Credit card repayment: Courtesy of the Federal Reserve, all you have to do is enter in a desired monthly payment or payoff period and the opposite figure will be shown to you. It’s the easiest way to get a realistic picture regarding your credit card debt, and for judging whether or not your current monthly payment makes enough of a dent.

Student loan repayment: Before taking out those Stafford, PLUS or Discover college loans, run the numbers through this federally-created student loan repayment calculator. While borrowing is a fact of life for most people who choose to attend college, nobody needs the burden of added thousands of dollars of debt after graduation.

Mortgage payment reduction: The Home Affordable Modification program created by the Obama administration aims at ensuring those with mortgages at risk for foreclosure stay afloat for as long as possible. One aim of the initiative is to get mortgage payments to less than 31% of household income. Use this calculator to determine how much you could save by getting your monthly payment lowered.

Cost-of-smoking: If you’re on the fence about stopping smoking, use this cost-of-smoking calculator to see how much you’re spending on cigarettes. Not only will it encourage you to lead a healthier life, you stand to also save a substantial amount of money if you choose to quit the habit once and for all.

Fuel economy: The next time you’re in the market for a new automobile, run your options through this fuel economy calculator provided by the U.S. Department of Energy. Every make and model from the ’57 Chevy to the 2012 Toyota Prius is on there, so don’t skip this crucial money-saving step in the car buying process.

Home energy saver: Americans allow more than half our energy output to go to waste every year due to inefficiencies. At the home level, this translates into hundreds of dollars lost every year. Help yourself and your family reduce this waste by using the Home Energy Saver calculator created by the U.S. Department of Energy. As user Nick Wilder of Wheat Ridge, Colorado puts it: “Home Energy Saver helped me save thousands of dollars per year. It is one government service that makes paying taxes worthwhile.”

You don’t have to go about fixing your personal finances alone, but you also don’t have to pay for financial assistance. All you really need is an Internet connection and the ability to use resources such as the aforementioned calculators. With such an enormous source for tools and information at your fingertips, there’s no reason why you can’t get a grip on your personal finances once and for all.

If you are looking to diversify your investments, or want an investment that is based on cash flow, then getting a rental property can be a great investment.  However, it is important to remember that a rental property is part investment, part business, since it does require some work on your part.

The Mortgage

The first piece of that is figuring out what you can afford.  This means looking at cash flow minus expenses, and the biggest expense is usually the mortgage. Since you are looking at this property as an investment, it is essential that you calculate your mortgage payment using a buy to let mortgage calculator.  Buy to let mortgages are ones specifically designed for investment properties, as they factor in different information compared to a standard mortgage payments calculator.  For example, it will take into consideration the cash flow from the property, instead of just relying solely on your income as the borrower.

Other Key Expenses

Beyond the mortgage, you should also take into consideration expenses such as insurance, property taxes, maintenance, utilities, and more. 

With insurance, you can usually get a fire policy that is specifically designed for rental properties – it excludes personal property, and as such, may be cheaper than a traditional home owners insurance policy. 

You also need to remember to save money for maintenance and repairs.  It is inevitable that something will break or need your attention, and repairs cost money.  Make sure you save some money each month to plan for this.

The Cash Flow

Rental properties are about cash flow, so make sure that your investment will deliver.  Take your estimated rent, and subtract your expenses, and that is your cash flow. 

It is important to note that you also get one important tax benefit – depreciation.  This is counted as an expense on your tax returns, but you don’t technically lose that money.  As such, if you had income that matched the amount you depreciated your property by, you would not pay any income tax on it since it would be a wash.  That is one of the biggest benefits of rental property ownership.

But don’t get too complacent. Meteorologists predict that the cold will finally arrive in the next couple months, bringing with it those higher gas costs that we dread. If you act now, you can take steps to reduce these expenses and save some money this winter – and, moreover, go green in the process. A greener home can also be more convenient for you and it can translate into lower insurance costs. Getting an Insurance quote can help you determine that with certainty.

Here are some tips for being more eco-friendly and wallet-friendly with your utilities this winter:

Get Energy Efficient Lights. These lights cost more money, but they also last longer and save more energy in the process. At the end of the day, they should result in noticeable savings.

Get A “Smart” Thermostat. High-tech thermostats, developed by a company called Nest Labs, have the ability to learn your habits and regulate your home temperature in a way that best maximizes heating efficiencies. As with light bulbs, this can translate into savings – substantial ones, in fact – despite costing more than traditional thermostats.

Insulate Your Attic.  Adding insulation to your walls may be a costly and time-consuming undertaking, but in many homes it is not to difficult to add a layer of insulation to your attic floor. Since heat often escapes through the roof, this layer can be incredibly helpful in the winter.

Caulk Your Windows. Similarly, adding extra insulating protection to your windows can help trap heat in your home. If you live in an older structure, you may be surprised how much heat you are losing around your windows every day.

Taking all of these steps are all great ways to improve the efficiency of your home’s energy use, in the process making your house a more environmentally-friendly place. And, as an added bonus, this efficiency will extend into the area where to you it matters most – your personal finances.

Home Buying Programs

First timer homeowners have an easier time qualifying for government programs than repeat homebuyers. The federal government has many federal programs that offer low interest rates and loan guarantees to first time buyers. State and local government also offer price discounts to first time home purchasers that enter the teaching and nursing professions. That is one of the ways that they attract candidates.

More Loan Options

New home buyers have a number of loan options that they can go to for financing. You can always go to a bank, credit union, or mortgage broker. There are special VA loan programs for people that have served in the military that guarantees a really low interest rate for first time buyers. The FHA has first timer buyer loan programs that only make borrowers put down 3 to 4 percent of the loan’s value. That is well below the twenty percent mark that most banks are requiring. Take a few days to compare the house loans being offered to you until you find one that fits.

Saving Money On Taxes

One of the big benefits of buying a house is the mortgage interest deduction. You can lower your taxable income and the amount of taxes that you pay by writing off all of the money that you pay in interest. You can also deduct your property taxes from state tax returns leaving you with a much lower tax liability. There is even a first time homebuyer tax credit that you can claim.

Lower Fees

When doing a home loan comparison, take the time to look at the fees that the lender is charging. First time homebuyer loans often have lower fees since they are offered to people who have never owned a property before and have lower income levels. Most first time buyer programs will keep the loan affordable by capping fees and loan amounts.

Now you know why it is so advantageous for a first time home buyer to buy a piece of real estate.

Being a student means making sacrifices. While frequenting the local bars or traveling to exotic destinations for spring break may sound like fun, this is not the time to go into debt in order to maintain a luxury-laden life. By managing your funds in school you will be well prepared to take care of yourself after you graduate and well on your way to enjoying the finer things in life.

1. Explore Grants and Scholarships

Always look for any and all free ways to pay for your education and avoid student loans. Student loans are alluring, but remember that loans are not just a way of securing extra money – they must be paid back. Instead, explore the countless private and federal scholarships that target people with all sorts of backgrounds, degree paths (which often even include courses offered through online universities), ethnicities, income levels, etc. In addition, government grants are very generous these days and most students from low income households will qualify for a grant.

2. Buy Groceries/Plan Meals

A student’s life seems to never slow down, making it easy to fall into a fast food lifestyle. However eating out all the time quickly adds up and the term, “freshman fifteen” comes from the weight gain student’s often experience when all of their meals consist of processed foods.

Luckily, both of these dilemmas can be avoided by planning meals and going on weekly shopping trips. Commit to making this a habit while at school. Of course, this takes some preparation. Think of this experience as another lesson; a lesson in life skills. Plan each week’s meals and then shop accordingly, and don’t forget to take advantage of any coupons or student discounts that might be available to you. The average fast food bill for one person is $15 these days. Yet for $30, you might be able enough groceries to last you more than a week.

3. Get a Roommate (or two)

If you don’t like the idea of sharing your living space with others, you may want to try to get used to it. The costs of living can be cut severely by splitting up bills and rent. Although living with at least one another person may seem like it will cramp your style, remember the time you spend in school is not going to last forever nor will your time with your roommates. Busy yourself with your studies and set up rules for each of you to follow to make your shared home a comfortable one. When you graduate from school, you can celebrate by moving out. Or, you may be lucky enough to find roommates that you genuinely like and make a lifelong new friend. The best roommate a student can have is another student. Check out the bulletin boards at your student union hall or local paper to find the ideal roommate.

4. Cut Thrills and Earn a Bit of Cash

No one said going to school was going to be easy. It is especially difficult for people who are returning to school after working full time. No matter who you have been in your past, you are now a tightly-budgeted student. This means cutting out costs that are unnecessary and taking little jobs to earn cash when you can.

Although this advice might seem obvious, one would be surprised at the excessive items many students blow money on such as $5 coffee drinks, designer bottled water, cable television, after-class cocktails, etc. None of these items have a place in a student’s expenses.

Seek out odd jobs to bring in extra money. Even if you are working part time on a steady basis, there is always a way to manage your time to fit in a bit of extra money. Around campuses, there are always odd jobs to be done such as being a note taker for another student who has a disability, tutoring high school students and freelance writing just to name a few.

Your time as a student should cause you to grow scholastically as well as personally. Getting an education is the absolute best action one can take to creating a more abundant life in all ways. The only way to damage an education is by letting it get you into debt.

A few years ago, we visited a friend in grad school.  He happened to be close to the beach, so we decided to make a short day trip out to the water.  But our trip was cut short at the major interchange right before a tunnel.  At a standstill from the traffic, someone wasn’t paying attention and ran into the car in front of them.  We ended up being part of a four car accident, with us the second to last car to be struck.  The last car ran into the rear of the third car, which hit our car’s rear-end and pushed us into the first car’s rear.

Getting pinball’ed like that wasn’t fun, and needless to say, the accident put a damper on the rest of our day.  Once we were back home, I noticed some shoulder tightness.  During the accident, I was slightly turned around talking to the other guy in the backseat.  After a few days, I decided to call my friend.

He said that his insurance would cover the medical bills of any passengers in the vehicle, including compensation due to whiplash.  After speaking with his insurance representative, I scheduled a physical therapy appointment to work out the kink.  It had something to do with the angle I was at the time of the accident, but the muscle issues were resolved after a few weeks of training.

As painful and debilitating accidents can be, it’s a comforting feeling knowing that insurance premium you pay each month will be there to absorb the shock of the event and get you back on track.

The Impact of Paying the Minimum

You’ve probably heard that paying the minimum on your debts is extremely costly – more costly than any other type of payment plan. To find out how costly, put your balance, interest rate, and minimum payment in the CNN Money’s calculator and choose the minimum payment plan option. You’ll see that it’s going to take several years and lots of interest before your debt is finally repaid. You can save hundreds, maybe even thousands of dollars, by increasing your monthly payment.

Save Money By Paying More

It sounds counterintuitive that you can save money by paying more money, but test it out. Use the calculator to see how much time and money you’d save paying off your debt if you increase your monthly payment by $100. In the fixed payment section, enter your current combined minimum payment plus an extra $100 and calculate. The result will undoubtedly surprise you.

What Does it Take to Meet a Date?

What if you want to be debt-free by a certain date or a certain age? You can see what monthly payment is required to make it happen by entering a time into the debt-free deadline option. The monthly payment may be steep depending on your debt and the amount of time you’d like to be debt-free, but it gives you a better idea of what you have to do to speed up your debt progress.

Using CNN Money’s calculator puts things into perspective. If paying off debt quickly is a major financial goal, you can learn exactly what it takes to make that happen. That probably means upping your payment by $100 or more each month. In that case, you have a little more work to do figuring out where extra money’s going to come from.

What if You Can’t Afford to Pay More?

You may comb through every nickel of your budget and not find a way to increase your monthly payment. For many people, paying the minimum is difficult enough, but that may be a starting place. As long as you don’t make any new charges on your accounts, your minimum payment will go down a little bit every month. But, if you keep making the same total monthly payment, instead of the ever-decreasing minimum payment, your debt will go down faster than if you’d paid the minimum. Try it out in the calculator. Enter the amount of your combined minimum payment in the fixed payments section and calculate. You’ll see that you still save time and money over paying the minimum payment listed on your credit card statement.

This post was written by Eliza Collins, a guest writer specializing in personal finance topics like savings, debt relief as well as credit score improvement. You can read more of her articles at the debt settlement blog.

]]> http://www.engineeryourfinances.com/2011/11/cnn-reveal-debt/feed/ 0 http://www.engineeryourfinances.com/2011/10/profitable-customers/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=profitable-customers http://www.engineeryourfinances.com/2011/10/profitable-customers/#comments Sat, 29 Oct 2011 14:00:30 +0000 Daniel http://www.engineeryourfinances.com/?p=2119 If you are looking to grow and sustain your business, it will help you to know who your most profitable customers are. Identifying which customers are worth the most to your business is important, as it allows you to better identify your priorities and subsequently develop strategies to meet those priorities.

One thing to bear in mind is that the most profitable customers aren’t necessarily the obvious ones. For instance, if you have a client that is a major business in their own right, you might be tempted on first glance to assume that they’re a fantastic customer to have. Of course, they may well be a great customer – if only because of the prestige they bring – but it doesn’t mean they’re the most profitable. They might only provide you with occasional work.

This means you need to look a little deeper at your customer data to work out where your profit comes from. CRM software can help you with this. It makes good sense to keep a good CRM system no matter what, as it keeps all your customer information in one place and makes communication with clients much easier than it would otherwise be. CRM systems, though, can also help you to identify trends and things of note in your data.

This includes which customers are the most profitable. For example, you might find that even though one customer bought in a large amount of money when they first started working with you, the revenue has since tailed off. However, a company that was initially a small customer might now provide you with a good, regular income that adds up over time. They all have their worth and their place in your business, but knowing how much customers bring in and how often they use your business helps you with your planning.

For instance, you will be able to tell where it would be more worthwhile for you to target your marketing, or which customers might respond better to special deals. This is all information that you can use to enhance the sustainability of your business and, with any luck, make your profitable customers even more profitable.

Overall, the most profitable customers will vary from business to business; no company or customer is the same. However, having good CRM solutions in place will help you to identify where the best of your revenue comes from and, once you have determined this, you’ll be able to put the information to good use.

Instead of toiling away at a position you don’t care about, you should look into finding a second job that rewards your sense of altruism instead of wasting it. By putting ads up on Craigslist, networking, and reaching out to your community, you can find alternative second jobs that will not only lift your spirit, but also the people around you.

Babysitter

Back in high school, you probably watched your neighbor’s or friend’s kids on a Friday night for a little extra cash. When you sent the kids to bed, all you had to do was talk on the phone with your friends and rake in the passive income. By starting a babysitting business on top of your current job you can form great relationships, make easy money, and help a married couple go on a date night while you sit on the couch and text away on your prepaid cell phone.

Dog Walker

If you own a dog, why not give it a playmate? By starting a dog walking business you can make extra cash while doing something you were already going to do. By getting a pack of dogs together, you allow animals to socialize, help out other owners who are too busy, and get some proper exercise for yourself.

Landscaping for the Elderly

When people get older, they naturally need more help around the house. Performing tasks like gardening, cutting the grass, or trimming bushes becomes too hard for old and feeble bones over the course of a lifetime. You can ask your elderly neighbor if they need any help around the yard over the weekend in order to make some side cash and pay respect to the older generations.

Recycling Center Associate

If you are one of those people who feel like saving the earth is a huge priority, the local recycling center is the place for you. Community recycling depositories are an excellent place to work on the weekend while helping to save the environment. Not only will you make some extra money while working on a good cause, you will also be able to meet up and socialize with other like minded people.

Finding a second job for extra income doesn’t have to be an isolating process. You can do good for society instead of just running food around and slinging drinks for restaurant customers. Get crafty and creative in order to come up with your own ideas for starting a second business.

Sometimes It’s Too Easy

It seems like these days it’s hard to get away from the Internet. If someone wants a meeting, what excuse do you have? Too costly to set up a meeting? Try a free conference call, it doesn’t get cheaper than that! A conference call can be a free, quick way to connect on a personal level without spending all the time traveling to a meeting.

Ignoring Others is Nearly Impossible

I sometimes want to ignore people, but if they see each time I read their text message, they think I’m rude when I don’t respond instantly. That’s pretty hard to deal with!

Efficiency is Key

Besides, it’s not always more efficient to talk over the phone or email. Sometimes a face to face conversation is a great way to build some report. I’ll remember you a lot better if you make an effort and I have a face to connect to your name. Even better, I know people are more likely to respond to me when they’ve met me before. It’s hard to sell, but if you connect on a personal level, it makes it so much easier.

I love the Internet, and it saves me more time than I can imagine. The company I work for is based on the Internet and there’s been a lot of good that’s come out of it. But sometimes there are drawbacks to even the greatest inventions.