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A situation at my job today made me realize just how electronic-dependent my financial information is. Our intranet system was down due to a router problem that won’t be fixed for a few days, debilitating and limiting many daily wireless functions we rely on to do business. An entire service department is down because they can’t use their computers.
This will not only affect our productivity and sales, but ultimately our profit. And with no backup plan, this is quite a hard blow to our bottom line.
While situations like this cannot be anticipated, and the amazing world of digital and wireless technology normally functions with no major complications, there are times our dependence on electronic devices in every aspect of our daily lives becomes all too clear. Servers crash, wireless signals fail, computers freeze up and lose our information, and virtual data gets lost in cyberspace.
Making good use of technology to run a business, or handle your personal finances isn’t a bad thing. The problem arises when we don’t have a backup plan. Since it’s difficult to think outside the realm of available technology, a backup plan for your finances can be hard to imagine or formulate.
If you read or watch the news, you’ve likely noticed one scary thing: fraud is on the rise and perpetrators aren’t cutting victims any slack. This is even more evident as the holiday season gets closer, as consumers are trying to avoid the crazy shopping malls and opt to order gifts online instead.
This is beyond bad news for anyone who is inexperienced with financial issues, or don’t protect themselves when listing payment information online. But how about those of us who do take precautions, and are well seasoned in money matters? Unfortunately, criminals have a way of retrieving information and wreaking havoc on anyone’s wallet and possibly, credit profile.
And on the other side of the fence are companies that will do anything to make a buck, so they convince you to “invest” in your future by joining them. In essence though, you’re actually making their pockets fatter and will inevitably receive the short end of the stick.
One of the pieces of advice you hear over and over in the financial industry is, to not borrow money against your home for basically any reason.
There are some people who suggest that it’s OK to take out a home equity line of credit (or HELOC) so you can invest the funds, or make improvements on your home. But to pay off consumer debt? That’s a no-no. I always thought this was a wise piece of advice, but recently decided not follow it.
Halloween is just around the corner, and for some people it’s one of the most anticipated holidays of the year. The National Retail Federation expects Halloween to cost the average person $77.52 this year* (including costumes, decor, and candy) which is up from $75.03 last year. This translates to over $7 billion nationwide.
This trend is as visible as the cropping up of exclusive “Halloween stores” that do 90% of their annual business in the month of October. With that much money being spent on one holiday, there are sure to be ways to save a money on Halloween costumes (while still having a whole lot of fun).
For instance, instead of looking for the best deal or piecing together a costume themselves, many people fall into the trap of paying top dollar for the exact costume they want. In our high-paced society, it’s convenient to wait until the last second and then buy a costume that doesn’t require any additional work or creativity. But what if you could save 50% or more simply by getting a little creative and planning ahead?
The vehicle registration notification came in the mail today — but I expected this. The amount on the bill to register the van we bought in January was a bit of a shock to the system, however. Before purchasing our new family car, we owned the same 2 vehicles for almost ten years. The yearly registration fee for them was $99, and had been so for as long as we could remember.
But this time, the registration for our new van was $342.
The fee for our van’s license tabs wasn’t something we’d given much thought to when we were buying our new car. It was a once-a-year type fee, so we just figured we could easily deal with it when the bill arrived. Unfortunately, coming up with several hundred dollars extra was a bit of a difficult task.
“I’m comfortable with my level of debt,” said a long-time friend of mine not too long ago. He was explaining why he isn’t making an effort to aggressively pay down his credit card debt.
He makes a decent living, and most of his credit card debt is the result of youthful financial indiscretions. Since he can afford it, and he likes his current lifestyle, he sees no reason to sacrifice to pay it down faster. In other words, he’s comfortable.
In fact, in every other area of his financial life, he’s doing what we think would be the “right” thing. He’s contributing to an employer-sponsored retirement plan (complete with match!). He has an emergency fund with four months’ worth of expenses, and he usually spends within his means.
He even pays substantially more than the minimum payment on all of his credit cards. He’s just not interested in turbo-charging his debt pay down because he likes to indulge in traveling and eating out.
So he’s content with his level of debt (which doesn’t threaten to overwhelm his finances), and he’s cool with taking four or five years to pay it off. How do you feel about your debt? Are you comfortable with how your finances look? Here’s how to understand your acceptable level of debt. [ continue reading… ]
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