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August 30, 2008

5 Action-Ideas To Manage Your Personal Finance

Personal Finance
Joseph Then asked:


It’s unbelievable that schools does not teach us everything that we have to know but left out one important subject, that is Personal Finance Management. No wonder we see rising cases of people with bad debts and bad credit.
Here are 5 ideas to better manage your personal finance.
Build a savings account
Your money is something that you work very hard for. If you want to build a savings account for yourself, and for your family, you can do it – but perhaps a little slower than you might like. You can get started by saving all the change you get from shopping at the grocery store, from the gas station and from anywhere else you might go. Putting all this change into a container, you can then fill the container, day by day. As the container is full, roll the coins and deposit this money into your new savings account. You might be surprised, but in just two weeks it is possible you saved twenty dollars, or even one hundred dollars. Your savings account will grow, and you will be managing your money at the same time!
Paying bills on time
Paying your bills on time is going to be a something you need to make a habit for your entire life. Your credit report, your credit rating and your personal credit worthiness is going to depend on how often you are on time when paying your bills. Paying your bills on time is important for a solid financial future. As you pay bills on time, you are less likely to pay higher interest rates, you are not going to pay late fees, and you will build a good credit rating at the same time. To pay your bills on time, all the time, use a system that will have all your bills put into a pile in the same place. Put the bills that are due first on the top of the pile. Put the bills that are due at the end of the month in the bottom of the pile. Look at the pile every day, or at very least every other day. When you have the money, pay the bill on the top of the pile and work your way through all the bills for the month, and then you can start on the bills for next month!
Building good credit
To build good credit you want to pay your bills on time, and avoid paying those higher interest rates. If you have good credit, you want to keep it. What some people do not realize is that you can hurt your credit if you are moving often. Moving every month, moving every year, and moving more than needed it going to lower your credit score. If you live in the same house, the same apartment for over five years this is going to help your credit. Avoid moving when possible. Get a copy of your credit report; review the addresses that are listed for you. Remove addresses that are not applicable to where you have lived in the past.
Use coupons and save money
If you are not using coupons now, you should be. With the price of everything going up, and up, you need to learn to make your money ‘go further’. To make your money last longer, and to get more for your money seek out coupons for the goods and services that you always purchase. The secret to using coupons is this: don’t use, clip or keep coupons for items that you don’t usually use in your home. Coupons are enticing to get you to try other items, and sometimes can cost you even more money. Clip coupons from the Sunday paper, from the Internet online coupon sites, and look for coupons on the products you already purchase. This is going to give you the best savings possible, stretching out the money you have, and that you want to make last much longer for your household budget.
Money management involves working for a living
Money management is a budgetary thing, meaning you need to know how much money you have, and how much money you can spend. If you are spending more money than you are earning, you are most likely relying on your credit cards just way too much. If you are relying on your credit cards, your payments are going up and you will never pay off those credit cards. Money management involves your earning money, and spending the money you earn, and not more than that. If you need more money in your home budget, you can do a few things: get a new job with better pay, ask for a raise, get a second job, or build a business of your own. Relying on others for handouts, making minimums payments on credit cards you can’t afford, and living beyond your means is only going to come back to cause you trouble later in life.

August 16, 2008

How to Get Better Fuel Economy

Economy
Stephen Long asked:


How to get better fuel economy? This is a question that seems to be on everyone’s mind these days. Simply drive by a gas station and you probably cringe each time as you watch prices continually rise. Oil prices are rising, and gas prices are reflecting this rise in oil prices as well. In the past year, gas prices have gone up more than $1 per gallon, and the prices are really beginning to hurt the wallet of Americans these days. Fuel economy is a hot topic, and no doubt you’re looking for ways that you can get better fuel economy. Well, here are some easy ways that you can start working on getting better fuel economy, which will save you money each time you fill up with gas.

Make Sure Your Air Filters are Working Properly – Making sure that your air filters are working properly is one way to get better fuel economy. You can really improve the gas mileage that your car gets when you make sure to replace any air filters that become clogged. The air filter in your car helps to keep impurities from getting through and causing engine damage. They also can help you save on gas, and studies show that they can improve the mileage that you’re getting by about 10%, which really can help.

Use the Right Motor Oil for Your Vehicle – Using the right motor oil for your vehicle can help you get better fuel economy as well. You can improve the mileage that your car gets by a couple percentage points when you make sure that you are using the right motor oil for your car. If you use the wrong type of engine oil, you can lower your gas mileage, but using the right oil that is recommended by the car manufacturer will help you get the best performance and gas mileage.

Get an Engine Tune Up – An engine tune up can really help you save money on gas. In fact, it can help your fuel economy so much that you can save about $0.16 on every gallon that you buy. It’s important that you keep your engine tuned up and make sure that the car passes emissions tests as well. Serious problems with your car such as problems with oxygen sensors can really take down your gas mileage, so make sure you keep the engine tuned up.

Don’t Let Tire Pressure Drop – Don’t let the tire pressure drop in your tires either if you want better fuel economy. You’ll be able to get more than 3% better gas mileage when you keep your tires well inflated. Take a look at the recommended tire pressure for your tires, and then keep your tires there to make sure you get the best fuel economy possible.

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