Frugaling

What Are the Alternatives to Short Term Loans?

Some people prefer to go down the road of applying for a short-term loan when they are dealing with financial difficulties. Here at www.creditpoor.co.uk, we aim to provide you with the required financial guidance in order to determine whether you should apply for a loan or look for other alternatives.

A short-term loan can be a great option if you need to get over a financial ordeal or simply make a certain purchase. However, some people prefer not to do so and look for other solutions. Interest rates of short-term loans can be sometimes high, depending on how long you intend to repay the borrowed amount. Here at www.creditpoor.co.uk, we review each specific case and access our massive lenders’ database to find you the best deal possible. We are merely a broker that caters for the need of our clients, and we look for the best deals with the lowest interest rate possible.

However, if you are certain that you would like to look for alternatives to short-term loans, here are some tips that you might find feasible.

Contact the Company You Owe:

It is always better to start with contacting the company you owe money for. Most companies are quite tolerable when you have the intention to pay back their money. They would like their money back, of course, and they would not risk your declaration of bankruptcy. www.creditpoor.co.uk advises you to contact the company first and explain your situation. They should arrange a plan for your repayment that works for the well being of both of you. But remember, you should not make any vain promises that you would not keep.

Contact Family Members and Loved Ones:

If you have not done that already, you should start contacting you family members and friends. It is the best alternative to short-term loans, as you would not have to deal with the interest rate of lending services. However, you should also consider the financial situation of others. You do not want to fix you problems by inflicting hardships on others.

Contact Your Employer:

If you are employed, you should consider contacting your employer for an advance in pay. If you plan to work there, it would not be a problem to take an advance on the wages you are eventually going to receive. However, try to manage and assess your situation properly; as you would not be getting a salary for the month you are requesting an advance from. www.creditpoor.co.uk usually deals with clients who happen to manage their finances poorly. Try to take smart decision concerning this step, as it might hurt your financial situation even more.

Withdraw from Your Savings Account:

Some people create a savings account to be able to accomplish future goals or have some money to rely on when times are tough. Well, now might be the time to make a withdrawal from your savings account. Try to be reasonable with your withdrawal, and do not make a habit out of it. Once you are debt free and all the stress of your financial difficulties subside, you should return the amount you withdrew from your savings account as soon as possible.

We hope that you find these alternatives to short-term loans have helped you figure out a way to overcome your financial ordeal. With proper knowledge of management and financial arrangements, you should find your situation stable for quite some time. Remember that www.creditpoor.co.uk is always here to help you out when the times are tough. If you plan to apply for a short-term loan, make sure to contact us and leave the rest for us.

Best Ways to Boost Savings in 2017

By Frugaling 1 Comment

If adding to your rainy day fund was placed squarely at the top of your financial to-do list, you are in good company. According to a GOBankingRates survey, nearly 69% of all Americans have a dismal savings account balance, meaning $1,000 or less. When faced with a financial emergency that requires quick affordable cash on hand, you do have options available to you, such as this auto title loan service in Los Angeles. However, even a grand or two may not be enough to get you through until the next payday. Building up savings is an admirable goal, but it can be difficult to know the best route to take to boost your savings power this year. Don’t worry; the savings tips below will help you build a savings account you can be proud of.

Get on the Tech Train

Technology can be your best friend when you’re attempting to reach a financial goal. Several mobile and desktop apps exist that put you in the driver’s seat of your saving, and spending. Budget apps like Mint offer easy methods for analyzing your daily and monthly buying habits and suggest how you might curtail your spending so that you have more to save. Automated savings apps like Digit and Qapital put saving in the forefront of your mind through behind-the-scenes transfers and savings rules based on your tendencies and budget. One or a combination of these digital tools can street you in the right direction while you work to increase your savings account balance this year.

Seek out a Higher Yield

A simple method to boost a savings account balance is to give your money a chance to work harder for you. This can be done by transitioning some or all of your current savings to a high-yield account. Some financial institutions, mostly those found online with no branch location, offer a higher interest rate on traditional savings accounts than brick-and-mortar location. Without the added expense of overhead, online banks pass savings down to banking customers by way of higher rates on savings, certificates of deposit, and money market accounts. Before making the switch, be sure to check for any account fees, minimums, or other restrictions on the new savings account that might damper progress toward your goal.

Set a Realistic Goal

It’s fairly common knowledge that establishing a goal of any kind takes some forethought. It’s even more important when it comes to financial goals, as they often involve several aspects of your day-to-day life. If you’ve already set a savings goal for yourself, spot check the dollar amount you are aiming for to ensure it is attainable. That may require a review of your budget to ensure the funds are each month or pay period, or it may require an analysis of your timeline for reaching said goal. If you have yet to set a dollar amount for your savings goal or a timeline for hitting the mark, start there. The only way to know if you’re making progress is to know what you’re trying to achieve in the first place!

Automate It

One of the best moves you can make toward reaching a savings goal is to pay yourself first. Everyone has bills to pay to utility companies, landlords or lenders, and insurance companies each and every month – why not add yourself to the list of people owed? Setting aside funds for your financial stability should take place automatically each time you get paid. If you’re nervous about setting up a scheduled transfer into savings, start small with an amount you know you can easily afford. As time goes on, you’ll forget that “bill” is paid each pay period. That’s the perfect time to increase the amount and start the cycle again.

Beefing up your savings this year doesn’t have to be a point of contention. Instead, grab hold of one or more of the tips listed above to kick start your savings habit, and ultimately, work toward reaching your near- or long-term savings goal.

The Ultimate List of Budgeting Tips to Reduce Debt

By Frugaling 1 Comment

The increase in consumer debt over the past few years, mainly since the recession is staggering. More and more people are finding themselves in a situation where they are battling to cope with their rising debt, with some feeling as though it’s a mountain they just cannot get to the top of, no matter how hard they try which as a result has led to more people within the UK having to use an IVA (Individual Voluntary Arrangement) or Trust Deed to help manage their debts.

Saving monthly, paying the minimum repayment on credit cards and cutting back on things such as travel or eating out – following the guidelines which are published in many magazines and blogs. Feeling like you’re doing the right thing but it just doesn’t seem to be making a difference.

This is why many people are turning to IVAs and Trust Deeds. These can help those individuals and families who are struggling with mounting debt to cope. In the case of an IVA or individual voluntary agreement, creditors will come to an agreement in which the consumer pays all or some of their debts over a period of time.

It’s favourable to bankruptcy as it allows more control over assets. A Trust Deed is also an arrangement where all of a debtor’s assets are transferred to a trustee to manage and pay back the creditors. This will also include paying a regular portion of their income to the trustee to allocate to creditors.

Before choosing to enter into either of these agreements however, try to reduce debt yourself. It IS possible.

Below is the ULTIMATE list of budgeting tips to reduce debt, and following as many of these as possible, will help you to get a lot closer to the top of the proverbial mountain than you have ever been…

Spend less than you earn

This may seem obvious, but many people rely on credit cards to live a lifestyle that costs more than what they earn. Create a realistic budget and stick to it.

Cut up your credit cards

Do this so that you are not tempted to go over your monthly budget.

Pay off credit cards with the highest interest first

Check APR on each card and pay them off from the highest to the lowest.

Implement a weekly meal plan

By planning your meals for both lunches (at work, school or home) and dinners, you will know exactly what to buy. Anything that doesn’t got into one of the recipes, doesn’t need to go into the trolley.

Take your lunch to work

Taking your lunch with you to work can save a substantial amount over time. The same applies to morning coffees.

Look to change your home and car insurances

Insurance companies usually rely on the fact that people will not cancel the automatic renewal each year, but often their prices don’t remain competitive. Use a price comparison website and don’t be afraid to change insurer.

Don’t buy new clothes

There will be times where kids grow out of their clothes and buying new clothing is unavoidable, but the adults most certainly don’t need anything new until after the debt has been paid off.

Downgrade your mobile phone and TV package

It’s an essential part of reducing debt, whether we like it or not. We don’t need the mobile phone package with unlimited minutes or huge amount of data, nor do we need the best TV package with access to the latest box sets. While you are paying off debt, downgrade to the basics.

Track your expenses

Writing down everything you spend or using an app to track can help you to spend less because you are constantly aware of the running total. Put a stop to any monthly subscriptions such as Netflix and Audible. All the small amounts do add up over time.

Put any extra cash towards your debt

Any additional money from overtime or part-time work as well as unexpected cash in the form of a gift or someone paying for you when you had planned to pay yourself, should immediately go to pay off your debts.

Cut back on entertainment

This will only be a temporary measure but will go a long way to decreasing your debts.

Pay a little more than the minimum repayment

Even if it is only £5 extra, always pay something more than the minimum which will bring down the interest you will pay over the course of the debt.

Try implementing just one of each of the above tips per week and within three months you will have built up numerous healthy habits towards reducing your debt.

CFD Trading; A Simple Guide

By Frugaling Leave a Comment

CFD trading has recently become a way to make a bit of extra money from the comfort of your own home, with some reduced risk when compared to standard trading on the stock market. CFD stands for “Contract for Difference” and it is based on the agreement between the two parties involved to settle at the end of a disclosed period, with the difference being the price at the start and the end of the contract, which is the traders profit.

The difference in the price at the start at the end is multiplied by the amount of shares that was agreed upon during the start of the trade and this is then the profit made by the trader. The process is very similar to ordinary share trading, in that they are purchased the same way and in the same amounts, even with the same prices, however, there are a few very clear and very distinct differences with ordinary share trading that are to be explored in the remainder of the article, with some tips and tricks in how to get the most out of a CFD trade and the protocol to think about when entering into one.

The first and foremost thing to consider, is that a CFD trade is operated in terms of margins. This means that the trader can maximise their capital and can often mean less capital is needed to get a good return than could be the case for ordinary share trading. Another point to make is that there is no stamp duty that needs to be paid for a CFD trade and this means a saving of 0.5% over a traditional share trade purchase. The flexibility in terms of short or long term trading can mean a profit can be made from both rising or falling stock and a greater range of financial markets is available to the trader when opening just one account of their own.

The magnified profits made also work the other way round for a CFD trade, so the losses made will also be magnified and you could find yourself losing large amounts of money quickly, as a result. It is therefore important to track each trade and put in place a stop loss in order to cut your losses. The main aspect is you do not have any rights as an investor and in fact, the commission charged on a trade means that they are more suited for short term investments because the longer the trade goes on, the more the costs increase.

There are many things to consider before entering into a trade and these include analysing risk, the trading system and the psychology of the trader. A useful graphic is provided to show the most important factors in becoming successful in CFD trading:

It can be seen that it is the trading psychology that is most important and it is good to get yourself into the right frame of mind before making a trade. It is always important to apply logic to every situation, operate like a robot, rather than a human and have a rigid structure that you will stick to when trading.

In addition, it is important to closely track your losses and profits. Cashing out too early on a profiting trade can be a big mistake, but perhaps the largest mistake is clinging on to a falling trade, in the hope it will start to rise again, it is always best to cut your losses whilst you still can, without draining your account so you can live to trade another day. A definite thing to do is to never dd to losing trades, this may sound simple, but, it is worth mentioning as some people have done this in the past, using a trend line to monitor the trade is a much better way to avoid making this mistake.

There are currently many platforms that are available in which CFD trading can be used to make some money online from the comfort of your own home. These sites include CMC markets, amongst some others that give the trader an easy way to start trading straight away, with welcome offers even being available from time to time.