Tuesday, February 6, 2018

How to Save Money on Heating Costs during the Cold Winter Months

 It just seems that the weather becomes worse with every winter we experience. The extreme cold temperatures, wild snowstorms, and damaging winds can really affect the size of our heating bills. If you’re looking for ways to save money on heating costs, you’ve come to the right place.

Dress Warm While Inside


You may be tempted to increase the heat in your home by turning up your thermostat. This will heat up your home to a pleasant tropical climate, but it will also drain essential money from your checking account once the bill arrives. 

Instead of turning up your thermostat, opt to dress in warmer clothes while you’re milling around in your home. Purchase some cute fuzzy socks, a comfortable hoodie, and thick pajama pants or sweat pants. This is an affordable way to keep yourself warm and your heating bill down.

Winterize Your Home


Sometimes, your home becomes cold despite your furnace’s best efforts because cold drafts are finding their way into your homes to turn it into an ice box. This can be fixed with a quick trip to a local home improvement store to purchase a window insulator kit. 

These insulator kits usually come with a roll of plastic, double-sided tape, and instructions. This kit is designed to prevent cold air from getting into your home through openings around your windows and doors once properly installed.

Free Solar Heating


The sun is one of the most powerful forces in our universe. It provides life-giving warmth, light, and comfort. During the darkest time of the year when sunlight is scarce, don’t hesitate to take advantage of the heat it provides. 

If you have windows that face east while the sun is rising, open the curtains to let in the warm rays. They will warm your home for free. Once the sun begins to set, close your curtains to trap the heat and enjoy a warmer home at no cost to you.

Proper Furnace Maintenance


Keeping your furnace working at optimal levels is essential to ensuring a low heating bill. Furnaces are like any other piece of machinery. They need regular maintenance to ensure they function at peak performance. 

Be sure to schedule an appointment with a professional HVAC contractor to inspect your furnace and perform any repairs that might be required. You should also consider replacing your furnace filters. 

A dirty filter can cause your furnace to work harder to send heat through your home. Aim at replacing the filter once a month to keep your furnace costs down.

As an added tip to save money on your heating bill, try turning down the thermostat during the day. Once night falls and the temperature drops, turn your thermostat back up to a comfortable temperature. You can survive the day with a bit of a chilly house in order to have a warm house during the cold night.


Monday, February 5, 2018

Reduce your Home Makeover Bill by 30% Using the Newly Launched Zoutons Coupon App



The Delhi based coupon aggregation website, Zoutons, is all set to launch its Android app for the convenience of its users. This introduction of the mobile app is going to storm the market as it is aiming to make the online shopping a much more affordable yet efficient task. Keeping the concept intact, the website focuses on representing several coupons and offers compiled together on a single platform.


Aim and Vision


Launched in 2013, this coupon website was started by Mr. Sahil Chalana. Currently it is dealing with around 175 leading online stores where it has segregated coupons and offers from top 75 (approx.) categories. 


The users can easily find sale-oriented offers, bank offers, wallet offers and a lot more to choose from differentiated sections like clothing, accessories, mobiles, electronics etc.

The website has managed to compile around 500 online pan-India brands and approximately 45 banks under one roof. The launch of mobile application is going to help the users access distinct offers, be it on clothing or home décor items or anything else; from best online stores. 





Two things make Zoutons stand tall in the online market- customer satisfaction and betterment of shopping. Across the internet, coupon websites like Zoutons have laid down the embodiment of saviours as the mutual focus is implied on offering best discounts & cashbacks on each and every category or section. 


According to the sources, 100k+ app installations are kept as a target to enhance the website traffic. Herein, one can explore schemes, deals and coupons on most preferred online stores like Amazon, Bookmyshow, Paytm, Flipkart, Shopclues, Pharmeasy, Makemytrip and a lot more in order to save to a greater extent on services like recharges, ticket booking etc.


How Zoutons helps you reduce your home décor items bill by 30%?


There are more than 50 offers under each store and category, bifurcated for both new and existing users. This facilitates the access to explore the clothing category for coupons rendering more than 70% discounts or make orders of your home decor with upto 30% cashbacks instantly. 


Extracted deals, coupons & offers from leading stores like Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, etc. providing 30% discounts or maximum cashbacks of Rs.350/- are collectively listed subject to be availed with just a few clicks.

Forget about rushing towards the laptop or opening your browser every time you want to explore the ongoing offers and coupons because this app is going to flush down your unnecessary actions. 


Zoutons android app is a user friendly mobile app which can be downloaded from the Google Playstore and Apple Appstore for free. It is embedded with a completely minimalized UI with personalised listing of offers from all the popular stores.

Apart from this, there are special services that ponders more and more installations. Foremost feature of the application is that it takes up very less space in the device. The size of the application in only 2.7MB, minimising any kind of storage hinderances. 


One can personalise the display of coupons & offers as it gets organized according to the user preferences. Moreover, the news feed on the home page gets updated with the change in the search history, making the scrolling and selecting easy. 

Also, the in-built Night Mode of the app ensures that the user is able to access each and every section without any kind of stress on the eyes. 


Zoutons Android App


With the app, users can stay updated about all the latest deals, sales and offers across the leading online stores. The app notifications require to be enabled which regulates timely updates. 

This, consequently, ensures that no offer, sale goes unnoticed. Besides this, Zoutons newsletter is another plus point in keeping the users aware about ongoing and upcoming sales and deals. Every user can subscribe to the newsletter and become a member for instant mails & pings auto-generated for all users.

The Zoutons app is a free android application which can be downloaded from the playstore and takes just 2.7MB space in Internal storage of the device. With the recent rise in digital services and online marketing, this can be a highly benefiting step for the team in making a stronger mark on e-commerce platform. 

As per their tagline, “The Loot is On”, the app makes sure that each and every user gets benefitted with the literal LOOT with remarkable offers.


Sunday, February 4, 2018

Bankruptcy Options: 4 Ways to Get Back on Your Financial Feet



Declaring bankruptcy is always a last resort when you find yourself in a financial hole. No one likes having to start over. Here are some tips to help get you back on your feet.

Know Your Options


You need to know what options are available to you. Set up a meeting with a bankruptcy lawyer so that you can re-establish your financial future. They can walk you through what your next steps need to be to recover. 

If you are just starting the bankruptcy process, they can help you through it. This way you will be able to make informed decisions. They might be able to help you settle any debt that you have in order to avoid any pitfalls.

Address the Cause


Bankruptcy was not something that happened overnight. It involved a series of poor decisions that lead you down this road. Before you can start the process of recovery, you need to first understand how it occurred. 





Frequent overspending and not watching your bottom line is the likely culprit. You need to create a budget that you can live within. Living paycheck to paycheck leaves you vulnerable. You should have an emergency fund for any unexpected expenses.

Establish New Credit Lines


After a set amount of time has passed, you will be able to apply for a secured line of credit. This means that you have the money to pay off the line of credit set aside in a savings account. 

If you fail to pay it off, the bank can take the funds that you used to secure the card. Once you have established this line of credit and reliably paid it off, you can apply for an unsecured credit card. Since you are still considered high risk, the interest rate will be higher than a normal card.

Set Budget Goals


It will take seven to ten years for the bankruptcy to fall off of your record. During this time, any financial troubles will set you back further. You need to stick to your budget and create a buffer. 

Opening a savings account and putting money aside each month will alleviate any unexpected costs. Make sure to check your credit report often. Having financial goals will allow you to better prepare for the future. You don’t want to find yourself back in bankruptcy because you overextended yourself again.

Millions of Americans declare bankruptcy each year. Having a budget and a safety net are the best ways to avoid financial hardships. Use these tips to recover from your bankruptcy.


Saturday, February 3, 2018

In an Accident? 5 Tricks to Paying down Those Medical Bills



An accident is a stressful experience, and expensive medical bills only add to your stress. Unfortunately, medical bills are the leading cause of bankruptcy in the United States, making it crucial that you don’t let yours get out of hand. If you’re trying to pay down your medical bills, here are five things that may help.


File an Insurance Claim


Depending on the cause of the accident, there could be a party responsible, in which case their insurance should pay for your medical bills. 


Accidents on the job are covered by worker’s comp insurance, car accidents are covered by auto insurance and so on. See if this applies in your case and, if so, make sure you get the compensation you deserve.

Set up a Payment Plan


Although healthcare providers may send you a bill for a large amount due in a matter of weeks, they’re often flexible on this. 




It’s much better for them if you pay, whether you do that immediately or over the course of several payments. Contact the organization and ask if you can set up a payment plan with them.


Get a Low-Interest Credit Card


With a low-interest credit card, you could pay off all your medical bills, and then pay off your credit card bill at a fairly low annual percentage rate (APR). 


If you have a good credit score, you may even qualify for a 0-percent APR credit card, which allows you to pay no interest if you pay the full balance within the card’s introductory period.

Hire a Personal Injury Attorney


When someone else is responsible for your medical bills, the hope is that you’ll be able to file an insurance claim and get your compensation in short order, but that doesn’t always happen. 


If not, it can help quite a bit to hire a personal injury attorney like Goldberg Michael Attorney At Law or someone similar, as they can expedite the process and put pressure on either the other party or that party’s insurance company.

Get a Loan


A loan is another option that will allow you to pay off your medical bills, and then pay off what you borrowed over a longer time period. Loans tend to have lower interest rates than credit cards, except the aforementioned 0-percent APR cards.

Paying back medical bills is no fun, but with the right approach, you can keep them from getting out of control. Consider the five tricks above and see which one is best for your situation.


Friday, February 2, 2018

What to Look for When Getting a Remortgage



When you are going for a remortgage, the main aim is often to try and get better terms from the deal. What would be the point in going for a remortgage without knowing that it was going to benefit you in the long-term? It’s important that you take a closer look at what you expect to get from a remortgage (The Loans Department are a great source of such services).

The method of remortgaging does not usually involve moving home or taking out an additional mortgage on the property; it is in effect the transfer of a mortgage in one lender to another. 


Homeowners may choose to remortgage for various reasons, usually to reduce the general monthly mortgage payment amounts. However, other reasons may include to reduce the size of repayments, to pay for off a mortgage earlier, to improve capital, or even to consolidate other more costly short term debts.

Homeowners often misuse the expression remortgage when they are simply switching in one product to a different with the same lender; this isn't a remortgage which involves the removal of one legal charge over a house and its substitution with another in favour of a new lender.

It’s a very hard thing to get right, of course, but it’s important that you take the next steps to get that right. When you go to try and get yourself a remortgage, then, consider the following:


What is your credit rating? 


The first problem you might have is that you cannot get a standard adjustment to your mortgage for the simple reason that your credit rating is not good enough. Banks will turn their nose up at anyone they cannot feel 100% secure working with, so you should look to see what kind of remortgage options are open to you. 



If you take the time to read into this, you should find it so much easier to get a better understanding of what options you can pick from.


Can you get the rates you need? 


You should be looking for a company that can help you to get a good return on the opportunity. Basically, you will need to be able to work with a remortgaging and lending firm that is happy to give you access to the opportunity to prove you can be trusted. 

When you are looking for a remortgage firm, make sure they show a sense of emotion and understanding of the challenges you face and that they are open to working with you even if your credit reputation is poor.

What advice is offered? 


Since your credit rating is likely quite weak, it makes sense to look for someone who comes with free advice. Try to find a consultancy that can give you advice and information on how to best improve your credit situation with salient and reasonable advice. 

The more that you can do this for, the more likely it is that you can find a solution that isn’t going to cost you an arm and a leg investigating. Always take a look at the kind of advice that they can offer – and how much that advice would cost you to get!


Are they open and transparent? 


The best company to hire when you are looking for advice about your remortgaging options is the business that is open from the star. Make sure that they show off a policy of openness and engagement for all, making it much easier for you to work with someone who you can trust to give you the information that you need, when you need it. 

The more open they are, the more likely you are to get an honest appraisal of your likelihood of success in remortgaging your property.

Knowledge is power, so make sure you hire the right people to assist!



Thursday, February 1, 2018

3 Ways a Mortgage Beats Renting for Aspiring DIY’ers



If your urge to undo and improve is strong enough, you might be able to put that energy to positive use by owning your home instead of renting. Besides the satisfaction you get from doing-it-yourself, you will probably come out financially ahead.

You Don’t Need Permission


Renters must have permission from their landlords or property managers to make changes to the home, even for the smallest improvements. They may balk at letting tenants paint, change faucets, replace faucets, or even have carpets cleaned.

Unless there’s a homeowner association involved, homeowners have complete control over their property. If they want brightly colored walls or flooring, the choice is theirs. They can remodel to the extent their budgets and abilities allow, something that few, if any, landlords will allow.

The two major issues that keep landlords from allowing tenant changes include skepticism about the tenant’s qualifications as a do-it-yourselfer and the budget. Even without the labor included, even the simplest home remodeling projects cost money.


Homeowners Can Borrow the Money


The first step in buying a home is to meet with the lender will calculate the monthly payment based on the down payment and interest rate. Mortgage payments are almost always lower than monthly rent rates. The interest rates for primary home loans are usually the lowest available for any kind of borrowing.




Home values appreciate over time and you can turn the equity into a home equity line of credit (HELOC) to fund other home improvement projects that will add value. HELOCs also carry lower interest rates than other kinds of consumer loans, especially compared to credit card interest rates.

Home Improvements Add Value


By putting your do-it-yourself skills to good use, you add value to a property. How much depends on the project and the demand for the improvement. Few projects return 100 percent of the retail cost, but when you contribute the labor, you will realize a net gain.

People who flip houses make substantial amounts of money improving homes and reselling them when finished. When going this route, research which improvements are in demand in your area. Giving home buyers what they want will enhance the value of your work and possibly speed the sale.

Anyone who enjoys home improvement projects and has the do-it-yourself skills to make the work profitable has the advantage as a homeowner. For them, a mortgage is definitely better than a rent payment.



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