Showing posts with label business. Show all posts
Showing posts with label business. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

How You Choose Contractor?

If you want to find Contractor, what requirement you need to see?

Look for experience
. While inexperienced contractors often cost less, it pays to hire a contractor who has swung a hammer more than once and understands the difficulties that can arise on a remodeling project. You’ll want to hire someone who has done a home remodeling project before; otherwise, you may end up spending more to fix mistakes.

While new construction contractors may be skilled, they often aren’t used to working closely with individual homeowners, which can make for some sticky interactions, Deras says. She recommends hiring a local contractor who knows folks at the building department. That contractor will know which permits to get and who to work with, thus speeding the project along.

Ask whether the contractor employs subcontractors. If he does, find out about the subcontractors’ experience, and the contractor’s experience with them. Herriges, for example, has used the same plumber on a variety of projects over the past 32 years.

Get references. This seems like common sense, but when work on your home involves thousands of dollars, you need to do a bit of digging around in a contractor’s background. Find out if he or she is a member of any local or national trade associations and is in good standing with the Better Business Bureau. Ask for references from other jobs he or she has done.

If the job costs more than $30,000, go and see the contractor’s work firsthand, says Herriges. You’ll also want to verify the contractor’s license and insurance. Ask to see the actual documents. If the contractor is not insured, you’re financially liable for any accident that occurs on your property.

You can read full articles in this site : How to choose your Contractor!

PS: Thats why i said to him, choose it wisely, Never choose it because that contractor is your old friends.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Did your kids have money allowance?

Want your kids to be smart with money? The first step is the hardest: you’ve got to give them some of the green stuff to manage.

An allowance gives parents the opportunity to teach money skills. And it works because it’s relevant to kids, says Lynne Strang, vice president of communications for the American Financial Services Association Education Foundation. “You’re talking about their own money versus someone else’s money,” she says.

Here are seven steps to giving an allowance:

1. Decide whether the allowance will be conditional.

Some parents tie an allowance to completing specific, regular chores, like making the bed, taking out trash or maintaining a neat room. Others don’t like the idea, fearing that—if the child doesn’t want to work—he or she will just forgo the allowance to opt out of helping around the house.

So should an allowance be tied to performing certain jobs?

“I think we fall somewhere in between,” Strang says of her group. “It’s a good idea that kids are expected to have certain core responsibilities.”

Tying an allowance to completing certain regular household chores “is a really bad idea,” says Joline Godfrey, author of “Raising Financially Fit Kids.” “An allowance is not a salary or entitlement. It’s a tool.”

At the same time, if kids do something extra (cleaning out the garage or washing the car), “it makes sense that the parent would pay for jobs that go above and beyond,” Strang says.

If you do decide to assign chores, you’ll want a simple way to keep track of who is doing what each week, says Strang. If kids need some structure or a visual reminder, keep the chores chart in a prominent place, where you and they see it regularly.

Your ultimate goal? Encourage the child to keep track of it on his or her own, says Godfrey. Because, she says, “unless you find a way to put some responsibility on the kids, it’s exhausting.”

2. Set an amount.

“This is a personal decision” that varies from family to family, Strang says.

Some factors to consider: How old is the child? What obligations do you want the child to manage (e.g., school lunches, activity fees)? Realistically speaking, how much money does the child need for those items? And how much discretionary money do you want left?

3. Establish a regular pay day.

How often do you want to pay an allowance? For smaller kids, paying a weekly allowance usually works fine. For high schoolers, consider a monthly plan, says Strang. It more closely mirrors the challenges they’ll face in adulthood, namely budgeting a set amount of money across a month.

It also gives you an excuse to sit down with them and analyze monthly expenses and income, she says.

4. Start small with young kids.

Don’t be afraid to say “this is your lunch money budget” or “this is your comic book budget,” says Godfrey. “Start with something concrete and real that can be understood,” she says. And when the child masters that, you can add to his or her financial responsibilities.

YOu can contunue read here. Because i feel you can know more about your kids and how to control their allowance.

Ps: I hope, when i have kids, they will never ask about money. All money is mine. Haha!

Monday, September 1, 2008

I just want to Loving you more..

You want money? Have big problem with your financial? I advice you to read this article. Even maybe you already rich and have no problem with your life, why not you add more knowledge today?

Getting paid can be a nightmare for any business, but dealing with accounts receivable can be particularly harsh for sole proprietors. Focusing on collections means losing out on billable hours. Soloists can learn a lot, however, from the methods of Rosemary Sadez Friedmann, who owns an interior-design business with $2.5 million in revenues in Naples, Fla. She's been on her own for 19 years, dealing with a high-end crowd that can be particular about what it's paying for.

Friedmann's first principle is to stagger the timing of all her long-term jobs. Ideally, if she's working on three projects simultaneously, at any given moment she'll be starting one, in the middle of a second, and concluding a third. That way, she has to worry about collecting from only one customer at a time. "If a big job has to be done immediately, I usually have to beg off," she says.

Her key to successful staggering is limiting herself to four large-scale projects a year. She's learned from experience that any more of a workload is all-consuming and compromises the time management benefits that the staggering was designed to create. Friedmann maintains her pace by practicing a crucial soloist art: staving off customers without actually saying no to them.

With rare exceptions, Friedmann meets with all prospective customers, as a visible attempt to work their needs into her strategic scheduling. If the scheduling proves impossible, she often compensates by offering to work as an hourly consultant, thus generating good word of mouth without overlooking her major project commitments. The initial interview also allows her to screen customers. If they don't seem like trustworthy payers, she can decline to do the job or offer to do it only if the customer signs a property lien.

Friedmann hasn't lost out on a payment in more than four years. And just as important, she's managed to stay solo for all that time, when many with her income might have splurged on an employee to handle the headaches. "I often think, 'Boy, it would be so much easier if I had someone else who could just make phone calls,' " she says. "But the other side of the coin is, I'm in tune with every side of my clients' accounts. And there's nothing that's going wrong."

Ps: You also can make money from Mutual investment if you want!

Pss: I also hope my men know what he doing now. I'm not angry dear. I'm just want to loving you more..

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Did you ver know about Private Mortgage?

Private mortgage notes, also referred to as owner financed mortgage notes, have become more prevalent because they offer three distinct advantages. Conversely, as the situation changes there are three very powerful reason to sell a note.

There are three primary reason that a private mortgage note is established:

1. The buyer was not able to obtain traditional financing.
A little more than half of all applicants, and the numbers is going up, do not qualify for the full amount of the loan that they seek.

2. The owner wants to save time and money.
Utilizing owner financing the owner and buyer can save on the extraneous fees associated with the closing, such as origination fees, closing cost and survey fees.

3. An investment opportunity for the seller. Depending on the sellers circumstances, it may make sense to self-finance for tax purposes.
After the note has seasoned the seller's motives may have changed, resulting in the desire to sell the note. For whatever reason, the seller may want to sell the note for a lump-sum payment. This is very common and these types of transactions occur daily.

Transaction like these are available for residential notes, business notes and vacant land notes. But not all funding sources support all three. One can visit www.divergentgroup.com to find more information about selling a private mortgage note.

The benefits of selling a private mortgage note are numerous but the top three are:
1. It provides immediate cash;
2. The seller no longer has to collect payments on the note;
3. The seller no longer has the risk of non-payment.

Divergent Capital Group represents over 200 institutional investors that purchase private mortgage notes for immediate cash. This creates competition, allowing the most competitive deals available. Visit http://www.divergentgroup.com for more information.

Greg Meares is the principal of Divergent Capital Group and a certified cash flow consultant. Helping others achieve their goals, get out of an adverse financial situation or just trade in payments for a lump-sum is good business. Divergent Capital Group facilitates (no cost to you) the best deal for your situation. Over 200 funding groups are utilized and they compete for your business. Other helpful information regarding private mortgage notes can be found at: http://www.divergentgroup.com

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Did you survive when economy downturn?

Surviving an Economic Downturn

The unemployment rate is on the rise, the stock market has been giving investors a scary ride, the American homeowners' biggest asset has been devalued, inflation is pushing up the price of everything, and we still have a family to feed...

It's easy to get careless about finances when times are good and credit is easy, but the recent problems in the U.S. have forced many of us to take a harder look at how we're earning and spending our money. There may be a lot of money-related problems in our nation right now, but the individual consumer really has most of the control over what happens with their personal financial situation, no matter what's going on with the economy.

Improve your job security. Some industries, such as manufacturing and construction and certain service-provider positions, have already lost many jobs due to the mortgage mess and the general state of the economy. If you feel your job is at risk, do what you can to be more valuable to your employer so they can't afford to lose you. Job cuts always start with the least productive or least necessary employees, and you'll increase your chance of keeping your job if you can do what others can't or won't do. Even if you don't feel like you may lose your job, it's always a good policy to outshine the other employees at least a little; you may even get a promotion because you stood out from the rest.

Searching for a job? Search harder. It's easy to get stuck in your comfort zone and only apply for jobs that you have the education or experience for. And it's logical to only want a job that will pay you for your education or experience. But if your industry has been hit hard by job loss, you may need to be more flexible in your job search. Looking outside your chosen field and being willing to learn something new will increase your chances of finding work. This may be the perfect time for a career change.

You can see full articles at this site first : Go here!

Ps: I really hope my hubby will not have problem with his business. I know its really hard. But i want he survive. If not, how can i will be with him forever? I don't want to live with one man who lost in his way..

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Say No to Tax?

You hate Tax? same with me!

No one likes paying tax. Everyone understands that tax is a necessary evil and that without it our government would not be able to afford our roads, health services, education, welfare system etc. However you are not obliged to pay more tax than that for which you are legally liable.

Here are some tips to keep your tax down:

  1. Reduce all stock to levels and cut costs.
    Never carry excess stock because that is money that is sitting on the shelves and not in your bank.
  2. Clear out stock that is slow.
    Clear stocks and turn them into cash. If necessary reduce your prices and turn stock into cash rather than have it sitting on the shelves or in the warehouse. Best to cut your losses and use the cash to buy in stock that does sell.
  3. Reduce rental costs.
    Cut your rental cost by letting out or letting go space that are excess to your requirements. Talk to your landlord about what you can do. It may be that you can obtain approval to rent out areas that you don't need.
  4. Pay your bills on time but not before the due date.
    Do not pay your bills too early because having the money sitting in your bank will reduce your bank fees and interest costs. Make use of any early payment discounts offered and, where necessary, if the funds are short talk to your suppliers and see if they would allow you extra time to pay.
  5. Make sure you are making a profit on your sales.
    The correct profit margin you put on to your products is critical and will determine whether you will be profitable or not.
  6. Use your credit card.
    Credit cards often have an interest-free period so make use of it. Advantage can be taken of this fact by using your card to pay some expenses and then paying the credit card on the due date. The result is that you effectively obtain an interest-free period through the use of this facility.
  7. Dump and no longer stock products that are not profitable.
    Check your product range and discontinue all slow moving stock that is not generating profit. It is far wiser turning poor products into ready cash and using that cash for those products which provide a profit contribution.
  8. Look after your customers.
    No customers mean no business. Your customers are critical to your success, so look after them. Satisfied customers will keep coming back to buy. Unhappy ones will never be seen again. When they stop coming back, sales will be lost and your business will suffer.
  9. Reduce credit to customers.
    Don't sell on credit unless you have to. Provide credit to customers who are regulars and who support the business all the time. Give credit to those who pay their bills on time. Late payers should be dropped as the costs of servicing them will drain your profits.
  10. Keep all papers.
    Remember papers are "worth more than money". Keep a record of all claims you make and all receipts to justify those claims. It is very important for you to write/record in your working papers the basis or reasoning or viewpoint relating to every claim you make. If your basis is sound but wrong then you will have a better chance to resist any claim for tax avoidance or evasion directed at you. If you have no basis at all and no thought given to how you arrived at the claim made, and your claim is rejected, you could be up for the "high jump" and be charged with the intention to evade tax.

By: Peter Viliamu

Ps: I feel pity to him because need to pay tax every year. Huu

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Did you know how to Credit Repair?

In this tough economy, when every dollar counts, it is crucial to learn how to do credit repair yourself. Each and every day, thousands of desperate people are needlessly running to credit repair agencies spending hundreds, even thousands of dollars trying to get their credit up to par.

But it really isn't that difficult at all to repair credit yourself if you know the basic things that most credit repair services would otherwise do for you for a fee.

If you aren't aware of those simple actions, here are 5 quick and easy steps to do credit repair yourself.

1. Access a copy of your credit report - you are entitled to a copy of your credit report for free once a year. You can access it in the mail, by phone, or even online. Although you get this free credit report, be sure to also get your credit scores along with your report, as this is the foundation for doing credit repair for yourself.

2. Check your credit report for errors - this is one of the biggest factors that credit repair agencies bank on - the mistakes that can you easy remove yourself while you're in the process of credit repair. Look for wrong addresses, wrong social security numbers, accounts with balances that you've already paid off, and even accounts with late payments that were actually made on time.

3. Negotiate account payoffs - here's another area that you are typically charged for by credit repair agencies which you can avoid by doing the credit repair yourself. All you have to do is call your creditors on collection or past due accounts and ask them to settle with you. Just let them know that you will pay off the balance, but that you are only able to pay a certain amount. If the creditor agrees, you have just saved a few hundred dollars and you now have a zero balance on that account.

4. Raise your credit limits - you may be asking yourself, "How can raising your credit limits help when you are doing credit repair yourself?" The magic about this is that 30 percent of your credit score is directly impacted by the balance on your account compared to the limit on that account. So there is only two ways to change this aspect of your credit score. Either you pay down the balance or you raise up the credit limit. Either can give you an equal result when doing credit repair yourself.

5. Continue monitoring your credit score - here's where most people miss it big time. They take the initial actions to repair their credit themselves, but then they never follow up to be certain that those actions really helped their credit scores. That's the pitfall of doing credit repair yourself; you may not have a good system for following through until you get the results in your credit that you are looking for. The best tool to use here is a calendar and simply putting reminders every one to two months to check your credit report and credit scores again.

As you can see, these are all simple steps that will guide you along the way to do the credit repair yourself. If you can do these 5 simple steps, then you have just saved yourself hundreds of dollars by not having others do it for you

Author by Alex Navas

Ps: We still have no problem with our credit. So, my husband no need to do credit repair. So, we are save!