All Posts Tagged With: "afford"

Can you actually lend money to friends or family, while avoiding all the headaches that are associated with it?

The answer: NEVER EVER lend money to friends or family! Really, it’s just not a good idea (hey, don’t look at me like that. No, I’m not a d@#k). By doing so, you’d be mixing business with relationships, and most people who have lent cash to loved ones could attest to the fact that they were never paid back in full (sorry … that’s the sad, sad truth). Look, I know that you have good intentions when you decide to lend money to someone … we all do (or at least did, until we got burned way too many times in the past). But trust me on this one (I’m speaking from experience here): There’s a high probability that it will harm your friendship far worse than it will ever help the borrower’s temporary problem! Continued

A lot of people just ignore their debt (I don’t know how they do it).

Then there are those wimps who are afraid to contact their creditors. They don’t really seem to understand the step-by-step consequences of not even trying to pay their bills, which I have laid out, in chronological order: 1) your credit rating will definitely be affected, 2) your creditors will seek a judgment in an effort to get paid, 3) your bill will be turned over to a debt collector, 4) your property might be repossessed and your wages may be garnished, and finally 5) you more than likely will be forced into bankruptcy.

While we don’t have enough time here for specific details of the often complicated measures people take in order to get out of debt, we do have enough to review the correct ways to start turning this problem around: Continued

Christmas is coming – it’s that crazy time of the year again; here come the in-laws, the grandparents and cousins. Bring on the ham dinner, the candy canes, parades and traditions! This is what the kids (young and old) wait for all year long — it is the perfect time for giving and sharing of gifts with family and friends. However, as much as we want to celebrate this exchange and be truly jolly during this festive season, we should also want to make sure that we are extra careful about spending so that we don’t spoil the festive mood this time of the year usually brings (we’re still in a bad economy, remember?).

From past experiences, my ultimate challenge with Christmas shopping has always been overspending (and as I understand it, most people are in the same boat [or sleigh to keep with the holiday theme. It’s a stretch, I know]). The reason for this: retailers love to set up roadblocks for us, and are extremely good at running lengthy promotions and coming up with the latest “kids have to have this” gift ideas to entice shoppers into spending more money than they are comfortable with doing. The way I truly see it: we’re constantly being bombarded with opportunities to “buy, buy, buy” and almost without realizing it, our multiple small purchases start accumulating into big amounts of debt, which always gives us a big shock when the credit card bill come rolling in. Sound familiar? Well …

This year, why not be prepared for your Christmas shopping adventures by having a shopping list, a budget and the following list of tips with you before you head over to the mall? I can’t speak for your list or budget personally, but I can tell you that the tips will keep you from overspending and emptying your pockets this holiday: Continued

Flying home for the holidays this year? Better read this first …

This holiday season is going to be filled with both good and bad news for budget-minded travelers. The bad news is that fares are much higher than usual (whatever that means, right?) flight capacity is way down and any last-minute deals are becoming scarcer to get (at least, that’s the way I’m seeing things). The good, no great, news is that if you’re the frugal type that likes to do your homework and plan ahead, you’re more than likely going to save (or have already saved, for you early-birders) as much money as physically possible in these trying times — where the airlines are just not getting “it” in our struggling economy (note: their latest “add-on” charges haven’t dropped a cent).

You’re a family man, and you’re not going to cancel your holiday plans of flying home to see everyone, I get that! So, why let the economy get you down? Why even contemplate the thought of not being able to visit your family members and old friends? That, my pal, is the single-biggest reason for travel this time of year, so do yourself a huge favor and go for it, while at the same time not breaking your bank! The following will help you out with that issue: Continued