Explain Finances

Surviving a Bad Economy without Feeling Poor
Financial Times are really hard for everyone, but you don’t have to feel like a poor person to survive it. Simply by managing your money well, you’ll actually be able to live comfortably even when the economy is bad. And done well enough you might just have some money saved in the bank for the future. You don’t need to live like a pauper or poor person to accomplish this either. Surviving a bad economy takes a mixture of being frugal, as well as being financially savvy and creative.

1. Start doing things for yourself. If you normally have someone else take care of your laundry and cleaning for example, take over those chores yourself to save a bit of money. One of the best ways to survive when the economy is bad, is to stop being lazy. Anyone who is willing and able to work hard Will survive, and possibly even thrive during these difficult financial times.

2. Stop spending money. No, you do not have to starve or put your family out into the street. All you really need to do is stop spending money on things that are not needed. Understand the difference between wants and needs, and restrict your spending to only what you essentially need to survive.

If you’re used to going out to eat with your family on the weekend for example, try changing that to a barbecue in the backyard instead.

Instead of going out to the movie theater each week for entertainment, try the less expensive method of watching movies available on TV, or renting the movie on DVD.

3. Ask other people for help. You’re not the only one feeling the financial crunch right now, and you’re not the only one who could use some help. By pooling your resources together with those from friends and family, you can all help each other to reduce expenses and save money. Start a carpool for example, have weekly buffet dinners and barbecues where everyone brings a little something, or simply trade items with each other which are no longer needed.

©Kathy Burns-Millyard

How Stay-At-Home Moms Can Survive the Bad Economy
If you are a housewife, homemaker, or stay-at-home mom, you may feel somewhat helpless in the midst of this current economic meltdown. Many companies are reducing their work forces, and even many large ones are simply closing their doors. And this has most people in something of a panic about how they will be able to pay their bills. The situation may feel even more strange for you, because as a homemaker or stay at home mom your family depends on just one income.

Even if your spouse is income seems to be enough, and seems to be secure, you may be feeling the need to do something extra just to be on the safe side. Thankfully there are actually several things you can do.

The most obvious of course is to try and get a job yourself. With the economy the way it is at the moment though, jobs are somewhat scarce. Whether or not you’re able to get a job, or whether it even make financial sense for you, does depend quite a bit on your personal family and financial situation. Most moms stay at home for a reason. If your children are still quite young for example, it may cost you more to put them into a day care then you can make even had a full-time job.

You might be able to create something of a job for yourself though, by offering babysitting services to your neighbors. They are probably struggling with financial issues as well, and they may be having difficulties paying bills such as those for day care. You might be able to offer day care type services to them at a reduced rate, which would help you earn more income for the family and help them as well.

You can also offer other services for pay. If you cook dinner for your family every day for example, you could make a double batch to supply your neighbors with dinner as well. If you shuttle your kids around to multiple events and appointments each day, you could offer your services as a mom taxi to the neighbors to.

You can also run a small business from home using online resources. If you do a lot of craft projects for example, or you like to knit and crochet, you could sell these items online.

These are just a few simple yet workable ideas for any stay-at-home mom to help make additional money for their family while the economy is bad.

©Kathy Burns-Millyard

Tips to Surviving a Bad Economy
Life seems pretty hard right now, because of the economic crunch most of the world is in. Many people if they still have a job, they’re not earning enough to pay for the increased expenses that are happening everywhere around them. Some people have to deal with layoffs, cuts in their hours, or even company closures which leaves of unemployed. Because of all of this, surviving in the best economy seems that much more difficult. There are some ways you can help make ends meet through the worst of it though.

1. Save everything you can. When the economy is bad, particularly if money is tight for you personally, that’s the worst time to spend money on things you don’t actually need. You may feel deprived by doing this, but if you save every penny you can you may just be able to squeak by the worst of the economic Times.

2. Reduce your utility bills. Most people don’t realize, but the simple act of conserving energy everywhere in their home will help reduce your utility bills. Turn off lights that are not in use, turn down the heat, and unplug electronic devices which are not being used.

Turning down the heat is particularly useful for reducing your winter heating bills. It may seem uncomfortable to click your thermostat at 60, but if you have clothing and blankets that you can wrap up in, you might be amazed at how much your utility bill is reduced with just one step.

3. Start a carpool. Even though the cost of gasoline has dropped in recent months, you can still save a lot of money on a monthly basis by teaming up with other people and sharing your driving. You can carpool with people you work with, or even with people who work near you. Even three people splitting a gas bill of $40 per week saves much more money than one person putting that bill alone.

©2008, Kathy Burns-Millyard

How Investments Can Help You Survive a Bad Economy
The stock market has been extremely volatile because of the uncertainty of the economies around the world. In most cases stock values have decreased dramatically, particularly since Banks started failing.

Most people are scared to death of the stock market at the moment, because they see it as a sinkhole for their money. In reality though, this can be one of the most exciting times to start investing in the stock market. Everything is on sale. Stocks are dirt cheap, and easy to buy. When the stock market prices are extremely low like this, you can take advantage of the major bargain buys.

Besides being able to pick up stocks for cheap, you’ll also be able to see which companies are strong enough to write through the economic problems. Any company which is able to survive during these are of times, is a pretty good bet to invest in for the long haul.

If you’re worried about risking too much of your personal money, or the volatilely of the stock market scares you, try sticking with mutual funds. When you invest in a mutual fund, you are actually pulling your money with money from many other people. Mutual funds are also managed by people who are experts stock investments. You two funds can still be risky, and volatile all by themselves, but there are many which concentrate on longer-term bonds for government security investments and those can be less risky.

Neutral funds are also easy investments to get into, and sometimes you can get started with very little cash. Be sure to keep at least some of your cache and the Banks or you have it on hand for emergencies, but put any extra you can into a mutual fund that you can take advantage of the dirt cheap stock market prices today.

Real estate is another excellent way to invest your money right now. And for the same reason stock market is. Real estate is currently dirt cheap, and there are a record number of bank foreclosures happening. If you look around and investigated it, you’ll find there are some major dirt cheap real estate bargains to be had.

©2008, Kathy Burns-Millyard

What You Eat Helps You Survive a Bad Economy
The economy is crashing all over the world, and people are starting to panic. Most of us are asking what they can possibly do to make sure they will personally survive any bad economy.

As strange as it might sound, you can actually survive a bad economy just by taking some simple steps. You don’t need any special degree or knowledge either. You can simply start in your own home just by changing the way you do some simple things. Most people tend to spend more than 50% of their income every month for miscellaneous household expenses and enjoyments. All we actually required to survive though, is food shelter and water. Food is one of the places many people waste money though.

You don’t need elaborate gourmet dinners, or even expensive microwave meals, to satisfy your basic food needs. If you start cutting out your purchase of these types of expensive food items, you may be amazed at how much money you end up saving.

You don’t actually have to keep less in order to save money on your food bill, he simply need to change the types of food that you buy and eat.

For example, when you buy fresh produce, fruits and vegetables, only by what you can use in the next few days. If you buy too much, you’ll end up wasting money because it will slow and need to be thrown away.

Instead of buying frozen and expensive microwave meals, by the simple basic ingredients and make the meal yourself.

Reduce the amount of steaks and prime rib meat you buy, and substitute them with more inexpensive meats such as chicken and ground beef.

If you frequently have a lot of leftovers at dinner time, try cooking less food for each meal so that there will be less waste.

Instead of buying ready-made cookies and candy is, try picking up some recipes and making your own.

These may sound like a simple tips and ideas for saving money, but you might be amazed at just how much you can reduce your food bill using the simple techniques.

©2008, Kathy Burns-Millyard

Nowadays, everything seems to revolve around plastics. That is, more and more people are finding credit cards as the most convenient way to shopping, whether it is online or not.

Hence, with the arrival of credit cards in the market today, most businesses have found its feasible ways when engaging into online business. It has continuously provided online businesses to accept their customers payment online. Whats more it makes them accept payments even through phone or fax.

But there are still many businesses who kept on wondering what credit card merchant accounts is all about. They even kept on asking how other businesses get to accept credit card payments.

There are only two ways how to accept credit cards. These are:

1. Establish a merchant account with the credit card companies.

It is a must for every business who wants to accept credit card online is to build a merchant account, especially to the credit card companies that the business will be receive credit card payments. The application for this one will vary from one bank to another. That is why it is a must that the company must first learn the primary services of a bank before committing to such service.

Also, most banks do not allow new businesses and home businesses to get a new merchant account for fear of some frauds. And so, the best way to gain the banks trust is for the company to establish strong relationship with the bank and to maintain a good credit history.

2. Third Party Merchant

This third party merchant refers to the other companies that are willing to accept credit cards on behalf of the company who wishes to accept credit card payments.

One of the most popular third party merchants today is PayPal. It acts as a mediator between the seller and the buyer. PayPal usually requires their clients buyers to register for their program. That is why; most people find this really wearisome activity.

Both methods can help businesses to accept credit cards. However, there are areas where the first may offer greater features than the other.

Take for example the differences between the two methods. In most case, the primary rates for merchant accounts are higher than the third party merchant account. Plus, the third merchant party accounts more convenient than what the merchant account can do.

And so, for those who are still deliberating whether to get merchant account or the third party merchant account, it is strongly suggested that whatever methods is used, remember to take into consideration the pros and cons of the two method so as to accept credit card.