Using Online Calculators to Strategise Your Financial Goals

If you are beginner when it comes to savings, strategising your money early is always a good idea, especially if you have a steady income source. Online calculators estimate your monthly or weekly distribution of money according to the plan you’ve chosen, and help you strategise accordingly.

Read on to find out how you can use these to regulate your finances.

How do I Calculate my Finances Online?

As a first step, take stock of your expenses and savings by listing down how much money you spend, and where it goes. Let’s say your monthly income is Rs.50,000, out of which you pay some amount towards your monthly house rent, some towards the EMI of your vehicle, and some towards loan repayments.

You are eventually left with the amount that you can use for personal purposes. 

Online calculators help you to determine the funds you will be allocating to these categories, and plan accordingly. You can estimate how much money you will need to have on hand before taking that Personal Loan, and how much time you would need to clear your loans.

Your bank website or third party websites provide these online calculators, where you input amounts for categories like retirement plans or home loans. You can then determine the interests applicable, and the returns you will receive on the amount you are investing.

This is one of the best ways to start planning your finances.

Why use Online Calculator?

You have to be realistic about your money when you strategise your finances. First, list all broad expenses that are already fixed—including rent, bills, EMIs and other necessary expenses. This will give you an idea as to how much money you spend every month. Then, you can start the allocation of money to long term plans like home loans, educational loans, and retirement and medical plans. 

An online calculator helps you understand how your finances will look after you invest in each of these plans. Suppose you are planning a loan of Rs.2 lakh for your vehicle, for a tenure of 1 year, according to your current financial state. You have to pay an interest of 8% on this loan, if you decide to take it up.

This handy tool will give you an estimate of the monthly payment you would need to divert to clear the loan amount in the given amount of time, i.e. one year. You can also make use of specialized personal loan EMI calculators that estimate an average EMI you would be paying on your vehicle in advance so you can plan your savings and investments accordingly.

Where do I Start?

First, find the best plan for your money. If you are looking to purchase a vehicle or a home for yourself, prioritise accordingly. Once you’ve listed down your options, select an online finance calculator that suits your needs.

For example, you may find different calculators at one your lender’s website - for mortgages, Home Loans, educational loans, retirement plans, and so on. 

How it works

Pick a suitable calculator, input the amount, the time you think it would require to clear off the loan, and the interest rate. Then you hit ‘calculate’; the calculator shows you how much you will be paying. It also tells you how many payments you’ll need to make until the loan is cleared.

Online calculators do an efficient job of sorting out your finances; you can focus on planning your finances better. 

Remember to manually take stock of your expenses, prioritise your needs, and set aside a certain amount as savings before you finally plan investments and loans. Then, use the online calculator to estimate your monthly expenditure. Using this information, choose the loan plan that provides better interest rates and returns that best serve you.

Used right, online calculators for finances are some of the best tools to strategise your finances in the long run. So go ahead and start using one today.

Author Bio: Arwind Sharma is a financial advisor with an experience of more than 7 years. He has worked for topmost financial firms in India and has been a visiting faculty at many reputed institutes in India. Currently based in Pune, Arwind Sharma is a name to reckon with when it comes to financial management for big brands. A post-graduate in business economics, he is an alumni of Princeton University, USA. During his free time, Arwind teaches children from marginalised sections of society and also work on his blog.

Eco Friendly Tips for Your Car

We all know that our cars are not the most economically friendly inventions. Since 1970, CO2 emissions have increased nearly 90%! Read on to learn how you can reduce your car’s carbon footprint (and save a bit of cash while doing so).

Clean It Out

While it pays to be prepared, you’re also paying extra to keep your emergency kit and other items in the back of your car. Every 100 pounds reduces your MPG by 1%, and if you have a smaller car, that extra weight will affect you fuel economy even more. 

Automakers do all they can to reduce the weight of their cars to make them more fuel efficient, but you can also do the same.

Maintain Your Tires

It is important to maintain your tires not only to keep you safe, but proper tire pressure will also save your gas mileage. Determine what your psi should be, and then consistently check your tire pressure using a pressure gage. 

 Refill your tires when necessary. You could also install low-rolling-resistance tires, or “smart tires” that waste less energy than other tires.

Use the Right Gasoline Grade

Most cars will run on regular gasoline without compromising performance. If your owner’s manual suggests that you use premium grade, but doesn’t require that you use it, you can

save money by switching to a lower grade. 

The only effect you may see is a decrease in acceleration power, but that might not be such a bad thing after all.

Drive Conservatively

If you are an aggressive driver, you are likely losing fuel economy. To save gas, and consequently the environment, accelerate slowly, don’t speed (driving above 55 mph will decrease fuel economy by 13% every 10 miles), use cruise control, and avoid idling whenever possible. 

You should never idle for longer than 10 seconds, unless you are in traffic (it is illegal to turn off your car when on city streets). It’s only a myth that restarting your car burns excessive amounts of gas, as cars these days are made to warm up very quickly.

Avoid Traffic

Rush hour traffic causes you to idle your car and waste gasoline. Whenever possible, avoid traffic. Either find another route, or wait it out.

Combine Trips

Whenever you can, combine trips to save gas. Stop by the grocery store on your way home from work, or carpool with a coworker or neighbor. If you’re only going a short distance, walk or take public transit. 

 If you can’t get where you’re trying to go with public transit, find out if you can ride part of the way and drive (or bike) the rest. Another way to save gas is to avoid getting lost. 

When you get lost or take a wrong turn, you may add 15 minutes or more to your trip. Before you leave, make sure that you know where you are going and that you have good directions.

Stop Using the AC

Consistently using the air conditioning can increase fuel cost by 21% or more (according to Consumer Energy Center). MythBusters recently did an episode to see if using the AC really does affect your fuel economy, and they found that rolling down the windows is more fuel efficient. 

They filled up two SUVs with 5 gallons of fuel and took them out on a track. The AC SUFV stopped 15 miles before the SUV with its windows down. Of course, there are some days where it is just too miserable to not use the AC, but on mild days, roll down the windows.  

However, once you hit about 40 mph, the drag on your vehicle no longer makes this an efficient option, and you should again roll up the windows and turn on the AC (or just the fan, if you can stand it).

Drive a Green Car

The best thing you can do to be more eco friendly is to buy an eco friendly car. There are many hybrids on the market that are cleaner, more efficient, and will save you money on gas. 

 If you can’t yet afford a new hybrid or electric car, find a car with high gas mileage, or purchase a used eco-friendly car. 

Some of the most eco-friendly cars currently on the market for 2016 are: the Toyota Prius c, Nissan Versa Note, BMW X3, Lexus CT 200h, Mazda CX-5, Mazda Mazda3, Toyota Avalon Hybrid, Toyota Highlander Hybrid, and the Toyota Prius v. 

 If you are looking to buy a new car, you can use this calculator to find out just how much money you’re going to save by switching.

Top Notch Ideas To Help You Keep Your Business Budget Going

As a business owner, controlling your budget is a major challenge. It is also something that will play a vital role in the success of your business. In fact, many business experts will tell you that optimizing your budget is the key to long term success. 

The problem with doing so, however, is that it takes a great deal of time, knowledge, and proper use of resources to ensure that your budget is optimized. Most business owners don’t have the luxury of an infinite amount of time and money to commit to marketing, product/service improvement, and hiring of new employees. 

In order to succeed, you need to find ways to ensure that your business thrives even without a substantial budget. To help you with this, here are some top notch ideas to help you keep your business budget going.

1. Focus On Optimizing Your Marketing Budget First

In order to generate revenue, you obviously have to bring customers into your business. In order to bring customers into your business, you have to have a strong marketing plan. If you don’t market successfully and bring customers into your business, you won’t be around for long. 

With this in mind, your first goal should be to optimize your marketing budget. To do this, you must find the marketing channels that offer the highest return on investment. 

According to Econsultancy, email marketing currently provides the highest ROI for businesses. 

As you can see, email marketing is followed closely by SEO. Content marketing and pay-per-click advertising also rank high in the minds of many companies. 

Hundreds of books have been written on the topic of online and offline marketing, so it would be silly to delve into it further here. You can find several digital marketing guides and other resources online that should help you get started with finding the right methods and optimizing your marketing budget. 

The exact marketing methods that you utilize will depend on your target market and the unique strengths of you and your employees. No matter what methods you end up going with, the important part is that you have a plan in place to optimize them.

2. Find Ways to Expand Your Budget

Sometimes, the best way to keep your business budget going is to find ways to expand it. If doing so enables your business to generate more revenue, you can use that revenue to continually expand your budget in the future. 

If you’re in need of fast cash for your business, one of the best options is to find a reliable loan service. While there are several out there to choose from, it is important that you do your homework to determine which ones offer the best interest rates while also enabling you to gain approval and receive your money quickly. 

In some cases, you may also be eligible for government grants. While there is a lot of paperwork involved in applying for a grant, it is obviously well worth it if you end up getting approved.

3. Network and Partner With Influencers In Your Industry

One of the easiest ways to fast track yourself to success, even on a tight budget, is to partner with influencers within your industry. 

This is especially true if you are able to put yourself in a position where you are able to partner with social influencers, as they will likely have an audience of consumers that is ready to buy. The problem with this option is that, while it generally doesn’t require any money, it will require a great deal of creativity on your part in order to get them to agree to a partnership. 

It will also require patience and persistence as most influencers will not be willing to partner with you unless they’re convinced that it is beneficial to them and their brand. While controlling and optimizing your business’ budget is a huge challenge, it is not impossible. 

By utilizing the ideas listed above, you should be able to set yourself up to keep your business budget going no matter what stage your business is currently in.

Only You Can Define Success

A few years ago, I was offered a promotion. A much more prestigious position, and a significant raise. I anguished about the decision to accept or not for about a week. The fact that I didn’t want it was distressing to me. 

I felt it was my duty to accept this mark of success. I felt like it was ungrateful to turn it down. It felt like a betrayal of my potential to shun an opportunity to rise.

I turned it down. I helped train the outside hire that they found for the position. Then, a couple months later, I quit the job and used my savings to go travel. 

And I don’t regret it a bit. Because in the end, succeeding at something that you don’t want is NOT success.

Since then, I’ve learned that my story isn’t unique--not at all. More and more, people are finding that the classic definition of success just isn’t fitting. 

It’s not providing the fulfillment and satisfaction that we were told it would. 

The Third Metric

Arianna Huffington, co-founder and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post, says, “We need a Third Metric… a third measure of success that goes beyond the two metrics of money and power.” 

She points out widespread work burnout and dissatisfaction, along with the famously miserable lives of celebs and billionaires as evidence that our society is obsessed with pursuing the wrong things.

The problem with promoting just one narrow view of success is that different people have different values. The goals of the past aren’t working for our increasingly diversified workforce anymore. 

Many women are finding that the male-defined standards of success just don’t match their needs, and the rising workforce of millennials are thinking outside of the box, looking for different paths to fulfillment.

Defining Success

The dictionary has two definitions of success: (1) the acquisition of wealth, power, and in some cases, fame. (2) The achievement of a defined goal. We’ve already pointed out that the first definition needs tweaking, but I’ll throw my weight behind the second. 

The problem, of course, is deciding what that goal should be. After all, the only thing worse than pursuing empty dreams is not working towards any goal at all, and sitting dead in the water, frozen by indecision.

So, to get you started on the right path, I’ve thought out four steps to help you come to your own personal definition of success:

1. Banish Fear

While fear can sometimes work as a powerful motivator, fear of the wrong things can cripple us. Fear of social scorn can keep us from those things that we love the most. Fear of disappointing others may box us into externally-defined goals. Fear of failure is often the thing that hold us back. 

But, as Thomas J. Watson said, the formula for success is simple: “Double your rate of failure. You are thinking of failure as the enemy of success. But it isn't at all. You can be discouraged by failure or you can learn from it, so go ahead and make mistakes.” 

2. Ask Yourself Some Soul-Searching Questions

• If you had all the money and power and fame that you could possibly want already… what would you do with your time and talents? As Oprah says, “You know you are on the road to success if you would do your job, and not be paid for it.” That’s how you find something that isn’t the means to the end, but rather, the end itself. 
• What do you want to be remembered for? Stephen Covey, author of the groundbreaking Seven Habits of Highly Effective People said, “If you carefully consider what you want to be said of you in the funeral experience, you will find your definition of success.” What is the legacy that you want to leave behind?
• Where do you find flow? Flow is a state of mind comparable to meditation and even bliss. It’s what happens when we are completely immersed in an activity, utterly self-motivated and in-the-moment. You might call it being “in the zone.” Where’s that place for you? What if you could make it your life’s work? 
• What strengths do you have to contribute to the world? The dilemma of talent versus passion is a judgment call that all of us must make when defining success for ourselves. Is success found in simply doing what we do best? Or in doing what we love most? The secret is that for many people, talents and passions often align. So learning where your talents lie can be an important step in finding success. Since we tend to be blind about our own strengths and weaknesses, sometimes learning your true talents takes a series of honest discussions with your loved ones and peers. 

3. Do the Time

One of the biggest mistakes that we make is not laying the groundwork for success. As Steve Jobs says, “If you look closely, most overnight successes took a long time.” 

While money and power are inaccurate gauges of success, they can be the enablers that give us the freedom to pursue our true purpose. If your true goal is to raise your children in a stable, happy home, you’ll need the means to support them, and time to spend with them. 

If your goal is to start an organization that finds solutions for local hunger, it might take some time gaining experience, funds, and industry contacts in order to make it happen. It might even take a few failed attempts.

The point is that when you have a goal in mind that you’re journeying towards, those failures pale. The daily grind can become a joy because it serves a higher purpose.

Now, you may come to a point where your goals and personal definition of success have to be re-evaluated. While you should never compromise your definition, it will change and grow as you do. 

So be honest and don’t be afraid to re-calibrate. In the end, only you can determine whether or not you are a success.

4. Be Grateful

There’s one more thing that I want to say about success before I go: sometimes success is built up of those things that we already have. 

The ability to pursue success instead of simply survival is a luxury for which you should be grateful. Richness is not a measure of how much money you have, but how much you are grateful to have. 

You may find that the thing that your neighbor has been questing for their whole life--for example, a place to call home--is something that you already have.