Vehicle Size

Thinking of expanding your family at some point in the future? If so, choose the minivan rather than the five-seat sedan when making your vehicle choice. Going smaller to save money can be detrimental to your finances if, for example, the next child to be born turns out to be twins. Conversely, don’t go too big if you and your spouse have decided to keep your family small. Purchasing an SUV or something larger for your family of four can also damage your annual budget.

Mileage

Consider how your new vehicle will be utilized. Is it for quick trips around town to perform errands or for a job an hour or more away? If staying in town, mileage may not matter as much due to lower usage. If commuting, higher mileage is a necessity to save money not only on the trip but the inevitable traffic jams you encounter.

Safety

I once purchased a new vehicle that was totaled nine months later because the frame was so soft it ended up being bent when I was sideswiped on a cold, icy day. Because I didn’t get the full amount of what I invested, I ended up purchasing an older car with higher mileage. Don’t let this happen to you; check places like Consumer Reports to see what the safety ratings are on the vehicles you are looking to buy. The amount you pay to repair damage to both the car and your family can be much greater than what you initially paid if the vehicle isn’t as safe as you first thought.

Payment

Hopefully, you have saved enough to pay cash for your new vehicle. However, if financing the vehicle is necessary, don’t sign anything until you receive a final estimate on how much your monthly payments will be. Best bet – walk away if the loan is greater than four percent of your monthly net pay. Look into paying as much cash as possible for your vehicle to lower the monthly payments.

Insurance

An increase in your insurance premium is almost a certainty when it comes to purchasing a new vehicle; however, a number of factors can help avoid a huge jump in price. For example, the car’s safety record can help keep the premium from jumping too high. Items like a built-in alarm system and extra air bags can also keep the increase low. If using this car to commute to work more than 20 miles round-trip, think about letting your spouse use it for smaller, non-related trips to avoid large hike.

How to Buy the Right Car for Your Family is a post from: Young Family Finance

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The Indefinites

Let’s start with your annual tax returns. Regardless if you print them out or store them on your computer, never get rid of these records. Though you may have a clean filing status, you never know when the IRS will decide to perform a random audit on you finances. If that occurs, you want to make sure the original documents are available for retrieval. Same thing can be said for all calculation sheets and schedules that normally come when executing an itemized tax return.

Next on the list are statements for your retirement and brokerage accounts. Even though you receive these records on a monthly or quarterly basis, you want to ensure you keep the annual statements for an indefinite period of time. This helps to not only keep track of investments throughout the years, but assists in determining if any malicious activity, such as unscheduled withdrawals, take place on the account.

Large purchases also need to be kept for an indefinite period of time. When it comes to big ticket items, receipts should be kept until the item is sold or discarded to help if the product needs to be serviced under a warranty or recorded for insurance after a theft or fire. Receipts for the capital improvements made to your residence need to be stored for the time you reside there. If you move, the records can be discarded seven years after the home is sold.

The Seven Year Plan

Besides capital improvement receipts after a home sale, supporting documents for annual or quarterly tax filings can be discarded after seven years. This includes items such as donation receipts, records on utilities for the home office, and tuition bills.

One Year Keepers

If you still receive printed paycheck stubs, they can be thrown out after one year. Same goes for monthly bank, brokerage, loan, and credit card statements. Receipts for health care, whether from a medical office or pharmacy, should be discarded after one year as long as they aren’t connected to any pending claims or lawsuits. Finally, as long as they are not utilized for a home office or a rental property, utility bills can be thrown away after one year.

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In every separation there will be winners and losers – with recent research showing a clear gender split when it comes to what men and women gain financially from relationship breakdown. On average, a man’s income increases by about a third, with the chances of this rising even further if they are already fathers.

Women on the other hand, face an income drop of around a fifth – with female real-income levels struggling to increase for years after their marriages end. So how can you protect yourself against financial insecurity due to a marriage breakdown?

Don’t get bogged down

It’s easy to get become carried away with whatever caused the breakdown of the relationship. However, if you step back and think long and hard about the future, what’s most important: who was right or wrong, or whether you’re going to have the means to support yourself and your children?

Seek advice early

There are reliable, no-nonsense firms who will to give you straightforward Advice on Divorce.  Don’t delay, as whether you eventually need their know-how or not, it’s always better to be armed with as much information as possible so you can face every new turn with confidence. You’ll also have a much better idea of where you need to be heading and how best to look after your interests.

Listen to the professionals

While relationship breakdowns can be a hugely emotional time and thinking about your cash-flow may seem like the least of your worries, whether you’re rich or poor, you’ll have to face this problem eventually. Take careful notes of what your financial advisor tells you and try to take on board what they are saying.

Keep records

Remember that this important financial aspect of the divorce could affect your quality of life – and those of your children – for years to come. Don’t rely on verbal promises and good-will. Both could evaporate overnight if circumstances take a turn for the worse. Get each agreement set out clearly in writing and signed off by both sides, step-by-step. You may well need to rely on these to prove your case later on.

Be strong

No matter how close you both once were, or who is to blame for the break-up, understand that the British legal system is adversarial. This means lawyers will battle against each other to secure the interests of their clients without beating about the bush. That’s what they are paid for. It may seem harsh but remember when it comes to financial security, there’s no such thing as “less is more”.

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Size and Location

Ranging from a studio apartment to a three-bedroom patio home, condominiums come in a variety of sizes and environments.  They also tend to be located in more heavily populated areas within city and town limits, meaning the potential for less privacy. If you’re looking for close knit environments, purchasing a condo could be the right choice. Homes also come in a variety of sizes and locations, but not all are built in planned communities. Thus, there are more options further away from population centers if looking for a little more privacy for the family.

Price

It depends on size and location for both. If looking for a residence in a popular downtown area or well-known suburb, prices for homes and condos may be elevated beyond standard values. The further you move away from these heavily populated centers the less you’ll probably pay. However, when it comes to price per square foot, you can end up getting a better deal for a home than a condo, especially if it sits on a parcel of land large enough to allow potential renovations and expansion.

Home Improvements

Generally, condominium owners are permitted to make changes to the interiors of their residences but not the outside. Modifications to the roofing, siding, or landscape are normally made across the board through the condo association. If you’re a homeowner, you can make changes to both the interior and exterior, though outside changes may need approval from the community owner’s association. If purchasing a stand-alone home outside of a planned community, you can make any changes to the exterior you see fit.

Additional Costs

There is the potential for home association fees if living in a planned community. Ranging from one hundred to several hundred dollars a year, accumulated funds are used in to plow roads,  provide general maintenance to public areas, and maintain playgrounds, swimming pools, or sports courts located within the development. Condo association also charge fees. These tend to be more than home association costs due to the regular maintenance of not only public areas but the exteriors of their home properties.

Resale Value

This is a toss-up. Historically, resale values for condominiums have trailed far behind those of single-family homes. However, with the Great Recession knocking everyone to a level playing ground, this statement isn’t as true. Still, there are certain cities and regions where resale values of condos are much better than existing homes, and vice-versa. A review of sites like Trulia and Zillow would give you a better idea of how much condos and homes resold for in the area where you are looking to live.

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According to a 2012 report by the Convergence Consulting Group, almost three million people left their cable companies between 2008 and 2011, with many more families doing the same over recent months, saving hundreds or thousands of dollar annually in the process. If  worried about the feeling of loss encountered by not watching your favorite shows and movies, here are some low cost alternatives to cable that may make the decision to disconnect much easier.

Video on Demand Services

Monthly subscriptions to Video on Demand services like Netflix or Hulu Plus can cost less than two Starbucks Grandes and provide you with more variety than you received with cable. In addition, advertisements are limited on Hulu Plus and non-existent in Netflix, permitting you to watch numerous episodes in a shorter span of time. Both VoD companies have their fans. Where Netflix goes for original series and a good deal of nostalgia in their selections, Hulu focuses on first-run episodes of series from networks like NBC, ABC, FOX, and FX.

The Internet

You’re paying for Internet access throughout your home, so why not take advantage of it by watching your favorite shows via the websites of the various television networks? Though they may not have full-season runs, these websites tend to have the most recent episodes available for viewing on your computer, tablet, or smart device. And like the VoD services, commercial interruptions are limited. If not interested in watching a show on your desktop or laptop, see if your television has inputs allowing a computerized device to be hooked up. If so, you may be able to view these shows on the big screen, making it feel like you never lost cable.

The Library

All you need is a simple card to access all the media the local library has to offer. If another family member is utilizing the home computer, you can log in on one of the library’s desktops to catch up on your favorite programs. You can also scan their DVD libraries for a wide-selection of television shows and classic movies to pop into the home player. Some libraries are now offering up complete box sets of television series for extended borrowing times.

Nothing

You may discover you don’t miss cable television at all and decide to focus on other interests sidelined by the many hours spent making an indentation on the couch. The best savings of all is to pick up a book, start a hobby, or spend time getting reacquainted with the family who also went zombie-like when the television was on. It may not reduce your monetary budget, but you’ll certainly accumulate fulfillment in the budget of your life.

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Here we debate the pros and cons of computers for children.

Pros

1) Fine-tuned motor skills

Using a computer requires fine motor skills, so this is a good training ground for youngsters to develop their dexterity, hand-eye coordination and motor skills. These all help with future activities such as sport and art.

2) Teaching cause and effect

Making an action and seeing a result from that action is the basis of computer use. This is a core skill for children to learn, so the computer in its most basic form is a great tool for their development. Furthermore, there are many computer games that are child friendly and provide learning through play.

3) Educational websites

The internet has a plethora of educational websites that help children develop, whether it’s learning their alphabet or learning about different cultures and countries as they grow up. With parental supervision, the internet can broaden a child’s horizons and give them the ability to learn.

Cons

1) Limit interaction with people and the environment

Every moment of time spent on a computer is a moment away from developing social skills with other people and exploring the environment around them. The more time spent on a computer, the less a child learns about the world they inhabit, which could cause issues as they grow up.

 2) Dangers of online access

Access to a computer could also mean access to the internet. Without supervision from parents, a child could access all sorts of unsavoury images and information. Restrictive child protection software is an essential bit of kit for your computer. Also try to be in the room with your child when he or she is using the PC.

3) Too much stimulation

There has been a lot research on the negative effects of computer games on children, from over-stimulation to exposing violence to eyes that are too young to understand it. Children are like sponges – everything they see is absorbed into their minds. The sounds, flashing lights and moving images on computer games can be more harmful than good.

4) Too much sedentary time

A child’s metabolism requires physical activity to develop and remain strong for future life. Although the computer is mentally stimulating, it does not stimulate the body. Make sure your child’s day also includes plenty of physical play to build strong bones, muscles and good habits.

If you are looking to reduce your children’s time on the computer, why not trade in any unwanted computer games and build a little nest egg for your children at the same time. Visit www.musicmagpie.co.uk to get a quote today, and solve two issues in one go.

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Murphy’s goal is to rattle a young family’s sense of security. When he’s successful, this leads to panic, frayed nerves, and arguments over every little expense. Luckily, there are ways to counteract the machinations of the troublemaker. Here are a few tips.

Don’t Get Desperate

Families that run into Murphy for an extended period of time can get desperate for any type of solution to ease their financial situation. When this occurs, they may withdraw funds from an IRA or 401(k), not pay their mortgage or car payment, of skip a utility bill. These scenarios should never be utilized during a financial emergency since they can lead to worse situations in the future.

For instance, removal of funds from an IRA or 401(k) are penalized by both the financial institution and the federal government if withdrawn ahead of schedule. Foreclosure proceedings can commence if you skip a mortgage payment or two, and your car can be repossessed if you miss a few payments. Not paying utilities bills can result in the shutdown of your gas, electricity, or water. Basic rule – sit down, take a breath, and examine all options before taking these drastic measures during a financial emergency.

Cut Out Incidental Expenses

Watching daytime talk shows may be calming your mind, but it’s not saving you any money. If in the middle of a financial emergency, check your budget to see what expenses can be cut in order to free up some additional funds. eliminate cable or satellite service, halt dining out and movie nights, walk someplace instead of drive in order to decrease your costs. The money you save may help subdue your panic.

The Good Old Emergency Fund

The best thing to ease money fears is to ensure you have an emergency fund set up. This account should contain three to six months of household expenses – food, clothes, utilities, rent or mortgage, basic transportation costs, etc. How much your family puts into this account depends on its size and the amount of expenses. Consider starting a budget if you’re unsure of how much is spent on these household items on a monthly basis.

The emergency fund should be used when Murphy decides to invite himself into your home. If it gets depleted for any reason, design a plan to re-add the funds in the shortest time possible. And no matter how tempting it is, never use the emergency fund for incidental expenses.

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Air Conditioner Tune-Up

AC units don’t fail during cooler, direr days – they break down during the hottest and most humid weeks of the year. Avoid this by getting an air conditioner tune-up over the next few weeks, even if it means paying out service fees. If you avoid this preventive maintenance until it’s too late, the result can be higher costs, and not only for the units that increase in price during warmer months. If you live in an area with high summer humidity or precipitation, being without an air conditioner for an extended period of time can result in the growth of mold in basements and other areas of the house. Removal of this mold can lead to additional expenses and, potentially, and extended time away.

By the way, while getting the AC tuned-up, make sure to replace its air filter.Keeping a dirty filter results in low efficiency for the unit, making you lower the thermostat’s temperature and, in turn, raising the electric bill. In addition, a dirty filter can cause coils in the AC unit to freeze up, meaning additional maintenance, further downtime, and a sweltering home.

Clean the Air Vents

Cleaning the air vents around your house maximize the power of an AC unit, lengthen its life cycle, and keep the electric bill low. If vents remain dirty, the AC works harder to produce a suitable air flow, resulting in the need to keep the house at a lower temperature to maintain its coolness during the hottest days. Though floor vents and outputs can be cleaned by the homeowner with a vacuum, a professional service should be utilized to clean and maintain the vent trunks.

Service In-Ground Sprinklers

If you pride the lush green of your manicured front lawn, you want to get your in-ground sprinklers checked out now instead of when the summer sun is turning it into a field of hay. Having a service blow out the sprinkler heads helps determine if any need to be replaced. This is also the time any interconnecting hoses should be checked for leaks that can result in excess usage, thus translating into higher water bills.

Clean the Gutters

If you didn’t do so in the fall, there’s a very good chance your gutters are full of wet, dead leaves. If you live in an area that receives a good deal of rain in the summer, especially during thunderstorms, leaving these leaves in the gutters can lead to detrimental water damage on both the inside and outside of the home. In addition, gutters overtaxed by the weight of the leaves and accumulating water can break free of their supports, causing greater expenses to replace them and repair any damage that may occur. As the weather warms up, grab a ladder and clean as much of the muck as you can out of these areas. To avoid the hassle during the upcoming fall, consider purchasing gutter guards.

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Debt is Good

Tell this to someone who has debt collectors harassing them all day, or who can barely eat because of all the debt they need to pay on a monthly basis, and they’ll probably laugh in your face. Regardless if it’s a credit card, a student loan, a residence, or a business, no debt is good. In fact, in the days after the Great Recession, debt can be detrimental. Even large corporations, who pushed debt under the carpet in the past, are now trying to pay down what they owe as fast as they can; hence, the reason debt collectors call more frequently. Regardless of how much money you make or have in the bank, debt can rapidly snowball into an out-of-control monster. And while it’s easy to jump into the hole of financial loss, it’s extremely difficult to climb out of it. Whenever possible, pay upfront for your purchases with cash and leave the credit card at home. Which brings us to…

You Need a Credit Card to get a Good Credit Report

In its simplest terms, a credit report is a record of all of past borrowing and repayment; meaning it covers mortgages, car and student loans, and payments made to the collection agency when you neglected to pay your final cable bill before moving. If these items are listed on the report, there is no need to obtain a credit card. And why would you do so anyway? Should you need a valid credit report to buy a new vehicle or home, the extra debt displayed from accumulated amounts owed on numerous cards can reduce your chances of being approved. This is especially true these days as banks and other financial institutions are placing a tight reign on cash allotments.

It’s Better to Lease a Car Than Own One

Think of a lease as a lengthy car rental – you borrow it from the dealership and need to return it in good condition and in a predetermined amount of time in order to avoid a hefty late fee. When you buy from a dealership, it’s yours from the moment you drive it off the lot until you drive it back in for a sale or trade-in. On the other hand, in a lease the vehicle is never technically yours. Instead, it’s in the hands of the financial institution and the dealership that regularly checks make sure you haven’t nicked it up or went over the annual mileage limit. Even if it means getting a slightly older and not-as-sexy vehicle, consider paying as much cash as you can so, at the time of last payment, the title becomes yours.

It’s Better to Receive a Tax Refund

Though many taxpayers are excited to receive extra money during each filing season, they may not comprehend what the money means. Considering the word refund is defined as a payback, the money returned at the beginning of each year is the result of you paying too much in taxes the year before. Those who rely on their refunds to pay for essential household items need to review their tax forms, either alone or with a certified professional, to determine if more taxes are being taken out than needed. If this is the case, changing the amount of withholdings will increase the net of your paycheck, giving you an extra cushion for the entire year.

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And with that, another debtor would be born. It’s hard to believe that, even after the events leading to the Great Recession, those who work in the financial world are still telling customers to go into debt when they don’t have significant incoming funds to make their needed purchases. Though they can decipher their client’s financial situation via requested paperwork such as pay stubs or utility bills, credit reports are still relied on to make certain customers have regularly paid off debt.

It’s a vicious circle without a break. Should it continue, families will never separate themselves from the cycle and eventually pass the debt onto other generations in their family. Luckily, there are ways to avoid going into debt if you don’t have any, or avoid going into greater debt. If only some people take this advice, it’s a few less who will need to be at the mercy of their credit reports.

Don’t Purchase What You Can’t Afford

Say you want to purchase a car. Do you go for the newer model costing $400 a month in payments or do you put cash together for an older vehicle you can pay for outright? If you want to avoid debt and the creation of a credit report, you go for the full payment option. It may take a longer period of time to purchase, but the vehicle will be owned solely by you.

Hefty Down Payments

In cases where debt is inevitable, like the purchase of a house, you want to mitigate the amount to pay down as much as possible. As with a vehicle, don’t purchase a residence which is more than you can afford. When you decide on a home, put down the largest deposit possible, around 20 percent. If doable, consider taking a 15-year mortgage over the standard 30-year; the payments may be slightly higher, but the debt will be paid off much quicker.

Freezing Credit Reports

If you’ve paid off your debt and don’t want the debt creators to take a look at any of your records, you can request the freezing of your report at the three major credit bureaus. When this occurs, the only way financial representatives can view your credit report is when you provide a password. The downside – some institutions may deny you credit if they can view the reports. The upside – If you’ve paid all your debts, you can pay for what you need in cash.

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