These can hurt your credit

I saw this on MSN Money today and thought I’d share.
Weird stuff that hurts your credit
1. Voluntarily closing credit cards
2. Settling Debts
3. Opening Accounts
4. Transferring Card Balances
5. Using Limitless Cards 
6. Incurring library and parking fines

More on this article here

Past mistakes pulling you back?

I just realized that hubby and I have managed to waste a few thousand dollars on something that we could have avoided, high interest rates. Grrr!  I’m very annoyed, but it just goes to show that I still have much to learn.  

I’ve always know about using balance transfers on credit cards to have lower interest rates.  I’ve never done it with other debt, so I was hesitant.  Besides, for a while, we were toying with the idea of purchasing a home.  I figured, having the cash available in the credit card will be helpful if we needed extra cash.  Also, I didn’t want to increase our debt to credit ratio and affect our credit score when we’re applying for a loan.  So, here we are, we still haven’t purchased a home and we’ve easily wasted our money by not using a balance transfer.  

Before I started writing this entry, I was very upset. I couldn’t stop computing all the numbers in my head and with a calculator. I kept thinking of the “woulda, shoulda and couldas.”  But as I wrote down the reasons why I hesitated in the first place, I felt relieved.  There was a plan involved from the beginning. We didn’t do it just for the sake of it.  Unfortunately, it eventually came back to bite us on the “beeehind.” But that’s besides the point.  I could keep kicking myself for this mistake or, I can move on.  

With that in mind, I did it!  I finally did a balance transfer. I’m still concerned about our FICO and our possible need for cash in case we end up getting a place in a few months. But now, instead of a plan, we have a perspective.  ”If our score gets affected and funds do not become available when we want to get a home, then, it’s not the right time to get a house. Because when the right time comes, everything will fall into place!”

What I learned, take mistakes as opportunities to learn and become better!

Other monetary benefits of work

Aside from getting a regular paycheck, there are several other benefits some jobs offer their employees.  It would be nice to look at your company’s benefit’s packages that are available that you might find useful. Here are a few examples. 

1. Direct Deposit- This may not seem like a big deal to many, but it’s a relief to know that your money is available in your checking account on the day you get paid. You can schedule payment of your bills readily and avoid late payment charges that adds up over time.

2. A 401k or 403b retirement fund- This benefit allows you to invest in your retirement fund and your company matches some of your investments.

3. Option to buy company stock- In addition to having the opportunity to invest in funds or stocks when you’re enrolled in a retirement plan, you can also purchase stocks of your company which makes you a shareholder. This means that when the company does good, you make money too.

4. Pension- This is also a type of monetary benefit some companies provide their employees upon retirement. They get a monthly stipend of a particular amount depending on the length of their service with the company.

5. Medical/ Dental and Vision Insurance- Insurance costs are pricey and many people can’t afford them on their own even if they work for themselves. People nowadays just work to receive insurance through their company. It lessens the burden of having to pay for thousands of dollars out of pocket when you need medical help.

6. A Cafeteria Plan- This is a benefit that allows for you be reimbursed for a portion of your medical expenses throughout the year. Most of the time, you get at least the tax portion reimbursed back to you.

7. Tuition Aid- Some companies pay for their employees to go to school for a job related degree. Each company and benefit have their yearly cap and maximum cap. They is also a list of contracted schools that participate in their programs. Even if the Tuition aid may have a cap and may not completely pay for your education, it gets your started in accomplishing your educational goals.

8. Scholarships- These scholarships are for the children of employees. Some are even up to $2500 per child. All they have to do is write an essay and they can qualify to receive free money for school, how easy if that?

9. Discounts or freebies on your company products and services- It may be a 20% employee discount for purchases or subscriptions to company owned products. Or it may be free upgrades that you would otherwise be charged if you don’ work for that company.

10. Discounts or specials from company affiliates- Some businesses provide valuable discounts if you present your ID from a affiliated company. Examples of some businesses that are represented are local gyms, car dealerships, local stores and restaurants, etc.

11. Job Referral Bonuses- Bigger companies offer incentives for their employees to refer friends and relatives to work for them. Many times, they wait for the referred employee to at least make it to 3 months of working before offering compensation to the referring employee.

12. Priority on Job Openings- Being already in the company allows you to know immediately know what job positions are available. You can take advantage of such opportunity to find a position that might work for you better in regards to schedule or salary.

13. Bonuses and perks- Some company perks include company laptops, cars, cellphones etc. Bonuses may be monetary or gifts ranging from gift cards to fancy trips. In any case, it’s nice to receive bonuses and perks just for doing a great job.
14. Onsite facilities- There are useful onsite facilities that available on some businesses. They may be a nice gym that employees can work out at before or after work. It may be a recreation area that employees can watch tv or relax during their break. Or it may even be a onsite daycare center for employees with little ones.

So if you’re looking for a job, or already have one, look at what benefits they provide. You may be surprised. They may have something that can benefit you and save you lots of money in the long run.

~kristine munda

Feedthepig.org

feed the pig I saw this website on tv the other day.
It’s pretty cool. The mascot was a little scary, but the concept is wonderful! I love it! 

a sudden change in plans

Well, having our second baby next year got me thinking.  Should we really be taking as much risk in our savings as we initially planned?  There are gonna be more expenses in the baby’s first year, so I thought it might be smarter to have a little more cushion.  We were so excited about just putting all we can (after our current expenses) aside into mutual funds and leaving the current savings we have alone.  We decided to go aggressive on our funds and we’re looking forward to a high return. After much computation, we agreed on splitting the money to 1/3 to the mutual funds, 1/3 to our regular savings and 1/3 for immediate spending with the new baby.  I guess I wouldn’t want to be stuck with no safe investment and although the interest is lower in the banks, it’s more secured than the funds.

Re: my last blog

okay okay, just to make it clear, I know investing on mutual funds is still different than stocks.  What I mean though is they are still more similar than investing in real estate.  We still have to do further research and some more saving then we will have enough to spare to play the stock game, woohoo!

Mutual Funds

So, I’ve been holding off getting mutual funds for the longest time.  But we figured, we’re young enough to take such high risks and their is great potential. And I’ve already wasted enough time not investing much earlier.  So, we opened up our first mutual fund this week.  I’m very excited.  Can’t wait to see results.  I still want to open a small mutual fund for the kids through a bank. My brother opened one for his son and the return has been good so far.  I would be nice to have that extra money to spend for the kids’ college.  Also, I told my husband that it would be nice to have an investment.  Many people are still into the Real Estate investing, and with the prices nowadays, we can’t afford to spend and extra $2000-$2500 on a mortgage plus expenses of owning your own home.  So we’ll make do with what we can spare.  And a mutual fund is still an investment, just a different kind.  Besides, that’s how Warren Buffet became rich right? Investing in stocks.  I want to learn how to trade just like the big guys.  And Phil Town turned $1000 into a million dollars in five years by doing stocks. Wowza!  I’m so excited! If they can do it, I’m sure I can too =)

Goals

I was reading an article from CNN Money about Millionaires in the making. How inspirational!  Reminds me that you don’t have to be extremely frugal to reach your goal.  You just have to make smart decisions.  Determine what’s your goal, what your priorities are and work towards your goal in the smartest, easiest way.Our goal this year is to stash as much in our savings as possible. This is what were doing while we put away our 6% in our 401ks.  At the same time, although we haven’t done so yet, we’re looking into 529/college savings plans for our son and our new baby on the way.Next year, we have a few decisions to make on top of starting the College plans.  Do we want to raise our 401 k contributions, get into mutual funds, get an IRA, or get started on stocks??? hmmn, so many choices, not enough money to go around, I could only wish.  Maybe one day.As for our long run.  We would like to be able to retire as early as possible so we can focus on our business ideas and do things we’ve always wanted to do without worrying about cashflow.  We want to be able to have enough saved up that we can pretty much live on interest alone.  I can’t wait.

The reason why you need to save.

If your bills are like mine, they don’t always fall on the day after you get paid.  So sometimes, we have to squeeze up a few hundred dollars during those off the payday bills.  Some people use credit cards, that works, I guess, but I find it harder to manage credit card bills because they can easily accumulate and they have (yet another) pay by date.  So I prefer to not use them for certain bills.  The solution, in your monthly budgeting, put into consideration the dates that certain bills are due before your payday, and make sure you have sufficient back up money, just in case.  I know how hard it is to live paycheck to paycheck and barely just have enough, but if you plan your bills correctly, and try to stash away a little something whenever you can, it won’t be too bad.

Another thing that has encouraged me to save aside from variable bill pay by dates and paydays  is UNFORSEEN expenses.  I have good health insurance, but these have been to my experience; having to take an unpaid sick day, taking a family care leave (unpaid), pricey medications and treatments, a new pair of glasses that are  over the covered limit from my insurance benefit, frequent doctor visits (which are not frequent enough to file in you taxes). Some other recent expenses which you don’t like looking forward to also include car troubles need fixing, an emergency trip you might need to take, a broken fridge/washer/dryer/or stove, or even finding out that you forgot to pay an old bill and it’s come to haunt you… arrgh.

Many say you should have at least 4-6 months worth of expenses saved in the bank, just in case something happens. Hmmmn, to regular people, that’s so unlikely.  But the truth is, it’s very smart to have that handy, co’z you really never know.Don’t worry, it may take you a year or two or three to actually have that 4-6 months of savings stashed away, but if you don’t start now, you never have it.  We’re still working on it. Its not easy tough, I have to admit.  But it’s one of those things that I look forward in saying… “We did it, we finally did it!”