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How Banks Can Help With Your Budgeting
One powerful way to get through any financial crisis is to have detailed knowledge of your spending habits, control it and start managing your finances. Budgeting your expenditures every month will give you control over your finances, so that you can keep your head above water through any kinds of financial situation you are in.
However, with so many online bank accounts and credit card accounts that one usually has, it is difficult to keep track on your income and money spending. Do you pay enough towards your debt so that you dont only pay for the interest? Do you pay too much on debt and mortgages? Do you have enough money to save and invest for your retirement? These questions are only a few of so many questions that one has to ask themselves in order to get their finances in order. Most people are poor and cant get out of debt because they do not have the answer to these questions.
Fortunately, information technology has developed so much today that it does not take much to gain this knowledge about your incoming and outgoing money.
Zombie Banks and Vampire Governments
The term zombie banks refers to banks that refuse to lend to the private sector. They are run by fearful bankers who do not trust other bankers. They do not trust many potential borrowers. According to legend, zombies survive by eating the brains of their victims. It seems to me that zombie bankers must be limiting their diet to brains of other bankers and investment fund managers.
Governments are ready borrowers of money lent by zombie banks. Zombie bankers think that their banks money is safer with sovereign nations IOUs than with other forms of IOUs. The governments siphon off the money that could have been lent to the private sector.
Zombie bankers in Europe keep lending to PIIGS governments whose leaders promise reforms. Politicians promise to cut spending Real Soon Now. So, bankers lend them more money. PIIGS sovereign debt interest rates then fall below panic mode, which is usually regarded as 7% or higher.
Consumers changing their spending habits.
According to a survey by insolvency trade body R3, over 80% of the British population have changed the way they spend their money over the last year.
More than half (51%) of the population arent buying as many non-essential items such as DVDs and clothes, while almost half (47%) said they are now shopping around before they buy something to make sure they get the best deal. Just over one fifth (22%) said they no longer purchase non-essentials from specialist retail chains they buy them in the supermarket instead.
The findings of the research revealed that women are leading the charge when it comes to cutting back on spending with more women switching to value or own-brand products (42%), compared with 32% of men.
Almost half (44%) of women have started using discount vouchers when they go shopping, with just 31% of men doing the same.
Meanwhile, nearly one quarter (23%) of women now set themselves a budget whilst just 15% of men do the same.
Frances Coulson, President of R3, said: It is encouraging to see that a considerable percentage of people are actively trying to lower their expenditure as this will help them to live within their means.
The Stupid Things You Do With Your Money (and How To Fix Them)
Money. You need it to live, but whether youre a spendthrift or a miser, money can make you do foolish things. Youll waste it trying too hard to save, spend it on things you dont need, and simply overpay on regular expenses every month. Heres how to avoid being stupid with your hard-earned cash.
Stupid Thing #1: You Spend More by Trying Too Hard to Save
Frugality has its downfalls. When you try too hard to save, sometimes you end up wasting your money in the process. This may seem almost impossible, but it happens when you try so hard to cut costs that you stop paying for things you actually need. Doing this leads to more problems down the road—problems that are far more costly.
For example, skipping regular checkups at the doctor and the dentist can save you a few hundred dollars each year, but there will come a day when your lack of preventative care—which is very important—will earn you a much higher bill.
Doing your own taxes with inexpensive software may also seem like a good idea, but if the software makes any mistakes you could end up paying for them later. If yo
Capital One to buy ING Online.. So Long ING?
Long time readers of this blog know that ING and I go way back. I became a loyal customer of theirs back in 2004. Ive shared countless referrals to new customers for a free $25 bonus since this site began, but heres something that has me rethinking that relationship with ING Direct.
To be honest, Ive been a little wary since 2008, when ING received a bailout from the eurozone.
Truth be told, I havent actually seen any downside to that bailout as a customer, but it seems that one of the conditions of that bailout was that ING sell its U.S. online banking division. I wont pretend that this condition makes any sense, since it seems a profitable arm of the conglomerate and it was likely the mortgage division, marketing no money down, interest only ARMs that got them in trouble in the first place. The problem is that Capital One looks set to acquire the ING Direct operation.
Ive had a credit card with Capital One since the dawn of time, or very nearly.
How to Make a Passive Income through Peer to Peer Lending
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For the past year, I have been a lender with Prosper, a peer-to-peer (P2P) or social lending company. I have invested a total of $1,000 with Prosper and have purchased 7 loans through this firm. In my time with Prosper, I have earned nearly $110, or about 11%, in interest. This has beat any kind of interest I would’ve earned had I invested my money in a traditional bank account, or even a money market account. In addition to my stock portfolio, I look at P2P lending as a great way to diversify my investments and make a good amount of passive income to boot.
There are two main P2P lending companies that I know of and have worked with in the past year: Prosper and Lending Club.
The Economics of Valentine’s Day
If you think that Valentines Day is a cultural (or even religious) day to celebrate its really not. It is pure commercial, created to boost sales and the economy and bring more money to the already rich. It is a day created purely in the name of Mammon, the god of money.
