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Tuesday, October 22, 2013

10 practical steps to becoming debt free in 3 to 5 years

10 Practical Steps To Becoming Debt Free In 3 To 5 Years

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This article provides 10 practical steps or ideas to help you become debt free in three to five years.

Debt relief is a serious problem for most Americans. We live in a society where everyone wants the coolest gadgets, a nice car and a nicer house. Theres nothing wrong with that. Unfortunately, the good life that youve worked so hard to achieve is not free, nor does it come cheap.

If you earn any sort of a decent salary, then chances are youve got student loans to pa...

debt free, debt relief, 10 steps to becoming debt free, debts, student loans, credit card debt

This article provides 10 practical steps or ideas to help you become debt free in three to five years.

If you earn any sort of a decent salary, then chances are youve got student loans to pay off. Education is probably one of the most expensive debts that most people will ever have. The cost of your first car is more often than not, considerably less expensive than your student loans.

So, youve got debt. Nearly everyone has debt, but that doesnt make it any easier to live with. And, if your debts are starting to exceed your income, then youve got a real problem that can keep you up nights on end without sleep.

You need to do something about it. And you need to do something about it right now. Today!

Have no fear, you and I are of a similar kind. We know that the best way to live a good life is to have more money. But what is not obvious, is that we also need to spend less.

Really, its not the little stuff that knocks your budget out of whack. Time and time again, Ive heard of people trying to budget by cutting back on a caf latte. That latte at $5 a whack, twice per day is $3, 650.00 per year. That may seem like a lot, but not so much as compared to new $20,000 car.

Which one is going to hurt you the most? The latte or the car at 9% interest. After 4 years, the car is going to cost you an additional $4,000 in interest or $24,000.

My point is, that no matter how much the gurus bombard you with the idea that you need to cut every corner, stop buying bottled water, eat peanut butter sandwiches and stop eating out. The effect is negligible compared to making the big purchases, such as cars, houses and taking education loans. You can save getting a better rate on auto or mortage loans. Also, if you have kids in college, before you take that student loan, seek scholarships first.

So what can you do?

1. Check your credit rating first to make sure that there are no errors on your report. Everyone in the USA is entitled to one annual free credit report. Also, if you are turned down for a credit card, you can get a free report.

2. Get all your expenses into an excel spreadsheet and add them all up. First add up the monthly payments, then on a separate sheet, add up the total amounts of each debt. How much is required to pay them all off?

3. Gather up all your credit cards are start calling the banks to see if you can get a reduction in interest rates. Sometimes simply asking will help. You never know until you ask.

4. Create a list of just your credit cards and loans. Make a decision to pay off either the largest balance or the highest interest rate. We start with the credit cards because they typically have the higher rates.

5. Pick one card or loan payment at a time to attack. You can make minimum payments on the other cards that you did not select to payoff. Yes, interest will accrue on the others, but you have a plan. You will double your payment on the one loan that you have selected to payoff early. For credit cards, take all the money saved from paying the minimums on the other accounts and put that money on the one you want to attack. This may seem radical but it works! This is an extremely powerful method for reducing debt.

If you decide to tackle your mortgage, then you must be aware that some mortgage companies require that you fill in the payment blank explicitly telling them how much extra goes to the principle. If you do not answer this question, they may put the extra money into an escrow account which gains no interest and is not applied to reducing the mortgage debt.

6. Stop making unnecessary credit card charges. Dont pay for groceries or McDonalds using credit cards. Use cash for McDonalds and debit cards for groceries. You can have that latte, but you should use cash to pay for it.

7. Take all the cards but two, one for yourself, and one for your spouse and put them in a box. Dont cut them up or close the accounts, as some people are saying. The reason being is that your credit score reflects your total available credit. So, if you start closing accounts, you reduce your available credit, which hurts your credit score. We are trying to help your score, not hurt it.

8. Transfer balances for higher rate cards to lower rates. If you receive an offer for 0% for six months and youve got a card at 20%, then make the transfer. However, be careful to find out what is the normal rate for the 0% card. The normal rate needs to be lower than the higher rate card or you may find yourself stuck in a worse situation. 9% is a decent normal rate. Do your homework.

9. Become a bargain hunter. Dont settle for paying retail prices. The internet is a great place to find bargains. Also, the Sunday paper can help you with coupons and other great deals. Dont ever walk onto a car dealership without first visiting their website and viewing their clearance vehicles. Go the and find out what your trade-in is worth before you start negotiation. Dont let the big purchases bite you.

10. Do not borrow against the equity in your home. There are lots of great deals out there. Maybe youre thinking about a new kitchen or a swimming pool. Dont do it. When you decide to sell your home, your going to take one in the shorts. Youll never get that money back when you sell your home. Brokers are typically going to charge you about 6% to sell your home, on a $200,000 home, thats $12,000. That comes straight out of your pocket. Real estate values all across the country are on the decline. There are too many new houses on the market and the market is in constant change. Even though the interest on home equity loans is tax deductible, dont borrow against your home for any reason. You need to maintain your equity.

Try these tips before going to a debt counselor. Most debt services will reduce the amount of your loans but at a terrible cost to your credit rating. Generally, it takes about 7 years to remove bad credit from your report. It takes 10 years to remove a bankruptcy. Most agencies provide very little in the way of actual debt counseling. What they provide is debt relief by negotiating with the same credit card companies who pay them. Becoming debt free is not easy, but if you will follow these tips, and pick one credit card or loan to attack at a time and remain committed, you can truly become debt free in three to five years. Good luck and best wishes.

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5 reasons why skiing is good for you.

5 Reasons Why Skiing Is Good For You.

At last the excuse you've always needed: 5 surefire reasons why you should go on that skiing holiday.

ski, skiing, holidays, france, chamonix, travel

At last, solid proof for what weve long suspected: skiing and snowboarding are good for you. And thats not just because theyre both great fun and put a smile on your face but because this also improves our health, happiness, red blood cell count and makes us live longer. The evidence has always been there for us to see: the bearded septuagenarian bounding past you for the fifteenth time as you struggle down your first run of the day. Heres his secret...

Sunlight.
Are you SAD? 1 in 50 people in the UK suffer from seasonal affective disorder which is a type of depression which commonly occurs during the winter months when the days are shorter. You travel to and from work in the dark, are cooped up in the office all day, and levels of serotonin, the brains natural mood lifter, drop. SADs can vary from mild winter blues to a more severe form where people cant function in the winter without treatment. So get treatment and get up on the mountain. You may get depressed about the cost of a beer on the slopes, but thats not quite the same thing.

Adrenalin.
Were all just animals, obviously some creationists may disagree, but we need to exercise our fight or flight responses. What safer, or better, way of doing this than searching out the steepest black run you can find, or something just a little bit beyond your normal comfort zone. The adrenalin surge will activate the beta receptors in your nervous system causing your heart to beat faster and increasing air to the lungs. This stimulates the brain, and the endorphin rush of relief when its over, will make you feel like a super human after every run. You can then undo the good work done by celebrating with some aprs ski in the bar afterwards.

Altitude.
Can the news get any better? Just being at altitude can make you thin, fit and desirable - at least the first two are true. A couple of years ago the Austrian Moderate Altitude Study was carried out. Men who were overweight and suffered from high blood pressure and high cholesterol were prescribed walks at an altitude of between 1400m and 2000M. The result? Exercise at altitude improves heart function and circulation, lowers blood pressure and burns calories. There was also an increased number of young red blood cells. So, as far as the theory goes, skiing rocks and just getting off at the top of the Aiguille du Midi (3842m) could add years to your life.

Fresh Air.
Spending time in the great outdoors helps to prevent disease and boost recovery. You can avoid the pretty nasty particles which float around in the urban air. According to some Harvard boffins in their Six Cities 1993 study those people living in the most polluted cities have a 26% greater risk of dying young than those in the cleanest. So give yourself a break from the congested traffic and polluted air and breath in that fresh, crisp, revitalising mountain air.

Learning.
Learning is good for us. Your parents told you so and they were right, but they and you need to heed that advice. Learning new skills later in life can slow down the onset of dementia. Attempting challenges such as learning a foreign language - which you can practice at the bar - or new skills, such as skiing, will reduce the risk of getting age related symptoms and diseases such as Alzheimers.

So what are you waiting for? Skiing is not only great fun but also scientifically proven to be good for you. Now that surely is an unbeatable combination.

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5 day body detox plan

A rejuvenating 5-day body detox plan to keep you going

In the present condition, you can no longer survive a single day without encountering pollution. At work, you may not at all be so sure of the cleanliness of the water you drink or of the food you eat. When dealing with people, you can hardly get away from air pollution, be it from smokers, all sorts of sprays or from the exhaust of vehicles. This greatly affects the health in one way or another. Dont be so sure that when your body does not visibly react, its alright.

For these reasons, detoxification is necessary in order to keep a healthy body which also results to healthy mind and healthy relationship with people.

Our body has its own means of healing and detoxifying. However, when pollutants that enter our body had been accumulated more than the capacity of self cleansing, we are giving our inside mechanisms a hard time. Then the tissues are stressed and therefore lead to malfunction. And because they are weakened, the cleansing process is also affected.

We definitely want a clean body. But we also need to help our system in regulating the body processes. However, you should not wait for your body organs to be stressed out and overworked before doing something. In times when the body lacks the command to keep the systems working, the person must supplement. The 5-day detox plan will do a great help in keeping the body systems at work. The 5-day detox plan will rejuvenate the body as well as the spirit, keeping it clean and toned.

Detoxification diet is a part of the 5-day detox plan. During the period of detoxification, certain foods are avoided. Your meals consist mostly of fresh fruits and green, leafy vegetables. Fats, oil, preservatives and food additives are a big no when undergoing the process of detoxification. Also, meat should be kept off because they are hard to digest. For a day or two, eating meat in any form is dropped off from the diet.

Ideal foods that can be part of your diet are as follow: garlic, broccoli, beets, and beans or nuts. Only fresh fruit extracts can be taken as beverages except for grapefruit. And since water is a universal solvent, six to eight glasses of this should be recommended daily. Water is also a major factor in the detoxification process. It flushes out the toxins in the forms of perspiration, urine, or stool.

Although you seem to eat less when detoxifying, you are assured that you will not starve, and ironically, you will even boost your stamina. It is because your intake is limited only to foods which are healthy and are good to the digestive system.

Detoxification plan should be done at least quarterly. To ensure that you get an efficient one, it will be best to consult a nutritionist or a professional. You should also seek for a doctors advice to ensure that what you will do is a detoxification and not addition of toxins to your body.

Through the process of detoxification, the toxins are flushed out in your body and a new set of energy is supplied to the body providing you both physical and mental alertness.

Cleanliness should be maintained not only in the outside, but more so in the inside.

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5 quick steps to start a call center at home

5 Quick Steps To Start A Call Center At Home

Like many people working from home is just a dream, but that can change. You might be thinking about trying to make some money either online or with one of those "Work From Home and Make Millions" type offers. Before you commit to something like that, make sure they aren't asking for money upfront. Anyone that asks for money to help you make money isn't looking out for your best interests, they just want to sell a product!

While the possibilities for making money at home a...

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While the possibilities for making money at home are endless, any option you choose will take work. If you're willing to put in some work, you can make money working from home!

So here we go, 5 quick tips to get you started with you're own at home call center.

1. Find your workspace.

You'll want to find an area that you can dedicate to your new call center business in your home. Without a special call center space, your callers will hear your baby cry, the doorbell ring and your dog barking. All those those things tend to turn potential buyers away.

For most people this workspace can be a bedroom, converted garage, or even an office at home if you're fortunate enough to already have an office.

2. Get a decent computer.

This computer doesn't have to be the latest model with the fastest CPU, but it does have to be reliable. A good option is to have an older computer as a backup in case something happens to your main computer. The main thing this computer needs to do is get on the internet.

3. Download Skype and get familiar.

Skype is free to download and you can make and receive calls. Skype offers a few paid plans, but most are still less expensive than a regular land line.

You should use Skype with a headset and try to make and receive calls so you'll know what to expect. During this test you should listen to the call quality and how quickly and efficiently everything works.

4. Use SkypeIn for each client.

Since you'll most likely start your at home call center by having a few different clients and receiving calls from each client on a daily basis, you'll need to know how to answer the phone. SkypeIn allows you to have a phone number for each client. This way you will know which client you're answering for before you pick up the phone.

5. Find your clients.

This part of the process is the most difficult. You'll need to contact people directly and check out freelance websites on a daily basis. These clients can be tough to find, but once you find one, you'll know how to find more for your at home call center.

My favorite places to look at call center blogs and job sites. Many times you can find companies looking to hire call center consultants that are willing to work from home. That saves them money and you get the freedom to work from home.

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5 quickest ways to lower your health insurance premium

5 Quickest ways to lower Your Health Insurance Premium

It is an old saying Health is Wealth. The most important step to maintain this wealth is to get a health insurance policy for you as well as your family. But, sometimes the premiums of such policies can leave you in and out of the budget situation. Can you really do something to bring down your premium? Read on to learn about the 5 quickest ways to lower your health insurance premium.

1. Adopt a healthy lifestyle

Living a healthy life has many benefits. Your healthy lifestyle can easily help you in bringing down the health insurance premium. Exercise regularly, eat healthy diet, avoid smoking and heavy drinking and your visits to the doctor will surely be minimized. The healthier you are, the lesser you are represented as a risk for the insurance company.

2. Shop for the best available price

One of the best options to keep your premium lowest is to go out and shop around

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