In celebration of April being Financial Literacy Month my new eBook, Guerilla Financial Tactics, is available now for free download. This brief eBook suggests ways to evade would-be identity thieves and be proactive about staying off the financial grid.
Tag Archives: manage
Phone Apps You Need
It’s important that we manage our money effectively and efficiently. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, “its not how much you make, it’s how much you spend”. I’ve created a list of a few phone apps that are:
– Cheap
– Effective
– Easy to use
Take a gander at these puppies.
They say, “Budget helps you track your spending and keep to a budget. You can easily see your total income and your total expenses for a period, plus which expenses you are spending the most on and which expenses you are going over budget on.”
I say that everyone needs to have a spending plan and there’s nothing like having your personal finance information at your fingertips. Using this app is a small change that will make a huge difference in your personal finance outlook… if you use it.
They say, “WAS FEATURED BY APPLE IN “WHAT’S HOT” Did you ever shop at Sams, Costco or online at Amazon? Then CompareMe may help you to save money! CompareMe lets you compare products in different sizes and even in different packs.”
I say it’s an easy way to help you find out which buy is the best deal. Who knows if the $2 can at 16 oz. is a better buy than the $2.30 can at the 20 oz.? The Compare Me Shopping Utility knows.
They say, “In the 1.2 release of the iCredit Calculator, the calculated repayment results can be generated into a PDF document that you can then e-mail as an attachment from your phone.”
I say this is a must have tool. When you’re out shopping and think, “i’ll put it on my credit card” this handy dandy tool will be there to help you find the true cost of those purchases. Small purchases really add up and effect your credit.
Bank of America Mobile Banking
They say, “Mobile Banking allows you to check available balances, pay bills, transfer funds or locate ATMs and banking centers on-the-go. It’s fast, easy and convenient. It’s a free service and available to Bank of America Online Banking* customers.”
I say it’s a great way to monitor your accounts on the go. The days of sitting at home balancing your checkbook are long gone for most of us. Why not have access to your accounts 24 hours a day, so you don’t end up with overdraft fees. Be honest… you know you take your phone everywhere you go. Now, you’ll have your personal finance information as close your music playlists!
They say, “Bring the power of the most trusted source for financial information to your iPhone, along with tools to help you analyze the world’s markets.”
I say it’s a great free app that helps you toy around with financial market information. If you’d like to know more about stocks and how they work why not download an app from one of the most trusted financial sites in the world. Get this, it also comes in Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Ukrainian. Nice!
What apps do you use for personal finance?
5 Steps to Raising Your Credit Score
There are 3 credit reporting agencies Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax and each of them has a credit file on you. These agencies pay very smart people to create complex algorithms to help lenders decide whether to extend you credit or not. These algorithms do NOT take into account your:
– Age
– Gender
– Income
There are 5 things that are weighted very heavily that go into determining your credit scores and they are completely under your control:
Bill payment history – Lenders are able to look at your credit report and see what accounts you have, debt amounts, and how often you have been 30 days, 60 days, and more than 90 days late. They can also see when your debts have been written off or transferred to a collection agency. If your bills aren’t paid on time it’s your fault and those notations will be taken into account.
Debt ratio – how much credit you are able to access divided by how much credit you have used. Lenders would like to see under 30% utilization.
Length of credit – The longer you have used credit, the more accurate the scores will be. Be strategic when choosing credit cards, store cards, loans, etc. Opening and closing accounts both take a toll on your score.
Types of credit – Lenders would like to see a good mix of types of credit. The two main types of credit are installment accounts and revolving accounts. Installment accounts are loans that the payment will be the same every month because both you and the lender have agreed on the terms of the loan. Examples of installment loans are mortgages and car loans. Revolving accounts are loans that vary from month to month depending your usage. Examples of revolving accounts are credit cards and store cards.
Hard inquiries – Every time you apply for credit cards, store cards, cell phones, etc. a “hard” inquiry is noted on your credit reports. Get enough hard inquiries and it will lower your score. You can look at your credit report, a “soft” inquiry, all day long and it won’t change your credit report scores.
Manage these 5 areas and your credit score will improve which will save you money on everything from loan interest rates to deposits for your utilities. To read more about how you can better manage your credit score buy Money Matters: The Get It Done in 1 Minute Workbook.
Bigger Than Your Block 