Category Archives: personal finance

Finding The Cheapest Places To Live Abroad

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People are looking for the cheapest places to live with the economy being what it is and the new year in full force now.  I thought it was time to start thinking about the subject myself. Finding the cheapest place to live can be a bit of a challenge because usually the person looking for the cheapest place to live doesn’t have much money to travel the world researching the topic.

Of course, the Internet is the most logical place to start in your search for this elusive location worldwide. The issue that comes up again and again is that the information available and more accurately the criteria used to determine the cheapest place to live can sometimes skew the results of the survey.

I have found that often times no matter how authoritative the source of information, one has to often times read between the lines in order to make an accurate assessment comparing one location to the next.

For instance if some location is purported to be a cheap place to live and the report you’re reading presents an extensive graph of what everything from shoe polish chewing gum will cost, one has to always keep in mind things like culture and employment. You will find in a location where cost of living is low in many cases,  labor rates will also be low.

My own experience even living in the United States living on both ends of the economic  extreme, show a large metropolitan city and a town of 900 have labor rates that tend to some degree reflect the cost of living at least in most cases. The wages in the larger more expensive city are often higher than in smaller locations although the two do not track in absolute parallel. So the end result is that the cheap place to live with low wages is not such a bargain after all.

So to restate, when you’re doing your research on the Internet for cheap places to live abroad, keep every factor in mind that you could possibly think of in your comparison so you can create a true prediction of what it might really cost to live in that new locale.

What is a Debt Elimination Plan Snowball?

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For a good debt elimination plan to work, it needs a snowball as the basic premise. Using a snowball will get your debts paid off many years faster than if you continue to pay only the minimum.

Payments are ‘snowballed’ from debt to debt as they are zeroed out until the payment amount is so big, any remaining balances are quickly paid off.

Financial experts like David Bach, Dave Ramsey and Suze Orman all teach the snowball method to their clients, but the actual setup differs slightly between them.

Snowball by Balance – Dave Ramsey’s Method

  • Put all debts in order by balance with the lowest to be paid first and the largest balance last.
  • Pay the minimum for debts except for the first balance which will have a snowball starter (additional amount of as much as you can afford)
  • Move the payment amounts from debt to debt (snowballing) until everything is paid off.

This debt elimination plan is simple, but powerful as you watch the smaller balances get paid off fast. Seeing this happen builds lasting incentive for the long haul.

Snowball by Interest rate – Suze Orman’s Method

  • Arrange debts by interest rate in descending order – highest rate first.
  • For each debt, add $10 to the minimum payment.
  • Add the starter payment amount to the first debt and get the snowball rolling.

Seeing your first balance paid off may take some time on this plan, but you will likely pay less interest overall.

DOLP System with Snowball – David Bach’s Method

DOLP or done on last payment uses the number of months left to pay as the debt order. The least number of months goes first and the most number of months goes last.

  • Divide the balance by the minimum payment to get the number of months.
  • Apply the snowball starter to the first debt and continue until everything is paid off.

Because balances and interest rates are ignored in determining the order, this debt elimination plan tends to pay the most interest overall. However, you’ll see a debt or two paid off quickly at first.

Saving Money – Five Common Mistakes

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If you need to save money to pay for a large purchase, pay off debt, or just for later retirement, you probably know some of the best ways to save money that will help you reach your goal. However, you are probably unaware of the pitfalls that can befall you if you’re not careful. Here are the mistakes for you to avoid – make sure you heed this advice in order to improve your financial bottom line:

(1) Just focusing on the large purchases. If you just focus on lowering your debt payments, cars, houses, etc. and not on the daily coffee you get, you’re missing out on a lot of money you can save just by making little slices in your daily budget.

(2) Just focusing on the small purchases. Granted, the coffee and magazine you buy all the time can set you back over a year, but the large purchases can also have a very significant effect. Take care of these first before figuring out way to cut back on your smaller expenditures.

(3) Not taking advantage of all the free stuff out there. If you have an internet connection, for example, there are plenty of places for you to enjoy free and legal movies, musics, games, and reading material. Use this to take the place of the items you’d usually buy.

(4) Not keeping a budget. You need to know exactly where your money is going – both income and expenses. Keep a daily log of all your purchases in order to keep track of your current balance.

(5) Not having enough fun. You won’t be able to sustain your habits if you don’t get to enjoy yourself once in a while. Don’t break the bank on whatever you do, but do something that you and your family will enjoy. Then, get right back to your savings plan.

Investment Planning | Doing a Budget

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It’s important to do a budget first when you are doing investment planning for your retirement.  If you don’t know where you are, you won’t know where to start.  It’s like writing down directions without a starting point.  You just can’t do it.

What many people do is jump right into stock market investing.  They neglect to evaluate their own current financial situation and dive into investing.  Listen, before you starting learning how to do day trading for a living, you should know where you stand financially.

The first place to start is your income.  This may or may not be easy to do.  This depends on how many streams of income you have.  You may have multiple streams of income which may make your investment planning a bit more difficult.  This, of course, is not a bad thing.  It just makes the financial part a little more complex.

Then you have to get an idea of your expenses.  You should figure out what your expenses are and how much money goes to each item.  Then add up your expenses, subtract it from the income and you’ll get your net cash flow.

Once you can see all of your income and expenses, you know where you stand.  You may even find that you can improve it a bit or find expenses that you really don’t need to have and you can cut from your budget.

Then you need to decide how much you want to save each month toward a retirement investment plan.  Of course, you will need to consider different investment options, but now at least you know how much you can set aside.

As an aside, if you are considering doing day trading for a living, you will need at least $50,000 to start.  That’s if you’re good.  If you’re a rookie, you might need at least $100,000 to make enough to live on.

Mortgage Insurance Quote – Talk To Multiple Providers Before Purchasing The

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Are you looking to purchase mortgage insurance for yourselves? If so, have you decided upon any particular company to deal with for the insurance? It is quite possible that you may have contacted the company and they could have provided you with an estimate about the cost of the insurance. Are you under the impression that the company has provided you with the best deal possible? This is a problem that a number of people face and are left with no options but to talk to different insurance providers and request them to provide a mortgage insurance quote.

You too should be adopting a similar strategy and looking forward to request for quotes from multiple insurance providers. By doing so you will not only be giving yourselves an opportunity to compare prices and that are charged by the companies, but may also be in a position to purchase a policy that will suit your requirements perfectly. There is always a possibility that you could be looking for cheap mortgage insurance and the insurance provider could be looking to sell you something that is rather expensive. Such matters can only be resolved if you are in possession of multiple quotes from different insurance providers.

Insurance companies are competing with each other to grab a larger share of the market and in doing so will be looking to undercut the prices offered by other insurance companies. You will not be required to visit the office of each insurance provider to obtain a mortgage insurance quote. You can send out applications online, and rest assured that you will soon be inundated with a number of quotes from different insurance companies. Do not hesitate to bring it to the notice of the insurance company that you are talking to different insurers for the same policy. This will force the insurers into taking actions faster and giving you more benefits on the policy that you are looking to purchase.