• Get a budgeting system:

You should establish a reliable method so that you can keep a track of all your wedding expenses. Keep some funds aside for your wedding expenses from your personal accounts. This will help you determine how much you will be able to spend on your wedding.

• Prepare to go over:

While you are keeping aside some funds for your wedding expenses, try to keep at least five percent of your budget for a just in case fund. You may utilize this money when you are running tight after you have exceeded the planned budget. If you cannot exceed the amount of money planned for the wedding expenses, then try to use five percent less of the amount planned for the wedding expenses. When the last minute cost comes up, your reserve fund will save you from debt.

1) When you are setting up your initial budget for the wedding, make sure that you have included the following expenses.

2) You need to keep aside some funds for tips for the vendors. This may range anywhere from 15% to 25% for certain services.

3) Trial runs like make up and hair styling will range anywhere from $20-$100 each

4) Sometimes the reception party will exceed the allotted time limit. In that case, you will have to pay for the overtime fees and it can range anywhere from $100 - $1000 or maybe more.

5) Last minute dress cleanings or tux pressings that can range between $50-$100 each

6) Postage costs for invitation cards and stamps for RSVPs.

7) Marriage license fees will range between $15-$90 depending on the state laws.

• Cut back:

You can save a lot of money in the catering services by reducing the number of courses. Lets say if you have planned for five course meal, you can minimize the cost be making it a three course meal. Have four bridesmaids instead of ten and save more money on wedding flowers bouquets and gifts. You can try to save on almost everything and keep the number of guests low as much as possible.

• Beware the up sell:

With every detail planned, someone is going to try to up-sell you. Don’t come under pressure. The fabulous designer dress, the top shelf bar, the succulent lobster tail - they all seem like good ideas at the time, but be wary that all of these upgrades add up. The key is to prioritize beforehand. If you want to serve an elaborate five-course meal with all the bells and whistles, you may have to sacrifice your dream of a 10-piece ensemble.

• Tighten the purse string:

Try to save at least 20% of your income for wedding expenses. This may sound quite difficult in the beginning but there are easy ways to cut corners in your personal life and make savings for the wedding. Creating savings by changing your current life style is definitely going to help in your married life without falling in debts. You can take these thrifty habits into your marriage - and make it easier to save for other big ticket items like a new home, vacations or a college fund.

There are two varieties of mortgage refinance loan interest rates. Interest rates are based on fixed rate or variable rate. Both of them have their own set of advantages and disadvantages. Variable rates are usually less than the fixed rates and are often beneficial to the customers shopping for mortgage loans. However, the demerits of variable rates are that the rates will vary from time to time according to the present economic condition of the country or the state. According to the present economic condition, the interest rates are just sprucing up. Every month the rates are rising up as per the wholesale price index, inflammations and the government measures and policies to contain the price rise and the expected economic recession.

If you get a mortgage loan on the basis of variable interest rate, you may be signing up for a mortgage loan that will keep getting expensive over the period of time. You must have estimated a certain repayment plan when applying for the mortgage loan. Many people who signed up for the mortgage loan at variable interest rates are finding it hard to make ends meet and living in a tight budget to keep their family moving while making the mortgage payments. The entire budget gets shattered because of the economic recession and heavy rise in the interest rate. People are forced to cut down their important expenses so that they don’t default in their mortgage payments. For someone who is already having a hard time in keeping his monthly payments, he is forced to default in his monthly payments and as a result, ends up with a bad credit history. In a situation like this, many people opt for mortgage refinance loans as well.

Fixed interest rates in mortgage refinance loans is certainly much better than variable rates. Here the only demerit is the high interest rate in comparison to the variable interest rate. When you select a mortgage loan with a fixed interest rate, you will be paying the same interest rate all through the tenure of the loan, irrespective of the economic fluctuations. Although you might apply for the mortgage loan at a higher interest rate if you sign up for a fixed interest rate, but you will be sure of the monthly payments that will be set throughout the loan term. You will not see interest rate changing like it happens in a variable interest rate.

]]> http://www.personalfinancecare.org/blog/interest-rates-of-a-mortgage-loan/feed/ http://www.personalfinancecare.org/blog/tips-for-the-first-time-auto-insurance-buyers/ http://www.personalfinancecare.org/blog/tips-for-the-first-time-auto-insurance-buyers/#comments Wed, 05 Nov 2008 17:51:32 +0000 admin http://www.personalfinancecare.org/blog/?p=53 There are many scary things in the world. Here are some tips for the first time auto insurance buyers. Hopefully this article will remove the fear before buying auto insurance policies.

You should always research the definition of the types of coverage on your policy. Educated decision is always a good decision. If you are having problems in comprehending the definitions from the manual, consult your family members or friends if they are in the insurance industry. They will help you explain the terms and the definitions in the right way.

Plan enough time before buying the right kind of insurance policy. Find the right company with the right coverage at the right price. If you purchase insurance policies in panic, you will not be able to purchase the types of coverage you desire.

Once you have researched the right type of auto insurance company for yourself, you need to determine your insurance needs. Take the help of a licensed insurance agent who can help you in assessing your insurance needs.

See if your insurance policy comes up with additional features like medical coverage, towing coverage. If you have a lien holder, then you need extra coverage for your vehicle. If you have more than one driver on the vehicles, then you certainly need more than one policy.

After you have assessed your basic requirements in the insurance policy, it is time to make the purchase. Always purchase as much insurance as you can afford. You don’t want to have your policy cancelled due to non payment. It also does not make senses to purchase the least amount of insurance types of coverage when you can afford more. There are some insurance companies who allow upgrading your policy in the future.

Due to unforeseen financial conditions, you may have been forced to file for bankruptcy and now you need to get a mortgage for your dream home, it’s obvious that you will have fewer options than before. However, you need not to get disappointed as there are still various sources of credit available if you know where to look for it.

Sub prime loans: If you have recently filed for bankruptcy, you may apply for sub prime loans. You

may get approved by a loan provider because they will not look into your past credit history and you will get the chance to own a home. The rates of interests on these kinds of loans will be quite higher but when you have limited options, this may be the way to go and get into the real estate market. You may be ready to pay higher interest rates for some time until your credit scores have recovered and then you can refinance on to a regular home loan with improved credit.

FHA mortgage loans: The FHA has recently become stricter after the crunch in the credit market and there are lots of criteria before the loans are approved. To get your finance from the FHA, you need to have a credit score of at least 600, but some lenders can be quite lenient regarding your credit ratings. The major advantage of getting a FHA loan is that they are much cheaper than a sub prime home loan. You can save a lot of money just in interests if you look at overall time period of the home loan.

Many people put themselves under pressure when they are comparing the cost of the loans while applying with different lenders. With the rapid growth in the technology, you have the fruitful option to opt for low cost loans. If you own a home or if you have any high value asset to your name, you can certainly avail cheap secured loans at lower interest rates. You will be able to save a lot of money just in interests, if you are looking for some kinds of loans from unsecured lenders or credit card companies.

To get a secured loan, you can pledge your assets like home, car, valuable documents, stocks and bonds. Your approval for the secured loan amount depends on the value of the assets put as collateral. You should get approved for a higher loan amount if the value of the assets is higher and that too at lower rate of interest.

Cheap secured loans are available to almost everyone who is willing to put some collateral as a security. Repayment tenure for these loans tends to be long. It starts from a minimum of 5 years and can stretch up to 25 years, based on the amount you borrowed. You can use the loan amount to pay off the existing loan, credit cards, mortgages. These loans can further be used for home improvement, car purchase, educational financing and wedding.

People with bad credit scores do not need to feel disappointed if they are going through financial crisis. No matter the types of negative remarks showing up on your credit report, you are still free to avail the benefits of these loans.

There are several ways to apply for these loans. You can either approach a reputed financial institution, bank, traditional lenders or you can apply for these loans on the internet also. Applying online will be a fruitful option because it will save a lot of time and efforts and you can do it from the comfort of your living room or your office. Shop with different lenders and review their terms and conditions carefully before deciding for one.

Cheap secured loans hence provide a practical solution to all your financial problems in an effective way. These loans are highly affordable as it comprises lower interest rate. Now, with the help of these loans you can easily make your dream come true.

Any credit card with a zero percent APR is definitely good because you don’t have to pay anything on interests on the card. If you are like many, you must be thinking that this is the best card to go for to get the maximum benefits, but there are many more things to know about these 0% APR credit cards. You should take the time necessary to find the right opportunities for your specific needs. These 0% APR credit cards are definitely the best sort of credit cards provided you are able to use it in an efficient way.

Most of the credit card companies offer 0% APR credit cards for a certain period of time and charge no interest rates on these cards. There are generally some fees attached with these types of credit cards, but that can be somewhat affordable if you compare it with other cards charged with interests. Some credit card companies will offer you a standard APR that you will likely hold for the time you are using the credit line. Others will offer you a zero percent APR for an introductory time period only.

Should you use it? If you have to make a choice between two credit cards, one with a lower interest rate in comparison to the other one, you will definitely use the one that comes at lower offer. Yet, there are more important things to be looked into before grabbing one offer. You need to see the interest rate that will be charged after the introductory period is over. You need to see the overall interest rate that will be charged through out the time period of using the credit line. Determine which offers the best overall ability for you in the least expensive manner.

True benefits of using the credit cards at zero percent APR: If you are sure that you will be able to pay back the entire line of credit within the introductory time period, then you should never miss such offers. There is nothing better than borrowing money for free. You can transfer the balances of the credit cards on which you are paying high interest rates to the zero percent APR credit card. This way, you will save a lot of money in fees if you do the balance transfer. Check the rates on the balance transfers before making the move.

Make sure that you have checked with different credit card companies offering credit cards at zero percent APR. Get all the facts and take the necessary time to compare each offer.

Review your credit report regularly and see if there are any incorrect items reported on your credit copy that’s hurting your scores. Credit bureaus handle millions and millions of consumers’ reports. The errors are expected. Your best bet is to get rid of the incorrect information from your credit copy and your scores will rise dramatically.

Don’t close any credit card account if it is old and unused. Creditors review all information and they cannot draw too much conclusion from the accounts that are recently opened. There are many people who move debts from several credit cards to one card and then close the old accounts. Since creditors look at the debt-to-credit limit ratio this can have a bad affect on your credit score because you have the same amount of debt but less available credit.

Creditors review the average age of your credit accounts. So keeping the old accounts open definitely helps.

Reduce your credit card balance to 75% of your available credit.

Always pay your bills on time. Your creditors will report negatively on your credit copy if you are late in your payments.

Don’t let any creditor report an inquiry on your credit copy without authorized reasons. Anyone viewing your credit copy sees too many inquiries from different lenders, they will understand that you have been denied of credit too many times.

Don’t open too many credit card accounts just to increase your available credit.

The silver lining has already started to emerge on the mortgage market after the falling interest rates. These will ease up some of the pressure on the mortgage companies and potentially open up new opportunities for debt consolidation. When the economy falters, the interest rates often start to fall.

When the interest rates were lowered, the Federal Government made the headlines in August, but often the case may be, the Fed was following the lead of the bond market which had already brought the interest rates down. Due to the lower interest rates, the mortgage companies are able to increase the spread between the rate at which they borrow money and the rate at which they lend it out. Due to this increased spread, there will be less pressure on the mortgage rates.

Mortgage industries are in the business of making loans. They may be able to raise their credit standards for a short period of time, or lend out a small percentage of home equity, they still want to make new loans rather than just stand by passively while some existing loans go bad.

If you are considering using your home equity to consolidate some of the debts, review the mortgage industry carefully for the lower interest rates. The mortgage market is cyclical and many companies are getting up to speed again, with new rates to offer.

Do you think it will be a good idea to buy a luxurious car with your credit card? How many of you think it to be a good financial decision?

• Before planning to buy a car with your credit card, you must keep the following things in mind:

1) You should be able to afford the monthly payments on the credit card and you should be able to make a large down payment on the car. If you are not making a reasonable down payment, you will be upside down because you will owe more on the loan than the worth of the car.

2) Will you be able to pay off the car loan on the credit card within a period of four years or less?

3) Will you be able to insure the car with comprehensive coverage, not just liability? If you have bought the car with your credit card, it is possible that you can avoid the mandatory comprehensive coverage; however it is not worth avoiding such kind of coverage on the car.

4) Do you have extra money for living expenses in your savings account?

If you are prepared with the above situations and your answer happens to be yes, then you may purchase the car on the credit card. You should also be mentally prepared for tough situations like a loss of job or a significant decrease in your monthly income. This can create a major difference in your living style and if you are not ready for this, you should consider buying a less expensive car.

When you purchase a car with a credit card, you may get a low interest rate or a 0 percent, for a certain period of time than what you would pay with a traditional loan. Make sure that you have understood the terms and conditions set by the credit card company because you don’t want to see any sudden increase in the interest rate at any time for any reason, regardless of whether you are making monthly payments or not.
You will have a lower repayment plan on the credit card than a traditional loan. If you are taking longer time to pay off the loan on your credit card, you will not be able to sell the car just in case if you need to, because you won’t get to know the total cost of the car until the loan gets paid off. Keep this point in mind if you are considering buying a car with your credit card.

Purchasing a card with your credit card will definitely reward you with some cash reward or other points reward system, but you definitely need to weigh the consequences if you are not getting too many benefits on that single purchase. Browse through the internet and get to know the latest credit card news and articles before you decide to buy a luxurious car with a specific credit card company.

A traditional loan will provide a fixed interest rate and a regular monthly payment for the length of the loan. The terms of the loan will remain the same as long as you are making timely payments and the required amount each month. Even if you pay more in interest charges than with your credit card, you may come out ahead using a traditional loan given that the credit card issuer may be able to raise your interest rate due to terms in the cardholder agreement. So, it is important that you take care of your credit when you are making some major purchase on your credit card.

Sometimes, the collection agencies do not have the authority or enough information to collect on your account. If you are aware of your consumer rights, you can legally safeguard yourself from making unnecessary payments.

Debt validation is a complicated process. In most of the cases, when the customer has defaulted in his payments to the credit card companies, these big companies do not have the time to chase down the debtors who owe money to them. They usually hire a debt collection agency to recover the amount and pay a certain percentage on the amount recovered.

For legal purposes, any entity that is not an original creditor will be considered as debt collectors, including the attorney’s office. Debt collectors are legally required to follow the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) which will be the basis of your debt validation proceedings. It applies to those companies also who have bought the debts from the original creditors and have now become the current creditors.

Debt validation is the process of verifying the debt in question, as well as the collection attempts. According to the FDCPA laws, the burden of responsibility to provide necessary information about the debt rests on the debt collector. Generally debt collectors must be able to prove the following things before attempting collections.

The debt collector has been authorized to collect on the account that you owe to the original creditor.
The full amount of debt with accurate calculations of the principal and interests as documented by the original creditor.

The debt collector should be able to show the original contract copy signed with the original creditor if they are doing legitimate collections.

If someone is trying to collect on an account that you do not recognize, or you believe the account is already paid, or if the debt is past the statute of limitations period, you must pursue debt validation. You should also pursue debt validation if you know by any chance that the company is trying to collect on an account that they cannot prove in writing.

• Take the following actions to demand your right to debt validation:

Send a debt validation letter to the collection agency through certified mail with return receipt requested. Allow them 30 days to respond to your request.

If the collection agency is not able to give you the required information related to the account, make sure that you contact the credit bureau and get their collection remark disputed if they have already hit your credit report.

If the collection agency is able to give you the required information as per the FDCPA laws and you still want to dispute the account, you may want to check the licensing of the collection agency in your state. A collection agency collecting on an account in your state has to be licensed in your state. If they are not, it is a violation of the FDCPA and you have the rights to take legal actions against them.