It’s true that financial habits change as time passes, but there are some money saving methods that are tried and true. Adopting some of these old-fashioned savings tips recommended by Freedom Debt Relief will help you build your savings account. The money you save can be used to boost your emergency fund, pay off debt, or take your annual vacation without going into debt. With that said, there are a few time-tested savings methods you can adopt.

Get rid of marketing messages.

Once you give your contact information to a company, you open up the door for them to send your marketing messages. Companies send millions of dollars and lots of time crafting messages that will convince people to buy. It’s hard to resist the temptation of marketing messages, so opt-out of them completely. If you’re receiving marketing messages, click the unsubscribe button at the bottom of the email to stop receiving those message. That way, you never get hit with an advertisement.

Cut back on eating out.

Eating out at restaurants is enjoyable, but the cost adds up quickly, especially if you’re eating out several times each week. Reducing the number of meals you eat in restaurants will let you save hundreds, possibly even thousands of dollars each year. When you do eat out, don’t let leftovers go to waste. Portion sizes in the United States are large enough that you can take half your meal home and enjoy it for the next day’s lunch or dinner.

Don’t pay for things you can do for yourself.

While it may be more convenient to pay someone to do small repairs or other odd jobs, you’ll save money by doing things yourself. Picking up some basic sewing skills, for example, will allow you to make your own clothing repairs and avoid having to pay a seamstress. Freedom Debt Relief recommends using the internet to learn how to solve some of your basic repairs and save the big jobs for professionals.

Save your change.

A few dimes and nickels here and there doesn’t seem like much, but over the course of weeks and months that little bit of pocket change adds up. Get a separate change jar or bucket where you can collect you change. You might be tempted to dip into it every down and then, but leave it alone. The longer you let you change accumulate, the more you’ll have, says Freedom Debt Relief.

Avoid disposable items.

Let’s face it, many of us like to eliminate as much housework as possible. To accomplish that, we turn to disposable items like paper plates, cups, and cutlery. Not only do these items lead to more environmental waste, they also cause you to spend more money than necessary. It only takes a few minutes each day to do the dishes. Freedom Debt Relief advises families to simply make the sacrifice and avoid throwing money away on disposable items.

Get rid of debt.

With debt, we can purchase things now and then conveniently pay for them over a period of time. But, there’s a catch. When a lender gives you the option of paying for something in installments, you’re going to pay interest. The more you borrow, the higher your interest rate, and the longer it takes you to pay off the debt, the more you’ll pay in interest. You can potentially save thousands of dollars in interest, says Freedom Debt Relief, just by paying off debt faster. Look for extra money in your budget or find ways to increase your income and use the additional money to reduce your debt faster.

Don’t discount these methods because they seem old-fashioned. You’d be surprised to see just how much impact these savings strategies can make on your savings account.

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As awful as it is to think about our loved ones passing away, unfortunately, death is the only thing guaranteed about life, aside from perhaps taxes as the saying goes. Most of us dream of having something to leave our children when we go, property, money or a family business being the ultimate goals. Some of us are even lucky enough to be able to pass things on before we die. Giving us the chance to see the people that we love benefit from our life’s work. Your parents and family are no different. Leaving you a property is something that will have pleased them, so it’s certainly nothing to feel guilty about.

When you inherit property, there can be a period of adjustment. Whether your loss has been expected or come as a complete surprise, it can be a lot to take in. In these situations, it’s best to let yourself grieve and take your time to adjust before rushing into a decision on what to do with your new property. An instinctive reaction can be to either move straight in or not want it at all and offer your inheritance to someone else. Both of these things could prove to be a mistake. So, take your time and give these options some consideration.

Rent it Out

Renting the house out is an interesting option, with both pros and cons. If you choose to rent your house to someone else, you get a steady monthly income from it. Sometimes, there’ll be very little you’ll need to do for this money. Then, other months absolutely everything will go wrong, and you’ll need to work ridiculously hard as a landlord. You will also be subject to landlord’s insurance and taxes as well as having to ensure that your property meets all health and safety standards and completely adheres to the law.

But, it does keep your options open. When your tenants move out, you can rethink, sell, move in or search for a new tenant.

Finding tenants is much easier than it used to be now so much business is done online, and properties rarely sit empty for long. Keeping your property in good condition and appealing to tenants is also easier than ever. You don’t even need to do any of the work. Learn more about these options before making your decision.

Live in it

Whether or not you chose to live in the house can depend on a variety of circumstances. You need to consider your current housing situation. If you already own your own home and feel happy and comfortable where you are, you may not want to move. It will also depend on your past experiences in the house and with its previous owners. If it’s the happy home of your childhood, you could either love going back or feel a bit odd, like you’ve been out and made your own life only to find yourself taking a step backwards.

If you don’t own a home, work locally and still have relationships with people in the area, moving into your new property could be the perfect answer. You won’t have to worry about selling, finding tenants or the pressures of being a landlord.

The value of the home should be another consideration. Is it worth selling? Or could you make more in the long term by renting it out? If you already own a house, could selling or renting that out instead be more cost-effective?

Of course, if you do decide to live in it, for now, you’ll still be able to sell at any point in the future should you change your mind. However, it is worth bearing capital gains tax in mind. If you inherit a house and choose to sell, you get a bit of a tax break. Say the house was bought for $150000 and is now worth $300000, only the difference will be subject to capital gains tax. Once you’ve lived in the house for two years, this tax break starts to decrease.

Sell it On

Selling the property on is a popular choice. If you need money quickly, because your current financial situation isn’t great, then this can be the best option. You save money on capital gains tax; you don’t have the constant responsibility of being a landlord or the hassle of moving to a new house yourself and you get a large cash injection. If you currently rent but have significant debts, selling to enable you to pay things off could be a good idea too, as it will allow you to improve your credit score before you get on the property ladder. You could even have plenty left for a good deposit.

However, selling has associated costs of its own. You’ll need to make sure the house is in sellable condition, pay to get it valued and pay estate agents fees. If it’s on the market for a long time, these fees increase, and you have to wait for your payout.

It’s also the only option on this list that’s final. Once the house is sold, that’s it. There’s no changing your mind once the sale has been made.

Use it as a Business Premises

Another option is to use the property in another way. If it’s in a great location, you could convert it into a business. Perhaps a shop or restaurant. If you work from home and need some more space, it could give you an ideal solution. These options very much depend on location and how much the conversion would cost.

Another alternative use is hiring it out as a holiday property. If it’s in a great location that would attract tourists or people on business trips, list in on Airbnb and make some money off it. Then, there’s nothing to stop you keeping it as a second home when you need a break yourself.

When deciding what to do with your inherited property, there is a lot to consider. Your own living situation, your income, cash flow and debt levels, your long-term plans and the home’s condition and location for a start. So, wait if you can, let yourself grieve and then take you time to reach the right decision.

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If the world was perfect for everyone, no one would ever need to borrow any money. Unfortunately, things just don’t work like that yet – and as long as we have a banking system, it’s unlikely to change. The reality is that we have to borrow money to lead the lives we want. However, there are limits, and many people are guilty of stepping over the mark.

The truth is there are good debts and bad debts, as you probably already know. And even if you are in good enough shape to take out the former, after a few missed payments or a challenging life event, it can quickly turn into the latter.

When it comes to personal loans, the temptation is strong enough to turn heads of even people with the strongest financial constitutions. Advertising is everywhere, and almost all speak to your aspirations and the life you could have – if only you would borrow a few thousand dollars or more.

To make sure you don’t fall into a trap, there are a few things you need to consider when taking out a loan. These golden rules should be set in stone, as when you step outside of them, it’s often the first step down a slippery slope to unaffordable, bad debts. Let’s take a look at everything you need to know.

Always shop around

It doesn’t matter whether you are borrowing money to buy a car, a home, or just pay for something quickly with cash loans, always shop around and look for the best deal possible. You should compare percentage rates for interest, but also check the length of the loan. Sometimes, cheaper interest rates over a longer time period will result in a higher overall cost.

Always check your credit score.

Another thing to consider before applying for a loan is your credit rating. When you make an application and get turned down, your credit score takes a hit. Not only that, however, but when you are attracted by a fantastic looking deal that you see in an advertisement, you have to remember that these deals are only offered to consumers with the best credit scores. If your rating is anything less than perfect, you won’t be offered it, and instead, have to put up with a much more expensive deal than you applied for in the first place. A lot of people fall for this, so ensure your credit rating is up to scratch before you apply.

Always read the small print.

The terms and conditions on loans are notoriously detailed, and the vast majority of borrowers never pay them a blind bit of notice. It’s no surprise – who has time to read the reams of paper that often come with your application form? However, you should make time. Banks and lenders of all varieties depend on your ignorance and lack of time, and will often include some pretty dire conditions that you need to meet to qualify for any of the supposed advantages. Another thing to watch out for is early repayment charges – you should always include them in the overall cost of the loan when you do your initial sums. Ideally, all loans would be free to pay off whenever you want, but the reality is somewhat different.

Consider insurance

Loan insurance gets a bad rep, because of a lot of malpractice in the past. However, it’s a valuable protection if you can find the right deal. For a few dollars a month you can protect yourself in the event you suffer an injury at work or get ill and can’t earn any money to pay the loan back. Again, shop around – there are varying rates from all kinds of lenders and insurance companies, and you will often find it is more expensive to buy insurance from the company offering the loan.

Compare with a credit card.

Another major misconception is that personal loans always have better deals than credit cards. To be fair, this used to be the case, back in the day when credit cards were only for the very wealthy, but times have changed. When you consider the long 0% deals you get on credit cards – some of which go for around 18 months at the moment – they often compare very favorably to a personal loan at, say, 6%. And if you can pay off the card before those 18 months are complete, it won’t actually cost you a penny.

Pro tip: borrow more money

As a rule, you should never borrow more than you can pay back. However, when you consider that banks and lenders will offer lower interest rates for higher loans, wouldn’t it make sense to get the better deal? In short, of course, it would, but you have to have a lot of self-discipline. You could borrow a larger amount of money, only spend what you need, and then pay it back over time using a combination of your personal repayments and the surplus. Over the course of a 4-5 year loan, this could actually save you a four-figure sum, so it’s well worth investigating – if you have the discipline, of course.

Be careful with secured loans.

Secured loans will always give you a fantastic sounding deal. But there is a reason – it’s because you have capital at stake. When a loan is secured against your possessions, lenders tend to sleep easily, content in the knowledge that if you fail to pay, they get your house, car, or treasured objects. Yes, the deals can be tempting. But unless you are 100% sure that you will be able to pay them back. Unsecured loans may attract higher interest charges, but ultimately if you have a problem paying them, there is little a lender can actually do.

Always stake the shortest path.

Finally, whenever you take out a loan, the cheapest option will always be to pay it back as quick as possible. It’s down to your personal circumstances, of course, but if your idea of the perfect loan is that it ends up costing you less, it’s the only way to go.

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Whenever you hear people talk about the housing market it’s all doom and gloom. Prices have been rising consistently for years and there’s a serious fear that a whole generation of young people isn’t ever going to be able to afford a house. Last year was set to be a positive one for housing and an increase in house building was predicted, but the reality is, that didn’t happen. Things did improve a little but not as much as we hoped they would. So, it doesn’t look good at the moment and it feels like it’s never going to get better, but is that really true? Nobody knows for sure but these are some of the major predictions from experts.

Prices Will Rise, But Not As Much

This is good news and bad news. Prices rose by a significant amount every month last year, especially in the latter half of the year. Some people predict that trend will continue, but the increases will slow right down. There are a couple of reasons for this prediction. Firstly, unemployment is going down and people are able to afford houses more easily. Demand is stronger and there will be a slight increase in the number of people that are actually buying houses.

Another factor to consider is the number of people opting for alternative housing situations. More people are opting for prefabricated mobile homes, sometimes called mobile homes. These are far cheaper because the components are made separately, shipped over, and constructed on site. The impact of this is minimal but people choosing to go for alternative housing is going to alleviate some of the strain in terms of housing shortage. It also means that houses can be built far more quickly.

On the other hand, real estate as an investment is on the rise so if all of the houses are being bought up by investors, prices could carry on increasing.

This prediction is good news overall because what they’re essentially saying is that, while there won’t be an immediate turnaround in house prices, we’re coming toward the top of the peak and will soon start to see a downturn in prices.

Affordability Will Go Down

Wages are forecasted to grow in some of the larger cities in America which you would think is good news for buying houses, unfortunately it’s not. The amount of homes that are affordable to somebody on a medium income isn’t growing. That means they are unable to access the cities where wages are growing in the first place, so they can’t get the higher wages they need to buy a house. This disparity is one of the biggest problems in the housing market at the moment. Even if house building does increase this year, they aren’t likely to build the affordable housing that is needed to redress that imbalance.

Credit Availability Could Improve

After the crash of 2008, the availability of credit was regulated more strictly in order to avoid the same thing again. However, the new Trump administration has floated plans to roll back a lot of that regulation so banks will be more free to lend money again. It could go one of two ways; either they’ll start lending more freely and people might be able to afford to buy a house, or they may carry on operating the way that they are at the moment.

There’s no telling exactly what will happen with the housing market but these are three of the best theories so far.

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A dream for many of us is to eventually own our homes so that we don’t have to worry about things like being kicked out by a landlord, or having to move because of renovations being done to the building. Also, once you have paid off your mortgage you no longer have to worry about paying towards the cost of the property unlike if you were renting. All you have to pay for is your utility bills and other essentials like food and clothing. However, with the rising cost of properties and the difficulty of obtaining one, is it worth owning a property? This article is going to explore why we think that even though it’s a hassle, it’s definitely worth it in the long run.

Cost

It’s a little known fact that when you buy a property, not only do you have to find the money for a deposit (it’s usually 10% but it can be lower depending on your lender), but you also have to find the money for upfront fees. These are usually from your realtor and they are to compensate them for handling your property and your move. These charges aren’t something that many people think about until their realtor puts it in front of them.

While these charges might be more of a hinderance than anything else, it’s definitely worth digging into your pockets to pay for it because when it’s all said and done, you’re officially a homeowner and can begin looking forward to creating memories in your new home.

Location

If you’re looking to buy a home away from where you usually reside, it can be difficult to pick a location for you to settle down in. Competa properties offer people that are looking into becoming a homeowner the chance to own their own property for much cheaper than you would in the USA or UK. So if the prospect of living abroad excites you, it’s definitely worth checking out what they’ve got on offer.

If you’re planning to stay local, then a simple trip to a realtor will help you discover what kind of properties are on offer, and it will even help you plan how much you’re going to need to save to get the property of your dreams.

While choosing a location might be something that blows your mind a little, think about the fact that you’re in a position to live anywhere that you want, whereas people who rent don’t often have a wide choice.

Upkeep

Another thing that puts people off buying their own homes is the upkeep of the property. When something goes wrong, it’s up to you to make the repairs to your home. Unless of course, it’s on the pavement that you don’t own. If for example your boiler breaks, it’s up to you to either replace it yourself, or hire a professional to come and do the work for you. Obviously this can be costly, and if you’re salary is only making enough to pay your mortgage and other bills, this could be a problem.

One way of solving this is to arrange with your bank a saving scheme for when times like these arise. Most banks these days offer something to help you save money, whatever it’s for. Alternatively, you could put as much money as you can afford away each month so that if something does happen, you know that you’ve got some money to dip into for repairs.

Again, while this is something that puts people off, it can also be turned into a good thing. This is because when you do have repairs made, you can ensure that it’s done to the best quality so that you don’t have to pay for it again any time soon. Whereas if you were renting, you’d have to contribute to your landlord who might go cheap on the repairs and keep the extra money for themselves.

Conclusion

As you can see, there are many downsides to owning a property but in the long run there are always solutions around it. For example, if you ensure that you have home insurance, some repairs you might be able to claim from that, especially if it’s caused by a natural disaster or robbery. While it might be difficult to begin with, wouldn’t you rather have your home to own when it comes to later on in life too?

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