How to make money blogging videos

Are you looking into blogs as a way to make some extra money? These video will give you a quick introduction on how to turn your blog into a stream of income.

Enjoy!

How to make money blogging

Technorati Tags: blogging,financial independence

Best tips for last minute Christmas shopping

It is beginning to feel a lot like Christmas! Shopping centres a decorated, Santa is around to take photos with the children, shops are playing carols and more…

I do think it is a little early to have all of that. I’d prefer they started at the beginning of December. But hey, it is not about the real meaning of Christmas, it is all about money. Oh, sorry about that, my cynicism is starting to show.

Here are a few tips to help you with your Christmas shopping if you are a little unprepared.

Make a list

First first thing to do is to determine how much you can realistically spend on your Christmas shopping overall. Be realistic.

Once you have done that then list all of the names of family and friends to whom you will give presents to and assign an amount to each person. This bit can be a bit of fun…

When you finish with the list make sure you are not overspending. Adjust the list until you are happy with it and within budget.

Do not go over budget

Don’t let your emotions run over you. If you are following your budget you cannot let your emotions run over you. I know this does not sound very nice but it is a fact.

Overspending will break your budget, get you into credit card debt, if you are using your credit card, and create a precedent. Your friends and family will expect expensive gifts from you every time.

Pay it all with cash

One way to increase your chances of following your budget is to carry only cash with you. Don’t go shopping with your credit cards, leave all of your cards at home.

Every time you go shopping  know which presents you are buying, know how much you are going to spend and take the exact cash you need.

This way you will follow your budget and you will not regret it later on.

Shop by yourself

There is research that indicates that people who shop alone have a tendency to spend less. Needless to say, go shopping alone.

Your family or friends will distract you and potentially influence you to buy something that is not in your budget.

Don’t buy presents for yourself

When you go to the shops you will certainly see stuff that you like. Don’t fall into the temptation of spending your money on the things you want. If you family and friends ask what you want for Christmas, get them to buy the things for you. Al so remind yourself that this is the season for giving, not getting.

Be creative

If you are really low in cash, or just want to do something different, search on the internet about do it yourself Christmas gifts. This will cost you only a fraction of what you would spend on the shops and, to me anyway, are much more valuable than just stuff from the shops.

Gifts you make will have your own personal touch and you can make them to suit to person receiving the gift. There is no shame in that!

I think that the main idea is for you to enjoy the season and bring a smile on the faces of the ones you love. This does not need to come from expensive gifts. Something you make to suit the person will have a much more long lasting impression than something that will be used a couple of times and thrown away.

Don’t make Christmas shopping a torture, don’t break the bank and make it part of a wonderful festive season.

Have a great time!

Technorati Tags: personal finances,financial independence,christmas

A few habits that are keeping you in debt

There are certain habits that we may have that unconsciously prevent us from paying off our debt and getting ahead.
Following are seven habits that may be holding us back from paying off debt and getting back into the black. Remember debt matters, it is important to get ahead in order to turbo charge you journey into financial independence.

Not knowing your account balance

It is very important to keep track of the balance in your bank account. This is especially true is you know that the balance is a little low.

Banks will allow you to overdraft on your bank account but they will charge you very, very high overdraft fees.

It is therefore very important to watch your account balance and ensure that it remains in the black to avoid hefty fees.

Click here learn more on how to organise your finances with online banking.

Paying too much in fees

Fees, fees, fees. Banks charge us lots of fees to access our own money. That makes very little sense to me. If you have several different accounts, consider consolidating them into one, this could save you lots of money in fees.

Nowadays many banks advertise accounts with no fees. You have to be very clear because most of the time there are conditions attached to a no fee account. These condition could include a minimum monthly deposit amount r a maximum number of monthly transactions.
The key is in researching the various options and organising your bank accounts in a certain way to save your own money.

Paying only the minimum amount

If you have credit card debt, the only way to pay it off quickly, and to save lots of money in interest, is to pay more than the minimum monthly payment amount.

The banks are not interest in you paying off your debt. That is why they only want you to pay the minimum payment amount. They will keep on increasing your credit limit so long as you can afford to pay the minimum amount.

Don’t fall into this trap, do all that you can to pay more and reduce that credit card balance as soon as you can.

Click here to learn how to avoid credit card debt.

Taking credit card cash advances

We all know that getting a cash advance in our credit cards is a really bad idea.

When you do a cash advance you not only pay a lot more interest on it but you also start paying that interest from day one. The banks usually don’t give you interest-free periods for cash advances.

Conclusion, avoid cash advances as much as possible.

Not bargaining for the best deal

This can be a bit tricky but it has the potential of saving you quite a bit of money. Call your debtors and ask them to lower your interest rate. The banks want your business and with the increase in competition amongst the banks it is likely that you can succeed in negotiating a better deal with your current bank.

Ask for options. These days many banks offer credit cards with a set period of very low, or no interest at all.

There are credit cards now that offer you the first 6 months interest free for balance transfers. This can be a great help to turbo charge you payments and get the most out of your own money.

One word of warning. If you are looking at these credit cards look at the conditions and at the interest rate you will pay once the initial period of low interest rate is over. Some of them will charge a much higher interest rate than other cards so do your research before signing on the dotted line.

Not knowing where your money is going

One of the biggest mistakes one can make in personal finances is not knowing where your money is going.

Get a budget going, use your online banking to export your transactions into a spreadsheet or a personal finances software and ensure to track where your money is going.

Set goals to pay off your debt and track your progress against your goals.

Click here to learn how to create a budget and stick to it.

It may feel like debt is here to stay for a long time. This does not need to be true. The biggest mistake you can make is complacency. Take control of your finances so you can be out of debt as soon as possible,

Technorati Tags: financial independence,debt,money,credit card

Save your money shopping online

 

Online retailers are able to offer you more discounts than the normal shop because they don’t have the overheads of paying for rent and other expenses related to having a physical building.

Compare prices and reviews

It is very easy to compare prices online. You get to figure out where the best deals are from the comfort of your home. There are websites that can help you with comparing prices.

The internet also gives you the ability to look at product reviews before you go ahead with the purchase. It can be very helpful to find out what the others are saying about the product you are planning to buy.

Free shipping

Online shopping not only saves you the money you would pay for the petrol to get to a from the shops, some retailers also offer free shipping depending upon what you are purchasing. Make sure the price of the item has not been inflated to cover the costs.

Look for discount codes

Up until a few months ago I did not know about the huge amount of discount codes available on the internet. Look for coupons from the retailers you are likely to buy from. This can also save you a bit more on top of the other saving you are making if you shop online.

Buy bulk and save

Many online retailers offer you extra savings if you buy in bulk. Think about any future use of the product you are buying and consider making extra savings buy bulk buying. Many online shops offer you free shipping if you buy more than a certain quantity of the product. Do the numbers, consider your needs and save!

Auction

You probably know eBay. There are other online auction sites that offer you the possibility of bidding for a particular item. Online auctions offer you the potential to save lots of money through the bidding process. Just make sure you don’t get caught up in the process and end up paying too much for the item you are looking for.

Conclusion

If you are still hesitant with online shopping, start using the internet as a way to research and compare prices. You will probably be shopping online, and saving your cash, sooner than you think.

Technorati Tags: online shopping,personal finances,save money