SaveCashClub's Blog

Saving Today Is More Than Nickels and Dimes, What About Your Retirement?!

SaveCashClub — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 14:53:15 +0000

Saving Is Today More Than Nickels and Dimes, What About Your Retirement?!

Friends, lets realize this one thing. Time waits for no one. We can enjoy life to the fullest everyday but if we are not being realistic to our financial goals then where are we. I used to not worry about my financial plans for when I reach the big retirement threshold (of course, if I am blessed to reach it) but when I thought about the economy and all of the millions of individuals that are in retirement and trying to make ends meet it made me sit down and think. What am I going to do? I pray that a majority of our readership currently has jobs and that you currently have access to a 401(k) plan through your employer.

A 401(k) is a voluntary retirement plan that companies may offer to their workers. Employers set aside a percentage of their wages before taxes, up to a certain maximum, and invest those funds within the retirement plan. The percentage you can contribute varies from company to company, and the federally mandated yearly maximum may increase over the years, since it is tied to inflation and the consumer price index (CPI). An employer often contributes to its employee’s 401(k) s by matching each employee’s contribution up to a certain percentage. The contributions and the interest or gains that accrue are not taxed until the funds are withdrawn. There are restrictions on when and how 401(k) funds can be withdrawn. Let’s stay informed!

A 401(k) is a voluntary retirement plan that companies may offer to their workers. Employers set aside a percentage of their wages before taxes, up to a certain maximum, and invest those funds within the retirement plan. The percentage you can contribute varies from company to company, and the federally mandated yearly maximum may increase over the years, since it is tied to inflation and the consumer price index (CPI). An employer often contributes to its employees 401(k)s by matching each employees contribution up to a certain percentage. The contributions and the interest or gains that accrue are not taxed until the funds are withdrawn. There are restrictions on when and how 401(k) funds can be withdrawn. Let’s stay informed!

- Mr. PennyWise

Are You Making Your Money Work For You?

SaveCashClub — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 12:32:08 +0000

We, as Americans, are living longer then any other decade that has past. We will spend an increasing number of years living on our retirement incomes. We know that we can’t count primarily on Social Security to provide this income and that, if we wish to maintain a comfortable standard of living during a long retirement, many of us will have to rely primarily on our retirement savings.

If you haven’t started, the time is now to begin your quest to finding out what you will need for living when you become older in age. Your health costs, mortgage, education for kids, and etc. These are things that will tap into the lifestyle and living conditions of your retirement. I have seen many retirees unprepared for the day to day situations that come up that peck away at their retirement money. Do you have questions about your retirement? Let’s start off by asking: What is a retirement plan? A retirement plan is an essential financial road map that is strategically planned, often monitored, and strictly followed for the foundation of your personal living in your older age of living. But it starts by motivating yourself to begin looking at your finances now. What are your expenses? Are you saving any money for an emergency?

Next upcoming article: “What are some vital key points that you need to know about your retirement plan?” – Mr. PennyWise

Poor Financial Decisions = Poor Credit

SaveCashClub — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 02:19:32 +0000

Poor financial decisions = Possibly Poor Credit

Just because a majority of your family members are getting in over their heads does not mean that it has to transfer to you. If you ignore your debts or avoid giving them attention, the results could be incredible—incredibly awful. First, you will experience many situations of denied credit. You will not be able to obtain a car loan or a house mortgage because you are carrying too much debt. Second, you will over extend your current credit and be unable to use your credit cards. You will eventually find that your lights are turned off, your car is repossessed, and your cable is turned off. If you are a renter, you could be evicted. I f you apply for a new apartment, the company could can check your credit report and reject you based on poor credit. Review this financial tool supported by SaveCashClub: http://www.savecashclub.com/MoneyLogicLanding.php

- Mr. PennyWise

My Credit Report: Where am I at???

SaveCashClub — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 13:48:34 +0000

Friends,

To really know how to solve your problems, you must first understand the details about your situation and be real to yourself in what you find. Knowing that you do not have enough to pay all your bills, that your credit report is unfavorable, or that you were denied credit is not enough information. Why? To fairly access your situation, you must take the time to gather, formulate, and organize your records you will need for a firm foundation. You must sit down with all your financial records and all your bills and get a clear picture of what you have, what you owe, and what you can do about the remainder. This can be very hard to do if you are certain you’re not going to like what you will see. However, you will need to tighten the belt and cut off some extras. It is also important that you understand how the law applies to the different kinds of bills you have. Taking some time to understand the details about your finances will enable you to take steps to fix your problems and avoid problems in the future. Check out this potential financial tool that can assist you: http://www.savecashclub.com/MoneyLogicLanding.php

-Mr. PennyWise

Evils of Money

SaveCashClub — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 04:39:31 +0000

EVILS of MONEY

It is always believed that money is the root of all evils. Yes, it could be but it is not all-true. We need money for our needs. If used well, it is the greatest material asset you could have. But, if you let yourself get carried away with the things and the services money could afford without proper use would result to negative outcomes.

Money could be an angel and save you from worries and give you a life of comfort and of convenience. On the other hand, it could lead to a worse situation.

Money could be the source of the guts to be into gambling and other forms of vicious activities. This would further result to even worse outcomes.
With money, materialism is also growing. Too much of it would be very negative in effect.
People gets too reliant on money and laziness or tardiness are triggered. This of course plunges down the dignity of work.
Money is the cause of selfishness and greed for most modern-day people. With the wrong perception that money would make one feel happy and secured, people do all means to covet it.
Relationships are broken due to the disagreement in money matters. Feuds blow up when money is at stake.
Money in form of prizes, people tend to rely on their luck by joining games of luck and become too impatient of working hard.
Fraud in the government like corruption rooted from the influence of money.

As we see it, it is not money that is evil. How people see and consider money is what matters most. Through time, money has become the wrong core of lives people have. Due to such, misery wraps the world and it all falls back to the fact that majority of people around the globe has the thinking that money buys all and money influences all.

In a shallow look, these are true but beneath the materialistic worldly eyes, there are things that money could buy and the things that are of huge essence are not necessarily things.

- Mr. PennyWise

SaveCashClub: Where Do I Start?

SaveCashClub — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 15:17:25 +0000

Before you can do anything to get out of the debt you are in, you have to know your current financial situation. The place where the credit companies start is where we should start also, and that is with your credit score and your credit report.

A physician or medical doctor first makes an analysis of your medical condition by checking your symptoms. He then figures out where the problems are, and then gives you options or solutions to treat those problems. If you walk in with a bleeding ulcer, he’d better not say, “Take two aspirin, and call me in the morning.” You have to take the same logical step-by-step approach with your financial health.

Imagine you enter your doctor’s office and said, “Hey, doc, I have chest pains.” Your doctor barely glances up and says, “Lie down on the table, let me do open heart surgery on you.” Would you then simply nod, say “okay”, and lied down on the table? No way. That would never happen. You expect the doctor to check you out and do a thorough exam before suggesting what may be wrong and how to solve your ailments.

The same rationale applies to your money and to your debt as well.

- Mr. PennyWiser

SaveCashClub: What are you doing with your leftovers?

SaveCashClub — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 12:41:03 +0000

Many people turn their nose up at the idea of leftovers. The more thought of reheating food originally prepared a day or two before convinces many that the food will be bland and rubbery, not worth eating. This assumption sadly results in a lot of good, quality food hitting the trash can before its time. The truth is that with a little bit of careful planning, leftovers can be a delicious and highly inexpensive meal. Some ideas:
- Add additional spices that you have on hand to leftovers just before you serve them. This will create a fresh snap to the flavor of the food.
- Use the leftovers as the basis for a second meal. For example, take the leftover spaghetti and sauce, chop up the spaghetti, put it in a bread loaf pan, sprinkle some mozzarella cheese on the top, and bake it in the oven. Or take the leftover chicken breasts from the grill, dice them, and add them to a rice and vegetable skillet meal.
- Freeze the leftovers. This especially works well if you’ve made a large batch of soup and have plenty left over. Freeze it in portion-sized containers. -Mr. PennyWisers

SaveCashClub Tip: Save On Groceries

SaveCashClub — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 05:33:29 +0000

A very effective way to manage those weekly grocery store trips is to start off with a plan for what you’ll eat in the coming week. The cheapest way to get started is to pull out the flyer from your local grocery store (you may find them in the community flyers or in the Sunday paper) and see which items are being sold very cheaply to get you in the door. Identify a handful of these, then use them to plan your meals for the week by using those items as the core ingredient in most if not all of your dishes. For example, if you notice that chicken is discounted highly, as is broccoli, look for dishes that utilize both and plan one or two of them for the week. Not only does this reduce your cost, but it also encourages diverse meals when you base you meals on what’s on sale instead of eating the same old tired thing you buy on every grocery trip.

If you life rotates anywhere like my wife and I does, then you would really appreciate the word “preparation”. It takes a REAL person to settle themselves down to understand the “purpose” of themselves. Plan your meals now so that hasty decisions do not foster bad choices later!

- Mr. PennyWise

I’m Trying To Reestablish My Credit After Bankruptcy, will A Low-Limit Credit Card Help?

SaveCashClub — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 13:43:33 +0000

No. That’s a terrible idea! After bankruptcy, all creditors are your best friends, because they know you cannot declare again on them!
Why do people file Chapter 7 anyway? Because they are too far in debt. So why, as soon as you get out, do you want to get back in debt again! Isn’t that something to avoid?!!
You do not need to re-establish your credit. Why would you want to re-establish your credit? So later on you can go and get in debt again?
Do you know what avoiding credit cards for three to five years shows a mortgage lender? Wisdom! It shows you got it? It shows that you what debt can do to you. That is the kind of person a mortgage lender is looking for, not someone who declared bankruptcy and then got more credit cards again!
Start evaluating where you at financially and look at what you NEED to live off of now. Do you have a car payment? House note? Are in you in 401k program? Have you looked into stocks? But first of all, do you have a personal budget? Let’s start there and slowly move forward.
You do not need a big hairy credit report to buy things and survive in America.

- Mr. PennyWise

SaveCashClub’s “It’s About Your Money” Tip

SaveCashClub — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 06:17:32 +0000

Ever stood at an ATM and seen that dreaded message “This bank charges a $2 fee for use of this ATM”? If you have, blame your bank. I remember in alot of my earlier days while I was in various military, college, and mall locations, I could care less about how much my ATM fees were because I just wanted the money dispensed. Now it’s a different story. Rarely, do I try to visit a ATM outside my network because the fees are just to high and they quickly add up. In order to cut corners, banks have decided to exclude ATM’s from their network. Your bank should always have the widest ATM network possible. If you find yourself seeing those message regularly, that adds up to significant cash straight out of your pocket. Talk to your bank and make sure that you at least have a debit card with a MasterCard or Visa logo on it so you can use it as a credit card. Often you’re able to use it as a debit card in the checkout lane and use it to get cash back. – Mr. PennyWise