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In addition to serving as an important reminder to honor our U.S. war veterans, Memorial Day marks the start of the summer travel season. Whether you’re an adventurer, a creature of habit, or planning your first big family vacation, here are some money saving tips you will want to consider.
Save Up
When planning summer travel, estimate your costs ahead of time for airfare, lodging, and expenses. Set a goal to save a portion every month towards that amount, using an app like Mint to track your progress. The closer you get, the closer that vacation is, and the more excited you and your travel companions will be!
One popular saving method I’ve seen online is the hoarding of five-dollar bills. A Reddit user inspired many with his post and photo captioned: “For the past year, I put away every $5 bill that came into my possession. To date, I’ve saved $3,335.”
Get a Cheaper Flight
Plan ahead: Try to book your flights around three months in advance of your planned date of travel. Finding cheap last minute airfare isn’t impossible, but it’s hard to plan that way.
Low fare alerts: Pick a few destinations you want to visit and set up “low airfare” alerts at sites like Airfare Watchdog or Kayak to be notified when prices drop below your threshold. If you’re not limited to a certain destination, Kayak’s summer travel hacker can help you choose a lower-fare location.
When to buy: If a fare seems too good to be true, BUY IT. I’ve often comparison-shopped for flights, and hesitated to purchase a really good-looking fare, then regretted it when the price went up significantly the very next day. The price-prediction app Hopper will advise you to purchase your flight now or wait because prices might drop.
Avoid Airline Fees
Baggage fees: Avoid the long lines and $25 charge by packing light and flying only with carry-ons. Make sure your carry-on suitcase fits the dimensions allowed by your airline. Avoid stuffing the bag so full that it can’t fit into the bag-size tester. Summer travel often requires less clothing anyway, right?
To make sure you stay comfortable on the flight, a thin scarf – which looks fashionable and keeps the neck warm – can double as a light blanket. Wear your largest pair of shoes and bulkiest clothing on the flight (big jacket doubles as lumbar support!) so they won’t take up as much space in your suitcase.
If you travel to the same destination often (like a relative’s home) consider leaving some toiletries or clothing items like shoes or sweaters at that person’s house. My parents visit us a few times a year and usually travel with one small bag each because they have at least two full outfits in a closet in my house, including shoes!
Food and drink: Travel with an empty reusable water bottle that you fill when you get through security. Bring your own snacks and packable meals so that you don’t get tempted to charge an airline meal to your credit card. The food you pack will likely taste better, anyway. But be kind to your fellow passengers and try to avoid powerful odors like tuna or egg salad or allergens like peanut butter.
How are you saving on summer travel? Let us know in the comments below!
Kim Tracy Prince is a Los Angeles-based writer who has a husband, two little boys, and some serious wanderlust. She’ll be traveling to Connecticut this summer like she does every year.
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Shortly after graduating from New York University with a Master’s degree, Melanie Lockert turned to food stamps, as she worked her way out of $81,000 in student loans.
“There were a lot of emotions around carrying that debt. It caused a lot of stress and depression and anxiety for a long time,” she shared with me recently during an interview on my podcast.
The student loan crisis in America has reached epidemic proportions. With households across the country carrying $1.26 trillion in student loans, it is the second largest category of debt following mortgage debt.
For the class of 2016, the average student loan balance is $37,172, up six percent from the previous year, according to a new analysis by student loan expert Mark Kantrowitz published in the Wall Street Journal.
If you’re struggling to make ends meet due to student loans or wondering how you’ll ever pay off the debt in a timely manner, here are some key steps to support you along the way.
Never Pay Late. Ever.
Whoever likes to call student loans “good debt,” has probably never faced a late payment. “Falling behind on payments can cause federal loans to enter default, triggering expensive fees and collections,” says Heather Jarvis, attorney and student loan expert.
If you miss several payments and are in default, federal loan borrowers may also seize your wages, tax refunds and possibly social security benefits. And you can only imagine how all this can damage your credit score. (Keep reading for advice on what to do if you’re already in default.)
To avoid ever paying late, sign up for automatic payments with your lender. Doing so could also earn you a reduced interest rate (usually 0.25%), which could save you hundreds of dollars, maybe more, over the life of your loan.
Extend the Term
Speaking of your loan’s life, extending the term from 10 to 15 or 20 years could provide you with some payment relief since when you extend the term, your monthly payments decrease.
Bear in mind that since your interest rate remains the same this strategy may mean you’ll end up paying more to pay off the loan over time.
One way to avoid paying too much more interest is to take advantage of the smaller monthly payments for only a window of time. As soon as your finances strengthen place more than the monthly minimum towards your balance to help you get out of debt closer to your original term. Be sure to place extra payments directly towards the principal to knock down the debt even faster.
Tap Government Assistance
If you have federal student loans you may qualify for Income-Based Repayment (IBR), a government program that helps qualifying borrowers cap loan payments to a percentage of income, typically 10% of their income. The program will also forgive any remaining student loan debt after 20 or 25 years of making payments.
The Department of Education also has a program called Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF). If you work full-time for a “public service” employer such as not-for-profits, AmeriCorps or PeaceCorps, the military or a government agency, PLSF may forgive your remaining federal loan debt after 10 years of employment.
If You’re Already Behind…You Have Options
If you’re in default, Jay Fleischman, a student loan and bankruptcy attorney, says you may be able to consolidate your loans under the U.S. Department of Education’s Direct Consolidation Loan Program, which is free and does not depend on creditworthiness. “You could also rehabilitate by making nine agreed-upon monthly payments over a 10-month period of time with the collector assigned to the account. Those payments may be adjusted based on your income, and payments can be as low as $5 per month,” he says.
For private student loan borrowers, “the situation is markedly different because there is no right to consolidate or rehabilitate unless the lender has a specific program to do so,” says Fleischman. Contact your loan servicer and learn about ways you may be able to reduce or eliminate payments until you get back on your feet, he says.
If your lender won’t budge, you may choose to remain in default until a settlement opportunity presents itself or until the statute of limitations for collection expires. As a last resort, you may also consider bankruptcy as a way to wipe out other debts and repay your student loans under court supervision. “Though bankruptcy may not wipe out your student loans except in limited circumstances, many people opt for bankruptcy as a way to get more control over the ways in which your loans get paid,” says Fleischman.
Tap Home Equity…With Caution
Homeowners may be eligible to use a home equity line of credit (HELOC) to pay off their remaining student loan balance. This allows them to pay off the student loan with the existing equity in their home and save money if the HELOC has a lower interest rate than the student loan.
There’s also a new program offered by online lender SoFi called the Student Loan Payoff ReFi that allows some homeowners to pay down student debt using their home’s equity. SoFi refinances the total amount of your student loans and existing mortgage at a lower rate. Through that process your student loan balance is paid off directly to the loan provider.
To qualify, SoFi says borrowers need healthy credit scores (check your free credit score to verify you qualify), a debt-to-income ratio that’s 45% or less (calculate debt-to-income ratio to see if you fall under this number) and a loan-to-value ratio that’s 80% or less (meaning you can’t be underwater on your mortgage). You can calculate your debt-to-income ratio with Turbo, and
Just keep in mind that when paying off your student loans with home equity – be it through SoFi or another lender – if you default on the consolidated loan the lender has the right to use your home as collateral and foreclose on the property. It’s a serious risk if you don’t have enough in savings or stable income to help you get by during tough times.
Remember to Deduct It
Student loans are no fun, but paying them can yield lower taxes. Each year the IRS lets borrowers deduct up to $2,500 in student loan interest from their taxable income.
Maybe Your Employer Can Help?
A growing number of companies are helping employees squash their student loans as an added perk like a 401(k) and health care.
Gradifi is a Boston-based start-up that’s working with over 200 employers to set up its student loan pay down plan, including PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
It’s a trend that’s likely to grow over the years with more than 50 percent of student loan borrowers saying they would rather receive student loan benefits than heath care from their employer.
Start a Side Hustle
While it’s important to cut back on spending to make room for paying down debt, that move alone isn’t always enough. “Pinching pennies and cutting back is really useful as an initial strategy, but at some point, there’s only so much you can cut back,” says Lockert, whose now chronicled her debt payoff strategies in the book Dear Debt: A Story About Breaking Up With Debt. Through a series of side hustles over the years, including housecleaning, event assisting and pet sitting, earning $10 to $50 per hour, Lockert managed to not only afford her living expenses, but also erase five figures worth of student loan debt.
Depending on your interests, you can find relatively easy gigs at sites like TaskRabbit, Tutor.com, GigWalk and Care.com.
Have a question for Farnoosh? You can submit your questions via Twitter @Farnoosh, Facebook or email at [email protected] (please note “Mint Blog” in the subject line).
Farnoosh Torabi is America’s leading personal finance authority hooked on helping Americans live their richest, happiest lives. From her early days reporting for Money Magazine to now hosting a primetime series on CNBC and writing monthly for O, The Oprah Magazine, she’s become our favorite go-to money expert and friend.
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Stock markets and major commodities such as oil and gold seem to get most of the mainstream financial market headlines these days. Despite being the largest and most liquid trading markets in the world, the global currency markets do not nearly get the same attention.
There are a few key reasons for this – the lack of a true central currency exchange, the relatively small daily price changes and the seemingly opaque reasons for changes in currencies.
However, the value of our nation’s currency can have a strong affect on the stock market and the commodities markets as well as have a real affect on our lives. Our currency’s value is a basic fundamental component of our wealth and our ability to purchase goods – especially in this age of globalization. If we pay attention to the currency market trends, we can benefit by using this information to plan ahead for a vacation, search out deals on foreign products or take this knowledge into account when making our investment decisions.
For businesses, the value of a local currency can be even more important. A strong currency will make our exports more expensive to foreign buyers while possibly making imports downright cheap for us to buy.
As a currency trader, I can tell you that there are many economic factors to take into consideration when it comes to evaluating a currency’s strength. Some economic factors can have more influence at different times and for different countries.
Below, I touch upon four factors that I believe to be among the most important economic indicators anyone can follow by reading the news.
1. Interest Rates
The first factor contributing to the general strength or weakness of a currency is a country’s interest rate. Simply, interest rates are the amount it costs to borrow money. The interest rate level is moved higher or lower by a country’s central bank to either stimulate or slow down an economy. Higher interest rates impose a more costly fee to borrow money while lower interest rates lessen the fee and usually spur more borrowing (or access to cheap credit) in an economy.
When it comes to demand for a particular currency, however, the higher the interest rate usually means the higher the demand for that currency. Lower interest rates usually decrease the demand for a currency. The reason investors look to buy currencies with higher interest rates is it creates an additional rate of return on their currency exchange. A trader is compensated by the interest rate differential when the trader buys the currency with the higher interest rate compared to the lower interest rate currency. There is a popular currency trading strategy called the “carry trade” that seeks to exploit the differences in country’s interest rates (see more on the carry trade here).
The mechanics behind this can take some time and effort to fully comprehend, but the general take away is: Higher interest rates make a currency more attractive.
2. Inflation
Inflation is next in our economic factors list and is defined by the rise in prices of goods and services. When a product rises in price, it signals that there is an underlying demand for that product. Higher prices may not seem good to a consumer, but it is generally considered healthy for a country to have a moderate increase in inflation in a growing economy. Many central banks have a target inflation rate for their economy of around 2 percent a year.
When an economy sees too much inflation, the central bank will try to cool off rising prices and access to cheap credit with an increase in interest rates. This brings us back to number one in our list, where we see that higher interest rates make a currency more attractive. So in a growing economic environment, rising inflation rates will tend to increase expectations that interest rates will rise, which will in turn make traders have a positive outlook for the rise of the currency.
There are also downsides to inflation when not accompanied by a growing economy called stagflation (high unemployment, low growth, high inflation) and the dreaded deflation, which is when prices are in decline. This is usually a drag on an economy as prices of goods are falling, leading to declining wages in worker paychecks and less money workers will have to buy goods.
3. Economic Growth
The strength of an economy can go a long way to boosting the strength of the nation’s currency. A strong growth rate in a country will see a growing demand for products and services with better job prospects for workers as well as being an attractive destination for capital and investments.
The easiest way to watch a country’s economic standing is to pay attention to the gross domestic product (GDP). A strong GDP reading is growth of 3 percent or more in many cases, while growth close to zero percent or a negative reading shows that the economy could be headed for a recession. A typical definition of a recession is two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth.
In an economy like the United States, which is driven by consumer spending, expanding growth that produces more jobs and better wages will allow workers to feel wealthier and help to further stimulate the economy through domestic consumption. More growth can bring higher inflation rates and the expectations for interest rate increases. Foreign investment and demand from companies abroad can also play an important factor in boosting the local currency of a strong economy.
4. Current Account Balance
The last on our list is the current account balance. It is considered to be the most extensive gauge of cross-border transactions of a country. Simply put, it is the total amount of goods, services, income and current transfers of a country against all of its trading partners. A positive current account balance signals that a country lends more to its trading partners than it borrows, and a deficit current account balance shows that the country borrows more from its trading partners than it lends.
This total amount of trade can influence the country’s exchange rate positively if there is more demand for that country’s goods (and currency) from other countries. A deficit or borrower country will see less demand for its own local goods and currency overall.
Conclusion
Economics and currency forecasting are both very much inexact sciences. Price movements can seem volatile and hard to understand, but for those seeking basic insight into currency trends, these important economic factors can go a long way.
Zachary Storella is the CEO of currency news website CountingPips.com.
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There were 4,821 fatal occupational injuries in America in 2014. That’s a 5% increase from 2013, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. While all workplaces take precautions to limit fatal accidents, there are some occupations for which the risk of fatal accidents is unfortunately much higher.
In order to determine the most dangerous jobs in the U.S., we looked at total number of fatalities and hours worked from 2011-2014 for all occupations for which the Bureau of Labor Statistics keeps records. We ranked the most dangerous jobs by fatality rate, which we measured in fatalities per 100,000 workers. You can read our full methodology below.
Find out how much life insurance you need.
Key Findings
Low-paying manual labor – Many of the most dangerous jobs are forms of lower-skilled manual labor. Often they don’t require more than a high school education. In many cases, these workers are not very well-compensated despite the risks that they face.
Driving can be dangerous – Several occupations that involve a significant amount of driving appeared on our list. Truck drivers, refuse collectors and taxi drivers and chauffeurs ranked in the top 10.
Police work – A total of 411 police and sheriff’s patrol officers died on the job during the four-year period we considered. About half of those deaths were due to injuries caused by people or animals, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Still, police work only ranked as the 14th most dangerous job.
1. Logging workers
Logging is the most dangerous occupation in the U.S. with a fatality rate of 89 per 100,000 workers. Logging is physically demanding and requires large portions of time spent outdoors in potentially hazardous areas. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most fatalities among logging workers occur from falling logs or contact with a machine. Logging workers earn a yearly median income of $36,210. That’s in contrast to the overall median income for full-time workers in the U.S. which is $44,819. Most logging work is done in the Pacific Northwest in the evergreen forests of Washington and Oregon.
2. Fishers and related fishing workers.
The Discovery Channel produces a show called “The Deadliest Catch” which highlights the dangers of high seas fishing. The fatality rate for fishers and related fishing workers is 81 per 100,000 workers. The majority of on-the-job fatalities among fishers occur from drowning. Another concern for fishers is that when accidents occur workers are often far out at sea where access to medical facilities may be limited.
3. Aircraft pilots and flight engineers
The fatality rate for this occupation is 54 per 100,000 workers – almost 30% less than the fatality rate for the occupations in the first two positions. Commercial pilots face risks from hazardous weather as well as long overnight flights, but flying non-commercial aircraft is often more dangerous. Non-commercial pilots are involved in firefighting and crop dusting, both of which require flying at low altitudes with a higher chance of fatal accidents. Due to the dangers, plus the high skill level required for flying aircraft, pilots and flight engineers make an average of $117,290.
Related Article: The Top 10 Jobs for Salary and Growth
4. Roofers
Roofers had a fatality rate of 38 per 100,000 workers over the 2011-2014 timeline. Most fatalities among roofers occur from slipping from scaffolding, ladders or roofs. Interestingly, the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that roofing will experience a 13% job growth over the next decade, which is higher than average. The occupation pays $36,720 on average.
5. Refuse and recyclable material collectors
Refuse and recyclable material collectors have a fatality rate of 32 per 100,000 workers. Workers in this occupation make $36,370 per year on average. Refuse and recyclable material collectors face dangers from driving, as well as accidents related to the truck and lift systems.
6. Farmers, ranchers and other agricultural managers
Farmers, ranchers and other agricultural managers “operate establishments that produce crops, livestock and dairy products,” according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Workers in this occupation had a fatality rate of 24.7 per 100,000 workers over the 2011-2014 period. While farming may sound relatively safe, there are dangers involved with operating the heavy machinery required for mass production. Farmers make $64,170 per year on average, and around 70% are self-employed.
7. Truck drivers and driver/sales workers
Truck drivers and driver/sales workers experience a fatality rate of 23 per 100,000 workers. This occupation can be dangerous because driving long hours may become tiring and result in vehicular accidents. Workers in this occupation make $27,760 per year on average.
Related Article: States With the Worst Drivers
8. Electrical power-line installers and repairers
Other than facing the obvious danger of electrocution, workers in this occupation also need to get over their fear of heights. Although they typically use bucket trucks, electrical power-line installers and repairers occasionally have to climb utility poles by hand. Alabama has the highest concentration of electrical power-line installer and repairer jobs in the country at 2.06 per 1,000 jobs.
9. Taxi drivers and chauffeurs
Taxi drivers and chauffeurs have a fatality rate of 18 per 100,000 workers. Like delivery truck workers, they face dangers from long hours on the road. On average taxi drivers and chauffeurs make $23,150 annually. There is little to no education required for becoming a taxi driver and typically little on the job training which is why it’s a lower-paying occupation.
10. Miscellaneous agricultural workers
These are people who work under the farmers, ranchers and agricultural managers who we discussed earlier. These workers may have less dangerous jobs than farmers and ranchers because they spend less time operating the heavy machinery which pose the greatest threat to people working on farms. These workers also face danger from livestock. Overall, this is the lowest-paying occupation in the top 10 with an average annual salary of $20,090 or about $9 per hour.
Data and Methodology
In order to rank the most dangerous jobs in the U.S., we gathered data in the following two metrics:
Total fatalities per occupation. This measures the raw number of fatalities in each occupation over the 2011-2014 time period. The data comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Total hours worked per occupation. This measures how many total hours were worked in each occupation over the 2011-2014 time period. It is measured in millions of hours. The data comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
We used these two metrics to calculate the number of fatalities per 100,000 workers in each occupation. To do this, we divided the total number of fatalities by the total number of hours worked and then multiplied the result by 100,000 (to account for 100,000 workers) and then by 2,000 (to account for the estimated number of hours each employee worked per year). We assumed that each employee worked 40 hours per week for 50 weeks per year.
We then ranked each occupation from the highest fatality rate per 100,000 workers to the lowest fatality rate per 100,000 workers.
For the sake of clarity, we excluded a few vaguely worded occupations from the final ranking. We also did not include occupations for which we did not have complete data over the four-year time period. For example, we have data for mining machine operators in 2013 but not in 2014. As such, they were not included in the final table.
Derek Miller, CEPF®
Derek Miller is a graduate of the University of Edinburgh where he studied economics. He is passionate about using data to help people make better financial decisions. Derek is a Certified Educator in Personal Finance® (CEPF®) and a member of the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing. He is a data journalist whose expertise is in finding the stories within the numbers. Derek’s writing has been featured on Yahoo, AOL, and Huffington Post. He believes the biggest financial mistake people make is waiting too late to save for retirement and missing out on the wonders of compounding interest. Derek lives in Brooklyn.
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Wedding season has arrived! If you’re getting married this year, there’s a decent chance you’re tying the knot soon: June remains America’s most popular month for weddings. Guys are taking a more active role in wedding planning these days, from picking out a venue to helping make a couple’s biggest wedding-related decision: setting a budget for the big day. Check out our infographic to get the scoop on wedding expenses and how you can save money.
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Let’s face it. Who doesn’t like saving time and money? While it may seem hard to do when you are paying for both auto and home insurance, there are ways to simplify and save. Here are a few ideas!
Digital ID Cards
You can do pretty much anything from your smartphone these days — including providing proof of insurance. More than half of states now accept digital forms of your insurance ID cards, via your smartphone. This means no more waiting for a new card to be sent to you or having to worry about accidentally carrying the expired version.
These are the states that accept digital insurance ID cards.
Usage Based Auto Insurance
Usage based insurance is just what it sounds like. Basically, your insurance premium is based on how you drive.
Here’s how it works:
You’ll need to install a telematics device provided by your insurance company. Your driving is then tracked through the telematics device and immediately sent to your insurance company.
Are you a good driver? Would you be willing to have a device track your driving behavior if it helped save you money?
If you answered yes to both of these questions, than usage based insurance could be a great option for you to lower insurance premiums.
It’s important to know that carriers typically give you a discount for installing this device, but your rates are subject to go up or down (based on your driving) after the data collection period — usually one term (6 months).
Go green to save green
You can also save money by getting a green home insurance policy. If your home is Green certified (by LEED), it could qualify you for discounts — up to 5% or more in savings!
Do you have or are considering solar panels, wind or geothermal power in your home? If so, it’s time to look for a discount! Helping the environment in conjunction with saving money is pretty cool.
And when you’re on the road, driving a hybrid or an electric car can also save you on insurance.
Many insurance companies consider people who own these types of cars to be less of a risk, so there’s a good chance your premium won’t be as high as if you were to drive a traditional car instead. Plus, feel rewarded for helping out our precious environment.
Driving these types of vehicles on average saves you up to 10% on your premium!
As you can see, there are some great ways to save time and money on your auto and home insurance policies. We all know that time and money are both limited, so why not give one of these insurance trends a try?
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Mothers tend to have an opinion about everything, and the older we get, the more we realize just how right they are! This is especially true when it comes to being smart with money. So the next time your mom offers up some wisdom, consider her advice as a gift to you this Mother’s Day!
Stick to a budget
A recent survey shows that 60% of Americans do not have a budget! You can’t possibly manage your finances without one. An app like Mint will help you create a budget, track your spending and set financial goals. Plus, when you sync all financial accounts to the app, everything is in one place. Budgets lead to a better financial future. Mom wants that.
Monitor your bank balance
While it’s easier than ever to check a balance here or pay a bill there, you may think you don’t need to maintain your own records. You do! You may think your mom is a bit old-school for balancing a ledger, but it’s important to check your account monthly. Cross-reference your spending with your checking account to see if your balance is higher or lower than it should be. Look over receipts, payments and cancelled checks and double check the amounts. If there are any inaccuracies, report them immediately.
Secure your future
While 401(k)s may be going the way of mom jeans, many companies still offer them. If you are lucky enough to work for a company that offers one of them, max it out. You can contribute up to $18,000 this year. It’s the best way to build wealth for your future, and minimize the tax bite – a worker in the 25% tax bracket who contributes the maximum this year will save $4,500 on his 2015 tax bill. If your employer matches contributions (50 cents on the dollar up to a maximum of 6% is common), this will help grow your retirement account balance even faster. For a worker earning $60,000 per year, this employer match – aka “free money” – could be worth as much as an additional $1,800 toward that retirement account. Mom will be so proud!
Save before you spend
Saving before spending is one of the easiest ways to boost wealth and meet your long-term goals. If you are paying yourself last, chances are there may not be much left to save after you’ve covered your housing costs, groceries, and utilities. You may have heard your mother say “pay yourself first”: set aside a certain portion of your income the day you get paid before you spend any discretionary income. Direct deposit is an easy way to save automatically.
Homemade gifts are the best
A large portion of the $173 we are expecting to spend on mom this year will be at restaurants, according to the National Retail Federation. If mom taught you how to cook, avoid the crowds and make her brunch at home. You will be putting the lessons she taught you to work while saving money and showing her how much she’s appreciated in the most personal way!
– Vera Gibbons,Mint Contributor and Personal Finance expert
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While Financial Literacy Month may be over, we at Mint live for sharing personal finance tips and tricks all year long!
MintLife readers recently joined a group of consumer finance experts during our #Money411 Twitter chat to discuss better money habits. Did you miss it? Not to worry: we couldn’t pass up sharing some of our favorite chat highlights and money saving tips.
Q: What are the first steps to take when establishing a budget?
Write or type it down. Seeing it will help you see what you are missing. Don’t forget the small stuff either. – @DebbiKing
Start by adding up monthly expenses and subtract from monthly income, then plan how to spend remaining $$ – @hperez
Realize that sticking to a budget does not happen right after you make one. You have to live it. Try it out for 3-6mo. – @dougboneparth
Q: What are your #tips for first time young investors?
DON’T ignore your first job’s 401(k) plan, if they have one, even if you put in just a little bit of each paycheck. – @OurKidsandMoney
Make sure you’ve covered your expenses (include CC bills) and are saving for emergencies before you start investing. – @sharon_epperson
Q: What is more important: paying down #debt or #saving?
The sooner you pay off debt, the sooner you’ll have additional income you can dedicate to saving – @hperez
It’s hard to save when your extra income is going toward debt payments. If you have debt with high interest rates, focus on that. – @TeamFSINC
Remember, certain types of debt like mortgages and student loans (dep on your income) are deductible. If interest on a loan is deductible, it costs you less…so factor that in when prioritizing paying down hi to low debt. – @BethKobliner
Q: How can you teach your kids about the value of money? And at what age?
Kids as young as 3 years old can understand basics like making choices and delaying gratification! Important 2 start early – @BethKobliner
It’s never too early to teaching kids about #money and #finance. Financial literacy is paramount. Classroom it! – @dougboneparth
The topic of the tooth fairy is a time to talk to your children about money. Ask how much they plan to spend and encourage to save. – @TeamFSINC
Kids learn by example (any age) Show ’em anything acquired is earned not given. Make ’em feel pinch of spending their earned $ – @PurpleSky2002
Q: What is the best approach to tackling student loans?
#1 Priority. Try to refinance all of your loans into one lower rate loan. Sacrifice a new car, an expensive vacation. – @Reit_NotWrong
Don’t buy the stuff that your peers buy out of college. (Houses, cars etc.) I paid down $40,000 in a year and a half that way. – @GenYMoneyMan
Aggressively! They are not an asset & you do not need to hold on to them. Sacrifice and get rid of them as soon as possible – @DebbiKing
To catch the entire Twitter chat, just plug #Money411 in your Twitter search bar and get started on better money habits.
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