Would you love a second home? A place that’s waiting for you when you need a break? Somewhere that’s totally different from where you spend most of your time? Your own private getaway where you can relax and unwind whenever you need to? I’m sure for most of us; the answer is yes. It would be fantastic to have a home at the beach or out in the country, ready for when you need an escape from city life. Yet, unless you are very well off, you probably think it’s nothing more than a pipedream. Ordinary people can’t afford to buy two houses, never mind run them. However, buying a second home might not be as difficult as you think. Here’s a look at how to make sure that you can afford the second home that you have always dreamed of.

Choose the Right Home

Buying a second home isn’t a decision that you should rush into. While it can be fantastic, it is a significant financial commitment. The first thing you need to do is create a budget. Be realistic about what you can afford. Then look at houses for sale that fit the bill. Owning a second home is a brilliant investment, but only if it’s a house that you can afford. Don’t let yourself get carried away.

Rent It Out

One way to ensure that you can afford your second home is by making it earn its keep. If ever there’s a time when you know you won’t be using it, rent it out as a holiday let. Alternatively, if you plan to spend most of the summer in your second home, why not rent out the first for city breaks? Airbnb is a great option when it comes to making money from your home without committing to long-term lets.

Rent Out Space

If you don’t like the idea of people living in either of your homes, why not rent it out as space? You could rent a spare room out for storage, or even lease out your parking space. This can be an excellent earner in city locations.

Remortgage

Remortgaging your first home is one way to finance buying a second. Just make sure that you can afford it and that you are willing to take on the long-term financial commitment.

Save

The best way to afford a second home without getting yourself into financial struggles is to save and buy it outright. Or at least save to pay your first mortgage off early before taking out a second on a new home.

Understand the Costs

Before committing to buy, make sure you understand the costs of two homes. The costs don’t stop once you’ve purchased the home. You also need to pay bills and insurance on it, and you’ll have to pay to travel there regularly. Can you afford it? Make sure it’s a worthwhile investment that you will get a lot of use out of.

Owning a second home could be a dream come true. It’ll also mean you’ve got more options when it comes to retirement, and a whole other source of cash if you ever need it. Look at your options carefully and get saving and you’ll be relaxing on the beach in no time.

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If you’ve reached the point where you have so many debts that you can simply no longer afford to make even the smallest minimum repayments, don’t worry and don’t bury your head in the sand! For sure, it’s a sticky situation to find yourself in, but if you take action now, you won’t be worried every time the phone rings nor will you need to worry that the repo men will turn up on your door.

Here are some of the best things you can do to sort out your situation when you can no longer afford your debts:

Evaluate Your Finances

Before you do anything else, it’s worth reevaluating your financial situation to make absolutely sure that there is no way you can afford to pay off your debts. If you can, for example, cut cable for a while or redirect some of your salary that usually goes into savings into paying off your debts, it will be worth it because your credit score won’t take a hit.

Call Your Creditors

If you’re confident that your current financial difficulties are only going to be an issue short-term,perhaps because you’ve been hit with an unexpected expenditure or the cost of heating your home has runaway with you, it’s always a good idea to get in touch with your creditors straight away. If you can explain the situation, and make clear that it will resolve itself soon, there is a good chance that they will work with you to come up with a solution that works for both of you.

Consider Debt Consolidation

Debt consolidation, which you can find out more about at debtconsolidation.co, is a great solution for those of you who are struggling to make your monthly repayments simply because they are so high. By consolidating all of your debts into one, if you do it right, the monthly repayments should fall somewhat, and you’ll be able to start tackling your debts once again.

Talk to a Debt Counselor

If things are so tough that you don’t think you’ll be able to make your repayments even with a little extra help, it might be worth taking to a debt counselor, like the ones at moneymanagement.org/, who will be able to analyze your personal financial situation and give you some ideas as to how you can proceed. If you go down this route, you will need to be totally open and honest with your counselor, sharing personal and financial details with them, so that they can really help you, but in the end,it is worth it because they are great at saving people who are drowning in debt and they are pretty good at convincing creditors to give their clients some slack too!

Bankruptcy

If all else fails, you might need to think about filing for bankruptcy, something you can find out more about at uscourts.gov/services, but this should really be a last resort. Don’t file for bankruptcy before thoroughly exploring all your options because you never know what might happen!

When You’re struggling to repay debt, you must act quickly to try and resolve your situation, lest the problem became worse and more difficult to deal with. The steps above will help you with this, so take action now!

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At one point or another, most people have found themselves out of work. Whether it’s because the company that you work for has folded, you’ve lost your job or are on sick leave, being out of work can have a huge impact on your financial health. Whatever the reason that you are out of work, having a small amount of money to live on and no guaranteed monthly income is a daunting and stressful prospect. Luckily for you, we are here to help make the process of living without an income as easy and free of stress as possible. Below are a few handy hacks that should make navigating the financial struggles that come with being out of work easier.

Set a strict budget (and stick to it)

The first, and most important, rule of living when you are out of work is setting a strict budget and sticking to it. The fact is that it’s possible to live on a tiny amount each month, it’s just a case of learning how to be savvy with your funds and not overspend, which is a habit that many of us have got stuck in – spending money when we don’t need to. There are various budgeting apps that can help you to set a budget and ensure it’s stuck to by linking up your bank account to your budgeting list. These apps really are invaluable when it comes to living within your means.

Find alternative solutions for cash flow

Budgeting will help to make living on a small amount easier, but it won’t solve the problem altogether. The fact is that you can’t get by without a livable income, so if you aren’t earning from work, you need to find a way to supplement your income so that you have an alternative cash flow coming in. This could be by doing some freelance work, it could be by taking out a loan from Snappypaydayloans.com, or it could mean selling a few of your old and unwanted items. The fact is that when times are tight, it’s important to ensure that you have an income stream so that you are able to keep on top of your rent/mortgage payments, your bills, and afford food. That is why finding an alternative cash flow solution is so important.

Research what you’re entitled to

Another option, when it comes to making life easier when times are tight, is to research what help you are entitled to. There is always help available from local authorities; it’s just a case of determining what help you are entitled to. If you are on sick leave, you may also be entitled to pay from your place of work, depending on your role, the time you have been there, and what your contract says. Don’t struggle on without looking at the help that is available, take the time to research what you are entitled to and apply for it. There is no shame in taking help when you are struggling, so it’s worth taking the time to research what you are entitled to.

It’s not easy navigating the financial struggles that come with being out of work, but if you take note of the tips above, you can make the process a little easier and a little less stressful for yourself.

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Saving money seems easy enough on paper; you just put aside a certain chunk of your monthly income and don’t touch it until or unless there’s a special occasion for it.

The only problem is that theory and reality aren’t always the same thing, and there are many subconscious lifestyle habits and attitudes that can sabotage our money-saving efforts.

Here are a few questions to help you get a better sense of perspective on your spending, and to improve your saving habits.

What are my real financial goals?

The first question to answer is “what are my real financial goals?” It’s easy to get side-tracked when you have no clear idea of what you’re actually putting your savings aside for. When you’ve got a lump-sum of money in a savings account, or a handy chunk of capital at hand via a company such as https://smallbusinessloans.co/, it’s easy to feel artificially wealthy and become complacent about your financial goals.

Without a clear purpose attached to your savings, however, any vaguely interesting investment opportunity can suddenly seem like a fair reason to dip into them.

If, on the other hand, you know that you’ve got a specific amount of money set aside for a specific purpose – buying a new car, for example – you’ll not only know to leave that money alone until it’s time to go car shopping, but you’ll be more motivated to regularly add to your savings. After all, you’ll be excited by the prospect of getting in your new ride.

Is there a cheaper way I could get this done?

There are certain expenses which we need to accept during the course of day-to-day life. Some of these will be personal, such as an internet connection, or clothes and grocery shopping. Others will be professional – such as web hosting, budgeting software, or transport fees for the commute in to work.

But while these expenses generally can’t be avoided – that doesn’t mean they can’t be reduced. Take a mental inventory of everything that you regularly spend money on, and ask yourself whether there’s a cheaper way you can achieve the same benefit.

Perhaps you could cut your internet bill in half with a rival service provider.

Am I conscious of what’s actually happens to my money?

Often, if we’re not used to budgeting meticulously, we’ll end up “bleeding” money in different ways, without even being conscious of it. This can happen, for example, if you regularly grab a coffee on the way to work, or eat out on a regular basis.

What may seem like a small expense here and there can rapidly add up and become a real source of undiagnosed financial strain.

It’s worth looking at your bank statements and making a note of just how much money you really do spend on “invisible” costs like cups of coffee. When you’ve identified an area where you’re spending far more than you’d like to be, you can work on sealing-up the “leaks”.

Is any of my spending purely habit driven?

Habit is a powerful thing, and spending can often be triggered by subconscious manipulation. That’s one of the great secrets of the advertising industry, after all.

If you’re the kind of person who’s prone to frequent impulse-buying and suspect purchases, ask yourself; how many of these purchases are really improving my quality of life, and how many are just empty spending, inspired by a shopping habit?

Ultimately, if you’re spending substantial amounts of money without any real benefit over time, you should work on re-programming that habit loop.

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When looking at investment opportunities, real estate is always going to look like a tempting possibility. The market is starting to look up in some areas but down in some. When you invest in real estate, there are a few different ways to do just that and make your investment back. Which should you aim for and which will work best in today’s market?

Buy ‘em to flip ‘em

When thinking of investing in property, buying homes to sell them at a profit is one of the first options worth considering. It’s all about identifying properties with real potential and making use of that. For instance, you might spot a home that you can improve to sell at a much larger profit. But the best way to find properties worth selling is by building a portfolio of properties in developing areas. Look at places where new businesses and other community buildings are set to be built. Features like new commercial centers, new cafes, newly renovated homes are good signs of a growth area. However, buying, improving, and selling homes is slow. If you do it one at a time, your profits are likely to be slow coming, too.

Becoming the landlord

The number of people buying homes is on the decrease, so finding those growth spots is more important than ever. On the other hand, rentals are on the increase, so this can be the most reliable way to start making money sooner. However, as you might expect, rentals payback on investment a bit at a time. They can make a good retirement fund or income source if you have one or two and act directly as a landlord. If you start renting out more, then you have to consider the costs of letting agencies and how they impact your profits, too.

Hit the holiday crowd

When we talk about renting, we’re usually talking about long-term tenants but short-term holiday rentals are a different market entirely. If you spot a buy-to-rent opportunity in a popular location, like a winter vacation home near the Catskills, you could stand to make a lot from holiday goers. However, annual returns can go in the negative sometimes, so you have to be ready to stick with a vacation home for the long-run. In general, over a long period of time, they can always be sold for a profit. You just have to wait out the road bumps in this occasionally volatile market.

Make a business out of it

Commercial real estate is, again, an entirely different market. If you know primarily about residential properties, it can be a lot to learn. However, they tend to see annual return off the purchase price at a rate that can be 2-3 times higher than family home properties. Business owners tend to take pride in their location, as well. They’re a lot more likely to become long-term tenants, guaranteeing income through the years. They also tend to take much better care of the property on average, which means lower risk of having to make repairs.

It’s all down the environment you want to invest in and your ability to spot the right opportunity. Even in a bad market, a fantastic home, rental, or business property can stand to new you a lot of cash.

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