Household Saving Tips - Personal Finance Help

Got Gas? - Part 3

There are a lot of elements in your house that use Natural Gas to run. My parents have a gas stove, fireplace, furnace, hot water heater and a clothes dryer. I think they are in need of personal finance help if they want to reduce these costs. When they discover their budget one day, they'll understand if their gas bill is in line with what it should be based on their income. I've already shown them to our resource link to get a detailed budget spreadsheet and various financial calculators, but they can also search Google. Here are three quick gas saving tips you can implement in your house.

It's Getting Hot In Here - I know you've heard the song. You shouldn't get to the point of wearing shorts at home in the dead of winter. Can I offer a simple bit of personal finance help you can use to lower your heating costs. Drop the thermostat setting by 2 degrees and you will save a large 5% on your gas bill.

Mmm Smells Fresh - Why does no one hang clothes out to dry. If your dryer is gas powered, you could save a lot of cash by hanging your clothes to dry. This is my favorite personal finance help tip as it helps with gas bills, because of the fresh odor it creates. If you find them stiff, tumble them on low heat for 5 minutes.

I Burnt Myself Again - Have you burned your hands while washing them or doing dishes? Think of all the things you use hot water for. I don't believe your water should be so hot that you are unable to hold your hands under it with minimal discomfort. If it's too hot to hold your hand under it, you water temperature is set too high and is costing you cash. My personal finance help tip regarding hot water heaters is adjust the setting so it's not around 100 degrees, but is warm enough to get your dishes clean.

As a personal financial consultant, I've helped many families reduce their overall costs. Their first step when receiving my personal finance help is to get their budget figured out. Simply doing this has often allowed them to allocate or free up hundreds of dollars a month. The next step is always to see where you can reduce expenses in other areas. In this case, I hope these tips will help you reduce your gas bill. Stay tuned for Part 4.

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How to Improve Your Credit Score - Personal Finance Basics

The health of your credit score is incredibly important to your finances for a number of reasons. To begin with good credit scores are exactly what banks are looking for when deciding whether or not they will lend you money. More often than not insurance brokers or landlords often look into your credit when determining whether or not to choose you as a potential client or possible tenant. This article will describe to you a number of ways of improving your credit score and will assist with your personal finance basics.

1. Pay Your Bills On Time

The reason why this is first on my list is because this is likely the most important rule to follow when trying to boost your credit score. If you visit a bank and want to apply for a home mortgage the first thing the bank will search for is if you regularly make bill payments when they are due. These bills include everything from your cable, home or cell phone, credit card or any other types of bills. Your credit score will directly reflect if you pay for, miss or are late on your bills. If they discover that you always miss or are late for payments, there is a good chance they will not approve you for the loan.

Helpful advice so you will make every bill payment:

-Create a new checking account and allocate enough cash at the beginning of each month for your bills so you always have enough.

-Create automated email reminders a few days prior to when your bills are due.

-Create automatic payments through your online banking.

-Keep a written calendar of when each bill is due. Update and check it regularly.

-Purchase everything possible with cash. Not having a credit card means one less bill to forget.

2. Never Let Bills Go To Collections

This may seem very simple but these collection agency's exist because thousands of people allow their unpaid bills to go this far. You can't forget about your bills. Your bills won't just disappear. If just one of your unpaid bills go to collections you will have to pay surcharges, major interest and your credit rating will be tarnished.

3. Keep Credit Card Balances Low

The most simple of personal finance basics is if you must use a credit card, keep the balance at zero or as low as possible. The less of your available credit you use the better. The number that most reflects your credit score the most recent balance on your statement. Even if you pay your bill in full every month you should never exceed more than 30% of your available credit. The less you use the better.

4. Use Old Your Credit Cards

This may seem a bit odd but try not to switch from one credit card company to the next. If you jump around and continually open and close credit cards your credit score can be adversely affected. If you can use the credit card you got when you were 20 and stay with it. If you primarily use a different credit card, attempt to keep your old cards active and use it every once in a while. Make certain you pay it off in full each time.

5. Check Your Scores Once A Year

Credit scores can change fast. One day everything may be going well and tomorrow your credit score might be awful. Looking into your score each year is a personal finance basic tip we all should follow. This will allow you to correct any mistakes that the banks or you might have made. Keep in mind, if you check your credit rating more than once a year or on a regular basis it will affect your scores negatively. Checking once a year is your best option. Be sure to dispute any errors like unpaid bills or late payments when you are certain that they were paid on time or there might be other issues that you could find.

High credit scores create the chance for lower interest rates on mortgages, car loans, personal loans and credit cards. The most simple of personal finance basics you should follow is to maintain the health of your credit score so you will be able to take advantage all sorts of different financial opportunities. The sooner you rectify any issues you might have with your credit, the sooner you will get everything back in order. By following these tips you will be completely on your way to improving the health of your credit score.

Controlling Your Credit Cards in the Name of Personal Finance

There's no doubt that the credit card is a common culprit in the destruction of our personal finance. However, we mustn't let it control us. We are ultimately in control of our personal destinies and that includes of course our financial destiny. If you feel that your credit card is taking control of your life, then reading the tips contained in this article will do wonders for you.

Ratios, Ratios, Ratios

What do I mean by ratios? By this, I am referring to your debt-to-income ratio and the need to constantly monitor this. Of course, the most ideal ratio would be 0, however a healthy and more realistic ratio that everyone should aim for is 15% or less of your after-tax income. You might be now thinking that such a ratio is too low or unrealistic, but keep in mind that if this ratio exceeds 15%, then you credit card is indeed controlling your life. Make a stand and take action.

You Make The Rules

If you don't feel in control of your credit card, then it's probably because you're playing by the bank's rules. Your bank keeps sending you statements highlighting the "minimum amount due" when all it wants to ensure is that you never fully pay off that debt and keep accumulating interest for the rest of your adult life. You're better off paying off the whole debt as soon as possible without having to pay potentially thousands of dollars in interest over many years.

It Doesn't Hurt To Ask

Don't ever forget that you are the customer and that your credit card company would do anything to keep you. Especially given these tough economic times. You now have more leverage than ever before to ask for lower interest rates and lower fees. All you have to do is ask or threaten to leave your lender for a rival company. It's as easy as that.

My only hope is that this article will greatly assist you in taking control of your credit cards for the sake of your personal finance and financial future.