Leadpile's Blog» Financial

Tips for Saving Money

Jolene Phipps — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 20:39:32 +0000

As the end of December comes around and the beginning of January nears, people in general start re-evaluating their budget. A popular new years resolution is “saving money”. So if this is a common goal why is it so hard to accomplish?

Due to the economic recession many households are making less then before, making it hard to bank extra money. We also live in a society that thrives on promoting or advertising what you must have! The line between need and want often become crossed and we end up overspending for the month.

So how can we save? The answer lies in each one of us. We don’t have to strive for the moon – to overshoot and miss all together. If we take baby steps we can be successful, and if one month you fall down, don’t let it stop you! Get up and start over again. Here are a few money saving tips that can help you get started:

Set up a separate savings account and actually use it to save money.
Split your direct deposit so that $25.00 out of each paycheck goes into your savings account. (out of sight out of mind)
Save any change that you receive after making a cash purchase. (you will be surprised how fast this adds up)
Plan a monthly budget, start with you needs first i.e. Rent/mortgage, electricity, car payments etc. and then budget in an allotted dollar amount for wants and stick to it.
Write out your grocery list before you go shopping and only get what is on the list

If you start implementing even a couple of these suggestion you will be surprised by what you can save!

Happy Savings!

Payday Loans. . .Good or Evil?

Jolene Phipps — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 14:39:49 +0000

When you hear the words “Payday Loan” what comes to your mind?

Do you think of an industry out there taking advantage of consumers?
Or, do you think about an industry providing people with relief and peace of mind during this financial crisis?

Most people would say answer a. But is that true or do we need to educate ourselves regarding this part of the financial industry? Who are the people that need these payday loans and do they have other options?

According to www.census.gov the official poverty rate in 2010 was 15.1 percent, which was up from 14.3 percent in 2009. In 2010, 46.2 million people were in poverty, which was up from 43.6 million in 2009.

Those are staggering numbers. People are having a hard time making ends meet. From 2009 to 2010 an additional 2.6 million people were at poverty level. Where did they come from? Middle Class families? Low Income families? Who is out there helping them get back on their feet? The banks? With the foreclosures on homes, the increased account fees, overdraft fees and high credit guidelines… what do you think?

What sort of monthly expenses do all of us face? Rent/Mortgage, utility bills, insurance, car payment, food allowance just to name a few. If you are running out of money at the end of the month what would you sacrifice? Your electric bill? Your rent? Your car loan? Or just overdraft your bank account? All of those choices involve late fees or overdraft fees and may incur being harassed by credit agencies or having your electricity turned off, being kicked out of your home or having your vehicle repossessed. None of those sound like viable solutions to me.

According to www.wikipedia.org the definition for a payday loan is “a small, short-term loan that is intended to cover a borrower’s expenses until his or her next payday.” That is truly what a payday loan is there for. Many times you will hear payday opponents talk about high interest fees, but when you research these fees in comparison to bank charges and late fees of missing necessary payments and/or possible repossessions/foreclosures/losing electricity, going hungry etc. – which sounds better to you?

So before we judge the financial institutions giving payday loans or the people receiving such loans – let’s make sure that we look at the situation from all angles, and form an educated decision.

Banks Offering Personal Loans Again?

Natasha Aronov — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 14:51:20 +0000

The downturn of the economy has left many people with high credit card balances and not many options. Payday loans have been and will continue to be a great source of necessary and quickly needed funds for a large number of consumers however don’t always offer the larger amount loans or longer payment terms that personal loans once offered. Prior to the economy taking a downward turn and home-equity loans becoming the popular choice personal loans were the main option for many people.

Recently, as the demand to borrow money has become necessary for many, personal loans have been in demand and the supply is starting to make a comeback. Personal loans, can offer the longer terms and higher borrowing amounts than payday is typically able to and offers a much better option and interest rate than credit cards do.

Recently, according to CBS MoneyWatch, banks including Wells Fargo, Discover Financial, Citi and CapitalOne are all currently offering personal loans.

Wells Fargo – loaning $3,000 – $10,000 for lengths as long as five years
Citi – $300 – $7.500
Discover Financial – lending up to $25,000

Are New Job Requirements to Demanding for the Current Work Force?

Christina — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 16:49:06 +0000

The sentence “Companies are having a hard time filling positions” may seem odd given the current economic recession, but this sentence is true. The number of open job positions has increased 37% from last year but there are still 15 million unemployed adults, 40%, which have been out of, work for 6 months or longer.

Companies were forced for combine job tasks when doing layoffs last year. Now, someone who hopes to get those jobs must meet the new requirements. For example, accountants must also do financial analysis, factory workers need to program computers to run machinery and information technology workers are being forced to do both the business and technology side of the job.

Unemployed workers are being forced to take courses to learn their new skills and obtain certification. Employers rather wait and hold job vacant then settle for less.

Leadpile works in the education space, check out our EDU offer and help promote degrees to help you get your dream job.

Privately Held Facebook Does a 5 for 1 Stock Split

Monica Vo — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 23:41:28 +0000

Facebook did a 5-for-1 stock on Friday marking the third split in the company’s history. It’s true market value is still unknown until the company goes public. Expectations for an IPO isn’t expected until 2012 at the earliest. Currently, Facebook shares can be sold on SecondMarket which puts Facebook’s current valuation at around $30 billion. Nearly $150 million Facebook stock sales have been recorded since April 2009.

While a stock split will not increase a shareholder’s equity, increasing the number of company shares can increase liquidity and make the company’s shares easier and less expensive to trade.

An interesting note, Google’s stock split several times prior to going public back in 2004.

Payday Home Loan Lenders

Jashh — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 14:27:03 +0000

Home loan lenders generally represent financial services agencies and bankers who offer dedicated home loan arrangements to prospective home owners. They can easily power through the home loan needs of one and all in no time. Home loan lenders work under the compliance and guidance set out by the state governments. The financing solutions which are powered by reliable service providers can provide longer term benefits to prospective home owners. Generally, the interest rates that are associated with home loans are competitive in nature. Secured mortgage home loans are most sought out after by debtors in the financial arena at all times. However, financing cost would matter a lot on the income sources, risk assumptions and risk profiles associated with a debtor. They can easily gain through custom made home loan rates in a sequential manner. Stiff competition exists in the market space of home loans. Therefore, competitive landscape of solutions can be expected by debtors. Reliability and expert advice should always be on the mind of a debtor while they are trying to avail home loan solution to meet their financial needs in a gradual manner.

How To Secure Competitive Deals Through Home Loan Lenders?

Competitive solutions can be offered by leadings service providers based on prevalent interest rates and risk assumptions. Online channels can provide fair solutions to debtors while they are trying to benefit from a home loan solution. Competitive solutions can be traced and tracked by debtors in a seamless manner in no time. Third party home loan agencies can also provide competitive home loan solutions. They work as intermediaries between a debtor and financial service provider. They generally maintain stronger nexus with the services provider and make money through commission basis from both the sides. Such competitive home loan solutions have in fact powered the growth of financial sector in last quarter.

Home loan lenders can however be ruthless when it comes to payment defaults and foreclosures. Generally, high interest fines and late fee charges are imposed onto debtors when they default on paying on time. Proper research and thorough understanding of home loan financing solutions can provide ultimate advantage to one and all.
Get going and benefit from competitive home loan solution in order to sport a brand new home. A reliable and longer horizon home loan financing solution can provide optimum financing to prospective debtors in just about no time.

Online Payday Loans

Natasha Aronov — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 20:52:05 +0000

Payday Lenders are in the business of taking care of consumers who are in need of a small amount of money to get them through until payday Many people have experienced being short n cash at some point in their lives. Lenders carefully determine who can qualify for a short-term loan, whether it be for an emergency or just a situation where the client is short on cash for any number of different reasons. Many customers believe that a payday loan is the fastest, most convenient option to help them with their financial need.

Payday loans, once only available through storefront operations, requiring clients to stand in line can now be applied for, and obtained through online lenders. Licensed Lenders have made applying for a payday loans over the Internet very fast and simple and it typically only requires a small amount of personal information and seldom is a credit check is necessary. Lenders approved funds are submitted directly into their client’s checking account, thus avoiding any unnecessary lengthy paperwork.

Most online payday lenders have a minimum required age of 18 and a necessary minimum monthly income for the borrower. Loan amounts range between $100- $1,500 depending on the lender and the needs of the borrower. A loan can often be received the same day, with repayment due 14 – 30 days after.

In a struggling economy where many people are in need of occasional help, a payday loan can help them through a tough time.

What Does And Doesn’t Hurt Your Credit Score?

Mari Woods Holt — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 19:10:47 +0000

Do you know what your credit score is? How about do you really know what makes up the score? Knowing as much as you can about your credit score and what makes up the number, is so very important. Many employers, insurance companies etc all utilize a consumers credit score to help to determine their desire to work with you. Therefore, knowing as much as possible can only help with being able to understand and manage your credit score. For many situations, your credit score is just as important as your other personal information, so knowing it inside and out is key!

Things that should not impact your credit score:

Having a Low or High Income: How much money you make is not necessarily being reported on your credit bureau, therefor will not be a part of any decisions that third parties are making after seeing your report. However, keep in mind employer information is often times showing on your credit report.

Not Paying Insurance, Utility and Cell Phone Bills: Many insurance or utility companies will pull your credit to see your credit score, however they will not be reporting your pay history with them on your credit.

Missing Rent Payments: Similar to the insurance and utility companies, property management companies will pull your credit before allowing you to rent from them, however if you miss your rent of were a slow payer, you will generally not see any of this on your credit report or affecting your credit score.

Bank Overdraft: Banks make a lot of their revenue from bank overdraft fees, however they will generally not report any issues with overdrafting you had, unless you continued to maintain an outstanding overdraft amount owed to them. At this point they will then send the “debt” to collections who will then try and collect on this outstanding amount. At this point it will affect your credit score.

Checking Your Own Credit: Pulling your own credit score is a great thing because it allows you to know what is on your credit and who is reporting what. However, you pulling your credit score will not affect your credit score. Third parties pulling your credit does affect your credit score and you want to be conscious of who you are allowing to do this. If you have too many inquiries in your credit report, it is a red flag to those that are potentially looking at extending you credit and it is also hurting your credit.

High Interest Rates:What you are paying on credit cards or other debts is no where located on your credit report and is not affecting your credit score. Third parties will only know this if you release this information.

Credit Counseling: This could potentially affect your credit and credit score if the counseling service you are working with is not paying on your bills. Knowing what the counseling service is reporting to your credit report is key so you know what others will be seeing if they are pulling your credit.

Your Age: Your physical age in no way affects your credit score. If you are young and do not have a lot of credit, then that can affect your credit score, but your actual age is not the direct cause of having a lower or higher score.

Now go pull your credit and work on getting that score up!

Mortgage Leads And Mortgage Solution

Jashh — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 14:14:45 +0000

Mortgage leads can provide more business opportunities to a financial service provider in no time. However, various factors attribute in ensuring that the lead generated is converted to a long term business on the go. Some of the tip things to look out for while

generating mortgage leads are as follows:

It is also advisable to generate leads from legal methods. Illegal poaching on leads might yield shorter term benefits but in longer term such deals could turn out to be fiascos. Generally, proper customer checks are not done in all such cases.

Mismatch of solution offering can develop negative impact in minds of customers in no time at all. For instance, a customer seeking competitive mortgage solution can be offered high interest rate unsecured solutions while trying to acquire any customer. Therefore, proper customer analysis and matching solutions can provide longer term benefits to one and all.

While pitching apt mortgage solutions to one and all, message and contact information should be clearly mentioned. This can help in establishing better connect factors with the prospects. They would feel more interested and might be able to make faster decisions in no time at all.

Service providers should ensure that their content and mailers are not spammy while they are trying to gain from mortgage leads. A meaningful and apt content can drive instant sales through online networks on the go in a quick span of time.

While designing campaigns for lead generation for mortgage solutions, marketers must ensure that their content pieces are not cluttered. A fairly simple and decent campaign can be easily related to by one and all.

Marketers can get to gain endlessly from the discussed strategies. As far as possible strategies should be customer centric. Solution offerings should be able to generate certain value proposition for customers and at the same time, service providers can get to gain from the investments of customers in a smarter manner. These smarter strategies are in fact been adopted by leading service providers. By leveraging their distribution and reach through multi channel framework they are able to meet the needs of customers by offering them tailor made mortgage solutions.

Job Market In A Struggling Economy..

Natasha Aronov — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 17:30:11 +0000

With the struggling economy, many people are facing unemployment and hard times. Gen Y, known to be possibly one of the better educated generations is struggling to float, many not having enough experience to obtain or hold jobs in the state of the economy. Moving back in with their parents or family being the best option for many having challenges financially while fighting to get careers launched.

According to msnbc.com , “the Millennials” defined as those born in the 1980-90’s are the first generation of American work forces since World War II who have cloudier prospects than the generations that preceded them. Currently unemployment is at the highest it has been in decades for 18-29 year olds.

The average student debt as stated by College Board is $23,000 – facing these large debt amounts and the high unemployment rate among young Millennials can affect them financially and psychologically.