Duncan Ville » Finance

Maximizing and managing time

admin — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 23:56:09 +0000

Nowadays where time should be maximized and managed wisely, having a car is a big help. With your own car, you can lessen your travel time, and thus use it for more important tasks! There are also other benefits of having your own car, the comfort and convenience is undeniable, making it one of the most desired luxuries! In fact, cars have become a necessity than a luxury!

Cars don’t come cheap, it is even considered to be one of the most expensive investments we’ll ever make. And for most of us who can’t afford to purchase it in full amount, our best chances of getting one will be through a car loan! Getting your car loan approved is easy, as long as you have a good credit standing, but if not, that would be another story! Car loans undergo a long process, requiring so many documents, agents will even do a background check regarding your financial capacity, and your credit standing it a part of it! However, there is a way to own your dream, and that is through applying online car loans for bad credit standing! Online car loans are less strict on requirements, thus increasing your chances of getting approved even with bad credit standing! Enjoy the benefits of having your own car even with a bad credit standing!

Seeking professional advice to take care of credit card debts

admin — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 15:48:14 +0000

Scores of Americans have lost their jobs during the recessionary times. There has been a step fall in the pay packets and the living standards. Loans which were taken during better times are becoming almost impossible to pay back. The last few years have seen pretty dismal performances of the US economy and the future scenario is also not exactly bright. The biggest problem which is staring is the huge credit card debt which was incurred during the period of recession. But there is light at the other end of the tunnel.

There are many routes by which one can reschedule the unsecured credit card debt but one has to be careful while opting for these options to pay off debt. One can reduce his credit card debt by using the Debt relief services and can be considered as a best source to get counseling to get out of credit card debt. Not many credit card customers are aware that there are laws that make it possible under certain legitimate conditions to slash your credit card debt by more than 50 %. Most banks agree to reduce and eliminate debts just because if you are declared bankrupt the losses will be much more. Therefore a councilor can help you negotiate a mutually amenable formula to take care of your debts.

Sidestepping Common Behavioral Traps

admin — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 22:23:06 +0000

Another downside of our silence about money is that we become even more likely to make financial decisions based on emotion rather than on logic or research. In Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes (Simon & Schuster, 1999), a terrific book that I recommend to all my friends and clients, journalist Gary Belsky and psychologist Thomas Gilovich summarize a new branch of economic research, called behavioral economics, that examines many of the most common traps that lead us to make poor money decisions.
Let me give you just a few examples. If you tend to treat your hard-earned income differently from the way you treat other money—say a tax refund or a lottery winning—you’re guilty of what behavioral economists call mental accounting. This concept, developed by Richard Thaler of the University of Chicago, describes our tendency to categorize and value our money according to its source or how we spend it. Mental accounting can be dangerous, because in reality one dollar is worth just as much as the next. One hundred dollars that you get from a windfall will buy you just as much as one hundred dollars you’ve saved. Likewise, if you feel much freer spending money when you use a credit card than when you pay in hard cash, you are likely practicing a form of mental accounting.
There’s also what the behaviorists call the “sunk-cost fallacy.” If you’re the type who continues to pour money into an old rattletrap, you should train and discipline yourself to think hard before you throw any more good money after bad. If you wouldn’t want to buy the car today, knowing that it needs repairs, why would you want to waste money fixing it up just because you already own it?

The Color of Money

admin — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 22:19:08 +0000

What does money represent to you and your loved ones? For some of you it means success. For others it may signify independence, freedom, security, or something else entirely. To find out Dr. James Cottfurch, principal of Psychology of Money Consultants, a Los Angeles—based company, suggests in his workshops that you try and think of a single symbol that encapsulates how you feel about money. It could be anything from a soft, warm, furry bunny to a runaway train. One of my friends sees money as the sun, because of its ability to make
things grow. Actually, the sun s not a bad metaphor, as it can also burn you if not treated with a certain amount of respect and restraint.) This friend even surrounds herself with sun images, from a decorative tile in her kitchen to a copper and brass sculpture on her desk, to remind her of the positive role that money plays in her life. It’s her way of staying focused on what she’s trying to achieve and of keeping some of her more negative and self-defeating money attitudes at bay.
What you adopt as your money symbol may surprise you and may reveal attitudes about money that you didn’t even know you had. Or not. Either way, comparing notes with those close to you, or even brainstorming about financial symbols together, might prove to be very insightful.