I spent $400 the other day, all in one day — and it was quite possibly the smartest thing I ever did.
Normally you would think such a splurge would be really dumb, but spending more all at once is a much better idea for a lot of reasons. For one, it gets your buying bug fed. Secondly, you make smarter decisions when large lump sums are involved.
I use to steal money. Yup! That’s right. I would wait until my mom wasn’t paying attention and I would swipe a twenty dollar bill right out of her purse. I was 10. She never noticed which was so cool! I continued my bill swiping late into my twenties. Embarrassing and awful, I know. But I am here to admit the gory details of my mismanagement of money and I believe that is where it started; stealing, quite innocently from my parents.
You see, it wasn’t just the bill swipe… it was the searching of pockets after my dad got home from work (yes, still 10). I thought it was quite clever, actually. He would leave change in his suit pockets and I would find ways in which to redistribute the change. Call it lets say my own little ‘economic stimulus package.’ Other than the fact that I was lifting money from my parents (stealing seems so strong) what is curious to me still, to this day, is why they never noticed? They weren’t playing dumb. They just didn’t have a clue.
We were not rich but we had money. We had everything we ever needed growing up. We were spoiled. My parents were generous and wanted us to have what we wanted because their parents weren’t as capable of giving them what they wanted. I don’t think my parents ever managed a budget. If they did, they would know that twenty-dollar bills went missing mysteriously, often.
With tax day looming large and the IRS preparing their proverbial red pens, you may be a bit concerned about being audited. Just the word “audit” is enough to send tingles up the spine, but it really isn’t as dire as it sounds. As long as you are honest and careful, then you should have nothing to worry about. Besides, your chances of ever being audited are extremely slim.
Despite these words of comfort, you are probably still very eager to keep a low profile as far as the IRS is concerned. The following five tips should make that slim chance of an audit even slimmer.
Entrepreneurs are the brave souls who make our economy go, or at least they were when our economy was actually going anywhere. Especially in this currently questionable financial climate, starting your own business is undeniably a dicey proposition….
Poor credit ratings, without doubt is the biggest hindrance in securing a loan. However, when it comes to home mortgage, you have better chances of getting a loan. Bad credit home mortgage or mortgage for persons with poor credit score is possible. The main reason for lenders releasing money to home mortgage is that they consider home mortgage as relatively safe. You provide your home as collateral and no one can go to thin air with his or her house. People are also likely to pay their due, especially when it comes to something that affects their home.
The main advantages of home equity include:
Unauthorised overdraft fees. These are three words that worry every bank customer. An unauthorised overdraft fee is the fee charged by a bank when customers go over their overdraft limit.
These fees can be very steep, with some banks charging high premiums for customers who exceed an agreed overdraft limit by as little as a few pence. A recent consumer report suggests that bank customers paid more than £4 billion pounds in unauthorised overdraft fees in 2004.
Scale Of Overdraft Fees
The BBC have reported that the seven major banks charge unauthorised overdraft fees of £25 to £38 pounds. Interest rates on the unauthorised amount can also be high. While some banks charge under 8% interest, others have interest rates that hover around the 30% level.
I feel like I’m already a bit jaded and cynical about marketing, especially in the financial world - hence my creating this Web site in the first place - but as a homeowner, there’s still one area of finances that astonishes me, and that’s mortgage refinance companies.
Have you ever received a letter from one of these firms? They not only go far out of their way to hoodwink you into opening the letters, making them look like legal documents, letters from your own mortgage bank, or worse.
Financial statements (or financial reports) are a record of a business’ financial flows and levels.
The big four statements are:
1. Balance sheet which describes a company’s assets and liabilities.
2. Income statement which describes a company’s income and expenses.
3. Statement of Cash Flows which describes how corporate operating, investment, and financing activities have affected the company’s cash position.
4. Statement of Retained Earnings which describes changes to shareholders equity (for example a payment of dividend).
Because these statements are often complex an extensive set of Notes to the Financial Statements and management discussion and analysis is usually included. The notes will typically describe each item on the Balance Sheet and Income statement in further detail. In many cases the notes are much longer than the financial statement they are elucidating.
Today, people are aware of the concept of online banking offered by several banks, of which some are newly opened banks and some are expansions of a well-established banking company. But one question remains to be answered, is Online Banking safe?
Despite the cut-rate deals offered by most Online Banks, numerous customers are questioning themselves about the safety of Online Banking. Most of the newly established online banks inform their customer that they have the advanced and secure technology to insure their client’s accounts with total confidence and give the assurance that their security is the one that you can trust.
Despite of all these assurances given by these Online Banks, most customers are still worrying, because their confidence is already shaken by computer viruses and hackers. Even a very established bank suffers online security malfunctions. The very reason why customers fear online is because if, in fact, their account was compromised, it could be a life-altering virtual nightmare of stolen identity and depleted funds.
Today, most people are aware of the concept of online banking offered by a wide variety of different banks and financial firms, of which some are newly opened banks and some are expansions of a well-established banking company.
But one question remains to be answered, is online banking really safe?
Despite the cut-rate deals offered by most online banks, numerous customers are questioning themselves about the safety of online banking. Most of the newly established online banks inform their customer that they have the advanced and secure technology to ensure their client’s accounts with total confidence and give the assurance that their security is the one that you can trust.
Despite of all these assurances given by these banks, however, most customers are still concerned, and their confidence is already relatively weak because of the ceaseless barrage of computer viruses and hackers. Even a well established bank like Wells Fargo or Citibank suffers online security malfunctions. The very reason why customers fear banking online is because if, in fact, their account was compromised, it could be a life-ruining digital nightmare of stolen identity and depleted funds.