Sherry Tingley

30 Personal Finance Tips To Use Now

October 29, 2012 By Sherry Tingley

Personal finance tips can come in handy when you are trying to improve your financial situation. Economic struggles in the past several years have really turned some people’s lives upside down.

In September, 2012, there were 12.1 million unemployed people. That’s a lot of people struggling to make ends meet any way they can.

To help you through this tough economic time, make sure that you help yourself by doing some of these practical things.

Protect yourself

1. Get a credit report every year so that you can make sure your credit is in good standing.
2. Scan everything in your wallet. In case of theft, you’ll have all your account numbers and contact information available.
3. Stop overdraft fees by going online and hooking up your checking account with a savings account.
4. Sign up for an alert that warns you when your account reaches whatever amount you choose.
5. Keep well organized financial documents for tax purposes
6. Diversify your sources of income.

Setting Goals

7. Decide what you want to do with your money.
8. Cover the necessities first
9. Use free websites for tracking goal setting
10. Choose some new starting points to hope for the best but plan for the worst.

Savings Strategies

11. Start saving at an early age.
12. Save money on a weekly basis and leave it alone for a while.
13. Order free information for your vacation planning.
14. For older folks, estimate your retirement benefits online at www.ssa.gov where you can put in your social security number and estimate your retirement benefits.

Debt Management

15. Use your tax refund to pay off high interest credit card debt.
16. Go to the websites where you have credit card accounts and sign up for an alert to remind you 10 days prior to the due date.
17. Request a reduction in your credit card interest rates.
18. Be grateful that your debt is not as big as the country’s debt.

Daily Living

19. Take an oath of financial honesty, with yourself and with others.
20. Use your local library instead of purchasing books.
21. Eat at home. Avoid restaurants to limit calories and cash expenses.
22. Reassess your possessions and see what you can live without.
23. Tell a friend what you are saving for and ask for emotional support.
24. Practice self-monitoring. Track spending using software like quicken or see if your online banking has a budgeting feature and track it for free.
25. Beware of advertising campaigns to entice you to spend more on house-hold goods. Proctor & Gamble, will increase advertising expenses by 20% in 2010.
26. Shop at cheaper stores. You can get Egyptian cotton sheets at discount stores.
27. Recognize buying mistakes and vow not to make them again.
28. Give away things you don’t need to make room for your new life.
29. If you are suffering from depression about your finances, discuss it with your doctor.
30. Learn to live with less – do you really need everything you have stashed away?

Your net worth to the world is usually determined by what remains after your bad habits are subtracted from your good ones.

10 Quick Tips For Job Hunting After Being Laid Off!

October 29, 2012 By Sherry Tingley

When people lose their jobs, it’s a devastating experience no matter how tactfully they were told they were no longer needed. The life they once knew as financially and emotional secure has been ripped away. According to many sources this loss is similar in intensity to a divorce or death.

Here are 10 quick tips for surviving a job loss. (Click on the dog to buy the cute doggie tee.)

1. Be grateful for at least one thing in your life on a daily basis. It’s so easy to get angry about situations beyond your control. Gratitude helps immensely.

Attitude is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than what people do or say. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. – Charles Swindoll, Minister/Author

2. Get dressed for the day as if you were going to an interview. You will feel more competent and better prepared for anything that may come up during the day. Get out of those pajamas (unless you are looking for a job as a pajama model) and act as if you were going to be working soon!

3. Focus on getting face-to-face interviews. The chances of getting a job are increased with every face-to-face interview with a person who has the power to hire. It seems too obvious to point out, but the end goal of obtaining a job cannot be reached without face-to-face interviews.

4. Talk to everyone you know and let them know you are looking for work. If there was ever a time in your life that you felt more like crawling in a hole and covering yourself up with sand, this is it. Let go of this feeling as quickly as possible. The more people that are aware you are job hunting, the higher your chances of getting interviews that lead to employment.

5. Become a sales person about the most important thing you will ever sell anybody – YOU! It is extremely difficult for some people to think of themselves as a product, but in a way that is what we are. If you could describe yourself as a product a buyer needs what would you say?

6. Control the job hunting process. Being laid off is a situation that is out of your control. In fact the only thing you have control of is the actual job hunting process. Plan out daily time periods where you will be on the phone inquiring about job openings and actually talking to possible employers. Avoid doing anything else during this time.

7. Don’t overrate the value of a resume. What is going to get you hired with a new company is your interaction with the interviewer. Write a good resume, but don’t get stuck on spending hours doing it. Many employers are extremely busy and just want the answers to where your worked, how long you were working and what you did.

8. Avoid writing an objective on your resume. Employers care about what they want, not what you want. They want to know if you will fit the position they have in mind for you. As Tony Beshara states in his book, “The Job Search Solution,”

The clear message of an effective resume needs to be “You need to interview ME because this is what I have done in the past FOR OTHERS and therefore THIS IS WHAT I CAN DO FOR YOU!

9. Jobs are given to the people who sell themselves best. Don’t be afraid that the qualifications you have aren’t the absolute perfect fit for the jobs you apply for. Maybe someone else looks better than you on paper, but people get hired who are best at selling themselves.

10. Research, research, and more research. Find out about the company you are asking to work for. Find out everything you can about them. Ask yourself if you would be happy working for that company. Talk to people who are already working there.

Loosing a job is difficult. Hang in there and keep your spirits up. Often, when one door closes, another door is opened.

20 Tips To Writing A Good Press Release

October 29, 2012 By Sherry Tingley

Over the past two years, interest in writing press releases has decreased according to Google Insights for search. Prior to that there was a considerable amount of interest in press release writing. With the economy improving, interest has picked up a little. Learning how to write a good press release may be the key to whether you and your family dine at McDonald’s’ or at the Outback Steak House.

The benefits of writing a good press release and submitting it to press release websites are numerous. Widespread distribution of your announcements can build relationships, trust and hopefully more revenue. There are many sites that allow you to submit your release and the cost varies from free up to several hundred dollars.

If you follow these basic tips, you can get past writer’s block and start producing something people will want to read.

1. Research your topic.
2. Write professionally. Avoid exaggerations.
3. Answer the question, Why should anyone care?
4. Make your press release timely and unique.
5. Choose to highlight something unusual.
6. Discuss a study or real life example.
7. Clearly state the problem your company solves.
8. Highlight compelling industry trends.
9. Use real life examples.
10. Make the headline a summary.
11. The first paragraph should clarify your news.
12. Use the body of the press release to provide the details.
13. Tie your news release to current events, recent studies, trends and social issues.
14. How does your product or news satisfy desires?
15. If possible, provide a killer news hook for your story.
16. Attach images, videos, links, pdf document or any other materials that enhance your release.
17. Celebrate an anniversary, new president, or new employee.
18. Announce a new product line or service.
19. Promote community events.
20. Write it. Proofread it. Print it. Proof again.

According to www.prweb.com, a popular press release website, Amy Mauzy with Malibu Boats says:

“Thanks to PRWeb, we are leaving our mark on both mainstream and industry media… our Malibu Boats brand is getting the attention it deserves… and we are quantifying all of it. The true value of PRWeb is in the sales it has helped us generate.”

Janet Meiners Thaeler‘s new book, “I Need a Killer Press Release” provides a road map for you to use in establishing your company or brand name. It goes into further detail of exactly how you write press releases and submit them on the web.

Hopefully these tips will help you at least start thinking about your next press release might be. It is a good marketing strategy to use when building a small business online. Be sure to stop back and tell us how it went.

New Restraints On Debt Collectors To Aid Consumers

October 26, 2012 By Sherry Tingley

If you believe a debt collection company is not treating you right, who you gonna call?

As of Jan. 2, 2013, it should be the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a federal agency that is expanding its responsibilities to include oversight of debt collectors. Congress has authorized the agency to identify and prevent practices harmful to customers. Previously, the focus of CFPB was primarily on the financial strength of banks. Now, it will look beyond to non-bank companies. The intent of Congress is to provide a stronger tool to combat practices detrimental to those who use the services of these companies. Historically, debt collectors have not been subject to federal scrutiny. CFPB was created after the turn-of-the-century crises that had financial institutions in general in an uproar.

Many borrowers will look upon the added supervision as a good thing. Some debt collectors have used strong-arm tactics to get their due. Calls to the employers of debtors, filing of lawsuits against people who have small balances owing, credit-mangling reports to credit bureaus and other practices have sometimes left consumers feeling stymied. Some of the methods may violate federal disclosure rules, involve unfair fees or other practices not sanctioned by the government.

The new oversight authority will apply only to companies with more than $10 million in annual receipts — about 175 of which have been identified. These companies represent more than 60 percent of the industry’s annual receipts, agency representatives found. Where there are abuses, the agency can file civil charges or take other enforcement measures against those companies that violate consumer laws, even if the offending company is not part of the federal supervisory program.

Agency research shows that About 30 million Americans have, on average, $1,500 in debt that is handled by the debt-collection industry. This branch of the financial family joins mortgage companies, private student lenders and payday lenders who already are under the federal microscope. The 2010 remake of federal financial laws established the CFPB as part of a general move to get more accountability into the institutions that handle Americans’ money. Credit bureaus also preceded debt collectors in the move for oversight.

The new laws for debt collectors allow regulators to demand information even when there is no overt proof of wrong-doing. Supervisors can review marketing materials, phone scripts, consumer disclosures and other aspects of the businesses.

No one likes to be a debtor and no one likes to be pestered with nasty phone calls from creditors. To prevent getting yourself into these situations, make sure you stay on top of your cash flow management strategies.

For best practices concerning your cash flow follow these five steps.

1. Stop regarding your financial management with fear, anxiety, insecurity or some combination of the above. This will paralyze your cash management systems. Create a system that works for you so that you don’t experience these crippling emotions.

2. Cash-flow management is a critical element in every home. When it’s done poorly or not at all, you may find yourself short of cash when it’s time to pay your bills and other crucial expenses. This leads to the use of credit cards and adds to your debt.

3. Keep up with your changing financial needs. Every stage of life will require different types of budgeting and planning. Be flexible and yet keep your long term financial goals in mind. Charles Darwin reminds us that “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.

4. Avoid spending money you don’t have. Betting on future income is never a good idea. This will only dig you deeper into a financial hole.

5. If you are in debt now, then set the date you will be debt free. Remember Napolean Hill’s words: “Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”

Banking Goes Way Back

October 25, 2012 By Sherry Tingley

Banks are such a staple of modern life that it’s hard to imagine a time when there wasn’t one on every corner or checking accounts. And in fact, the history of banking does go back a long way — to thousands of years BCE.

Finding a way to safeguard one’s resources has been a priority from the time when barter emerged as a way to do business. The history of banking parallels that of the history of money (or the goods that were traded before there were coins and other forms of money.) Some 9,000 years before the current calendar became a world standard, folks were trading in obsidian, the prime building material for tools. And rudimentary banking grew up along with trade. Ancient bankers loaned grain to clients who were active in trade. Among the first “coins” to be discovered were clay “tokens” found in the Near East that dated back to 8000 BCE.

When one of the early traders received pay for his goods, he went to the local temple to store his gains, trusting to the god to whom the temple was dedicated to protect his assets. The ruling class used the temples to protect the funds they amassed to finance festivals and community building projects.

Ancient bankers in Egypt, Babylonia ad Greece made loans, at very high interest, underwritten by the gold and silver deposited with them.

Any banking service has always come at a cost. In Babylonia circa 2000 BCE, depositors paid as much as a sixth of their deposit in charges. And regulation was also an early issue. The Code of Hammurabi, an important source of information about the Babylonian civilization, refers to banking regulations.

New ways of counting evolved as the number and the value of the goods trusted to the temples grew. The abacus was one of the first “adding machines” used by “accountants.” Its origin is lost in history. Counting tables with special apparatus to divide and number coins followed.

By about 2000 BCE, banks had taken on some of the character of today’s institutions. In Assyria and Babylonia, bankers innovated by accepting deposits and making loans. In China and India, archaeological remains show evidence of the same activities.

Bankers in northern Italy led developments in Europe, with Amsterdam soon stepping up as a leader in the business in the 16th century. London caught on and began offering banking services in the 1700s. Even earlier, in the 14th century, two families in Florence, Italy, the Bardis and Peruzzis, dominated the banking business, opening branch offices in many large European cities. The Medici family, which is noted for its involvement in the arts and sciences of the era, also had a finger in the banking pie. Giovanni Medici established a bank in 1397.

In the Medieval world, bankers often were Jews. Christians, based on strict reading of laws against usury that were set out in the Bible, left the industry to the Jews, who were happy to have the privilege, since many other occupations were denied them.

The first bank in the American colonies was the Bank of North America in Philadelphia, chartered in the mid-1700s. Many notable families have made their names and vast fortunes in banking, among them the Rockefellers, the Rothschilds and the Morgans.

Inevitable in any business that is steeped in the care and keeping of valuables, there have been incidences throughout history of misuse of funds, frauds, robberies and failures. Even with the modern technology that facilitates the care and keeping of assets, it still happens. The most recent in the United States occurred in 2000, when some of the country’s largest financial institutions came upon hard times.

But historically, the need for safe places to keep one’s assets has been proved. Banks are here to stay.