Every year as Christmas rolls around, people find themselves struggling with the extra expense that the festive season brings. This often leads to a situation where they find themselves starting the New Year with debts that they could have done without. It can be a vicious cycle but there are some fantastic things that you […]
You have looked at your income, worked out all your outgoings and carefully compiled a budget that gives you a very clear idea of exactly how much disposable income you have left each month. There is just one problem – you are just halfway through the month and already your careful budget planning seems to […]
If your mortgage is coming to the end of its rate, then before you start looking around there are a couple of things that you should consider doing so that you are fully prepared. Re-mortgaging can require a little work on your part. However, done properly, it can help you to unlock some extra disposable […]
Being in a position where you are unable to pay your creditors what you owe them can be incredibly stressful and difficult. Here we look at the things that you should be doing and discussing with your creditors if you find yourself in this tricky situation. Be honest Your creditors need to know what is […]
In the UK people have never been as vulnerable to scammers as they are today and none more so than the elderly. Watch out for these common scams. In short, scams are schemes designed to con people out of their money or in some cases to facilitate identity theft. They are usually carried out by […]
We all understand the importance of having a pension and making sure putting money aside for retirement is something that we do as soon as we can. The sad truth however, is that many thousands of people have had their pension put at risk because of advisors who persuaded them to move their money from […]
Financially, there may never truly be a “right time” to start planning a family, but you should not let that put you off. In the run up to maternity leave, and during it, there are plenty of things that you can do so that once your income drops you are able to take the time off […]
If you’ve gone a little overboard with your credit card spending you’ll be all too aware that while it’s easy to spend, it’s not so easy to pay off. But don’t worry because there are some surprisingly simple ways for you to manage your credit card debt and get your finances back on track. Increase […]
It is never too early for a child to learn about money and even though they may be taught some things about managing money at school the best place to learn is at home. The way a parent, sibling or carer handles money influences children and how they grow up to handle their own finances. […]
When it comes to deciding how likely you are to repay a loan on time, or even whether they should grant you a loan, lenders look at your credit score. This a three-digit number that can help them assess the risks of lending to you. The higher your score, the more likely they are to […]
It is always a good idea to consider building up some savings in case of any emergencies. Unfortunately, all too often the hardest part about saving can be knowing where to start. If you want to understand where your money goes so that you can take that first step towards starting a savings account, then […]
If you have started your first full time job, then you should really start to think about paying into a pension. It is never too soon to start putting even a little bit of money away towards your retirement; and whilst that really might seem like such a long way off when you are still […]
With house prices continually on the rise, saving a deposit can represent a serious challenge to most first-time buyers. Rental properties don’t come cheap either, so the combination of high monthly rents and the high cost of living make it very difficult to put aside enough money for a deposit. Don’t despair if you think […]
Your credit score is one of the most vital pieces of information that companies can hold about you. It is used to determine all manner of things – from whether you can get a mobile phone contract to buying a house. Which means that having the best score that you possibly can is important. Thankfully […]
The importance of automobiles cannot be over emphasized and it is basically impossible to imagine a world without one. They help make the world go round and a life without them is tantamount to “unpleasant”. Be you a lad, a college student, a university grad or a regular man; you will have probably fantasized about […]
Money at university is a very fragile thing. You need to keep an eye on every last penny and absolutely every penny counts. Keeping an eye on your student loan is a very good way to keep your costs down, so we’ve compiled a list of some of the best money saving tips for when […]
If you consider budgeting as a regular practice, you will see that your finances will improve. Having a budget will teach you self-control and discipline, and this will help you a lot in avoiding debt. Budgeting is, likewise, one of the effective ways to get out of debt. Once you’ve learned how to budget your […]
Update 15 November 2016 With the economy being in the condition that it is currently in, more and more individuals are beginning to have financial troubles and require the help of debt counseling services. When the economy declines, so do the peoples’ finances. Due to the conditions the amount of people that rely heavily on […]
We all experience times when we get into debt – or, at least, more debt than we are comfortable with. It could have been an emergency situation like needing to pay for repairs to our home or needing to buy a new car to get us to work. But often enough it can be put down to bad spending habits – it is so easy to be tempted into spending more than we can reasonably afford, especially when we have some spare capacity on a credit card. But then the reality of having to pay off that debt hits hard and what we have to show for it is probably very little in the greater scheme of things.
Budgeting effectively requires steely determination, avoiding the shops and avoiding online shopping, especially late at night when we can make irrational decisions. It means only buying what you really need not all those extras that are not essential.
Personal finance as a term wasn’t brought up or even talked about amongst friends while I attended college 2 years ago. In fact, I only remember it vaguely discussed by professors. Many people in college have the responsibility to create their own income, to remain in college. Study full time, work part time, social life-no time. That time spent earning their way, whether it was for school or to have money to go out with friends, it was a meaningless burden to me. People like this understood personal finance better than I did after 4 ½ years majoring in Accounting and Finance.
