Financial communities and forums

Wanting someone to keep you in check with your finances? An online financial community or forum is a great place to start. There are thousands of financial communities online that can help you control your finances as well as answer any financial questions you might have. There are actually professional financial advisors that are more concerned about helping people rather than money.

An online community or forum is such a great place to talk about your finances because you can pretty much remain anonymous and keep your personal finances personal. Sometimes when it comes to money people want to keep it a private matter and discussing financial situations with friends isn’t an option. With an online community you can talk about anything you want and still remain completely anonymous.

If you have questions about mortgages, budgets, debt management, or anything related to finances, more than likely there is a place for you. Just do a quick search online for financial forums and you’re bound to find somewhere that can help. However be careful when searching, make sure the advice you are getting is better advice than you could give yourself. Even though the Internet is a great resource for information, it’s not always factual. Soon I hope to have a forum here at lexchoice to help with financial advice.

Selling something for more than it’s listed

Every sold something for more then it was originally listed for? Once I saw a practical joke show about a guy going into a car dealership and trying to negotiate with the car dealer. The funny twist was that they guy was trying to tell the car salesman that he had so much money to spend on a car for his wife and the car he wanted to buy was priced too cheap.

The buyer wanted the car salesman to mark up the care. The guy kept trying to negotiate with the salesman but the opposite way. He kept telling him that if he sold the car to him for the listed price then his wife wouldn’t be happy with him because he bought a piece of junk. He needed to pay more for this car. It was so funny because the salesman was at a loss of what to do, he was caught totally off guard.

I thought something like this was impossible, but my wife recently proved me wrong. We’ve been clearing out some unneeded furniture from our house recently and we listed a kitchen table on craigslist. We listed it as well as a desk for $75 each. I ended up selling the computer desk for $65, but my wife topped me by selling the kitchen table for $80!

That’s right we had it listed for $75 and she sold it for $80. When the man arrived to look at the table he told her it was exactly what he was looking for. He was staging an apartment and it would fit perfect into the kitchen of the apartment. She told him it was listed for $75. I guess the man wasn’t interested in negotiating so he immediately took out his wallet and handed her $80. My wife and I are bad about keeping cash and she didn’t have any change. He told her not to worry about it and to keep the change. I guess she made up for my lack of negotiation skills with the computer desk.

Household bills and Finance in Marriage

Who takes care of the bill payment center at your house? Does it really matter who the financial guru is at home? With the continued development and improvement of Internet security paying the bills is a much easier process than it was a few years ago. With services such as online auto or automatic bill payment, electronic bill payment, and online payment reminders. paying a bill online is a breeze.

The question remains of who takes care of the household finances, the husband or the wife? The obvious answer to the question is whoever is more organized and better with money, but it goes beyond this simple answer. The household finances should be a shared responsibility between both husband and wife. It’s ok to have one person, usually the more organized person, take care of paying bills and budgeting but both should be involved with the overall process.

Since 50% of all marriages end in divorce and the number one cause of divorce is money this should be an important job in the family. If the husband takes care of the majority of the finances the wife should always be well informed of how much money they have to spend on what debt the family currently possesses. A husband can’t expect a wife to control her spending if she doesn’t know they are broke. The same goes for the wife, if she takes care of the majority of the finances, she should update the husband on the current financial situation often. Men tend to enjoy “toys” which usually carry a big price tag, if you can’t afford to purchase big ticket items they need to know.

Taking care of the household bills and personal finances is a big burden and responsibility. The workload should be shared by the couple. Keep each other well informed of your current financial situation and always talk before making any major purchases. Maybe you can be one of the 50% that stays together!

Importance of Financial Goal Setting

Financial goal setting can be a difficult task, but well worth the rewards you will reap if you are successful. It is important to set and achieve personal financial goals in order to achieve long term financial success. Let your money work for you each month instead of working so hard for your money.

When setting goals identify and write down your goals. Keep in mind you need to make specific, realistic goals that are attainable. Everyone’s financial situations  are different thus financial goals will also be very different. For some people goals may be focused on getting out of debt, others may be debt free and want to focus on saving for a home or car, others may be ready to focus on retirement goals. No matter what stage you are in life determine your goals and write them down.

Next, break down your goals into three different categories. The first category should include several easy short-term goals which can be attained in 1 year or less. For example, pay off a small credit card balance. The second category should include medium-term goals which can be accomplished in 1 to 3 years. An example might include paying off a car loan or saving to pay cash for a car. Finally, include a few long-term goals that can be accomplished in longer than 5 years. For example saving 10,000 toward retirement.

Next, educate yourself and do some major planning. Since you have your goals written down and sorted into categories, figure out how you are going to go about accomplishing these goals. If you first goal is to pay off a credit card you will have to come up with some extra money each month to pay down the balance. This might include searching for a part time job or finding extra money in your monthly budget. Research other financial websites, magazines and publications to get ideas of how to accomplish your goals.

It is now important to evaluate yourself and your progress while continuing the process of setting and achieving goals. GIve yourself a financial checkup every week, month and year. If you find yourself falling short of your original goals, develop a different plan to accomplish them.  You won’t be able to acheive your goals overnight, setting and achieving goals is a difficult task that even professionals struggle with. Stay motivated and focused and you will be successful!

Dollar Store items, junk or treasures

Dollar stores and popping up everywhere these days. Most of them advertise that everything in the store is $1 or less. It seems like a great deal, but is the stuff you find at these stores really worth $1 or are they just selling junk?

In my opinion dollar discount stores are just like every other type of store, there are great deals to be found but you have to really watch what you purchase. Even popular bulk wholesale stores may seem cheaper than regular retail stores when in reality just because you are buying bulk doesn’t mean you are saving money. Also, you have to consider what you are purchasing and the quality of the items.

Many of the items you find in a dollar store are more expensive than you could find at a regular retail store. For example candy items are often $1 and can be purchased at a supermarket for much less than $1. They however sell many of these overpriced items because you think it’s a great deal.

There are are however many great deals to be found in these dollar discount stores. Here is a list of our familys top 5 favorite items to purchase at dollar stores:

• Cleaning Supplies - You usually won’t find name brand cleaning supplies at dollar stores unless it is a discontinued item, but you will find their cousin counterparts. Most basic cleaning supplies have similar ingredients and they get the job done for most everyday chores.
• Bathroom Supplies - Many common smaller bathroom items such as mats, caddies and shower curtains can be found at dollar stores for a fraction of the price.
• Gardening Tools and supplies - You won’t find top quality gardening tools at a dollar store but for those of us who only do gardening as a hobby you will find your needs met. Gardening gloves, decorations, pots and much more can be found at dollar stores and they still get the job done.
• Household Tools - These tools aren’t for the serious carpenter but for the occassional picture hanger, nail puller, screwdriver you’ll find a great deal on these handy tools.
• Gift Cards, Thank You Cards, Notecards and stationary - Most paper products are a great deal at dollar stores. Especially look for out of season cards and stationary to use for next year. You can get a lot of bang for your buck.

Overall, dollar stores are a great way to find treasures. Don’t get carried away when you shop at them, there are deals to be found but there are also overpriced itmes waiting to make them money!

The Importance of Financial Awareness in Your Children

Not only is it very important for you to understand the importance of money management and personal finances but your children’s financial awareness is very important as well. It is vital to teach our children sound money management skills early in life. If they don’t learn these valuable money lessons when they are young they will grow up without the ability to handle money and finances.

You may realize the importance of financial awareness in your children, but you may struggle with how to instill these important pricipals. Here are four basic principals to help you teach your children about money.

• Start early, very early - I’m not sure of an exact age but I do know my two year old daughter started learning the very basic concept of money at around the age of 2 years. She is now 3 and 1/2 years old and has started her own piggy bank saving account, which she saves money to take shopping with her mother.
• Lead by example - If you want your children to have sound financial awareness then you will have to show them you really mean what you say. The old saying “do what I say, not what I do” just doesn’t work. Children are led by example so practice what you preach.
• Let them earn money - Gifts are nice but if you are always giving your children money for no reason they will continue to expect that. Give them chores to do around the house to earn money. Right now we let our daughter help fold laundry and put away the silverware out of the dishwasher. We give her a quarter for her efforts and she is estatic.
• Let them spend it or save it - It’s their money so let them decide what they want to do with the money. You can always make suggestions but if they want to spend their hard earned money on a pack of stickers or a toy cell phone, let them. If they want to save their money and horde it away, again that’s their decision.

It’s very important that you take an active role in teaching them these principals. There is very little positive outside help teaching financial principals. The American public schools has very little to do with the teaching of finances and depending on the parent this is good or bad. The television would be the next source of learning and there’s not much positive financial learning coming from the TV.

Teaching your children sound money management skills during childhoood will prepare them for the future. From todler to their teenage years continue to guide them down the right paths. Educate them of all the opportunities avaliable and the consequences of their financial decisions. They will thank you years from now!

Great deal on cheap headphones

I just found a great deal on some cheap headphones. I was looking through TigerDirect’s Liquidation Sale! and found a pair of Coby CV-H42 Ultra Lightweight Stereo Headphones for $2.97. Sounds like a great deal to me, but I can’t confirm the quality of the headphones. I did read on the site that they do come with a warrenty from the factory for 12 months that covers parts and labor. So if you are looking for a great deal on some headphones you may want to check it out!

How Much Are You Worth as an Employee?

Ever sit at your job and wonder why your employer doesn’t pay you more? Are you really worth more to your employer than you are getting paid? How do you know if you deserve a raise? Thee are all great questions to ask yourself every year.

Before you start trashing your current employer you have to consider all of the benefits they offer on top of your salary. Do they offer good health insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance for free or at a great price? Do they have a good retirement program? Do they pay for short term and long term disability insurance? Do you get comp time for extra hours you work? All of these things should be considered when calculating how much money you actually make.

The first and most obvious step to finding out how much you are worth as an employee is to do some research. There are many websites that can give you ballpark figures of how much certain careers should be paying. HomeFair.com offers a simple handy salary calculator to give you an idea of what you should be earning.  Do a lot of research and have all this information avaliable before you talk to your employer about a raise.

Importance of keeping good financial records

A very important, often overlooked step of financial success is keeping good financial records. Keeping good records will help you manage your cash flow each month in turn saving you hundreds of dollars per year. Good financial record keeping consists of budgeting, tracking your spending, and good record keeping and filing.

Creating a budget and sticking to it is the first step to good financial record keeping. Creating a budget can be as simple as one page or as complex as an entire budgeting software package. A budget is a record of planned expenses and incomes over a certain period of time. You should spend every penny of your income before you actually get it. Most personal budgets are for a period of one month.

Tracking your spending is the second part of good record keeping and it follows very closely to keeping a good budget. After you have planned out your budget you need to track your income and expenses. Record every single financial transaction for one month, even vending machine purchases. You will probably be surprised at how much money you waste in a month.

Finally, keeping track of all your receipts, bills, credit card statements, invoices, mileage logs, check images or copies, donations, pay check stubs, bank records and any other financial record if very important. All of these records should be filed in neat organized folders and secured somewhere safe. They should be easily accessible so you can continually keep them updated. This will make tax time quick and easy. It will also help you make accurate tax filings and could save you hundreds of dollars ever year.

Keeping good financial records will save you time and money throughout the year. Start taking control of your personal finances today.

Earn extra cash writing for Associated Content

If you are anything like me you will always welcome the opportunity to make a few extra dollars, especially if it doesn’t take much time or effort. I recently stumbled on a website called Associated Content. Associated Content basically pays you cash to write about any topic you feel like writing about.

How much can you earn?

I just got paid for my fouorth article a couple of days ago, and averaged about $4.25 per article. It took me about 45 minutes to write each article, but I wrote them in my spare time at work. It’s not a ton of money but I figure if I can write 3 or 4 articles per week it will be some spending money with minimal effort. They also pay you $1.50 for every 1,000 people that view your writings. The more articles you write the more people you have viewing your articles and the more money you make. I’m sure you could make quite a bit of money if you were a stay at home mom or if you just had a bunch of free time on your hands. If you wrote 3 or 4 articles per day I think you could earn close to $500 per month just for writing articles.

The Process

First, written an article that you want to submit to Associated Content. The article must be original, written by you, and never published anywhere else before. Plagiarism is a very serious matter and they have great ways at detecting it so don’t try. Once you submit Associated Content they review your work. Usually within 6 - 12 days they send you back an offer for your content which ranges from $2 - $20 depending on the topic you write about and the quality of your work. You can choose to accept or deny the payment based on the offer. If you accept the offer, you are usually paid through PayPal in 2 - 3 days.

Program Review

I’ve only been writing for Associated Content for about one month. I have submitted about 10 articles and have already been paid over $16. Their payment process is very organized and they pay a fair amount for each written article. You probably won’t make a fortune writing for them, but it’s a great way to earn some extra income. If you are interested give them a visit today. Associated Content