For those who are eligible for financial aid should take advantage of that opportunity to obtain the funds for school. There are a number of students who do not know how to go about obtaining government grants. It’s easy! Fill out the FAFSA form online when you do your yearly taxes then stop by your financial aid office located at your school. Schools sometimes like to make it a hassle and will give you the run-around (trust me, I know). I have to say that it is totally worth it.

For those of you that are not eligible for government grants, here are some tips to help you bring in some extra revenue to pay for schooling:

Sign-up for scholarship mailing lists. There are so many scholarships offered that anyone can obtain. Apply for as many as you can/have time for. The list is sometimes endless.

Save Save Save! If you have a job I can’t stress more to save as much as possible. Sure, I know that you have bills to pay, but instead of eating out so much or purchasing those little trinkets you will end up throwing away next year when you switch dorms, put that money towards your college funding.

Get a job while in school. I know it’s hard to work and go to college at the same time, but sometimes it is absolutely necessary. Even if you have to get a part-time job it will be worth it in the end. A number of students graduate with a massive amount of debt that will take them double the amount of time they spent in school to pay it off.

Start a small business. There are many affiliate type programs or multi-marketing businesses out there that you can bring some extra cash in with that don’t require a lot of your time. For more ideas of how to do this you can check out a website we have designed specifically to help those market products or even build their own websites.

These are just a few ideas of ways you can bring some extra money in to help save for college or pay as you go. If you are eligible for financial aid I would highly suggest you do all you can to get that for yourself. Trust me, you will be happier by taking this route as opposed to graduating while swimming a pool of debt.

You may think that only people who know a lot about computers can have a website. WRONG! I found an amazing company that can do this for people who are computer-illiterate such as myself. Everest Web Design will do exactly what you want. You tell them what you are looking for and they will custom build a website based on your needs and wants! The best part of all is that they are very affordable. They have some of the best prices out there in the market for building web sites and rank high on quality.

If you are struggling financially in your business or would just like to increase the revenue, I strongly suggest looking into Everest Web Design to have a website made custom for you. If you have questions feel free to comment on this blog and ask. They have designed a number of our websites for the different departments that we work for and have helped us increase our business tremendously. Check them out.

How do you consolidate? It’s simple, by rolling all your student loans into one and locking it into a single rate, you can decrease your payments and your accumulated interest. If you are still in school the best rate you could get would be a 4.75. As for those who are on a repayment plan, the best rate you could get before June 30th would be 5.375—or course these figures apply to Stafford loans that were taken out after the year 1998.

Word of warning: Those who have already consolidated their student loans previously are not eligible to reconsolidate.

If you currently have a student loan, whether you are still in school or on a repayment plan, now is the time to consolidate for a better rate.

I won’t deny it, my parents were not the best teachers when it came to financial preparedness. In fact, growing up I watched them use the credit card for everything. Of course they owned a business and if you are an owner of a business you would know that a credit card is a bare necessity; however, in my home, a credit card was used for absolutely everything. There was no encouraging of putting money in a savings or investing in a bond, mutual fund, or CD. Budgeting is a word I learned on my own after I moved out and found an excessive amount of debt that had somehow accumulated in the balance of my credit card and saw no possible way to pay it off with the wage I was making. I do have to give them some credit for putting such a big emphasis on getting a real job at the age of 14 to purchase the things that I would need or want in hopes to teach me responsibility, however, the education on properly saving and investing my money was never given to me.

Teaching children to be financially prepared should be the responsibility of the parents, not the school. I do agree that the school should hold a required course on the basics of money education to reinstate what has been taught by the parents, not to mention new discoveries and statistics of this particular subject, however, what good is it if the parents are not being the prime example?

In a recent press release on April 30, 2006 with Blue Financial it states that 40 percent of workers between the ages of 21 – 30 have not even begun to plan for a retirement by investing in a retirement fund or some other type of investment service. It also states that among this group of young individuals there is a lack in knowledge of good and bad debt which could affect the economy negatively years to come.

Financial preparedness should be taught to children and young adults by the parents. Public schools, as well as private schools, should hold a mandatory class to educate students on money education; however, parents should be the example and take most of the responsibility. To help those get out of debt and prevent debt from accumulating in years to come, education is the key.

Here are some helpful tips to get you out of the cycle of paycheck to paycheck living.

• Set a goal. If you have something you are working for, it is easier to watch your money. Think about a vacation you want to take this summer or a new house you’ve had your eye on.
• Keep track of where your money goes. And not just a vague idea in your head. Write it down. Keep track of what you spend and where. You may be surprised at unexpected leaks in your expenditures.
• Don’t eat out. Many families are getting into the habit of eating out every night. Limit your family to one dinner out a month. Eat dinner and home and take your lunch to work. This can save hundreds of dollars a month.
• Be careful when you shop. Don’t do grocery shopping when you are hungry and, ladies, don’t go shopping when you are depressed. Always make a list and stick to it.
• Direct deposit some of your paycheck into savings. Check with your employer to see if this option is available to you. It is much easier to save when it is an automatic withdrawal from your paycheck before you get it.
• Sell something you don’t want or use. Do you have an extra car sitting around that some day you are going to fix? Or that camper out back just in case you ever change your mind and decide you like camping? Give Ebay a try, or even the local classifieds. One man’s junk is always another man’s treasure, and it doesn’t hurt that you can make money off the deal.
• Get a second job. If you still can’t escape the cycle of paycheck to paycheck living, try working a second job for a while. It is no fun, but the extra cash will really help you meet your goal.

Whatever you decide to do to meet your goal of not living paycheck to paycheck, remember that the most important thing is to maximize income and minimize expenses. Don’t get discouraged if it doesn’t happen right away; if you stick to it, you will see a change in your financial situation soon enough!

Apparently, according to the study, high school seniors could only answer about half of the questions correctly on a 30 question financial survey. Minorities and students from lower income families scored even lower on the test. There was not much of a difference in scores between genders.

The reason this is potentially such a problem is that by the time these teenagers reach retirement, they will most likely be responsible for their own financial stability and won’t have the luxury of relying on Social Security to take care of them. If they know nothing about investing or personal finance, how are they supposed to plan and prepare for the future?

Also, the results of this survey are significant for these teens now, not just when they reach retirement. It is increasingly easy for young people to get credit cards and accumulate debt, and if they don’t understand personal finance, how are they going to make wise decisions that will build a solid financial foundation? With many credit card companies offering attractive deals to first time card holders, it can be easy to slip into debt if you don’t know what you are doing.

This study shows the importance of becoming financially literate. While finances can get incredibly complicated, it isn’t hard to learn the basics of investing, saving, credit cards, taxes, and so forth. Take the time to educate yourself or your children about these issues so that they, and you, can have a successful and secure future!

A popular trend in our society today is to move debt around. It is thought to be beneficial to refinance your mortgage while simultaneously taking out a cash-out to pay off your excess debt; however, it is not considered paying off your debt. It simply is just added on to another loan and then the “payback” time frame is then extended only leaving you with more accumulated interest to pay off. To get out of debt, you have to pay the money you owe back to the creditors. I’m not sure if this is some misconception or if people just enjoy soaking in their own mess that we like to call a “pool of debt”.

Another popular way to move debt around is to transfer your credit card balances to another credit card. This is very bad! Even if the new credit card offers 0% APR for a year, the behavior scores on your credit report might kill your rating. You can probably get away with this for a little while, but soon enough it will catch up with you and creditors will stop approving you for credit cards… then what will you do? File for bankruptcy?

Bankruptcy used to be a popular way to overcome debt, however, now it is harder than ever to file. With the new bankruptcy laws passed in October of 2005, you will find it difficult to take the “easy way out” by filing for bankruptcy.

Credit counseling is another common way to get out of debt, however, you still have fees to pay which add to your expenditures. More and more people are starting to go with this option especially since filing for bankruptcy is now hard to do. Credit counseling is not such a bad idea; there are just a few things to watch out for. Click HERE for more details.

There you have it—some of the most popular ways that American’s deal/overcome their debt. Be quick to recognize your debt, but careful in choosing your method of getting out of debt. Besides, you don’t want to be like everyone else… right?

Click on the links below for more information

Consumer Credit Counseling
Debt Consolidation
Debt Settlement
Budgeting
Credit Card Debt
Bankruptcy

Do you watch the caller id like a hawk hoping that it isn’t another collection agency calling to collect funds for overdue balances from over a year ago? My roommate and I recently had a conversation regarding the trauma that the collection agencies left on her. Remembering back to her younger years, she recalls when her mother would repeatedly tell her that if anyone from a collection agency were to call, to tell them that the person they were calling for wasn’t home. She was left with the impression that collection agencies are “bad” people and that they can take you to jail. To this day, at the age of 23, she is still encumbered by fear with the memories of getting calls from the collection agencies.

So, you may be one of those people because your parents didn’t pay their bills while you were growing up, however, you don’t have to be one now! There are ways to deal with and avoid getting calls from a collection agency. They are as follows:

1. Always pay your bills on time. This is what got your parents into a trap the first time; don’t be a follower!
2. So, maybe you are in a bit of a pickle with your bills, if you do get a notice, don’t ignore it. Follow up on it with the creditor and tell them your situation. Often times you can set up a payment plan to pay off the debt slowly.
3. Become familiar with the Fair Debt Collection Practices. There are certain laws that you may not know that could be beneficial to you when getting bombarded with calls from collection agencies.
4. If you are currently in some type of debt program, i.e. credit counseling or debt settlement, you can send letters to your creditors informing them that you are taking care of your debt and to not call. If they receive some type of written documentation like the example given, they cannot call you.
5. If collection agencies are after you, make sure the figures they are giving you are accurate. Often times there could be errors in their reports or your creditors’ as well.
6. If you believe that you have paid a specific bill but are being chased by collections, find all proof that you may have of paying the funds, and don’t wait another day to get that taken care of. It takes 7 years to get reports of late payments off of your credit report.

There you have it! Some tips of dealing with or avoiding calls from collection agencies.

One of the best ways to save money is in a 401K plan. Let’s discuss briefly the reasons for putting your hard earned money into a 401K.

1. The biggest reason to save in a 401K is that your employer will usually match your contribution up to a certain amount. Can anyone say FREE MONEY?! Some employers match your contributions 100%, while others do 50% or 10%. Find out what your employer’s policy is! Also, there are limits to how much you can invest into your 401K. For 2006, you are not allowed to invest more than $15,000 per year in your 401K. This limit is set by the IRA. Some employers may also have limits to how much they will let you contribute, such as 10% of your income, so keep that in mind.

2. Contributions to your 401K are automatically deducted from your paycheck, so you don’t have to remember to pay another bill each month. It doesn’t get much easier than this! This also means that you aren’t tempted to spend the money on new clothes instead of investing it.

3. Contributing to your 401K lowers your taxable income. This is a nice break on taxes for the present time, but keep in mind that you do have to pay taxes when you close the account and take out the money.

4. You decide where to invest your money when you sign up. There are many different plans that you can choose from. You can play it safe or take high risks; it’s really up to you.

5. You earn more interest on your money than you would in a regular savings account. For example, if you put $100 each month into your 401K over 20 years, with an employer match of only 50% you will still have about $180,000. Compare this to the $40,000 you would have if you put that same money into a savings account.

Can you see why it is critical that you take advantage of your 401K plan? Begin now, and let the money accumulate! I can almost see that retirement in the Caribbean…..

2. Pay all your bills on time. After declaring bankruptcy, your credit score will be suffering, and the best way for you to improve it is to be faithful in paying your bills in full and on time. Over time, your credit score will reflect your dedication to paying your bills.

3. Don’t respond to all of the credit card advertisements you will get. While this may seem strange, credit card companies often target people who have just filed for bankruptcy for new offers because they know that you can’t file for bankruptcy for the next seven years. Be careful about the offers you receive and steer clear of them.

4. Be wary of offers to repair your credit. Credit repair companies will come to you and volunteer to repair your credit for a fee. Keep in mind that anything they can do, you can do yourself. The most you can do is dispute mistakes or inaccuracies on your report. Neither you, nor they, can erase your bankruptcy, so don’t let them fool you into thinking that they can.

5. Try not to take out any loans. Whether it be for a car, home, or school, try to avoid taking out a loan if at all possible because you will probably be hit with high interest rates since you will be seen as a more risky investment. Wait until your credit score improves to take out loans.

6. Enjoy life! While working to keep up on your bills, take the time and money to do fun things and give yourself. Everyone needs time for the own personal relaxation. Don’t go overboard, but don’t feel guilty about treating yourself every once in a while.

Bankruptcy isn’t the end of the world and it is something you can recover from. Just follow these tips and keep your head up! Things will get better and your life won’t be over!