Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Want to plan your financial future - Know your personality

Another year is coming to an end and we all are geared up to welcome the New Year with grand celebrations and loads of plan for the future. While going through I came across an interesting article on planning financial future while considering your personality and thought of sharing it with you.



All of us want to make a financial plan which would be appropriate and helpful for us in future. For that you need to recognize your personal way of living, spending habits, and your mind set. Based on such related factors, the founder and CEO of the Money Coaching Institute, Deborah L. Price have categorized different profiles that may help you to have a clear perception to take financial decisions. Here are the different profiles:

Innocent - One who rely on others' opinion and advice and seems to be overwhelmed by finance related information. Such a person easily trusts people and often end up in making bad decisions.

Victim - This is a person whose attitude is to blame his/her woes on outside factors and generally tends to live in the past. This type of person have the notion that he does not have control over his situations.

Warrior - As you can get a hint from the name itself, a Warrior is a person who is often to be successful in financial works. He will be be a good listener but will take his own decisions.

Martyr - A person whose nature is to help others with money, which sometimes proves costly in the long run.

Fool - One who does not have the ability to make his own decisions and may act ruthlessly. It can be described as a mixture of Innocent and Warrior.

Artist/Creator - This profile is well described with an appropriate phrase "love/hate relationship with money". They do not care for their money.

Tyrant - The Tyrants save and store money and often use them to manipulate others. However they are never comfortable and always think that they are going to lose control of their money.

Magician - A perfect type you can say. He is absolutely clear about his situation and his responsibilities.

Amazing, isn't it? I had never thought that you can plan your finances based on your personality. I hope this characteristics will help you have a clear vision about your financial decisions and begin the New Year with a fresh financial plan.


Wishing all of you a very happy and financial stress free New Year!!!



Friday, December 18, 2009

Pay your bills on time and keep your house

These days, no matter who you talk to, it seems like finances are a huge source of stress. People are worried about losing their homes like never before in recent memory, and keeping up with bills is more of a challenge for more people than it has been in a very long time.

Bills can be such a troubling topic, in fact, that many of us are tempted to ignore them all together. This is a huge mistake. Letting your bills go unpaid could cause your credit score to fall and your interest rates to rise—it could even put your home in jeopardy. The best way to eliminate debt-related stress is not to ignore it, but to face it head-on.



There are lots of things you can do to help yourself breathe a little easier when it comes to your finances. The first, and perhaps simplest, is to pay your bills immediately upon receipt or on the following payday. With so many banks and companies today offering online and phone-based pill paying, the process is made that much easier. Paying things off as soon as possible keeps the bills from piling up, the mere sight of which can trigger incredible anxiety.

Another way to keep your bills under control is to create a list of all your monthly bills and how much they cost. This allows you to budget, which is an invaluable tool in eliminating debt. Once you know how much you need to spend on bills every month, you can develop a plan of action for payment. If your bills are more than you can afford, you may want to consider taking out a loan. Cash loans can help you consolidate your debt or provide you with an even starting point from which you can keep up with your payments in the future.

Facing your finances is the most important thing you can do to keep them in check. Once you know what you’re up against, tackling your bills becomes surprisingly worry-free.



Thursday, December 10, 2009

Mortgage arrears: how could debt management help?

At a time like now, more and more people will be experiencing difficulties when trying to keep on top of their bills/financial commitments.

Some people may find that they can't afford their mortgage payments for a number of reasons, and they have ended up in arrears. For example:

  • Their income has dropped.
  • The cost of living has risen too much.
  • The payments they are making to their unsecured / non-priority debts are taking up too much of their monthly income.

Debt management and non-priority debts

The way a professional debt management plan works is simple: the individual asks a debt management professional to talk to their unsecured lenders on their behalf, asking them to agree to reduced monthly payments, and also asking them to lower/freeze interest and/or waive charges where possible.

Lenders understand that anyone's circumstances can change, and individuals may no longer be able to repay their debt as they had agreed - in this case, they may accept the new changes.

However, it can, in some cases, be difficult getting mortgage providers (and other secured creditors) to agree to accept lower payments.

Debt management and priority debts

There are two possible ways debt management could help an individual afford their mortgage payments:

  • Debt management can 'free up' the money someone needs for their priority debts (such as mortgage payments). Non-priority lenders understand that the individual needs somewhere to live and money to live on, and if a person can't afford the full amount laid down in their repayment agreements, then their non-priority lenders may well accept a pro rata payment - a portion of the individual's disposable income (total income minus essential expenditure, such as secured debt repayments), based on how much they owe that particular lender.
  • The debt management company may be able to contact the individual's mortgage provider and arrange an affordable way of paying off the arrears.

If you're wondering whether debt management could help you, you should contact a professional debt adviser.