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The Best Debt Management Tips of 2017

Being deeply in debt can skew your entire financial life. If your problem with debt becomes serious enough, it will affect your credit score. In turn, this can mean higher interest rates, higher insurance premiums, and even problems renting a house or apartment. What debt amounts to is borrowing from your future self, and your future self could end up being very disgusted with you due to all that debt you now have to pay off.

Ignoring your debts won’t make them go away any more than ignoring a bad tooth will make it go away. You need to take steps now to do a better job of managing your debts, and here are eight tips that could help.

1. Pay down your debts soonerAdult Woman

The easiest way to get out of debt is to pay down your debts quicker. Are you making just the minimum payments on your credit card debts or other revolving debts? Try doubling down on as many of them as you can, or at least paying significantly more than the minimum. In addition, if you pay half your monthly bill every two weeks, you’ll be making one extra payment over a year, which will help you pay off that debt sooner.

2. Set up automatic payments

You should be able to set up automatic bill pay through your bank. If not, you will need to go to your individual lenders, and arrange automatic payments through them. Automatic bill paying accomplishes two things. First, it eliminates the possibility of missing a payment. And second, it relieves you of the burden of having to remember when your payments are due.

3. Make a budget

Trying to manage your finances without a budget is like trying to assemble an IKEA desk without the instructions. You may get the job done but only by luck. If you truly want to do a better job of managing your finances, you need to create a budget or at least a spending plan. One of the simplest ways to budget is to divide your net income into three categories. The first should be your essential expenses (think utilities, rent, or mortgage payment, etc.). This should be 40% of your net income. The next 30% should be your savings. The final 30% is for your discretionary spending or the fun things in life.

4. Pay off the debt with the lowest balance

This is called the snowball method. The financial guru Dave Ramsey introduced it.. The psychology behind this is that you should be able to pay off the debt with the lowest balance very quickly. This will give you momentum (as well as more money) to pay off the debt with the second lowest balance, and so on. It’s like how a snowball rolling downhill gathers momentum.

5. Understand your limits

Maxing out your credit limits can do serious damage to your credit score. Keep the balances on your credit cards as low as possible. If you can keep their total below 30% of the total amount of credit you have available, your credit score will improve. And, of course, always make your payments on time.

6. Check your credit reports

You can get your credit reports free once a year from the credit reporting bureaus – TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax. Or you could get all three simultaneously on the site www.annualcreditreport.com. The reason to keep an eye on your credit reports is to spot errors that could be dragging down your credit score. Many people choose to get a free credit report every four months. This is a way to kind of monitor credit year-round, without having to pay a credit monitoring service.

7. Create an emergency fund

You can never know when you’ll run into a financial emergency, but you can bet you’ll have one. You could lose your job, your automobile could require an expensive repair, or you could suffer a serious illness. The only way to buffer yourself against one of these emergencies is to have an emergency fund. While many experts feel your fund should be the equivalent of six months’ of your living expenses, most people find this undoable. If you fall into this category, try for at least three months’ worth.

8. Stop using your credit cards

Unless you’re paying off your balances at the end of every month, using your credit cards means piling on more debt. So, stop using them. Try to pay cash for all your purchases. If you don’t have enough cash to pay for something, don’t buy it. We understand that takes a serious amount of self-control, but it’s the only way to keep from adding on debt. When you stop using your credit cards be sure continue making your monthly payments, This will improve your credit utilization rate, and will help your credit score.

In summary

Here were eight tips that could help you better manage your debts. If you don’t feel you can implement all of them this month, at least pick a couple and try to use them. Doing something is better than doing nothing – especially when it comes to your debts.

7. Simple Tips For Cutting Your Healthcare Costs

happy-young-man-with-fixed-car-300x199Even though the bill that would have replaced the Affordable Healthcare Act failed to pass Congress, there’s still a great deal of uncertainty about what the future holds. The Republicans may introduce a new version of their bill, or they may not. Health care insurers are threatening to pull out of the insurance exchanges in some areas. There may not be much you can do about all this, but you can make some simple changes in your lifestyle that will save you lots of money. We’re sure you’ve heard the old faithful’s if stop smoking, eat less, and exercise more. But beyond these, there are some lesser-known things that you could do that will reduce your spending on healthcare. Here are seven of them.

1. Get a pet

Yes, seriously get a pet. It’s best to get a dog because a dog will require daily walking. And walking daily can help you lower your blood pressure, fight stress, and get you out exercising regularly. In addition, when you’re out walking regularly, you can make new friends and extend your social circle. The experts say that walking just 30 minutes a day could help you lose as much as 00 pounds a month – if that’s important to you.

2. Become a volunteer

Believe it or not, it’s been pretty well proven that altruism reduces the risk of dying early. In fact, according to one study, volunteering seems to “buffer” the effects that can be caused by a stressful situation.

3. Move to a cheaper market

This one’s a bit radical but there may be cheaper healthcare markets besides where you live. A study done in 2014, and reported by Kaiser Health News, found that Colorado ski resort towns, the Connecticut suburbs of New york Cty, and the rural regions of Mississippis, Georgia, and Nevada, topped the list for being the most expensive for healthcare. Parts of Minnesota and northwestern Pennsylvania are among the least expensive. This is apparently because they have a relatively low cost of living to begin with, plus plenty of competition among hospitals and doctors. Other areas good for low-cost health insurance include  Tucson and Hawaii.

Colorado ski resort towns, the Connecticut suburbs of New York City or a bunch of otherwise low-cost rural regions of Georgia, Mississippi and Nevada, you have the misfortune of living in the most expensive insurance marketplaces under the new health law.

4. Turn off that TV

There have been a number of studies showing that for both adults and children, the more TV they watch, the higher their obesity rates. In addition, to a higher risk of type 2 diabetes for adults that watch a lot of television. This could be hard to believe but it’s also been found that cutting back on TV has actually helped people lose weight.

5. Add folic acid to your grocery list

According to the Disease Control Priorities Network at the University of Washington, there’s considerable evidence that if you take multivitamins with folic acid, you’ll reduce the risk of developing many different cancers.

6. Forget that annual checkup

Here’s something else that will seem counter intuitive. There isn’t much evidence that going to your doctor every year for a checkup leads to a longer life or better health outcomes. For that matter, there are a number of professional organizations that don’t recommend this practice any more. A yearly exam can lead to tests that come back with false positives, which can mean unnecessary follow-up tests and even procedures. Plus, these checkups can be expensive. If you don’t have a chronic condition or are sick, then going to see your doctor for an exam every two or three years should be sufficient.

7. Get a second opinion

Unfortunately, a considerable amount of research exists that showing that doctors often recommend and perform procedures that cost a lot, are invasive and painful, and don’t accomplish much. As an example of this, the New York Times reported recently that surgery for many conditions having to do with back pain yield modest benefits. As another example, ProPublica did an investigation that found that “stints for stable patients prevent zero heart attacks and extend the lives of patients a grand total of not at all.”

You might also get a second opinion if your doctor says you need to go on a medication indefinitely. The fact is that a diet or lifestyle change a could be a better answer. Do you take a cholesterol-lowering drug called a statin? A considerable amount of debate has been held in the medical community as to whether this actually does anything to improve health. However, there is absolutely no debate over the benefits of using diet and exercise to lower your cholesterol naturally.

In conclusion

If you’re concerned about the cost of your healthcare, relax. As you have read, there are six simple things you could do that would help you Improve your health, which will mean lower healthcare costs. And best of all, they either cost very little or nothing.

Four Signs You Have a Serious Problem with Debt

serious worried manHave you thought much about your debt lately? The thing about debt is that it can creep up on you. You charge a couple of lunches here, a new coat there, and then an overnight stay at a nice hotel. You haven’t paid any attention to what these charges are doing to your total debt. Why not continue to ignore it?. After all, what you don’t know can’t hurt you, right?

Wrong.

Trying to ignore your debt is like trying to ignore your shirttail relations. Neither is going to go away and in the case of debt, things are only going to get worse.

Are you in serious trouble with debt?, Here are the signs to look for.

Your debts are growing

If your debts are not shrinking, the odds are they’re growing. As painful as it might be, you need to add them up, and then compare this total with where you were A month ago and two months ago. If you find your debts are increasing, there’s one simple reason. Your spending more than you earn. Fortunately, there’s an easy fix for this. You need to either find ways to increase your income, or you need to reduce your spending.

You’re getting hit with late payment fees

Late payment fees mean you’re not paying your bills on time. This is a sure sign that you’re having a problem with debt, plus it’s costing you money. Let’s say you’re being charged a late fee of $25 on your credit card payments. While that may not seem like much, it can add up over time. Get more than 180 days behind on a payment and you’ll be in default. The odds are that your lender will then sell your debt to a collection agency, which is something you definitely don’t want to have happen.

You have a “bad” credit score

Have you checked your credit score recently? If not, you absolutely need to. You can get your score free on-site such as CreditKarma.com or CreditSesame.com. You could also get it from one of the three credit reporting bureaus – Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. If you find your score is below 600, you have at best a “poor” credit score. This is costing you money in the form of higher interest rates and higher insurance premiums. It’s also a big sign you’re having a problem with debt.

You live from paycheck to paycheck

When you’re two or three days away from a paycheck, do you wonder if you have enough money left in your bank account for a drive-through latte? Do you have to postpone having lunch with a friend because you’re close to flat broke? This means you’re living from paycheck to paycheck, and that’s never a good thing. It’s not only a sign you’re having a serious problem with debt, but it’s also just no way to live.

What happens if you pay off your debt?

Paying off your debt can be an amazing stress reliever. For that matter, the stress related to dealing with your debts can actually cause you to experience physical problems.

When you pay off your debt, you’ll no longer be required to pay interest fees and late charges. A second important benefit is that this frees up your future income. Whether you’ve thought of it this way are not, when you create debt you’re borrowing money from your future self. Stop running up debt, and you’ll have more money in the future and probably a better life.

Once you get your debt paid off, you should be able to use the money you now have to create an emergency fund. Most experts say your fund should be the equivalent of six months’ living expenses. However, that’s just not doable for most people. Try for three months of your net income instead. If even this seems out of reach, try to save at least $1000. Do this and you’ll have money available to help in the event you become ill, lose your job, or the transmission in your car falls out.

Finally, when you pay off your debt, you’ll have money to invest or to save for retirement. If your company’ offers 401(k), be sure to participate. If not, open either a traditional or Roth IRA and start socking money into it. If you have money left over after this, invest it in something safe like a low-cost index fund, and then never touch it.

In summary

If you find you are seriously in debt, you need to go to work and get rid of it. It’s not only the best thing you can do for your future self, it’s an easy way to get a raise without having to wait for your employer to give you one.

Free Debt Management Tips: Six Bills You Could Easily Get Cut

happy-young-man-with-fixed-car-300x199If you think your bills are fixed and can’t be cut, you have another think coming. According to the bill negotiating service, BillShark, we consumers could save as much as $50 billion a year just by haggling over certain bills. Cell phones are where you can currently get the best deals, as the cell phone companies are currently engaged in a price war. The founder of BuildFixers, Ben Kurland, has noted that if your cell plan is more than six months old, this might not be the most efficient plan for you.
If you think your bill fixed and can’t because you have another think coming according to the building associating service bills we consumers could save as much as 50 billion a year just by handling over certain bills cell phone bills are where the biggest savings can currently be found as a cell phone companies are engaged in a price war. Billfixers founder, Ben Kurland, has noted that if your cell phone plan is more than six months old, it may not be your most efficient plan.

Six other bills you could get cut in without working out much of a sweat are:

Pay television

Of course, when we say pay television, we basically mean cable TV. If you have more than one cable company in your area, you can probably get a better deal simply by changing providers. We have two cable TV companies where we live, and they are currently slugging it out to attract new customers. If you have only one cable TV provider where you live, consider cutting the cable entirely. You should be able to get all your local channels with an indoor HDTV antenna. Then, there’s Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime for catching up on old programs and for movies.

Alarm systems

If you have an alarm system in your home, it’s almost certain you can cut your bill. If you have a long-term contract, try haggling with your provider. If you can’t get a better deal, Vivant Home Alarm is currently offering free installation and says it charges less than two dollars a day. You could do even better with SimpliSafe. It uses a fast cellular connection, so you can monitor your home 24 hours a day no matter where you are. SimpliSafe also includes 24/7 professional monitoring and police dispatch, and costs just $14.99 a month – with no contract.

Storage units

If you have a lot of stuff in a storage unit, you may not want to consider moving it to a new unit just to save money. But if you haven’t yet rented a unit, there’s a website, SelfStorage.com, where you can find the best storage units close to you at the best prices. The site allows you to view and compare storage options nearest to you, and without the hassle of calling around for prices. When you find one, you can then book the unit free in just a few minutes – either online or on the phone.

Gym membership

Want to get in shape on the cheap? Joining a gym can get expensive. In fact, one source says belonging to a gym costs an average of $58 a month. You can beat this by using free passes. Some health clubs offer free one-day passes, while others have week-long passes, or even two week passes. If you work for a large employer, it probably offers some kind of workplace wellness program, which would be like a gym membership except for free. And some cities have discount gyms that cost as little as $10 a month.

Satellite radio

Since there’s only one satellite radio provider, SiriusXM, you can’t comparison shop. However, you can save money with SiriusXM. It doesn’t talk about this much but it actually offers three pricing tiers. The first is titled Mostly Music, and offers 80 channels of great music. It’s priced at just $10.95 a month. While this tier does not include online streaming, you could add it for just $4 a month. The next tier is called the Select Package, which costs $14.99 a month and includes more than 150 channels of sports, music, and comedy – though you cannot add Internet streaming to this plan. Finally, there is the top tier, All Access that provides all of the 160+ channels, as well as online streaming from your tablet, phone or computer.

The Internet

You may be able to get a better deal from your current Internet provider just by threatening to switch to a different company. It’s also possible to save money by reducing your usage. Think about how you use the Internet. If it’s just for general web surfing, email and social media, you only need a speed of 1 Mbps (megabyte per second). But if you’re an online gamer, you’ll need 1-3 Mbps, and if you’re into high-definition video streaming (think HDTV movies), you’ll need 5-8 Mbps.

In summary

Write a list of all your bills. Then, ask yourself how many you might be able to cut. We’re willing to bet you’ll find more than just the six mentioned here. The fact is, it only takes a little time and effort to get a lost of your bills reduced.

How to Put Your Wallet on a Diet By Eliminating Credit Card Overload

credit cardsDoes your wallet look as if it were 8 ½ months pregnant? Does it take you five minutes to sort through your credit cards before finding the one you want to use for a particular purchase? If so, you’re probably suffering from CCO or Credit Card Overload. Millions of Americans suffer from this affliction. In fact, according to CreditCards.com 18% of all Americans carry 3 or 4 credit cards, and 9% carry 5 or 6. If you count up the number of cards in your wallet and find you have 7 or more, you’re part of a group that numbers 8% of our population.

When you see numbers like this, it’s easy to understand why so many Americans are having a problem with credit card debt. Creditcards.com has also reported that Americans with credit cards are carrying $5121 in debt, and American households now have more than $16,000 in credit card debt.

How to put your wallet on a diet

If you’re one of the many Americans suffering from credit card overload, take heart. You could actually replace all of those cards with just one.

Where this starts is by doing an analysis of why you habitually carry a balance on those credit cards, and the kinds of rewards that are most important to you.

If travel is your thing

If you travel frequently then you should be able to slim down to the one credit card that offers the best travel rewards. As an example of these, the Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card is currently offering 40,000 bonus miles after you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months of approval. And its rewards rate is two miles per dollar.

The BankAmericard Travel Rewards® Credit Card gives 1.5 points per $1 spent on purchases, and 20,000 bonus miles once you meet certain purchase requirements. And the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card gives 50,000 bonus points and 2X points on travel and dining.

Of course, if you get one of these cards, you’ll need to shred all your others or all you’ll have done is added to your wallet bloat.

Credit cards if you carry a balance

If you have credit card debt, there’s one simple reason. You’re carrying your balances forward from month-to-month. Credit card debt can be very expensive. Your one credit card should be whichever one has the lowest interest rate. Check your statements. If you’re carrying balances on cards with interest rates of 17%, 18%, or even 19% then you’re spending a lot of money that’s just unnecessary. If you don’t have a low interest credit card, find one with an interest rate like the BankAmericard® Credit Card, where the interest rate can be as low as 11.49%, and transfer all your balances to it. Or, even better, if you can qualify for one of those cards that offers a 0% interest introductory rate for as many as 18 months, transfer your balances to it.

If you spend in just a few areas

Do you spend the most money in just several budget categories such as groceries, restaurants, or gasoline? Then, you’ll want to get rid of all those credit cards and replace them with one card that offers the best rewards on those things. As an example of these, the Chase Freedom Visa offers 5% cash back on bonus categories that rotate every three months. These categories typically include restaurants, gas, groceries, and wholesale clubs. The BankAmericard Cash Rewards™ Credit Card offers 3% back on gas, and 2% back at grocery stores and wholesale clubs. And American Express’s Preferred(r) Card Will give you an amazing 6% cash back at US supermarkets (up to $6000 per year in purchases)

If you hate fees

The biggest negative of those credit cards that offer whopping rewards is their fees. The harsh fact is that the premium travel cards generally have the highest fees but the most generous rewards. One of these can be worth it if the rewards you accumulate are big enough to outweigh the fee. If not, then your best bet is probably a cash back card that has no fee.

Before you close those cards

Closing all those credit cards but the one you’ve chosen is good but it can also be bad. Fifteen percent of your credit score is the length of your credit history or how long you’ve had credit. So, instead of closing those cards that have now become unnecessary, consider shredding them.

In summary

If you put your mind to it, and do the kind of analysis you’ve just read in this article, you should be able to eliminate credit card overload, slim down your wallet, and simplify your financial life.