Personal Finance Service Planning

At a time of economic crisis, it is important to make the necessary lifestyle changes in order to save more money. The dimes, pennies, ones, and twenties that you save today can make a big difference in the future.

Budget plan: cutting back on recreational spending

One of the most important things to do right now is to cut your recreational spending. Movies, dinner outs, trips, and the like are well and good. These are necessary diversions that can ease stress from our lives. However, if you are trying to save up, it is important to hold off on these first. The priority is your wallet. A technique in making this a little easier to accept is to find alternatives. If you have the need to ramble, take constant walks in the nearby parks. If you want to watch a movie, stay home and rent, instead of going out and spending extra for popcorn and the works.

Budget planning: directing money where it's needed most

When you get money, it is important to know your priorities when it comes to this money. You need to focus on these priorities first, and then think and rethink about the rest.

While all these lifestyle changes may seem like a burden, you’ll thank yourself for taking these extra steps in the future.

Stock investment sounds scary, especially for beginners. You may ordinarily risk a lot when getting involved in stock investments. Hence, it is important to follow the basics in this kind of financial endeavor.

Basics of stock investing

One of the reliable events that you will likely encounter when investing is the crash of long-term treasury bonds. Many tout long-term treasury bonds as the safe bets when choosing where your money will go. This is not always true. While the performance of long-term treasury bonds is more or less predictable and stable, these crash too, especially during times of high interest rates. When choosing your investment options, you can’t always rely on long-term treasury bonds. You have to know how other market indicators are trending first.

Common stock investment strategies

There are different kinds of investment strategies to suit different kinds of investors. Common types are Asset Allocation, Dividend DRIPS, Offshore Investing, Social Investing, Hedge Funds, Value Investing, and Global Investing. When getting into investments for the first time, you should know the benefits and downside of each type first.

With patience and ample preparation, a beginner can easily take on the world of investments. The key is time and critical analyses.

The special focus of many personal finance tips is on avoiding overspending. And this is rightly so. Many people are guilty of spending beyond their means, especially with readily available credit cards.

Personal finance tip 1: Leave your credit cards to resist the temptation.

One of the best personal finance tips around is to leave your credit cards at home. If you leave the house for the mall with your credit cards, you will likely be tempted to buy a nice looking item or two even when you don’t have money for it. The convenience of credit cards can mislead people to think that they can just keep on buying things.

Personal finance tip 2: Make a list of priorities.

Spending is inevitable. But then again, there are items that are necessities and there are those that can wait. Prioritize what you spend for and you should do alright financially.

Personal finance tip 3: Count to 100 before you buy an item.

The idea to counting to 100 is really to wait, think, and rethink first before buying. With the convenience of credit cards, it can be so easy to buy on impulse sometimes, even on items you don’t really need.

Having some savings may seem like an alien idea, but it is needed in these times of crises. Budget tips may be able to guide you through financial lack, but then again, the best tip around is to actually have some extra money stashed away for emergencies. Here are some budget tips that can help you get started:

Budget tip 1: Limit your recreational expenses.

In trying times, recreation is best seen as an extra. Personal limitations should be implemented when it comes to recreational activities, such as vacations, movies, and dining out. Small measures to skimp can amount to a lot in the future.

Budget tip 2: Save every dollar you can keep everyday.

It is also a good idea to spend selectively. If you can buy a pair of socks for a dollar less, then do so. The dollar you save today can go into your savings account.

Budget tip 3: Wait for sales before you buy.

If you need to buy anything, especially if it’s a big item, just hold off for a little longer until sales day comes. Sales are regularly done anyway, so surely, you won’t have to wait long. This lets you keep some savings from the budget you allotted for that item.

Having a credit card can be both a convenience and a source of pain. With a credit card, everything seems to be attainable with just a swipe. And it is not hard to go over with these cards always available. Here are some personal finance tips that can help lessen your credit card use.

Put the credit card inside a glass of water and freeze it inside the refrigerator.

One of the best personal finance tips so far is to literally freeze your credit card. If you are already deep in debt, then an unusable credit card is the best credit card to have around. If you can’t help but use your card if it's around, then freeze it.

Leave your credit card at home when you have enough cash on your wallet.

A credit card is only supposed to be a convenient alternative to paying cash. But, these days, it has become a means to overspend. To keep from doing this, the one of the best personal finance tips is to keep your cards at home if you have enough cash. This keeps you from turning your credit card into a loan center.

Set a budget for your expenses (clothing, transportation, etc) to limit credit card purchases.

Keeping a budget – and sticking to it – is probably the best personal finance tip of all. We all need to spend for necessities. The key to keeping within your financial capacity is to set a budget for the usual expenditures and to stick to it.

I saw Mr. Dorsley and his son, Anthony, in the farmer's market downtown last Sunday. I saw them in the fish section since Mr. Dorsley is planning to cook a special crab dish for his wife and children. We chat for awhile regarding family life and jobs. He told me that Anthony is a
Finance major and wants to work in a bank someday. Mr. Dorsley asked about my job and its duties. I told him that I am a real estate agent and the nature of work is not difficult. I also told him that my salary is average. I informed him that I have plans of leaving my current job.

After he asked thousands of questions about me, I took the opportunity to turn the tables and ask questions. I asked about his work and job description. He told me that he is CSO or Chief Security Officer. This is the first time I've heard about this term and job. I asked him, "What's the job of a CSO?" He simply answered, "I'm the head of the security in our company."

Then his Finance major son butt in, "No dad. According to my financial dictionary, a CSO is the one who looks after the security of information assets and personnel. Some companies called this position as Director of Corporate Security," he said. His explanation left Mr. Dorsley and I in awe. After hearing this job description, I want to apply in this position.

My father is a businessman. We owned a used car business near downtown. Our business started as a small garage shop with only four employees and a minimal capital. After a few years, my father was able to expand our business into car sales and marketing. He was always away from home since he had to go to different places in search of quality car deals. When he was at home, he wouldn't talk to any of us since he's very tired and exhausted. I can always hear his complaints and rantings about the economy, the employees, and a lof of stressful situations in the office whenever he's on the phone or talking to my mother.

One day, I approached my father when he father was at home doing calls and paperwork. I asked him why he had problems at work. He said that his employees are not efficient and effective workers. They can't meet the demands of the job. When workers can't work properly, they can't do a good job. My father understands that the workers are pressured so much with work that's why the results of their tasks are not good. He is thinking of talking to his employees in order to get to the root of the problem. Hearing all this, I am concerned about my father's health because he has grave colorectal cancer. How I wish I could help him with his company problems.

My father consulted a business expert regarding his problems in the company. The expert said that he should motivate his workers to always do their best. He can encourage them by giving them rewards for a job well done. As a leader in the company, he should know which department or area needs help and support. He also has to channel all their resources to projects that will gain them profit. Sometimes, workers feel frustrated about their job because they're underpaid and overworked. With these realizations, my father changed his approach and some policies so that his company will grow.

Whenever I read the daily newspaper together with my hot coffee and oreo cookie cake, I always read first the entertainment section. News stuff bores me these days. There's nothing new in the daily papers. But one time, I don't start reading the entertainment section because in the business news I saw the article about the decrease in the sale of Starbucks. I couldn't believe that because every time I went to the coffee shop, I can see that they have lots of customers. According to the article, increase in food prices and gasoline is one of the causes of such event. Oh well, this doesn't surprise me at all. It's better to drink low cost coffee to save money.

Having a warm weather could actually affect the sales of Starbucks. People, of course would want cold blended drinks to soothe their dry mouths. This is the reason why Starbucks' Banana Coconut Frappuccino, a cold drink is very popular in their shops today. But this increase of demand for this product has actually slow down the operations of Starbucks since they still need ample preparation and more equipment. In the news, Starbucks file their lowest monthly sale growth since 2002. Representatives of Starbucks admitted that the economy is a strong factor why the sales could be lower in the next few months.

As an answer to the growing demand for blended drinks during peak hours, Starbucks will hire more staff and put more machines for better service. The lack of machineries is also one known cause why their sales decreased. On the bright side, Starbucks will open stores in India and Russia in 2007. I think this is part of their world wide plan to conquer the coffee palates of the people around the globe. In China, Starbucks has already planted more than four hundred stores and they have plans to establish stores in Brazil. With these plans, Starbucks sales will never decrease again.

Before our winter vacation last December, our professor told us to write a paper about the Black Friday incident in history. As I was searching the internet, I thought that the black friday my professor wants us to do research on is the Black Friday of United States. In US, when people say black friday that means a day of shopping after thanksgiving day. Shopping is related to finance and business also that's why I thought I got the right materials for my paper. When the submission of our paper came, my professor got angry at me and reprimanded me for doing poor in research. He then explained that Black Friday in finance means the September 24, 1869 incident or the Fisk-Gould Scandal. This referred to the gold market cornering of two spectators.

If there's a Black Friday, there's also a Black Monday in the financial dictionary. Black Monday ocurred in October 19, 1987 when world's stock market falls down as a result of the fall of US share prices. A lot of countries' economies has been affected by this world phenomena in 1987. I've noticed that every time something bad or negative happens to the world market, they will named it as black day. Perhaps, they used it to commemorate what happened to the finance world during these dates. I wondered, if there's a black Tuesday or Wednesday as well.

Studying financial dictionary for four years, has lead me to discover that the finance's favorite color is black. They often attach this color to disaster events and downfalls in the finance world. For example, they use it to remember the Fisk-Gould Scandal or Black Friday. Then the October 19 incident came into being and became popularly known as Black Monday. Today, I've learned another financial term, Black market. This term is very popular as people used it convey an illegal market or business. Every time I hear this term, Johnny Depp's Pirates movie came into my mind. Maybe it's because of their ship named black pearl.

Arbitrageurs feel a creeping sense of uncertainty upon hearing the news of the Israeli bombing in Lebanon. In the US, the echo of plummeting stock market prices resonate, but there's hardly a stir. The reason is that we've been to used to the Iraqi bombings for far too long now that if there's anything that the Wall Street traders fear, it's only the possibility the the other key Gulf countries such as Saudi would be involved in the "war".

But the thing is, stock market prices still plummet in the Gulf coast, and the promising insurance industry took the brunt. I was guessing it would be the real estate brokers who would suffer, but I was wrong. Lebanon is still confident it would get back from the ashes as soon as the Hezbollah raid is over. The Saudi government has promised $1.5 billion in support for reconstruction. That doesn't assure the country that it could take off and reach the goal of 5% growth in the industries this year.

Perhaps one of the most outstanding losses to spot is the number of people who died as well as those who were displaced who were holding regular jobs and contributing to the nation's economy. I had two friends who worked in some Lebanese hotels but took off as soon as the bombs began dropping near the airport. If they didn't leave for the US (one lived in Maine, and the other in California), soon enough, there would be no flight to take them back here anymore, as the Beirut International Airport had already been blasted.

I was astonished to find my five-year-old niece memorizing all the acronyms related to finance while playing exciting xbox games. When I asked her how on earth she knew about this stuff, she simply smiled at me and said that she wants to be in the Guiness Book of Records that's why she's memorizing every acronym she could find on the internet. She told me that a lot of kids her age know about all the countries and their capitals, but she wants to stand out from the rest that's why she chose to memorize these acronyms. One of the acronyms she said is ABM, which means Activity Based Management. When I asked her the meaning of the acronym, she said: "ABM is like a system for an organization improvement." We have a genius in our midst! How come i didn't get that gene?!

My financial dictionary is so poor even though I studied Finance and Commerce when I was in College. This is why I'm trying to study it all over again. As I was browsing on the internet, I came across the acronym AAGR, which means Average Annual Growth Rate. This term simply means growth or increase in value, as simple as that. I remembered this acronym not because it's acronym is also the meaning of the term but because my professor told us to say, Arrgghh! whenever we feel that somebody else's portfolio is increasing, which is very much the same as in the financial world.

One of the methods I used in studying for my exams is giving acronyms to the things I need to memorize. In this way, I can put it in my head without the hassle of memorizing everything including the position of the periods and commas. I guess this is also the way it is in the Financial world. One time when I did a research paper, I discovered a lot of financial acronyms which are really cool. One of the acronym I really liked is AFA which in layman's term is Afghanistan Afghani. AFA is the currency of Afghanistan. Not only does the internet have a shortcut, but finance, too.

Whenever you're applying for a loan, there are two terms that you always encounter: the credit report and credit bureau. I was checking my papers one day when I saw my credit report. I was about to place it inside an envelope when my teenage sister who was holding a Da Vinci Code book came up to me and saw the document. She was very curious of the document that I was holding, so I explained to her what it was.

Based on the financial dictionary, a credit report is a detailed report of an individual's credit history prepared by a credit bureau and used by a lender in determining a loan applicant's credit worthiness. This report includes personal data such as current and previous addresses, social security number, employment history, summary of credit history like the number and type of accounts that are past-due or in good standing, detailed account information, inquiries into applicant's credit history, number and type of inquiries into applicant's credit report, details of any accounts turned over to credit agency such as information about liens, wages garnishments via federal, state or county records, and information on how to dispute any of the above information. When a negative information appears on an individual's credit report, there is little he can do to clear it up if the information is certain and accurate.

On the other hand, while a credit report is a statement, a credit bureau is the agency that researches and collects individual credit information and sells it for a fee to creditors so they can make a decision on granting loans. Their typical clients include banks, mortgage lenders, credit card companies and other financing companies. This bureau is also referred to as consumer reporting agency or credit reporting agency. For instance, you did not qualify for a credit, do not get furious with the credit bureau. Again, they are just collecting the credit report. They are not the one who decides on your credit's faith.

Ever heard of the word "arbitrage"? Now, if I tell you that people offering arbitrage trading services come poor and go rich everytime, will it make sense if you ambition to become an arbitrageur someday, too? A lot of people are looking at arbitrage askew. I see the posts on forums, and I hear the buzz about it in the financial investment industry. They often look at an arbitrage trading service as a get-rich-quick scheme. Although many people look at arbitrage trading as a dubious way to earn profits, lots of smart people have taken a step forward to pursue this engaging and wealth-creating endeavor.