Posts Tagged ‘personal finance’

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

White collars tell you how to save money

Wednesday, April 27th, 2011

Salary is always losing for CPI, and food safety problems are here and there. More and more while collars in big cities in order to save money and healthy, they tell you how can save money that is DAIFAN.

Some people may wonder what the girl in the same office suddenly stopped dinner with them; others maybe curious about what’s inside the box that people carry in the morning subway.

At the beginning of this month, a national survey by China Youth Daily showed that 70% of 2284 were aware of DAIFAN and 18% admitted to being one.

Rising prices and food safety problems could trigger public concern, it also prompted a lot of office worker in big cities gaze at the own dining safety, watch their own pocket.

Bring your own food

New graduate Yang yang just found a job for website in Beijing. She said that there are less and less reasonable fast-food around the office, especially below 10?,I begin to bring my own food when I started work and always keep that.

Laura, 27-year-old, is an editor of an international press work. Although get a better salary, she still choose to become a member of DAIFANZU so that she can enjoy her delicious food in the office.

Rising price just one reason, she cares more about the all kinds of food safety affairs. Businessmen in order to seek big profits with ignored the public health of people.

Now DAIFAN is not just for girls, 26-year-old business consultant of Eying makes lunch for himself.”It’s so important to eat healthy. Make my own food can protect my body going well,” he said.”I suggest that all the office workers should bring your own food if time permitted. If I have the time, I also will bring my food to the office and share my lunch with colleague, that’s’ funny,” he added.

The best way is to find the balance among a wide arrangement of foods such as meat, grain, vegetable and so on,” Zhou Jean, a nutrition professor with the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine said.”Over-use of oil and sodium should not suggested”

Canadian nutritionist Dolores Chung, director of the Hong Kong based Dynamic Health Centre, has some more detailed advice.Fruit and salads are the mosy healthy as they don’t need reheating and maintain nutrition.

Thermal containes are welcomed by white collars that can keep the food warm for several hours.

“Just reheat for less than one minute or so the vitamin C should still be kept,” she said. “Always use a plastic lid, not fully covered, to keep the water in the food. Heavy meat should be avoide, better eat some foods which are easy to digest.”

That’s the secert of white collars to save money. Will you be a member of tem? Join it…

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/personal-finance-articles/white-collars-tell-you-how-to-save-money-4683017.html

About the Author

A world cup soccer jerseys of a famous, key player sometimes gets auctioned on the greatest bidder. This type of merchandise more often than not fetches a great deal of money since there are lots of fans that collect soccer uniforms and they don’t care about the price tags. The bidders wouldn’t surrender easily for want of getting the dear token and this enhances the prices so high that the soccer goalie jerseys clubs get significant revenues from their store.

Tags:, , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in rssorange | No Comments »

Online Credit Cards and Financial Responsibility

Wednesday, April 27th, 2011

Getting a credit card in Australia is not something to be rushed as it can be a ticket to the “debt cycle.” Credit cards can be a great asset in the right hands but you need to take a long hard look at your own hands to see if they can handle a credit card responsibly without dragging you into heavy debt.

 

Nowadays there are plenty of resources to help us compare online credit cards and we can even make credit card applications online, but before we get to that stage let’s look at our own spending and repayment habits and make an assessment of our own personal financial management skills.

 

There are plenty of ways to save money by using a credit card wisely so let’s look at a few questions we can ask ourselves that will help us know if we are suited to a credit card: are we responsible enough to pay off the balance within the interest-free period? Will we pay off more than the minimum required to reduce the amount of interest, if possible? Are we responsible enough to avoid high interest charges by not getting a cash advance on our card? Will we only have one card or are we looking at multiple cards? Will we have a credit card limit that reflects what we can afford and not more?

 

If we answer yes to the above questions then the likelihood is we can manage our finances well enough to enjoy the benefits of a credit card without is costing us for years to come. We can browse through the best online credit cards on the Australian personal finance sites that aggregate all the offers and sort them by interest-free period, annual fee, purchase rate, cash advance rate and balance transfer rate. Pick out a couple of the key factors – you probably won’t get everything you want from your card, as the banks always make their money somehow – but concentrating on a long interest free period and a low annual fee might suit what you’re after, for example.

 

Once you have compared and decided you can normally go ahead and make your online credit card application from the same personal finance site. Make sure you have all personal information and financial status information available as you will need to provide this during your application. You will be redirected to a secure site where you will complete the online application and await contact from the issuing authority about its status.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/credit-articles/online-credit-cards-and-financial-responsibility-4683089.html

About the Author

For more information regarding credit card applications, online credit cards and credit card interest rate, please visit: www.lowerbills.com.au

Tags:, , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in rssorange | No Comments »

Dealing With Taxes on Your Settled Debts

Wednesday, April 27th, 2011

One of the biggest drawbacks of settling debts is dealing with the tax implications of having your debt cancelled. The IRS requires you to include cancelled debt as taxable income on your tax return and requires businesses to report cancelled debts over $600. If your creditor cancels at least $600 of debt, the IRS will know about it. They’ll be expecting you to claim this as income on your taxes. You could face an audit if you don’t include the cancelled debt on your tax return.

Increasing your taxable income by adding in cancelled debt can decrease your tax refund – that’s if you still get a tax refund after increasing the amount of taxes you’re liable for. The worst-case scenario is that you end up with a tax bill after you’ve settled your debt.

The IRS does allow an exception to reporting cancelled debt as income on your tax return. You’ll still have to report the income, but you’ll be allowed to exclude it from your taxable income. To qualify for the exclusion, you must have been insolvent at the time your debt was cancelled. Insolvent means the total amount of your debt was greater than the value of any assets you owed. If the amount of the debt cancelled was less than the amount by which you were insolvent, you won’t have to pay taxes on the cancelled debt.

Insolvency Examples

You are insolvent by $100,000 and your cancelled debt was $30,000. Since your cancelled debt is less than your insolvency amount, you don’t have to pay taxes on the cancelled debt.

You are insolvent by $20,000 and your cancelled debt was $30,000. You can only exclude debt up to the amount of insolvency. So in this case, you can exclude $20,000 of cancelled debt, but still are liable for taxes on the remaining $10,000.

You are not insolvent. In fact, your assets exceed your liabilities by $40,000. You would have to include the entire $30,000 as income on your tax return.

Taking the Insolvency Exemption

To claim the exemption, you’ll have to file IRS Form 982, Reduction of Tax Attributes Due to Discharge of Indebtedness.

You’ll also need to keep detailed records about your insolvency status each time you settle a debt. When you send the final payment for your settlement, you should also calculate your net worth – a number that shows whether or not you are insolvent.

To calculate your net worth, first add up all your debts including mortgage and credit card debt that’s still owed. Then add up the value of all your assets, include any equity you’ve accumulated in your home. Subtract the value of your assets from the amount of your liabilities and that is your net worth. If the number is negative then you are insolvent by that amount. If the number is positive then you are not insolvent and you can’t take the insolvency exemption. Keep each calculation on a separate piece of paper and file it away with your tax documents.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/personal-finance-articles/dealing-with-taxes-on-your-settled-debts-4679242.html

About the Author

This is a post by Frank Collins. Frank is a personal finance writer who specializes in topics related to credit, savings and debt relief options like debt settlement.

Tags:, , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in rssorange | No Comments »

Trust Deeds could be renamed to Scottish Individual Voluntary Arrangements (SIVA) according to survey

Tuesday, April 26th, 2011

As Scotland’s leading introducers of Trust Deeds, Trust Deed Scotland have advised more people on the advantages and disadvantages of a Trust Deed as an option to clear debt in Scotland than any other Trust Deed introducer this year.

The Scottish based company have been working tirelessly to educate people about the existence of the government legislation and to advise individuals on whether a Trust Deed could benefit them.

Many of the people that Trust Deed Scotland speak to are aware of the existence of an Individual Voluntary Arrangement which only applies to residents of England, Wales and Northern Ireland but fewer people have actually heard of the Scottish equivalent, the Protected Trust Deed.

Perhaps a reason for this is the Scottish Government’s failure to allocate enough of its budget to the education of money advisory services and another reason could be nationwide TV and Printed advertising by English based companies in Scotland offering an IVA as a solution to debt, without necessarily promoting the Trust Deed as a solution to debt.

With this in mind, Trust Deed Scotland asked a small portion of its prospective clients whether it would be better to rename the government legislation and for it to become known as a Scottish Individual Voluntary Arrangement (SIVA).

Of those polled, 66% indicated that the term Scottish Individual Voluntary Arrangement may be less confusing than the term Trust Deed.

There are differences between a Trust Deed and an IVA which must be made clear e.g.  A Trust Deed lasts for a typical period of 36 months and an IVA lasts for 60 months usually. A person would only really be eligible for a Trust Deed if they owed more than £10,000 to unsecured debts compared to the £15,000 minimum debt level of an IVA as a solution.

An analyst for Trust Deed Scotland advised “There is some confusion caused by the terminology of different debt help options and we are aware of this and purposely seeking to educate the Scottish public about this.

Not only is there the Trust Deed vs IVA dilemma but alternative options such as the Debt Arrangement Scheme, LILA Sequestration, Certificate for Sequestration and Debt Management Plans.

The CCCS recently highlighted a couple of their cases where individuals thought that they were on an IVA but had been confused by their providers and actually were on a debt management plan.

I would welcome a cross-platform debate by the Scottish Government and leading figures in our industry to establish if the joint efforts of a debt help awareness campaign coupled with a more consumer friendly title such as the Scottish Individual Voluntary Arrangement (SIVA) could help to alleviate part of the debt misery that ordinary Scottish residents are currently experiencing.”

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/personal-finance-articles/trust-deeds-could-be-renamed-to-scottish-individual-voluntary-arrangements-siva-according-to-survey-4677084.html

About the Author

Trust Deed Scotland are Scotland’s largest introducer of Trust Deeds

If you would like to apply for a Scottish IVA, you can visit the company website or call 0141 221 0999 for free and confidential advice.

Tags:, , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in rssorange | No Comments »

The Piggy Bank – Is It Time To Add Some Brothers and Sisters?

Tuesday, April 26th, 2011

piggy+banks+-+01.jpg

Lately I have been reflecting my own financial habits, some good and some bad. Looking back at my past and the current, I wanted to make improvements for the future. I noticed that I never seemed to be able to budget for certain items or categories too well; items like emergencies, entertainment, or a new home. 

It seemed to be difficult because all of my expenses were intermingled into one account and I found myself always coming up with some reason or another, to dip into the money set aside for other things.  And so I never have been too successful saving for those things.

I noticed that my adult account (the average bank account) was very much like my childhood account – the “Piggy Bank”. Everything was put into one account and not really kept organized or separated.

I am sure most of us had a piggy bank of some kind when you were a kid and can remember this was the start of our first savings account. Every week we would get our weekly allowance and then we would stuff our savings into the piggy bank, shake it vigorously, and listen to the coins rattle around inside. And then at some point in time we would empty it all out and spend the whole thing on the latest toy or craving that we desired.  Sound familiar?

Well now as adults it seems we sort of end up doing the same thing, only in an adult version – we put all of our money into the one bank account (our adult piggy bank).  The problem I had been having was saving up for items like emergencies, entertainment, business expenses, a new home, new car, etc. With these items being mixed in the same account along with my bills, I never seem to be able to separate the other stuff and so I don’t seem to be saving like I should be… or at least… like I want to be doing.

And so this brought me to my solution (at least for me – maybe you have another way that works best for you).  I opened up 3 additional checking accounts and each with its own savings account.

The first account was for emergencies and auto related. You know…when the car breaks down or you need to spend a $100.00 on each tire or the mechanic says that will cost you a billion dollars and you almost die of a heart attack.  Or when it comes time to replace the entire car? Fun stuff like that. 

The second account was what I have nick-named the “Family Fun” account. This is for entertainment. I got tired of not having any cash to take my wife out or if she wants to see her family… and telling her “sorry… we don’t have the cash right now.” The reason why I never have the cash is I simply had not been budgeting for it. And now that was going to change! And I am not using credit cards! I want to save up for fun not to go into debt as the result.

The third account I created was for business, charity and fund raising. This might seem like a strange mix at first but for me…it seems many business people like to network via charity events or at some kind of fund raising social gathering. But if you never have the cash to participate…then…you never participate.  And so I have decided to budget for it and make this a part of my marketing strategy, plus it is for charity right? A win, win.  Now…I am starting to save and as a result the next time in the future I will be able to participate.

Do you have other hopes and dreams like a new home like I do?  Then perhaps add another savings account for that dream so it will happen. Then dreams can come true… if we budget for them and systematically put money into these funds.

And this brings me back to the lonely Piggy Bank… all by itself. Maybe we should give our kids a few piggy banks and designate each one for its own purpose. So for example, one piggy bank for fun, one for education (college), and one for our future dreams.  And that way our kids can still have fun with the one piggy bank but learn how to save for the future with the other banks… so they can have a future and live their dreams.

This is just a thought…. an idea… so if you have a better idea…that is awesome! And I would love to hear it! I think when we can share new ideas or new ways of creating a better future, then we all can benefit by sharing those ideas, even if we don’t agree with them.  I find that when I hear about a new idea it makes me start thinking about more ways for that solution. 

I am always trying to find a better way to fund my family’s future…but not go into financial debt, or credit card debt, and not to have my general credit ruined.

It is my wish that we all have a chance and opportunity to live the lives we imagine.

So Keep Proactive and Keep Moving Forward!

Do you have a suggestion or a story to share? I would love to hear it!

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/personal-finance-articles/the-piggy-bank-is-it-time-to-add-some-brothers-and-sisters-4670822.html

About the Author

I love to network in person and online. I believe being proactive is the key to overcoming these slow economic times. Being positive is great but without taking action, than there will be little results. I try to challenge myself by increasing my work load in increments of 10%. Each month I want to add another 10% to my plate. I refuse to let this slow economy define my life. I encourage everyone to keep getting up to the batters box and take another swing. Eventually we have to hit that darn ball right.

Tags:, , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in rssorange | No Comments »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »