Think Ahead: Start Saving for the Holidays Now

As soon as the weather starts to get a little cooler, our minds automatically begin to drift to the holidays. Halloween, Thanksgiving, and of course, Christmas are right around the corner. In fact, they’ll be here before we even know it. Despite the months between now and the end of December, it’s never too early to start planning for the holidays. Why?

We all know that the holidays can get really expensive, really fast. And when you want to be that grandparent--you know, the one that spoils the grandkids silly every chance you get--well, it’s important to deliver on Christmas. One of the best ways to counteract the strain of Christmas costs, is to plan ahead.

Plan out your holiday gifts

It’s really easy to get caught up in the magic of the holiday season, and end up going waaaay over your holiday gift budget. Black friday and all of the holiday sales draw you in, enticing you with promises of sales and savings. 

This doesn’t mean that sales aren’t bad. In fact, it’s the opposite. However, you can’t let yourself get caught up in all of the sales. 

The best way to counteract that, is to plan out your holiday gifts ahead of time, before you even go shopping. 

This doesn’t have to mean planning out each individual gift, although it can if that’s what works best for you. 

Instead, you can plan out categories. You know you’ll get your daughter a doll, 2 items of clothing, a new game, and a book. Then, when you get to the store, only get those things you already decided you’d get.

Quality over quantity

One of the biggest frustrations as a parent is to see your child discard and ignore their Christmas gifts just a few short days after receiving them. The excitement of the holiday makes them excited for their gifts, but it often doesn’t take too long for these new toys to be forgotten. 




It’s frustrating to see the dozens of toys you got them, and spent money on, collecting dust and going unused. One of the best ways to fix this problem, is to be more mindful of the gifts you get your children and to get them less gifts. Instead of 5 small toys, get them 1 item they’ve really been wanting. 

Especially if this is something they are passionate about, and they can use for years to come. 

It may be more expensive, but it’s something that will last a lot longer, bring them joy years to come, and ensure that your money isn’t being wasted. 

Go ahead and buy your child that drum set, the recording equipment, or the expensive art set.

Buy now, gift later

One of the reasons that the holiday season can be so financially crippling, is because all of the extra expenses that go with the holiday all happen at the exact same time. Some of this is simply unavoidable. But if there’s an area where you can redistribute the financial burden, you should. 

One of the best, and safest, ways to do this, is by buying presents early. Before prices inflate for the holidays, head out and grab a few of the gifts you know you’re planning on giving. You can save them away in a high shelf in your closet and wait for the snow and holiday season to arrive before gifting. 

If you have children, a pretty good idea is to plan to buy one or two gifts every time you have to make the trip to the store. This will equate to an extra $20-$50 per trip, rather than having to spend hundreds of dollars on one trip, on the same paycheck. 

By spreading out your gift buying for a few months before the holidays even start, you’ll be saving lots of money, beating the holiday shopping crowds, and keep yourself from getting too stressed out in the new year.

Selling Your Home? 5 Ways to Get the Most Money out of Your House

If you are selling your home, you know how important it is to get the most money out of it. The chances are you want to get, at least, what you’ve put into the home. Ideally, you can sell your home for more than what you bought it for and get some equity out of it. There are a few things you can do to get the most money out of your house.

Create Curb Appeal

First impressions when it comes to selling your home to a potential buyer is very important. A first impression is everything and this is especially true for when you’re trying to sell your home. 

You’ll need to make sure people get the right impression when they first pull up to your home. If they see a home that looks friendly, is clean and well put together, they might be more willing to purchase it.

Finish Any Upgrades

If you’re in the middle of upgrading your home, make sure you finish it. When people put homes for sale, they sometimes don’t finish projects or renovations and that might make it harder to sell the house. 

If you finish making upgrades to your home before you even list it, it will be easier for you to sell it. A finished home will sell faster than one that’s unfinished.

Remove Anything Personal

Even though you love the pictures of your kids lining the wall and your tchotchkes, that doesn’t mean potential buyers will love them. If you remove personal things from your home, a buyer might be better able to see their own life in the space. 



Minimalist is key when you’re trying to sell your home. You want the potential buyers to be able to picture themselves in your home and visualize that it is there house. That is hard to do when they can see all of your personal items throughout the house.

Set the Right Price

Even though you might think your home is worth more because of the things you did to it, that doesn’t mean potential buyers will. Setting your home at the right price for your area and for the type of home it is will help you sell it easier. 

You will need to make sure you and your realtor do market research to figure out the perfect price. You may even want to consider getting your home appraised so that way you know what a competitive price will be on your home on the current market. 

If the price is too high, you will likely have a hard time selling your home, but you don’t want to sell for a price too low as you may not get the money you deserve out of it. Bottom line, you want to make sure you have a competitive price put on your home.

Be Prepared for Buyers

A buyer could stop by to look at the house at any time. Even if you have open houses and times for buyers to come see, they might want to check the house out on their own time. Make sure your house is always ready for a showing and try to keep it as clean as possible.

Whether you want to get out quick or you have some time to sell, getting the most out of your house is important. By following the steps, you will get more out of your home than not. After all, it is about getting the most amount of money out of your home as possible.

Financial Planning: How to Get a Home Insurance Price Quote

Shopping around for home insurance coverage can be enough to make you feel confused and tired to the max. If you want to make the process as simple as possible, however, you should begin by comparing quotes. Getting your hands on home insurance price quotes is a lot easier than you may believe at first.

Work with a Qualified Home Insurance Broker

If the process of searching for a home insurance plan on your own seems like more trouble than it is actually worth, you can do yourself a favor and seek the assistance of a qualified broker. 

Experienced home insurance brokers can help you find price quotes that can assist you with the decision-making process. They can save you effort, stress, and time as well. Look into brokers who are known for diligence.

Turn to the Internet

You can rapidly and easily request a home insurance quote on the Internet. If you want to ask for a quote, you can do so by filling out hassle-free forms online. You can usually initiate the request process by providing your zip code. 




If you’re interested in home insurance price quote information that’s a bit more in-depth, you can try to locate a nearby agent via the Internet as well.

Call Home Insurance Providers Directly

Some people prefer not to have to deal with the Internet. If you’re the kind of person who prefers to talk to a living and breathing human being, you can call insurance providers directly to ask about quotes. 

Once you get a representative on the line, you should be good to go. Answering several questions can in many cases get you a quote that you can completely trust.

Ask Around

The thought alone of trying to find home insurance plans can make many people feel uneasy and exhausted. If you want to secure quotes that are reasonable and that make sense, you should ask fellow homeowners if they have any good suggestions on hand for you. 

This may help you kick things off. It may help you steer clear of providers that may not be the best as well. Patience is always a desirable quality. It doesn’t matter if you’re looking for a renovation company, or for home insurance coverage. 

You need to conduct searches that are detailed, thoughtful, and as comprehensive as possible. If you do so, you should have ample success. Accessing dependable home insurance price quotes is easier than ever.

Best Careers for People Over 50

There was a time when the average person could simply work until retirement age, collect retirement and call it quits. Unfortunately, that’s not the case for a lot of people in today’s economy, which means people who are at or near retirement age are finding creative ways to jump back in the workforce.

If you’re going to work from the time you’re 50 until you’re 65, you may as well choose a good career. At an older age, this means something that isn’t too taxing physically but that provides a good salary and numerous job opportunities. Here are some of the best careers to choose from if you’re over 50.

Writer

When you were a kid, you probably thought of writers and authors as the same thing for the most part. After all, the only other writers in these times wrote for newspapers, magazines and other similar media. 

However, the rise of the internet and the prominence of small-to-medium sized business websites means you can find a career in writing no matter what kind of content interests you.




While writing can be a competitive field to break into, it can be very rewarding once you’ve found a niche that works for you. 

Your best bet is to find a topic that’s both interesting and familiar to you and focus on writing about that; people are always looking for an expert on any topic.

Tech Engineer

As has been the case for quite some time now, just about any career you can find that relates to technology is a good one. We rely on technology for nearly everything we do, and tech engineers are the experts tasked with making sure our technology works the way it should and lasts for a reasonable amount of time.

A tech engineer might work in either production or manufacturing engineering, maintenance, field engineering, technology design, technical supervision, quality control and testing. These jobs are all in relatively high demand, too, which is evident from looking at a tech engineering salary directory.

Finance

Everybody needs to keep their finances in order, from individuals to small and even large businesses. There are numerous careers you can find in finance to make ends meet at an older age, including being an accountant for local businesses in your area or providing personal financial advice to individuals. 

Whatever you choose to do, a career in accounting or finance can be both rewarding and easy to break into as an older worker.

Marketing

A career in marketing or advertising can also be very lucrative for older individuals. This type of work requires you to use your brain and be creative more than anything, so as long as your mind is still sharp you can be a marketing pro at any age. 

This is also a great career because marketing and advertising are a part of every business plan, so you could find yourself working for a small business or a Fortune 500 company with tons of employees. Either way, there will be plenty of benefits.

How to Get a Personal Loan When You Have a Low Salary?

Financial emergencies may crop up unannounced in anybody’s life. At such times, all you want is a hassle-free source of funds to tide over the crisis at hand. The easiest solution lies in availing a Personal Loan. 

But what if you have just begun your career and do not have a handsome pay packet yet? For people facing such a dilemma, a low salary Personal Loan is the answer. So even if you do not draw a very high salary, you can try to apply for a Personal Loan for a 20k salary.

How to get a Personal Loan for low salary

While traditional lenders may shy away from granting low salary Personal Loans, you can apply for a Personal Loan for low salary from other leading, full-range financial service providers. 

For instance, if you are drawing a salary for at least six months you can upload your KYC documents such as Aadhaar card, PAN card or passport, an address proof, your salary slips for the past three months, a passport size photograph and then submit your application.

After document verification, you can be eligible for an instant approval on a Personal Loan in spite of a low salary. Some financial services providers also provide the facility of an instant loan without too many documents.

Collateral-free loan

If you are contemplating applying for a ow salary loan, you have little reason to worry as there is no security or collateral required for such a loan. Further, low salary Loans are instant loans without too many documents and do not require you to provide any security or collateral. Once your eligibility is verified by the bank, the loan amount is disbursed to your account within 24 hours.

Competitive rates of interest

The interest rate on a Personal Loan for a 20k salary varies between 15-24%, with an additional processing fee of 1.5-2%, depending upon your eligibility. You can choose a repayment tenure of 12 to 60 months depending on your convenience. 



With such easy terms and conditions for repayment, a low salary Personal Loan can be a shot in the arm if you are in a financial bind, such as a medical emergency or clearing your debt. It can also come to your aid for a variety of other reasons.

Personal Loan uses

For instance, if there is a wedding in your family or home renovation work, a low salary Personal Loan can come to your aid. You may even take a loan if you have been planning to take a vacation. 

In fact, it is always wiser to take a Personal Loan for a vacation rather than burdening your credit card, as a Personal Loan is a more economical form of credit with the leeway to make repayments over a longer period.

Your credit score matters

While there is no dearth of low salary Personal Loan products, you may need to check your eligibility criteria for such loans. A Personal Loan like any other form of credit is disbursed after a lender is assured of your repayment capabilities. 

One criteria to assess creditworthiness is your credit score, assigned to you by a credit bureau. This is a three-digit score in the range of 300-900, assigned to you based on your credit behaviour or credit repayment patterns.

To avail credit including a Personal Loan for low salary, you need to ensure your credit score is at least 750 and above. A high credit score can be maintained by following basic financial discipline such as timely repayment of your existing credit lines such as credit cards, keeping your credit utilisation (or the amount of credit you use, as against the total credit limit made available) under 30% and not applying for too much credit in quick succession.

Plan your repayment

If your credit score is satisfactory, you can be reasonably sure of accessing a Personal Loan for low salary at competitive rates of interest. You can also check your eligibility for such a loan by using online tools such as a Personal Loan EMI calculator to plan your repayment schedule. Opting for a low salary Loan, can help you to not only take care of your financial need at hand, but enhance your credit as well.

Why You Should Read Your Credit Card Terms and Conditions Carefully

A credit card is a plastic card which helps to buy merchandise on credit and pay for them later on. Credit cards come with enormous benefits like welcome gifts, reward points, cashback etc. 

 You may know all of the advantages the Credit card offers, however you most likely don't know everything about the terms and conditions of credit cards. 

While you may have avoided the information boxes when you applied, you'll get a cardholder agreement after the approval of your credit card application.

In case you are among those who don't read their card's terms and conditions and throw it in the junk without understanding it, you're not the only one. 

This is a major error. A great deal of helpful information is found into the cardholder terms and conditions You must read it carefully before applying for the card. 

Given below points will help you in understanding why you should read your credit card terms and conditions carefully:

Annual Interest Rates

If you always pay all your credit card outstanding bill before the due date and never withdraw cash using a credit card, then interest rates are not that important. But imagine a situation where you are unable to pay your credit card bill on time due to any reason like a medical emergency, you lose your job or any other reason. 




In such a situation interest will be applicable on your credit card outstanding if it is paid after the grace period. So, reading your credit card terms and conditions is important, as it includes details relating to the interest rate applicable.

Grace Period

Grace period refers to the time period between the end date of the billing cycle and your bill due date. During this period, you have to pay all your dues, you will not incur any interest or late payment charges during this period. 

Different cards come with a different grace period. Usually, it is between 18-21 days. So, it's better to read your credit card terms and conditions to avoid any confusion at a later stage.

Minimum Payment

Minimum payment is the amount you pay when don't have sufficient funds to pay the entire credit card bill. Paying minimum amount helps in keeping your credit score unaffected. Read about the minimum amount you are required to pay.

Joining Fees and Annual Fees

There are many credit cards which come with nil joining fees. But after the first year, you are charged an annual fee on it. Reading about different fees and charges applicable is very important. Credit card terms and conditions contain all the required information relating to it.

Welcome Bonus and Reward Points

Credit card issuers offer a host of benefits to all its customers like welcome gifts and bonuses. Then you earn reward points on all your purchases made using a credit card. 

But at a times you can redeem those points only after a fixed minimum level of spending and at select partner stores only. Therefore, reading terms and conditions is important to know the actual benefits attached to the credit card.

Hence, always read your credit card terms and conditions before selecting a card to know the interest rate, annual fees and other charges applicable. Then select a card as per your requirements. You can read terms and conditions, and then apply for a credit card through different online aggregators.

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