3 Belongings to Sell for Extra Cash in Your Later Years

As much as we want to hold on to every possession we’ve ever had, it’s not always the most practical. Things will pile up, and only become a burden to move as you become less able. It’s hard to part with our most prized material possessions. 

We’ve all seen the episodes of Hoarders where people have useless junk stacked up. But, for many of them, they come out much freer in the end, and sometimes even wind up with a few extra bucks in their pocket. 

If you want to free up space, and get some extra money to help you with the bills, or even just to get new stuff and freshen up your life, here are some great places to start.

The Old Pickup

While it may be nice, and it may have gotten all your stuff moved without needing to fetch a Uhaul, selling your pickup might be a good idea to get some extra money. 

If you’ve settled down in your home permanently and don’t see a move coming up, then having a pickup truck may not always be the most practical thing. 

They’re often worth a good amount more than a car of equal longevity, so if you do still want to drive, you can put that difference back into your pocket, or even get yourself something a bit newer to make sure you’re not running your main mode of transportation to the ground.

As you’re reading this, you’ve probably got a lot of questions, but thanks to the internet, you can easily answer the big one: “how much is my truck worth?” There are tons of ways you can sell though. 

You can sell to a dealership if you’re looking for that new car, you can sell to your son or any other relatives if you want to keep it in the family (and visit it during the holidays). There’s also the option of selling online. 

Sites like Craigslist are huge marketplaces for cars and trucks, but it’s not always the most reliable. 

DamagedCars.com specializes in buying cars in less than perfect condition though, making it much safer for the seller.

If you are in the market for that new car though, and don’t want to go through the hassle of getting low balled at the dealership, get your finances organized for car buying.

Your Old Clothes

If you’ve got any hip teenagers or twenty-somethings in your family, you’ve probably seen them wearing styles that you thought were long gone. Fringe jackets, glasses on a chain, even bell bottoms and disco shoes. 

Kids are loving all the retro styles. It’s completely on trend for them these days. As much as you probably want to break out those old pants that don’t fit anymore, just to squeeze in them and reminisce, you might be able to make some money off them instead.



There’s plenty of consignment shops you can go to, but instead of having to leave the house, and have your parting moments with your favorite pieces in public, you can learn how to sell clothes online. 

It’s incredibly easy and you barely have to lift a finger. Most people are just finding bargains at thrift stores and reselling them, but you’ve already got a hoard of the real deal. 

This puts you ahead of the game, a game that some people are already making a living off. So, bust open the closet, free some space, and get yourself some extra funds that can fill that closet back up with new clothes.

Records

You may not believe it, but records made a comeback. The younger generation is once again picking up on that retro vibe, and you’ve probably got a collection that puts you at an advantage. 

They see records as more authentic way to listen to the music they love, even for modern music, that for the most part, only gets a very limited vinyl release. A lot of kids just love the old records though. 

You’ve probably got Fleetwood Mac’s Rumors lying around somewhere and you wouldn’t believe how many kids would jump at that one these days.

It’s not too hard to sell either. There are plenty of online marketplaces you can use, and Ebay wouldn’t even be a bad start. Vintage stores are always looking for this kind of thing though, and most record shops would certainly want to have that kind of product in their storefront. 

Records are more sought out than you might have expected 20 or 30 years ago, but now they’re proving to have been quite the investment.

What's the Most Reliable Luxury Car On The Market?

All too often, when we are shopping for a luxury vehicle, we don't place enough importance on the reliability. We look at all of the extra features that come with the car, like heated seats or Bluetooth connectivity. 

But if you have ever broken down on the side of the road, you know how much of a hassle it is. Suddenly you are stuck in the middle of nowhere, with large car repair bills in your future. If you had taken some more time during the shopping to consider reliability, you might not be in this situation.

So if you're in the market for a new car, and you want something that is reliable yet luxurious, start your search with one of the cars listed below. Each one received good grades when it comes to reliability, and doesn't sacrifice any of the luxury components you're looking for.

The BMW 2 Series

When you get something with the letters BMW on it, you know you are getting something that drives well. The 2 series is no different, and offers drivers a great ride with fast acceleration and excellent fuel economy. 

But this car is also reliable, with J.D. Power giving it 5/5 stars for dependability. You can't do much better than that, and you won't have to sacrifice ride quality. The BMW 2 Series has an MSRP of around $34,000.

The Audi A7

For those of you who want a little more room inside the cabin, consider the Audi A7. This large luxury car offers plenty of cargo space, and room for your taller passengers. 

J.D Power gives this car a 4.5/5 in terms of reliability, which is better than most cars, especially luxury cars. The price tag is pretty high on this one, compared to the other cars on this list, starting at $68,000. 



But if you want large luxury car with the best performance, and an excellent reliability rating, this is certainly a car to consider.

The Lexus ES

This Lexus model is a lot like other Lexus models that have come before it – it puts an emphasis on ride quality. This shows in both the design of the cabin, and the ride quality. 

You can be sure you're getting a smooth ride inside an Lexus, and the ES model is no different. But with this model, you are also getting a car that is reliable. J.D. Power gave it excellent marks for both dependability and quality, and it even got a recommendation from Consumer Reports because of its reliability. The base model starts at $39,895.

Acura ILX

For something a little cheaper, consider the gateway model from Acura, the ILX. With this car you get all of the amenities you've come to expect from a luxury car, along with a spacious cabin and a smooth ride. 

Both Consumer Reports and J.D. Power praised this model for its dependability, and it has a base cost of $28,940, making it a little more affordable compared against some of the other cars on this list.

Lexus GS

Another Lexus, this model is very similar to the ES, but nicer. This is one well put together car, and it shows once you step inside. Just like with any other Lexus, you are treated to great performance, a smooth ride, a spacious and well-designed cabin, and in the case of the GS, dependability. 

Both J.D. Power and Consumer reports gave this car an excellent score when it comes to dependability, so you can't go wrong with this model, which starts at $47,305.

Mercedes Benz E-Class

One word comes to mind when you look at the Mercedes Benz E-Class – elegant. The Germans know how to make a good car, and it shows in this newest Mercedes Benz model. 

Inside is everything you want out of a luxury car, but with the added bonus of being reliable as well. The base cost for this model is $53,075, which makes it more expensive than the other cars on this list, but in this case, you are absolutely getting what you pay for.

Make Reliability a Priority

When shopping for your next car, don't overlook how reliable the car is. You might have a trusted source that you go to for car repair, and some excellent car insurance, but that doesn't mean you want to use them all the time. 

Instead, it would be better if your car remained on the road, and that you only took your car in for repairs infrequently. By going with one of the cars on the above list, you are getting a car that has been rated highly for dependability and reliability. 

This will hopefully end up saving you more money in the long run, and make you happier with your purchase.

4 Keys to Saving Big on Home Energy Costs

Everybody likes to save money, but sometimes, there are ways it can be done that many of us just may not be aware of. Like clipping coupons, lowering home energy costs are a great way to start, except unlike coupons, it doesn’t limit you to only buying things you probably didn’t need in the first place.

We all require energy to run our homes, it’s a cost of living we pay regardless—so why not explore some ways to save money in this area?

Make Sure All of Your Appliances Are Being Properly Maintained

Whether it be something as simple as cleaning out the lint trap of the dryer after every use (it sucks up more electricity if the lint trap is full while running) or opening south-facing window blinds in the daytime to let the sun bring in some warmth during the winter, every little thing counts.

But one of the most important appliances in your home—especially during the winter—is the furnace. If your furnace is damaged or dirty in any way, it can not only have a negative effect on its performance, but it will also cost you more money to have it on.

As we approach the colder months this season, consider having your furnace looked at by a professional from businesses like Logan A/C & Heat Services Inc. to determine everything is in good shape. It will save you money in the long run.

Invest in Appliances that Use Less Energy

Appliances today are now designed to consume less energy than ever before, so if you have a clunky old refrigerator or washing machine that just won’t quit, you might do your energy bill a favor by swapping it out for something new.

Most appliance stores will also be able to tell you about Energy Star-certified appliances; with the exception of stoves and dryers because they still consume large amounts of electricity, the majority of new dishwashers, refrigerators, and washing machines not only cost less to run in your home. 

You may even get a tax break for using them if they are Energy Star-certified.

Unplug Wall Chargers When You Aren’t Using Them

This includes phone chargers, laptop/tablet chargers, chargers to children’s toys, and even blow dryers and hair straighteners. 



Even if the device isn’t on, it is still consuming what is sometimes referred to as “vampire energy”. This is a quick and easy step to take if you’re serious about saving on energy costs.

Seal All Openings in Your Home

Just like the furnace, you should always make sure your thermostat is also updated. But if there are pockets of air where heat can escape around your doors and windows, appliances will only do so much. 

Be vigilant about maintaining your home! Check the attic and the basement, where drafts are most common.

Making your home as energy efficient as possible is a great way to save money long term. Don’t miss out on these easily overlooked efficiency solutions.

Business Debt Settlement - The Nitty-Gritty You Cannot Afford To Miss

If you are facing difficulties repaying individuals and organizations whom you owe money as an entrepreneur of a small business establishment, then debt settlement can turn out to be a viable solution for you. 

It refers to a process where you sit across the table with your lenders to negotiate reconsidering the existing terms of your outstanding contractual liabilities with them. 

During the discussions, you ask them whether they can accept the lump-sum repayment of a certain percentage of your debts that they consider as severely delinquent and write off the rest. 

This can go a long way in maintaining your creditworthiness in the marketplace as a reliable businessperson.

When you consistently fail to make timely repayments on your contractual obligations, your creditors may be willing to be lenient on you. 

Being businesspeople themselves, they are usually ready to accept an agreement that allows you to make a one-time lump-sum payment for the entire amount of money you owe them. 

This is because they are aware that in the worst-case scenario, they may not receive any form of payment at all if you can apply for bankruptcy. You should note such negotiations usually are never easy for any entrepreneur in your situation. 

However, such lenders hold the view that receiving a payment of 80% of the total amount of money you owe them and writing off the remainder is a viable option. 

Unfortunately, such creditors will not negotiate such terms if you make timely payments on the amounts you owe them.

What happens when you hire a debt settlement company?

You can opt to hire the services of a company that specializes in debt settlement to carry out the discussions with your creditors on your behalf. 

 You need to pay a reasonable sum of money to them to arrive at an agreement, which is acceptable to you and your lenders. The officials of such a corporate enterprise tell you to stop making repayments to your creditors and start depositing this money into an escrow account they set up for this purpose. 

They use the sum of money that accumulates in this account to make the one-time payment to your lenders for the outstanding debts you owe them.

In the initial stages, which may spread over a period of several months, you may notice that most of the money you pay to this organization is towards fees. This amount could exceed a total of a thousand dollars before money starts to accumulate in the separate account to repay your creditors. 

You need to remember that the outstanding amount you owe your lenders also grows as they begin to charge interest and penalties for late payments. If the situation further deteriorates, your lenders may even consider taking you to court for failing to repay your contractual obligations to them on time. 

This can also hurt your creditworthiness and reputation in the marketplace. Even if you do reach a settlement with your creditor, you have to pay taxes to the internal revenue service(IRS) on the amount of your debt they write-off.

When you opt to go down this road, you need to provide the business debt settlement company with the name of all creditors and the outstanding sums of money you owe them. 

The officials of this corporate enterprise then give an approximate estimate of the monthly installments you have to make to them at a lower rate of interest. As soon as the amount accumulates to a reasonable sum, which usually after paying the fifth installment, they contact your creditors to begin negotiations.

This is for reaching an agreement on the lump sum payment you have to make towards your outstanding debts to such lenders and the percentage they are willing to write-off.

Debt consolidation loans

Most companies specializing in this field of business usually advise you to opt for a debt consolidation loan. Under this scheme, you may combine all your many contractual obligations of creditors that are outstanding till date into one single loan. 

This debt allows you to make a single monthly installment payment rather than many. In addition to this, it carries a lower rate of interest than the previous ones. Banks, various credit unions, and similar financial organizations offer their customers this mode of debt settlement. Its advantages of this form of debt settlement are as follows:

1. Single payment

Under a debt consolidation loan, you convert all your many outstanding contractual obligations into one. You also make a single monthly installment payment for such a debt. This relieves you of the tension of having to remember of deadlines for making loan payments.

2. Lower rates of interest

Such loans carry a lower rate of interest than other forms of debt settlement options. This implies that you can save a considerable amount of money on interest payments. This is beneficial for entrepreneurs who have trouble repaying their business credit card dues and other contractual obligations on time.

3. Put an end to collection calls

When you have some outstanding dues that you owe to your suppliers, you usually fall behind in making timely repayments. If this trend continues over an extended period, your creditors have no option but to hire the services of a reliable collection agency. 

Once this happens, you start receiving phones from the officials of such organization asking you to make your payments on time. However, you can put an end to such harassment by opting to combine all your minor contractual obligations into a single debt consolidation loan.

4. Credit scores

If you are not repaying the monthly installments on your debts on time, it can adversely affect your creditworthiness. This can give you a bad reputation in the marketplace. However, if you decide to opt for a debt consolidation loan, you only have to make one timely monthly installment payment, which boosts your creditworthiness.

Settlement options like debt consolidation loans can go a long way in saving your business from bankruptcy as the above advantages go to show. Moreover, you will also be improving your relations with your creditors in the long-run.

Author Bio: Karen is a Business Tech Analyst. She is very responsible towards her job. She loves to share her knowledge and experience with her friends and colleagues.

How Teens Can Organize Their Finances for Essential Expenses

Teens who learn to manage their money will reap the benefits of financial stability, goal attainment, and monetary self-control. There are many life skills to teach a youth, but financial responsibility is one of those skills that needs to be taught, not only by academic knowledge, but by example.

Create a Budget

No matter how much money a teen has to spend, a clear understanding of what their expenses are is necessary. A written budget is a great tool to use for itemizing necessary and discretionary expenditures. 

When this information is in written form, there is more awareness of which expenses are truly valid and which are too extravagant for a teen’s budget. The method used to prepare a budget can be computerized, as a basic spreadsheet, or in a more simplistic way, as a handwritten list.

Shop Wisely

If a teen looks hard enough, there are usually lower prices for the products and services that a teenager spends their money on. Brand loyalty can be sabotaging to a limited income so buying less advertised, and less popular items becomes a better way to stay within their budget. 

Comparative shopping may take a little extra time, but a wise consumer, even a less seasoned one, should not want to squander their money. This can be one of their first lessons in developing an eye for quality and fair pricing.

Buy an Automobile

When a teenager purchases a car, this is one of their first steps toward independence, and learning the value of setting financial goals. 

Teaching a teen to save money for a car is a lesson that requires emphasis of patience, perseverance, and accomplishment. A teen’s budget that includes provision for saving, will be the starting point for buying a car. 

Some companies, such as Bay Ridge Nissan, know that setting a monetary goal like this is crucial. When the lesson of spending less, and saving more becomes a habit, a teen will begin to master the skill of reaching important goals in their life.

Document Spending

A budget is not effective if there are no records to show spending transactions. Again, a valuable lesson for teens is to be disciplined enough to keep a money log. This written account of their expenditures will be a wake-up call to them if they are being careless with their funds.

Teenagers will grow up to be fiscally responsible adults if they receive early guidance about saving and spending money. Our society will prosper if our younger citizens accept their financial obligations, and create monetary stability for themselves and their future families.

4 Mistakes to Avoid While Web Designing for Your Financial Services Business

You need to think about responsive web design when it comes to your financial services business. While thinking in terms of website design ideas for your financial services website, you must consider your brand and all precise and unique website requirements for your business.

When potential clients would be hunting for a finance company to manage their finances, obviously, they would be expecting the company to be reputable, reliable, organized, innovative, and definitely, hardcore professional.

When all these characteristics are added together and translated into your web design, it would generally lead to a complete clean edge, orderly appearance, bright and colorful. 

You need to be alert while designing the website for your finance business and avoid some of the usual mistakes. Here are some common web design mistakes people tend to make all the time.

Mistake No.1: Not Designing to Cater to Your Buyer Personas

Before you consider designing your finance company’s website and creating appropriate content for your business website, you must get a clear picture and understand clearly about your buyer personas. 

If you are simply designing your website in whatever way you want without paying attention to the customers, you would soon be ending up with a website that is not capable of generating leads for your finance business. 

To avoid this mistake, it is better to read and understand thoroughly the important buyer information which is relevant to the project.

Mistake No. 2: Not Making Your Financial Services Website Mobile Responsive

The need of the hour is mobile responsiveness, as far as, the website designs are concerned. Your business is involved in debt financing. 

You give loans to your clients at a fixed interest rate to repay their outstanding balances and with a previously determined maturity date. You must understand the consequences if your site is not mobile responsive. 

48 percent of the people believe that if a website was not mobile responsive enough and not working effectively on their smartphones, it was a clear indication that the company did not really care about their clients. 

Your business simply cannot make any progress without a mobile responsive business site.

You may consult a professional web design company and seek their assistance in providing you effective web design solutions so that your business website becomes relatively more user-friendly, intuitive, and mobile responsive.

Mistake No.3: Busy Navigation

The navigation bar would be guiding visitors to your content existing on your business website. 

If navigation is not easy and convenient for people to find the exact information they are looking for, then you need to do some work to spruce up your navigation. The greatest flaw in web designing is disorganized content on your site. 

You must organize your content. There should be only five or even fewer classifications in your navigation. Do not have too many pages as that would make your site look unnecessarily busy.

Mistake No.4: Missing Calls-To-Action

Your website must include a strong call-to-action. You must convey clearly what are your services and tell them how to avail your professional services or see some more information. 

Include your address and phone number and ask visitors to contact you or include a form and ask visitors to fill it up.

Conclusion

As you are thinking in terms of building a new and robust website for financial business, remember that all the rules are flexible and they could be altered slightly but that has to be done not ignorantly but intentionally. 

While marketing your company as a financial services organization, you must focus on portraying the company as reliable and trustworthy. Do not try to be too playful or personal as that could transmit a wrong message and people may think that you are not serious. Keep the above mistakes in mind and stay away from them if you wish to succeed in your financial venture.