Personal Finance ResourcesPersonal Finance ResourcesFree help and information to guide you in your personal finance and investing goals. 
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Residential Lease Option
2007-09-13 23:41:00 Ever wanted to sell your home via a lease option? Houses that are sold in this manner are a low risk, high gain scenario. I am going to give you an example of how great this residential sales strategy is, but before I do that, I want to cover just exactly what a residential lease ... More About: Residential , Lease , Resident
Seller Financing Agreement
2007-09-13 00:28:00 Other Articles in this series: Passive Income in Real Estate Property Rehabbing Renting Out Your House Using a seller financing agreement to sell your house can attract a unbelievably larger number of buyers in today’s market, over conventional mortgage buyers. There are so many people out there, especially with a burst in the sub-prime market, that have marginal credit, ... More About: Financing , Seller , Agreement , Fina
Renting Out Your House
2007-09-11 23:43:00 Other Articles in this series: Passive Income in Real Estate Property Rehabbing Renting out your house, or houses, can be challenging. But I want to give you some pointers on how to effectively market your house, and some documents you can use to manage the property. I want you to understand that you can manage your own rental ... More About: House
Property Rehabbing
2007-09-11 01:40:00 Articles in this series: Passive Income in Real Estate Continuing our series on RE Passive Income, I am going to show you my approach to property rehabbing. Rehabbing properties is probably the hardest (manual, if you do it yourself) labor portion of acquiring passive real estate income. However, to me, rehabilitating investment properties is probably the easiest (mental) labor step to passive RE income. In the handful of properties that I have fixed up for investment so far, I have done some of the work myself. I think it is important that an investor do some of the work himself, just to have an appreciation for the process, and the pitfalls to home repair. I have learned much about methods and styles to utilize, and what works with a potential buyer / renter. So let’s get into the guts of property rehabbing: (more…)Internal Tags: real estate investingreal estate investing Bookmark, Share or Email this article. More About: Property , Bing , Prop , Pert , Rope
Xpress Loans
2007-09-08 00:20:00 Xpress loans are another popular choice for students looking for ways to pay for college. Like the Astrive Student Loan, the Xpress student loans are another way to help you bridge the gap between all monies you receive from any grants, scholarships, Federal student loans, and even work study programs and the actual cost of your education. They offer competitive ... More About: Loans , Xpress
Xpress Loans
2007-09-08 00:20:00 Xpress loans are another popular choice for students looking for ways to pay for college. Like the Astrive Student Loan, the Xpress student loans are another way to help you bridge the gap between all monies you receive from any grants, scholarships, Federal student loans, and even work study programs and the actual cost of your education. They offer competitive rates, customer service, good terms, and an instant answer on your approval for a loan. Like other student loan agencies, all payments are deferred until after your graduation or residency, and you have up to 20 years to pay off your loan. However, 0ne of the great things about Xpress student loans are that they have guides to help parents and students learn how to apply for financial aid and details about their eligibility. They are extremely helpful and ready to help you get ready for college, and are available to a variety of students, as listed below. (more…)Internal Tags: Paying for College Student Loans P... More About: Xpress
Credit Card Debt Payoff Calculator
2007-09-07 01:11:00 This article is dedicated to giving you a Credit Card Debt Payoff Calculator . My intention is to provide you an easy way to determine which credit card to focus your payments on, and simultaneously predicting the number of months left to pay on all your cards. Now, the spreadsheet shown below is an outlandish situation, but I ...
Credit Card Debt Payoff Calculator
2007-09-07 01:11:00 This article is dedicated to giving you a Credit Card Debt Payoff Calculator . My intention is to provide you an easy way to determine which credit card to focus your payments on, and simultaneously predicting the number of months left to pay on all your cards. Now, the spreadsheet shown below is an outlandish situation, but I wanted to show you an extreme circumstance, and how to use the spreadsheet. Ok, enough introduction, let’s get into the details of the spreadsheet. Here are the quick and dirty directions to inputting the data: Delete all the rows that you don’t need. Trim it down to just the number of cards you are running balances on. Determine how much money you can devote to all of your credit cards per month, and enter that number in the cell labeled Available to Pay. Update the Balance column to reflect your current balance on each credit card. Update the Interest Rate column per your agreement with each credit card. Enter the minimum payment for each car...
How to Find Colleges
2007-09-06 01:02:00 Growing up, there were several colleges around the state that I knew of, and I was pretty familiar with the layout of the campuses, but I didn’t really want to go to any of them.  I learned how to find colleges, and found one that suited my needs and degree plan. It’s sad, but many college freshman will readily admit that the only reason they are attending the college they are is simply because when they were applying to different schools, they merely went with the ones they knew, or the ones that were close by. My favorite excuse is that a particular friend was going there, and so they have decided to base their future off of where there friend is going to college. Not smart. Once they start choosing a career, they may find that they will need to transfer schools, and not all of the classes taken will transfer over.  This is a costly mistake. (more…)Internal Tags: college search, finding universities, how to find colleges Paying for Coll egecollege searc... More About: Find , Colleges
How to Find Colleges
2007-09-06 01:02:00 Growing up, there were several colleges around the state that I knew of, and I was pretty familiar with the layout of the campuses, but I didn’t really want to go to any of them. I learned how to find colleges, and found one that suited my needs and degree plan. It’s sad, but many college ... More About: Find , Colleges , Coll
How to Find Scholarships
2007-09-05 02:12:00 One of the top questions on any parents mind is how they are going to pay for college. But knowing how to find scholarships can ease the burden of college expenses. The truth is, it’s more expensive to attend college today than it has ever been. You may not have saved any money for college, or started too late, and now you and your college student are searching for ways to help pay for the expensive costs of tuition, books and other hidden fees. Of course there are always student loans out there you can get, but not many people are real excited about getting themselves more into debt than they already are. Plus with the average college costing about $15,000 a year for public colleges, and $30,000 a year and above for a private college, the debt you quickly rack up is astounding. What many parents and students alike don’t realize, is that there are plenty of government grants and scholarships available to anyone willing to look and apply for it. In fact, there are over a... More About: Find , Scholarships , Scholar
How to Find Scholarships
2007-09-05 02:12:00 One of the top questions on any parents mind is how they are going to pay for college. But knowing how to find scholarships can ease the burden of college expenses. The truth is, it’s more expensive to attend college today than it has ever been. You may not have saved any money for college, or ... More About: Find , Scholarships , Scholar
Bond Calculate
2007-09-04 01:05:00 I was going to put together another spreadsheet to help you calculate a bond and its various attributes, but I found a tool online that is better than I can do for you. The issue with a spreadsheet is that it does not have access to current bond rates, and therefore cannot be accurate unless ... More About: Bond , Calculate
Bond Calculate
2007-09-04 01:05:00 I was going to put together another spreadsheet to help you calculate a bond and its various attributes, but I found a tool online that is better than I can do for you. The issue with a spreadsheet is that it does not have access to current bond rates, and therefore cannot be accurate unless you track current bond rates (Yuck!). So I will just do a quick overview of the tool, and then provide you with a link. In the “Value as of:” box, enter the month and year (MM/YYYY) that you want to calculate. Choose the bond series from the dropdown box. You may enter the bond serial number, but it is optional. In the “Issue Date:” box, enter the month and year (MM/YYYY) that you want to calculate. Click the Calculate button. (more…)Internal Tags:Â bond calculate, bond calculator, bond fund, bonds, calculate bonds Retirement Investingbond calculate, bond calculator, bond fund, bonds, calculate bonds, Retirement Investing Bookmark, Share or Email this article. More About: Bond
Investing in Bond Funds
2007-09-01 21:14:00 Investing in bond funds is not one of my particular favorites, due to the traditionally lower rates of return vs other investments, however, it does serve a purpose. Typically, bond funds have lower risk, and therefore become more attractive as people age, and become more protective of their money. Let’s look at some typical indicators to ... More About: Bond , Investing , Funds
Investing in Bond Funds
2007-09-01 21:14:00 Investing in bond funds is not one of my particular favorites, due to the traditionally lower rates of return vs other investments, however, it does serve a purpose. Typically, bond funds have lower risk, and therefore become more attractive as people age, and become more protective of their money. Let’s look at some typical indicators to be aware of when evaluating bond funds: Return Of course, return is what we are most interested in. But bond funds, like other funds, usually show an annualized rate of return averaged over a 1 year, 3 year, 5 year, 10 year, and since inception date. I pay most of my attention to the rate of return since inception. I like to know through the good times and the bad, how a particular fund averages out. So when I am evaluating different bond funds, the most important factor is the return since inception. Inception Date As previously stated, the return since inception is most important to me, but it carries less weight if a fund has only been a... More About: Bond , Investing , Funds
Passive Income in Real Estate
2007-08-31 20:04:00 Anyone that knows anything about business, wants to make passive income. Many folks would like to have a primary, or secondary source of passive income in real estate. I am one of those people. Currently, my passive income in real estate is around $500-$550 per month (including signing a lease agreement just this past Tuesday). Not much, huh? Well what could you do with an extra $500 per month? Today, I would like to present a high level overview of my plans for passive income in real estate. But first, let me define “passive” as I see it, for you. There are lots of definitions out there, but to me, passive income is “hands off” or “almost hands off” income streams. The real estate investing that I do, coupled with property management, has great potential for current and future benefits. However, investing in real estate takes a lot of initial work, with some additional work down the road. Likewise property management requires a lot of start... More About: Estate , Real Estate , Passive Income , Income , Real
Passive Income in Real Estate
2007-08-31 20:04:00 Anyone that knows anything about business, wants to make passive income. Many folks would like to have a primary, or secondary source of passive income in real estate. I am one of those people. Currently, my passive income in real estate is around $500-$550 per month (including signing a lease agreement just this past Tuesday). Not much, ... More About: Estate , Real Estate , Passive Income , Income , Real
Bond Yield Definition
2007-08-30 15:06:00 A bond, simply defined, is a type of investment which is very similar to an IOU.  It is a loan in the form of a security with two basic components, the face value (principle), and the coupons (interest rate). The bond is a contract between the issuer and the bondholder to pay certain amounts of money in the future. The issuer of the bond promises to pay the bondholder principle and interest according to the terms and conditions listing in the bond. Many cities and countries issue bonds to fund new highways and other such projects. The definition of bond yield is the rate of return on the bond, which takes into account the sum of the interest payment, the redemption value at the bond’s maturity, and the initial purchase price of the bond. Yield on the bond relates to the return on the capital you invest in the bond. You will hear the term yield a lot as it relates to investing in bonds. There are many types of yields you’ll need to be aware of listed below. ... More About: Bond , Definition
Bond Yield Definition
2007-08-30 15:06:00 A bond, simply defined, is a type of investment which is very similar to an IOU. It is a loan in the form of a security with two basic components, the face value (principle), and the coupons (interest rate). The bond is a contract between the issuer and the bondholder to pay certain amounts of money in the ... More About: Bond , Definition
Astrive Student Loan
2007-08-29 04:03:00 I graduated from college several years ago, and I thought it was expensive then! In school I watched costs consistently rise every semester or year, and knew I had to get out fast if costs were going to keep going up like that. With all the other fees like books, housing, lab fees, class fees, parking permits, and more, college adds up to be astronomically expensive. I can only imagine what the costs are at now and cringe. Today, many families are turning to an Astrive Student Loan to help bridge the gap between those rising costs of college, and financial programs which can be limited. An Astrive Student Loan is private, also called an alternative student loan, meaning that it does not come from the government, but from a private financial institution. When choosing the right college for you or your family member, you should be able to go to the school of your choice, and not be limited by what you can afford. Loan Details An Astrive Student Loan is a great way to help you ...
Astrive Student Loan
2007-08-29 04:03:00 I graduated from college several years ago, and I thought it was expensive then! In school I watched costs consistently rise every semester or year, and knew I had to get out fast if costs were going to keep going up like that. With all the other fees like books, housing, lab fees, class fees, parking permits, and more, college adds up to be astronomically expensive. I can only imagine what the costs are at now and cringe. Today, many families are turning to an Astrive Student Loan to help bridge the gap between those rising costs of college, and financial programs which can be limited. An Astrive Student Loan is private, also called an alternative student loan, meaning that it does not come from the government, but from a private financial institution. When choosing the right college for you or your family member, you should be able to go to the school of your choice, and not be limited by what you can afford. Loan Details An Astrive Student Loan is a great way to help you ...
Real Estate Analysis Spreadsheet
2007-08-28 03:46:00 The real estate analysis spreadsheet presented at the bottom of this post is an extension of the spreadsheet provided in the Simple Guide to Real Estate Investment Property Evaluation. As noted in that article, I did not provide a space for you to enter any repair or holding costs. In this version of the real estate analysis spreadsheet, I provide the spaces to enter this information. But before I give you the link to download the information, I would like to give you a few pointers on how to estimate repairs and holding periods: (more…) Tags: investment property, real estate, Real Estate Analysis Spreadsheet , real estate investing, real estate investment, real estate investment propertyBookmark, Share or Email this article.
Free Groceries Coupons? Nah?Master the ?Fresh or Free? Program
2007-08-25 19:33:00 Forget free groceries coupons, instead master the art of the “Fresh or Free ” program provided by our friends, HEB. In this post I am going to detail the method we use to get the most out of the program. The basic overview of the program is provided in my Groceries for Free post. The basic principle we use ... More About: Coupons , Program , Master
Groceries for Free
2007-08-24 17:46:00 Want to get groceries for free? HEB has a spectacular policy called “Fresh or Free ”. This is not a joke or hype or any kind of sales pitch. This grocery store actually provides an opportunity for anyone to get groceries for free. If you do not know of the HEB grocery chain, it’s probably because ... More About: Groceries , Erie
AD&D Insurance
2007-08-23 18:06:00 AD&D Insurance , also called Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance, is additional insurance which provides benefits for certain injuries and death due to an accident. It is designed to pay out a large financial benefit to you in the event of a dismemberment (which can include either loss of limb or of sight), or to pay your beneficiary in ...
Bi Weekly Mortgage Plan: Highway Robbery
2007-08-22 17:39:00 The bi weekly mortgage plan has devoured countless victims. Everyone has heard it - “Paying your mortgage bi weekly will save you 7 years of mortgage payments”. But do you know why? I would like to elaborate why the bi weekly mortgage plan is flawed, and show you the most effective way to calculate the necessary payment ... More About: Mortgage , Weekly , Plan , Robbery , Robb
Personal Umbrella Insurance Policy
2007-08-21 15:54:00 A personal umbrella insurance policy, simply defined, is your protection in case you are ever involved in a high-dollar liability case. It’s the word that everyone fears, lawsuit. People and lawyers are suing for nearly everything today, and juries are awarding more and more money to the injured. That money comes from somewhere, and unless you have an extra five million laying around, a ruling in the 7 digit range can be financially devastating to you and your family. A Personal Umbrella Insurance Poli cy has been created to help you avoid such situations. Do I Need A Personal Umbrella Insurance Policy? While you may not ever see yourself accidentally rear ending a school bus on your way to work one morning, you may be able to imagine the millions of dollars you could be sued for if one or many of those children are injured. Accidents can happen frequently, and with so many people suing for these accidents, it is best to be prepared in the event one of these happens to you. Wha...
Review of FDIC’s 51 Ways to Save on Loans and Credit Cards
2007-08-20 19:13:00 The strategies contained in the article are not that advanced, but are very solid. The very first section “Pay your bills on time to maintain a good credit record and qualify for low rates.” DUH! Even if you are only able to pay the minimum payment, or less than the minimum payment, send the credit card something. All it takes is a couple of 30 and 60 day late payments on your credit report to plummet your credit scores. However, if you are just starting out, and have no credit, it would be worthwhile to run small balances on 2-3 credit cards, in order to build your initial credit. Always paying your credit cards off at the end of the month will not get you any substantial credit. When I first started out, I did exactly that. Ran some small balances and began to build some credit. Beware, though, as this can be extremely dangerous for someone new to credit cards. A euphoric feeling tends to circle around the ability to get nearly anything you want without having the cas... More About: Credit Cards , Credit , Loans , Review , Save
Tips for Monthly Saving Part 2
More articles from this author:2007-08-18 19:56:00 Before continuing, you may want to catch the previous entry: Tips for Month ly Saving Part 1 In the previous entry, I focused on small changes that you could make on a daily or a monthly basis that could save you significant money over time. Now I want to address larger savings that could be made. The key ... More About: Ving 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
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