Downsize and Save Money: Retire in Biloxi!

The kids have grown up and (hopefully) moved out, and now it's just you and your spouse. Rambling around a five-bedroom homestead seems pretty pointless, especially if it involves climbing a bunch of stairs. Have you considered downsizing?

Many retirees are trading in their family-sized homes for a more manageable apartment in an affordable area. According to GulfCoast.org, every year 700,000 retirees relocate in an effort to cut the costs of living and reap the benefits of a more comfortable climate. Selling your home enables you to rent a more affordable apartment, and apartment-dwelling requires far less maintenance than homeownership. This makes everyday life more manageable and gives you more time to concentrate on the serious business of retirement.

Biloxi is Lovely

Property values in the northeast have skyrocketed, leading many retirees to move to other parts of the country that have lower cost-of-living expenses. CNN.com reported that moving to a less expensive area can save retirees up to 15 percent of their retirement income. Where to Retire magazine recently selected Biloxi, Miss., as one of the top places for retirees, due to its warm climate, low taxes and affordable living spaces. Biloxi apartments are well-designed, located near a lovely seaport and close to many exciting attractions and casinos. Editor of Where to Retire Magazine, Mary Lu Abbott, says Biloxi's low cost of living, affordable homes and low taxes, has attracted more retirees. Biloxi is a rich city that includes, luxury four-season locations and mountain/desert reserves.

Attractions in the Area

Biloxi's beaches and landmarks are wonderful places to spend the day, whether it's to retreat from the world or see something new. If jumping into the fray is more for you, there are many casinos and resort spas that feature great deals for seniors. Boomtown and Isle of Capri casinos offer special packages for golfers and spa visitors and fun things to do when the grandkids come for a visit. Make sure to bring little ones to the Boomtown Bakery & General Store for a cupcake – you can hit the slot machines while you're there, too.

Biloxi has a variety of historic places to investigate either on your own or when family is in town. Try taking them to the Biloxi Lighthouse or on a Ship Island excursion. There are guided tours that combine relaxation, recreation and history.

Old-Style Restaurants

For a traditional take on cuisine, Mary Mahoney's Old French House in Biloxi has delicious seafood. This restaurant was established in 1964 in a Colonial-Era home, and locals tout the imperial half lobster as unrivaled in its exquisiteness. McElroy's on the Bayou in Ocean Springs offers a genuine taste of the South; try the crab-stuffed jalapenos and seafood gumbo, topped off with a beignet sprinkled with powdered sugar.

Relocating in retirement can be a rejuvenating and life-affirming experience, especially when you're saving money, meeting new people and visiting new places. Plus, the gulf coast is begging you to take a walk and admire Biloxi's sunset. Maybe it's time to say hello to a new and exciting life of retirement in Biloxi.

What is Emergency Section 8 Housing?

T (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If you are going to apply for emergency Section 8 housing, also known as the Housing Choice Voucher Program, you need to follow specific steps as making mistakes can cause problems. In fact, one of the reasons why applications get held up has to do with mistakes with the process. 

Find the Local PHA

The first thing you should do is look for the local public housing authority (PHA) in the city you are living in or plan to live in. If you do not have access to the Internet, you can look in the yellow pages for the federal or local HUD (Housing and Urban Development). If you have not yet made up your mind as to which state to go to, then go to the federal HUD website and choose one of the states there.

Once you have made up your mind and decided on the HUD, you need to check if the HUD offers special treatment or preferential treatment. Local HUDs usually have priorities; for instance, some HUDs will give preference to families and individuals that are homeless, victims of domestic violence, have small children, live in substandard homes, and paying more than 50% of their monthly earning for rent.

Other circumstances that might lead to preferential treatment are being forced out of your former home due to a natural disaster, government action, fire and other reasons that are beyond the control of the tenants.

If your family falls in any of these circumstances, then you can expect to get some sort of preferential treatment. In all likelihood you will be moved up from the waiting list increasing your chances of getting the next available voucher.

Section 8 Apartments and Vouchers

While you are on the website of your local HUD, you can find a list of apartments and houses that are under the Section 8 program. You can search by state, city, county or enter your zip code. In addition, you can search for units that allow animals, designed for the elderly or disabled as well as by the number of bedrooms.

Of course before you can take part in the Section 8 program, you have to get a Housing Choice Voucher or Section 8 form. You can obtain this from the HUD website or your local PHA. It is very important that the form is filled with the correct formation. For this reason, you need to read the form carefully.

You can fill the form up online or by getting one from the main office. After you have completed the form you just need to submit it. Before you do, make sure you have all the pertinent documents and IDs required by the government. 

Wait for the Response

The next step is to wait for the response. If it seems to be taking a long time, you can get a status update by calling your local housing agency. As stated earlier, under special circumstances, preferential treatment will be afforded under certain conditions. If you do not fall under any of those categories, you may have to wait several months to get a voucher.

If you are approved, you will receive a voucher. This is what you will use for the rent agreement between you and the apartment you chose. Aside from your agreement with landlord, the property owner will also sign an agreement with HUD.

Bio: Eric Morgan is a freelance writer with more than 16 years experience writing and researching the government housing program. Aside from writing, Morgan is also a part time photographer and baseball enthusiast. He is presently living in Beltsville, Maryland. He also writes for http://www.section8application.org/

5 Ways to Stay on Top of Your Finances in 2013

Finance (Photo credit: Tax Credits)

When you’ve got a family, house, car and everything else to pay for, your finances can often feel stretched. Sometimes it can be hard to pay the bills and still have enough money left for buying food, clothes and all the other things you need around the home. Everyone deals with their finances in their own way, but there are a number of methods that you can implement yourself if you are feeling bogged down by all of the bills. Here are my own tips for staying on top of your finances in 2013... 

Speak to your suppliers

One of the first things you could do would be to speak to your current suppliers of water, electricity, gas, etc. This is so you can discuss other payment schedules and tariffs that might be more suited to your current situation. If you’ve just had a large bill come through the door, the best thing you can do is speak to your supplier as quickly as possible to come up with an arrangement instead of hiding the letter and pretending it doesn’t exist. You don’t want your essential services to get cut off when you need them each and every day. 

Cut out unessential services

If you are currently paying for services you just don’t need, it might be time to call them up and cancel, or where applicable, cancel direct debits that are set up to take payment from you automatically each month. Types of services this might include could be bolt on packages to your satellite or fibre optic television subscription, music streaming or even various insurance policies than you no longer require. Have a good look at your bank statement to see where you can make quick changes. 

Change your supermarket

Another change you can make is to start shopping at a different supermarket each week. You can use online price comparison sites to compare the costs of a basket of groceries from one store to the next - in many of these, Asda comes out as the cheapest of the main supermarkets but you can find deals at economy shops such as Lidl and Aldi too.

Make more money

If these changes aren’t making much difference to your personal economic outlook, you might need to make more money instead. There are so many new things to try, such as simply looking for a higher wage job, asking for a pay rise, or starting up your own business on the side of your current job. 

Seek further advice

You should be able to seek further debt advice from free services online and in your local area. This could help you from getting into debt, stopping you from getting into more debt, or even to how to get out of it. Sharing your worries can take some of the stress off your shoulders, and they should be able to give you additional tips to help day-to-day.

About the author

Lewis McKinross is a financial blogger based in the UK. He often writes about debt advice and other money saving tips.

Bankruptcy Is Not the Only Way to Fix Your Credit Problems

Wipe our Debt (Photo credit: Images_of_Money)

Many people mistakenly believe that bankruptcy is their only option once they get into deep financial trouble. There is an entire industry of bankruptcy lawyers, auctioneers, real estate vultures and bankers who would have you believe this; however, the truth is that you have many other credit repair options. 

Bankruptcy should be a last resort - a little research will prove that you can find a better solution without all of the negative long term financial ramifications. The first step is to determine the best professional help that you can get in your area. 

For instance, funnewjersey.com has a listing of the top ten credit repair companies in its area. Borrowers who are in trouble can go directly to those listings for a choice of reputable companies with years of experience helping people out of debt. 

After choosing a company, a borrower will be able to pick between the different sorts of plans that company has available. Most companies have a variety of plans including debt management, debt consolidation and professional budget accounting services. 

Determining the best course of action is a shared effort between you and the debt relief company. New Jersey is no place to live if you are in debt. 

Find and contact a professional debt company today and give yourself the leverage that you need to get back on your financial feet.

Tips to Find the Right Insurance for your Car

There are many factors that go into finding the best insurance plan for your vehicle. It’s not always the best idea to simply go for the cheapest insurance plan because in the long run, you may actually end up paying more money. As any truck crash lawyer will explain, if you don’t choose wisely, you may have to cover for more expenses than you bargained for in case of an accident. 

Therefore, make sure you go through the various factors involved and have full knowledge of the details before finalising on an insurance policy. 

Check the value of your car: Depending upon the value of your vehicle, your insurance would vary. If you have an expensive car, you would want to get a more complete or comprehensive plan that would cover incidents such as theft, vandalism, fire etc. However, if you don’t have a very expensive car, you may not need a very comprehensive plan which can run more than the actual value of the vehicle.

Keep your record clean: While you can’t possibly go back in time and change your driving history, it’s always a good idea to keep in mind that you insurance premium will depend upon your driving history. This is because if you don’t have a history of accidents, there is less possibility of your being involved in an accident due to negligence, and therefore you are less likely to file a claim. So not only do you steer clear of any truck crash lawyer by driving carefully, you are likely to get a discount on your insurance premium as well!

Avoid adding other people on your plan: The more drivers you add to your policy, the more expensive your premium is likely to get. In order to avoid this, try and keep this number to a minimal low. Include only those people in your family who absolutely must drive the vehicle separately. This is because the more the number of people drives the car, the more chances there are of an accident and therefore the more likely you are of filing for a claim. 

Keep the embellishments to a minimum: Believe it or not, the more customizations you do to your car, whether it’s fancy alloy wheels or expensive stereo systems, the higher your premium amount is likely to go up. As any good truck crash lawyer can vouch for, these are probably some of the lesser known facts about car insurance premium prices. However, if you do have expensive customizations in place and you have an expensive car, it’ probably a better idea to go for a full cover plan.

These and various other factors are involved in deciding the best insurance plan for your car. If you ask any truck crash lawyer, they’ll tell you to look for a plan that will give you sufficient coverage and not just the cheapest premium, because if you compare the amount of money you’ll have to pay in case of accident, you’ll probably end up saving money if you had invested wisely in your insurance policy.

Kristen is a freelance writer who writes on different topics such as finance, insurance and business. She holds bachelor’s degree in electronics. Her famous articles includes article on truck crash lawyer. She loves to travel and make new friends.

5 Online Marketing Tools for your Business

Marketing in the business field is the most important thing and especially in the current technological era, online marketing is getting famous as the internet users are increasing day by day. There are a number of tools available to promote your business online on different platforms. The list of 5 most popular marketing online tools is given below. 

Website:

This is the most essential tool among other online tools for marketing. For all the online viewers your website represents your company. While making the website you should make sure that it should be able to transform the visitors of the website to the customers of the company. You should also make sure that your site is attractive and easy to understand, so there wouldn’t be any problem for customers to sign up for the site or to order something or to purchase something. 

SEO:

Its full form is Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and it needs continuous and good efforts along with the good knowledge to achieve the estimated results. The SEO also provides the guide for beginners to SEO which helps you to develop a sense about the basics and also guide you to determine if want to tackle the thing yourself or you want to outsource your SEO. 

PPC:

Popularly known as Pat Per Click (PPC) is a type of advertising. It is the best platform to promote your company on different websites. Showing ads ta right time so that the right people can see it can help you to increase your customers. To famous platform for this kind of online tools is Google Adwords. With help of this you only have to pay for every click on your advertisement. 

Social Media:

In current time social networking sites are popular than ever before. Promoting your company on Facebook or Twitter can be very useful for the company. These both are different social platform which has their own kind of audiences. With this you can do marketing in a very different way as its feeds reaches to particular audience which you choose. But there are some things you have to keep in mind doing this like to connect only with related people, you must provide good content, maintain a good and healthy relationship with the customers and the feedbacks. With Facebook for Business and Twitter for Business you can promote your company. In recent times social media has become an important marketing tool in comparison with other online tools. 

Analytics:

Analytics is the main part which affects the feedbacks. Without it your efforts in online marketing is just an estimating game. The most popular platform for this is Google Analytics. It will let you know about all the sources on the internet which are bringing you the web traffic to your website. It also reviews about the most popular pages on your site among viewers and what are their comments about your products or offers or how your campaigns are acting on the world and many more facilities. This data can help you greatly to the things on which you would want to focus and invest. That’s how you get the best to use of different online tools.

Author’s Bio Austin Richard is an IT professional from Pass Certification. It provides you 100% 70-291 exams. Let’s take benefit of 70-647 Exams material efficiently and get guaranteed success. Check out free demo of all certifications Exam.