Wednesday, June 8, 2011

How Much Do I Tip - 10 Ways To Tip Correctly

Tip Jar!Image by juliejordanscott via FlickrI remember when I was just a young man my first job was delivering the daily paper that was my first exposure to tipping. Besides delivering the paper I had to go door to door collecting the money for the subscriptions. I met a lot of fine people and along the way I got myself some nice tips. 


Being on the receiving end of tips I never forgot how appreciative I felt when I received one. It made me appreciate the whole tipping process. If you ever go to dinner with someone who has work as a server in a restaurant, they are the first to speak up if they think you are under tipping.

Those days of my paper route are long gone but I never give it a second thought to include a nice tip when I am treated well by a hair stylist, server, or someone that you deal with on a regular basis. Remember when you tip, put yourself in the place of person you are tipping because it will give you a better perspective on the process.

You can get as many opinions on how much to tip as there are people. So I wanted to see if there were any guides to help in deciding how much is the proper amount to tip in different circumstances. At couponsherpa.com and itipping.com there are some great lists to get you started.

Here are a few tipping suggestions to get you going:

1. Take-Out Food: 10 percent when you pay. Tip based on total cost if you use coupons.

2. Chain Coffee Shops: 25 cents tossed in the tip jar.

3. Hair Stylist: 15 to 20 percent.

4. Taxi: 10 to 15 percent is standard, 20 percent if the driver helps you with heavy bags.

5. Grocery Baggers: $1 to $3, depending on the number of bags loaded into your car. (What if you bag your own groceries?)

6. Tattoo Artists: 10 to 20 percent, depending on complexity.

7. Movers: $10 to $20 per mover.

8. Dog Groomers: $10 per pet.

9. Hotel Housekeeper: $2 to $5 per night.

10. Gas attendant: No tip.


Looking through this short list and the more complete list at couponsherpa.com I realize that I have been over tipping in some categories and under tipping in others.

Tipping in our society is a pleasant way to show appreciation to someone who has served you well and maybe made you happy. To others it is the bane of our culture.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

What's The Greek Debt Crisis and A Failing Business Have In Common?

AccropolisImage by ClareMarie via FlickrThe owner of a small local business goes to friends and family and asks for a loan to see his business through some hard times. Within one year he burns through the cash and runs the business into the ground. He goes back to the friends and family and asks for another loan. What should they do cut him off and let the business fail or lend him more money?

The Greek Debt crisis is a lot like our businessman. The EU's single monetary policy rules required them to help it's member states. When Greece came into the European Union in 2001, it wasn't doing anything different than it's doing now. Only difference the economy was coming off a 10 year boom and money flowed freely. When money flows freely misjudgment and bad decisions are covered over.

Last Year

Fast forward to 2010, the IMF and EU loaned Athens 110 billion euros. Greece burned through it. One year later, the country is still facing ruin and still begging for cash. For the EU's central powers, Germany and France, there's no good way out of this. Again I ask the question, as in the businessman's predicament. What should the EU do with Greece let it fail or lend more money?

What is Greece doing wrong? Answer: Like the businessman no foundational change has occurred in thinking and planning. The borrowed money was just to fill the financial gas tank to get the the same broken down car down the road a little further. The money was wasted by the businessman and Greece.

If you want to help someone who is bad with money giving them a loan without a plan for them to change direction in behavior and thinking is doomed for failure. The Greek government has not done enough to implement austerity changes to its basic government planning. Like the Acropolis, Greece's economy is turning to rubble.

Bailout Time, Again!

Most likely, Greece will get another loan or restructuring of it's debts. Only this time, the other European governments will not take no for an answer when demands are made for deep cuts in the government's budget and fiscal policy. The citizens of the European country's who are going to help Greece, will not stand for their government to help a bad risk like Greece. When Greece gets it's new loan and then they default again it could trigger a bank crisis worse than Lehman.

Like Greece and the businessman, the United States government is also going down the road of misjudgment and bad decisions. They are out of control with the insane national debt and yearly deficits. In Washington, it's business as usual. The economy is crippled by this debt and until it is turned around we will continue to see this painful unemployment. It's time to cut Greece, the businessman, and the United States off till they realize our financial problems are symptoms of a greater problem.

Monday, June 6, 2011

Check Out Your Neighbor's Open House, Your Not Nosey, Your Smart

An open house attracts many people who come for different reasons. They may be buyers looking in your neighborhood, real estate brokers looking to list your home, or even the guy down the block who is curious. In my neighborhood if there is an open house you are sure to see me there. You may call me nosy, but I believe that taking a look provides me with a lot of good information if someday I decide to sell my own home.

The first thing I look for in a neighbors home is what home improvements or upgrades they have made. This information can be help you decide what home improvements you should maybe do first. One improvement may be your roof, if your neighbors mostly have all new roofs and yours is showing it's age, maybe that is one of the first things you change. When selling your home, a new roof verse an old roof may make all the difference in which house gets sold first. Seeing the upgrades your neighbors have made will keep you from overdoing it on your own upgrades. You don't want to over build or over upgrade in your neighborhood. Also seeing other homes will also give you ideas on things you never thought of to help improve your own home.

If you are planning to move in the near future, seeing other homes for sale will give you close view of your competition. You are competing for buyers when your neighbors house is also for sale. You will see what their homes appeal is and you can compare their home value with your own home. Looking at other home improvements can also let you know what features to advertise in your own home when you are ready to put your home for sale. Checking out a open house will give you ideas how to make your home stand out above the competition.

At these open house Realtors and real estate agents will be present. You will be able to ask questions and pick their brains and maybe learn a thing or two. See if the Realtor is actively marketing the home, being active in engaging prospective buyers. Some Realtors use your open house to market other homes they have for sale and not yours. This will help you weed out the bad ones and zero in on the good ones.

You may feel embarrassed at going to a neighbors open house, don't feel bad. The more people that see an open house is good for the seller, because it helps the word get out and helps sell the home. If the sellers are there they may appreciate some honest feedback about the house. So it's a good thing for you and the seller that you are there.

Next time there is an open house on your street be sure sure to stop by. You are going to learn something that will help you, when it's time to sell your house.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

What Economic Slowdown? $43.5 Million Dollars Worth Of Rubble

Many people are still deeply hurting, from our current economic situation, yours truly included. Income is down and expenses are rising. But not all of us are suffering. There are a few people doing pretty well.

With real estate prices at an all time low it's time to do some buying. Thats what one hedge fund billionaire David Tepper did. He bought a little fixer upper in Sagaponack, Long Island. He paid $43.5 million dollars for the 6,000 square foot ocean front estate on 6.5 sandy acres.

What's the first thing you do? Well, if you're hedge fund billionaire David Tepper, you tear the thing down -- along with the guesthouse, swimming pool and tennis court -- to build an even bigger mansion.


According to Southampton Patch, Tepper bought the home last year from ex-wife of former New Jersey governor Jon Corzine, in the area's most expensive transaction of 2010. In April, he got a permit for the demolition, and yesterday, the site was finally cleared.

The new house will be about twice the size, with ocean views from every room, "a sunken tennis court, three-car garage, a widow's walk, second-floor decks including one with a Jacuzzi, and a covered porch," reports Hamptons Curbed, quoting the minutes from a recent town board meeting at which the construction was reviewed.

Friday, June 3, 2011

Is Cosigning A Car Loan Really So Bad?

Janet's 2010 Chevrolet Cobalt in SarasotaImage by roger4336 via FlickrWe all know that cosigning a loan is just asking for trouble. Your taking a big risk that the person you are cosigning for will leave you holding the bag. When the bank doesn't approve an individual for a loan the bank is saying plainly that they believe the person is not financially or personally able to pay it back. Why can't people who are tempted to cosign a loan, for a freind or relative, be as calculating as that?

I have written before about my daughters car problems and need for replacing her car. The car has 210,000 miles on it and it's time. Yet the car continues to live on and won't die. She and her boyfriend have purchased a 2006 Chevy Cobalt. It's in great shape and has low mileage. It was a really great choice.

Then why am I bringing all this up? Well, they have bad credit, when they financed it they got a very high interest rate. It's 18% interest. The payments are high and a lot of money is going to interest. I want to help.

I feel if I refinance the car as a cosigner I could get their rate down to 5%. It would be a big help in getting the payment way down. But then that would go against the no cosigning rule.

If I did do it, would there be a chance they wouldn't pay it. Yes, there always is a they could lose their income and be unable to pay and also by their track record not pay their debts. I would then be on the hook for the note. Is it worth it to take the chance? Would it destroy the relationship?

What are the odds they would default. According to the FTC, depending on the type of the loan, as many as three out of four primary borrowers default on their obligations, leaving the cosigner to pay. This is, after all, why they need a cosigner: they're not good credit risks, either because they have too much debt already, or because they don't pay their bills on time.

This is their first real excursion into the world of credit for almost 10 years. They are learning first hand the result of messing up your credit. Sure the downside of bad credit is having the worst possible interest rates when borrowing money. But this is a great lesson and it will leave a bad taste in the mouth for many years to come. It's something they will never forget and hopefully never repeat. My intervention may circumvent this life lesson and postpone learning a hard truth.

You're not really helping someone if you assist them to take on a large car loan when they have had historical trouble paying their bills, or to refinance their debt without attacking the spending that brought on the debt in the first place. "Helping" people to avoid dealing with their problems isn't much help at all. It feels terrible to say no, and the person will probably be hurt when you do. It may sour the relationship. But keep in mind that however bad it feels, and however much the relationship suffers, this is nothing compared to the bad feelings and relationship problems that you will encounter if you become their chief creditor.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Five Reasons A Mortgage May Be Declined By A Lender

Preparing and filing all of the required paperwork in an effort to get a mortgage for your family’s new home is an enormous task, only to wait for some banker to call you to inform that the financial institution has decided to turn you down. It might seem flat out unfair and difficult to understand why you’ve been denied. As time has passed by, financial institutions seem to have become increasingly strict on who they are willing to lend their money to. Because of this, consumers need to be prepared. You need to understand how the lending process works and how you can best put yourself in a position to be approved for your mortgage. Here are five tips how.

1) Too much credit already used

It’s important to understand how financial institutions view existing consumer debt when considering a mortgage. A general rule of thumb is that an individual’s housing costs should account for no more than 33% of their gross income. Consumer debt should account for no more than 5% on top of that. When an individual’s consumer debt exceeds the 5% figure, it cuts into the 33% that is allowed on housing costs. For example, if your consumer debt accounts for 9% of your gross income, a financial institution may only approve a mortgage that account for no more than 29% of your gross income. So what does this all mean? Keep your credit cards under control to keep that consumer debt down.

2) Change of Employment

Changing jobs can increase the difficulty in getting your mortgage approved. The reason for this is that financial institutions are looking for consistency in your earnings. Specifically, they would like to see 2+ years of financial consistency. There are exceptions to this, however, such as individuals who are moving to higher paying positions in the same or a very similar field. Perhaps the most fatal job change mistake people can make during the mortgage process is transitioning from a salaried position to self employment as they now have zero financial consistency to offer on the loan application. Not surprisingly, the self-employed and those who work sales based jobs that rely heavily on commission are those who find it the most difficult to get accepted for a mortgage.

3) Your credit score is fluctuating

Because of the length of time is can take while shopping the housing market, it may be a matter of several months between filling out your credit application and finalizing the loan. Because of this it’s natural to expect that the financial institution may perform several checks on your credit. You want to be sure nothing happens that might cause it to go down during the process, causing you stress and complications. Make sure all of your payments are made on time during the application time period and also avoid opening any further lines of credit. For good measure, also be sure to request your credit report from all of the refutable agencies and check for any inaccuracies before beginning the mortgage process.

4) Mortgage payments are missed

To piggy back off of reason 3 a bit, it is extremely crucial that you do not miss any of your significant payments while applying for your new mortgage. The last thing you want to do is make the financial institutions start viewing you as a credit risk. If you have a current mortgage it is imperative that you pay it on time. If you are having issues paying your current mortgage you should discuss options with the mortgage holder to have it amended.

5) Missing the obvious

Lastly, be sure not to miss the obvious. When going through the application process be sure you read every form intently and understand what you are filling out. Make sure all of your information is accurate and complete. Double check and then triple check your work. This is an extremely important process so you will need to pay extra attention to detail.

Bio

This author of this guest post is Andrew Potter who is the director of My Online Estate Agent. My Online Estate Agent is a UK based low cost estate agent which allows sellers to advertise on Rightmove, Zoopla, Primelocation and Find a Property.



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