varying Risk

When expanding your portfolio, choose investments that have a rate of return that are each different. It will guarantee significant gains for some investments, which will offset losses in others. 

Keep in mind, though the intention is to reduce the risk, you aren’t limited to only blue-chip stocks. Consider things like precious metals, from a firm such as McAlvany ICA, as they can bring a great return.

Review Your Portfolio Frequently

It seems like you would only need to diversify your portfolio one time. However, that is a fallacy among investors. You must continually check your portfolio and make changes where they are needed. 

During your review, if you see something that isn’t consistent with your financial goals or the strategy you have planned, then you must make changes. You should conduct a review semi-annually. Additionally, buying and selling stocks regularly will keep your portfolio balanced, and you will be optimally diversified.

Once you get the hang of things, it’s not difficult to learn the strategies to investing. Diversification is the protection you need to prevent a financial disaster.

Improving Business Credit When Your Credit Isn’t Good

Business credit often ties directly into the owner’s personal credit history, but portions of it also apply specifically to the company itself. For an owner who’s attempting to build up business credit, but has a poor personal financial history, there are some steps worth taking.

Establish a Business Entity

The first step is to establish a business entity by incorporating the company. Then, get an EIN from the Federal Government to take on a new corporate identity. It’s that number you’ll use to establish company credit.

You’ll need to file all the appropriate documentation to file taxes and handle the rest of the regulations in your area. The business has responsibilities but also comes with benefits.

Get a Business Bank Account

Opening a business bank account will help you to establish credit and right standing with the banking industry. You’ll be more easily able to get loans in the business name with one.


A business bank account makes it easy to handle most of the routine financial requirements surrounding the enterprise. Set one up that’s convenient and affordable, and that will help your business meet its objectives.

Master Your Understanding of Credit

If you’re hoping to use business credit to your benefit successfully, you’ll need to know as much about the subject as possible. Otherwise, you may end up choosing poor account options that don’t pay off.

The terms vary significantly for different businesses and depend on your credit as the owner. It’s probably an excellent idea to start rebuilding your credit at the same time you begin to increase on the business end.

Start at the beginning and get the credit risk analysis you need instead of attempting to strategize yourself. Business credit is more sophisticated than it was the past, and it can be a challenging topic for anyone to master.

Obtain Business Credit Cards

Business credit cards will help you establish more credit quickly. They work much like personal ones do, and will require prompt repayment. These are the best way overall to build your credit history because you’ll make timely payments each month that report to the bureaus. As the on-time payments increase, companies become more comfortable lending.

The credit increases only by using it and growing the balance without missing payments. That’s why you need to make sure that the expenses help the business grow, so there’s plenty of money to pay back the loans on time. If you do, you can improve your business to nearly unlimited amounts.

Profitable Tips to Become Successful in Forex Trading

For forex professionals, you will need to keep up to date with forex reports and international advancements which have an impact on forex beliefs. For knowledgeable observers, forex currency trading is an extremely popular means of getting easy money.

A person has to keep going if the market makes an individual look a fool in addition to that's hard. Your advantage is if you research the key areas all of us outlined earlier is of which you will have assurance in what you are usually doing, and confidence qualified prospects to discipline.

When combined with the particular advances the forex trading courses have made, a novice investor has the capability to literally depend on the rate and competing using the expert forex traders employed simply by the international financial establishments in a very short while. 

No longer are years of experience required for a forex trader to make huge sums associated with money in the money markets with all the advances these kinds of products have recently manufactured.

It is true in the forex trading that there are some risks involved that you need to minimize fo which you have to know some tips. In this post, I’ll give you useful tips that have helped me become a profitable trader.

Tip #1: Less Is usually More

Inexperienced traders or beginners often make the common mistake of thinking that the greater complicated a trading product is, the better it is. Around this "logic" seems sensible, it’s actually not true in the wonderful world of Forex trading.

For example, the more technical indicators you use, the more you’ll miss away on profitable trades. There are several good trading systems according to trending markets, and they typically use an average of 4 to 5 different technical indicators.

Possessing a system that’s too complex distracts you from clear market trends and chart pattern formations. Typically the human brain isn’t born to handle way too many resources of information at one time, so it is ideal to have a complicated trading system that will often take your eyes off the big picture.

Tip #2: Trading Is Not necessarily An Exact Science

Numerous traders expect market changes always to follow a certain pattern: a routine that mimics the individual weaknesses of greed, worry, pride, and impatience.

Despite the fact that the market does reflect these thoughts in price actions, the EXTENT of such motions is rarely similar. Some bad monetary news may lead to a large, sustained tumble in price, while a similar piece of unfortunate thing may only lead to a tiny, and non-permanent sell-off.

You see, the forex market is subjected to its traders’ expectations, and these anticipation change and evolve through time. While the thoughts associated with trading are always reflected in the market price, WHERE they show themselves will vary. The same people who are the forex traders feel greedy when prices rise today, might not exactly be feeling greedy again the next day when prices rise even further!

Missed Black Friday? 4 Best Sales Times to Buy a New Car

Shopping for a car? While many wait until Black Friday to go hunting for the best deals at the dealership, this isn’t the only option. If you plan to buy a new car in the future, keep the following information in mind.

Take Advantage of Holiday Sales

Shoppers that miss Black Friday aren't quite out of luck when it comes to getting the best deals on their vehicles. Many dealerships offer competitive pricing during other holidays throughout the year. After Black Friday, the next holiday to prepare for is New Year’s Eve. This holiday is often overlooked and is one of the best times of the year to buy a car.

On New Year’s Eve, many car salespeople have to meet their monthly, quarterly, and yearly quotas. Oftentimes, they’ll jump at a deal for anyone that is in the market to buy a car.

Wait Until the New Models Arrive

When shopping for a car, try waiting until the new models arrive at the dealership. When dealerships receive their newer models, they’ll be forced to sell off the older stock as soon as possible. By holding out, the buyer will be able to find new or used models at the best discounts.



If you’re waiting for new models to arrive, be sure to do your research. Most manufacturers release these models during the summer, so be prepared to start shopping then. As many shoppers use this buying strategy, waiting until after summer may be too late.

Buy Later in the Year

Just as New Year’s Eve is one of the best times to purchase a newer car, waiting until the last few months of the year is a feasible strategy as well. October, November, and December are all excellent times to buy a new car. If you can’t wait until the very last day of the year to buy new ford cars for sale, you’re still likely to find a salesperson willing to cut a better deal later during these months.

Visit the Dealership in May

Many buyers choose to begin shopping for cars once the weather begins to clear up, making May a popular time to go car shopping. Buyers that can wait until the end of May can cash in on Memorial Day car deals. Moreover, many manufacturers provide lease incentives and special finance deals at this time, making late May ideal for car shopping.

Don’t overspend when buying a car. By strategically waiting until the right time of year to purchase your new car, you’ll be able to get the best deals on your new vehicle.