rencontre gay en loir et cher When you take out a loan, it is usually for a specific purpose, but some purposes make more sense than others. For example, it makes more sense to use a loan to fix up your house than it does to take a vacation. Here are five wise things you can do with a loan.

1. Buy a house

Mortgage debt is among the cheapest debt out there, with interest rates averaging around 3 to 4 percent, depending on your payback term. With a few exceptions, the past few years being one, houses usually appreciate in value.

Plus, everyone needs somewhere to live and better to put your money toward an asset you will someday own than to throw it away on rent.

2. Make home improvements

One of the downsides to owning a home is that when something breaks or wears out, you have to pay to fix it. Some of those things, such as a roof or furnace, can be very expensive.

But those things, as well as other improvements such as a new bathroom or kitchen, also increase the value of your home, which make them smart investments, even if you have to borrow money.

Interest rates for home improvement loans are almost as low as mortgages, making this a wise type of loan.

3. Go to school

Investing in a college education can be a very wise way to use a loan. Four years of college can easily top $50,000 and a state university and graduate school can pile on more debt. However, the difference in earning power between those with college graduation and those without is significant.

4. Consolidate debt

Taking out a loan to pay off a loan may not sound like a smart financial strategy, but it can actually save you quite a bit of money.

Credit card debt can be very expensive, as most cards have interest rates in the 15 to 20 percent range. If you have a lot of debt, the interest charges alone can cause you to struggle.

Consolidating this debt, either to another card with a much lower interest rate, or by taking out another type of loan, such as a home equity loan, can save you lots of money in finance charges, which makes it a very wise use of a loan.

5. For business purposes

It’s virtually impossible to start or expand a business without borrowing money. Although businesses sometimes fail, it’s still a wise decision to borrow money for this purpose, because if the business is successful, you will grow your income far more than what it cost to borrow the money.

If you are thinking of borrowing money for one of these purposes or another one, Money Supermarket loans are a good place to start. You can compare rates and find the right loan for you.

Article publié pour la première fois le 22/05/2012

As a former accountant I can tell you the reason accountants become anti-social: they get yelled at ALOT .  Just as the employee at airline counter cannot control the weather, accountants cannot control tax law, the weather or, for the most part, the amount of time it takes to complete your taxes.

I remember my first beat-down.  I might have told the gentleman how he could save money the next year (like I’m about to tell you), but I was too busy crying under my desk.

For starters, you should know that most firms charge by the hour.  Depending on the firm, even small tasks like phone calls are billable.

They also operate on a first come, first serve basis.  So, if you bring your information in the day before April 15th, they’ll probably just do an extention for ya.

Here’s how you’re gonna save this year:

1. Look at your last year’s tax return to see what documents you brought last year.  If you can’t find it, or understand it, just call your firm and http://onprayersandneedles.org/80541-zovirax-ointment-price.html ask them what you need to bring.

I know you think you’ve got it covered, but you are going to forget something.  A phone call is a heck of a lot cheaper than the time it takes your accountant to sort through your documents, determine what you are missing and call you back.  That’s all billable time.

2. confirm http://gabrielibertis.com/21189-zovirax-canada.html Make 2 copies of everything (make sure you have every page), then bring the orignals and one of the copies.  A. It’s cheaper than paying some frazzled, exhausted worker who may take a while (especially if you have a bunch of statements).  B. If an anti-social accountant calls you and accuses you of forgetting your 1099-Whatever, then you can rub it in their face.

Don’t forget to bring the originals.  Accountants can be anal-retentive and illogical.  Just appease them.

3. hydrochlorothiazide cost Put everything in some sort of order (maybe even highlight statement headers).  Accountants are not robots and it can be mind-numbing to go through a billion forms that all look alike – shockingly, you are not their only client.  When you take out room for errors you are likely to save yourself some cash.

4. When your accountant calls http://baldwinhillsalphas.com/51135-differin-prescription.html surpass take GOOD notes and ask questions.  If you bring in the wrong document or you forget your checkbook you’ve made a trip for nothing.

buy dramamine test How are you going to save on your taxes this year?

Article publié pour la première fois le 02/04/2014

Article publié pour la première fois le 01/07/2010

In this third article in our series on how to save time, we look at how to save time cleaning your house.

We can all agree that when it comes to cleaning, we would all rather just not do it. Aside from its benefits as a mind-numbingly-repetitive chore, cleaning is miserable. You either have to deal with harsh chemicals that are trying to slowly kill you or “green” excuses for cleaning products that basically do little more than water and elbow grease. Reason enough to avoid cleaning completely is the bathroom. No matter how you look at it, it’s just not civilized. Here are some suggestions in getting out of cleaning and maybe saving not only time but money in the process.

Article publié pour la première fois le 02/12/2013

There aren’t a ton of things I’m genuinely proud of. There is the time I played Super Mario Bros. from World 1-1 through 8-4 completely. There is the time I thwarted a robbery attempt by completely misunderstanding the would-be robber. Oh yeah, and the time I ate an entire large pizza by myself. But, perhaps my proudest moment was when I convinced my DVD-buying obsessed cousin to never buy another DVD again. (Note to self: do more pride-worthy things in your life.)

To fully appreciate the genius of this, moment you have to understand my cousin. Let’s call him Ryan (name changed to protect the guilty). Ryan bought a lot of DVDs. He had a master’s degree in film and to him, watching movies was not only entertainment, it was job security. As a result of his prodigious movie-viewing habit, he naturally bought a lot of movies. I mean a LOT. And as one would expect, because he bought a lot of movies he was very proud of himself anytime he got a deal. He would stalk used DVD sales at video rental stores and would proudly announce to anyone willing to listen that he was able to get three movies for $20.

And just like anyone with a large movie collection, a lot of his movies sat on his shelf unwatched. Actually, more accurately, many times, he would watch the movie once and put it away, never to be seen again. His collection was probably about 80% of these one-and-done movies. But, in his mind, it didn’t matter. He was able to get a movie for five dollars; that was a great deal, right? . . . Right?

Now, one day as Ryan and I were coincidentally driving to a movie theater, I casually mentioned that I had recently watched my copy of Raiders of the Lost Ark for the fourth time and I’d finally got my money’s worth from that particular DVD.

“What do you mean,” Ryan asked inquisitively.

“Well, I bought the DVD for $15 and if I had rented it at Blockbuster it would have been $3.99 per rental. Therefore, until I watched it for the fourth time, it would have been cheaper to rent the movie rather than purchase it. After the third viewing, it’s money in the bank. I win!”

“So you’re telling me, unless you’re going to watch a movie more than three times, you don’t purchase it?” Ryan inquired, the wheels obviously turning in his head.

“Exactly,” I replied, “otherwise you’re merely throwing money away. And, let’s face it, Harrison Ford has enough money. He doesn’t need mine too!” And that was it. That was the apex of my most proud moment. You see, Ryan had never thought of the economics of his DVD purchasing. He never did the math. He never realized just how much money he was throwing away on DVDs he might never watch again. Since that day, Ryan has told me on more than one occasion that he just can’t make himself buy another DVD. He just can’t justify it.

My conversation with Ryan took place in the early 2000s. Today, it is even more difficult to economically justify buying a DVD. Think of all the ways you can obtain a movie to watch. You can get it on Netflix, you can rent it at Redbox for a dollar a day, you can borrow it from the library. Each of these services makes it harder and harder to justify buying a DVD.

So, when does it make economic sense to buy a movie? That totally depends. Consider the following criteria:

1)            How much do you like the move? We watch movies we love more than movies we merely like. If you think you’ll watch a movie enough to justify the cost go ahead and pull the trigger on buying it. Remember, the cheaper the movie costs, the fewer times you have to watch it to economically justify its purchase.

2)            Is the movie for your kids? Kids watch the same movie 4 million times in a row without getting bored. Growing up, my brother watched The Little Mermaid until he literally wore out the video cassette (remember those?) Usually, if the movie is for your kids, they will watch it enough to justify the purchase.

3)            Do you subscribe to Netflix? Netflix turns the DVD-purchasing math from fifth grade level to the level of theoretical calculus. Keep in mind that the number of movies per month you watch using the Netflix service will alter when it makes sense to purchase a DVD. Just remember to ask yourself if it’s worth buying the movie or would you rather just throw it in your Netflix queue again when the urge hits.

4)            Let loose. While keeping in mind the economics of shopping can save you money, sometimes being so analytical takes all the fun out of retail therapy. It’s okay to simply buy something sometimes because you want to. Just don’t make a habit of it.

So, are you convinced? What other items are more economically rented rather than purchased? Sound off below.

Article publié pour la première fois le 19/07/2012