Unimor Capital Corporation

Tag: debt

  • 8 Things You’re Probably Wasting Your Money On

    8 Things You’re Probably Wasting Your Money On

    Is the cash in your wallet always mysteriously disappearing? Maybe you need to get a grip on your spending habits. Here are 8 things you’re probably wasting your money on:

    1. Specialty Drinks – That latte or cappuccino habit can add up. Give up the expensive coffees for a regular coffee (a “plain” coffee is under $2) and save a few dollars every day. Better yet, brew your own at home.

    2. DVD’s & CD’s – Sure, unwrapping that great new movie or getting the latest CD from your favorite artist is exciting, but you can buy used and save lots of money. Or just rent the DVD’s or purchase select tunes you like from iTunes.

    3. Using the Washer & Dryer Daily – Tossing just a few things in the washing machine and dryer every day? You’re “washing” water, energy and money right down the drain. Save on energy by running the washing machine only when it’s full. Go for a cold-water wash, and line-dry for optimal savings.

    4. Take-Out Lunches – If you spend even $10 a day on a lunch because you don’t brown-bag it, that’s $50 a week, and $200 a month. Can’t discipline yourself to make lunch every day? Cut back a few dollars by bringing your own drink or buying a less expensive item from the menu.

    5. Clothes You Don’t Need – That second pair of jeans, that second pair of strappy sandals… we’ve all been tempted to buy just one more item that’s nearly identical to something we already have in our closets. Three words: Don’t do it!

    6. Gas – You can do something to improve your fuel economy. Slow down a bit where possible, keep the heavy stuff out of the back of your car and open the windows instead of using the A/C.

    7. Brand-Name Groceries – Your beloved brand of cheese, cereal or can of soup likely does not taste exactly the same as a less expensive version. Fair enough. But there are some things you can probably scrimp on without noticing the difference, like mustard or ketchup, sugar, vinegar, flour, salt and other basics.

    8. Convenience Store Purchases – Gum. Tabloid magazines. Bags of chips. Cookies. If you’re dropping $20 a week at your corner store, consider cutting back on the impulse purchases and planning better through the week so that you don’t need that last-minute milk jug.

  • How to Budget for the New Year

    How to Budget for the New Year

    New Year’s resolutions come and go. A sad and small amount often work out like you’d planned and the rest are forgotten about, or perhaps regretted later on. Losing weight and creating a budget are two of the most common New Year’s goals.

    This year, you can shake off old habits and create new ones that last. The key is being realistic and using a system that works. Only you can decide how to budget your money, but with a little guidance from a financial expert and Mint software, you can set those plans in motion and keep track of your daily progress.


    Baby Steps to Get Out of Debt

    Nationally-syndicated radio talk show host and financial expert Dave Ramsey advises clients and listeners to get out of debt first and foremost, then build wealth. His is one of the simplest, most effective budget approaches, and nearly anyone can follow it. Ramsey explains what he calls the “7 Baby Steps” as a journey to debt control and ultimately living debt free. Each of the steps should happen in order, and include:

    • Start an emergency fund
    • Pay off debt
    • Build your emergency fund
    • Invest
    • Save for college (if applicable)
    • Pay off mortgage
    • Build wealth & give to charity

    There’s a method to the order. Your emergency fund is there to rescue you in case of a dire circumstance. Everyone needs this fund. It’s for those unexpected things that fall into your lap when you’re not looking. Start with $1,000, and you’re covered for some of the smaller things that life can throw your way.

    “Pay off debt” is a small statement, but it’s sometimes an enormous feat of dedication and endurance. This baby step is near the top of Ramsey’s list for a reason — you can’t make much financial progress for yourself while you’re building someone else’s wealth. He suggests paying off the smallest debts first, then working toward larger ones.

    Next comes building your emergency fund to a healthy level. Time was; 3 months’ pay was plenty. It could carry you over in case of job loss, medical bills, or other large, unexpected emergencies. Ramsey recommends a more generous approach, with 6 to 9 months’ pay set aside. Build this up, and you’re ready to tackle the next baby step.

    Investments, college fund, paying off your mortgage, and ultimately building wealth are the last items on the list. You might need an advisor before stepping into investments, and a college fund might not be important to your family for any number of reasons. Paying off a mortgage, if you have one, is that last big hurdle before debt-free living. After that, you build wealth and live generously.


    Mint Can Help You Handle the Particulars of Budgeting

    Getting out of debt is important. But when you drill down, there is a lot more to think about. While you’re saving for an emergency fund, paying off credit cards, and thinking about retirement, you’re still receiving utility bills and buying groceries. Mint software will help take your overall budget course and pull it into sharp focus. You can see an overview just as easily as you can review a single transaction. This gives you control that you might not have otherwise.

    It’s the daily activities that can sometimes cause budgeting hassles. Spending too much at the grocery store, dining out, splurging when you should be saving — all of these, and other things, can throw you off track. With Mint software, that never has to happen, at least not without your knowledge.

    Mint software has all of your budgeting needs, such as setting financial goals, tracking income and expense trends, receiving bill notifications, and bank account alerts, rolled into one tidy, user friendly package. You can start out the New Year with the same plans as last year, or you can make 2017 your year to live with less financial stress and more control than you’ve ever had.

  • 7 Most Common Financial Mistakes

    7 Most Common Financial Mistakes

    It is indeed a material world. When it comes to spending, North America is a culture of consumption. The result: rising levels of consumer debt and declining household savings rates. Don’t make these 7 most common financial mistakes. In 2008, this culture was hit hard by economic reality. According to the Federal Reserve, U.S. household debt grew steadily from the time they started tracking it in 1952. It declined for the first time in the third quarter of 2008. As a result of the credit crisis and ensuing economic recession, savings rates also rebounded.

    For those who had been living beyond their means for years, it suddenly got a lot harder to make ends meet. And, although the government tends to encourage spending during economic downturn and statistics may lead us to think that overspending is normal, it is often a risky choice. Here we’ll take a look at seven of the most common financial mistakes that often lead people to major economic hardship. Even if you’re already facing financial difficulties, steering clear of these mistakes could be the key to survival.

    Mistake No. 1: Excessive/Frivolous Spending
    Great fortunes are often lost one dollar at time. It may not seem like a big deal when you pick up that double-double, stop for a pack of cigarettes, have dinner out or order that PPV movie, but every little item adds up. Just $25 per week spent on dining out costs you $1,300 per year, which could go toward an extra mortgage payment or a number of extra car payments. If you’re enduring financial hardship, avoiding this mistake really matters – after all, if you’re only a few dollars away from foreclosure or bankruptcy, every dollar will count more than ever.

    Mistake No. 2: Never-Ending Payments
    Ask yourself if you really need items that keep you paying for every month, year after year. Things like cable television, subscription radio, video games, and cell phones can force you to pay unceasingly, but leave you owning nothing. When money is tight, or you just want to save more, creating a leaner lifestyle can go a long way to fattening your savings and cushioning you from financial hardship.

    Mistake No. 3: Living on Borrowed Money
    Using credit cards to buy essentials has become somewhat normal. But even if an ever-increasing number of consumers are willing to pay double-digit interest rates on gasoline, groceries and a host of other items that are gone long before the bill is paid in full, don’t be one of them. Credit card interest rates make the price of the charged items a great deal more expensive. Depending on credit also makes it more likely that you’ll spend more than you earn.

    Mistake No. 4: Buying a New Car
    Millions of new cars are sold each year, although few buyers can afford to pay for them in cash. However, the inability to pay cash for a new car means an inability to afford the car. After all, being able to afford the payment is not the same as being able to afford the car. Furthermore, by borrowing money to buy a car, the consumer pays interest on a depreciating asset, which amplifies the difference between the value of the car and the price paid for it. Sometimes a person has no choice but to take out a loan to buy a car, but how badly does any consumer really need a large SUV? Such vehicles are expensive to buy, insure and fuel. If you need to buy a car and/or borrow money to do so, consider buying one that uses less gas and costs less to insure and maintain.

    Mistake No. 5: Buying Too Much House
    When it comes to buying a house, bigger is also not necessarily better. Unless you have a large family, choosing a 6,000 square-foot home will only mean more expensive taxes, maintenance and utilities. Do you really want to put such a significant, long-term dent in your monthly budget?

    Mistake No. 6: Treating Your Home Equity Like a Piggy Bank
    Your home is your castle. Refinancing and taking cash out on it means giving away ownership to someone else. It also costs you thousands of dollars in interest and fees. Smart homeowners want to build equity, not make payments in perpetuity. In addition, you’ll end up paying way more for your home than it’s worth, which virtually ensures that you won’t come out on top when you decide to sell.

    Mistake No. 7: Living Paycheck to Paycheck
    The cumulative result of overspending puts people into a precarious position – one in which they need every dime they earn and one missed paycheck would be disastrous. This is not the position you want to find yourself in when an economic recession hits. If this happens, you’ll have very few options. Everyone has a choice in how they live, so it’s just a matter of making savings a priority.

    Making a Payment vs. Affording a Purchase
    To steer yourself away from the dangers of overspending, start by monitoring the little expenses that add up quickly, then move on to monitoring the big expenses. Think carefully before adding new debts to your list of payments, and keep in mind that being able to make a payment isn’t the same as being able to afford the purchase. Finally, make saving some of what you earn a monthly priority.

  • Debt Fatigue: How Long is Too Long to Be in Debt?

    Debt Fatigue: How Long is Too Long to Be in Debt?

    Despite record levels of debt across the country, fewer Canadians than you might think are making moves to reduce the amount of money they owe. According to a new CIBC poll, 25% of Canadians say they haven’t taken any action at all to accelerate debt repayment, while only 16% have talked to a financial advisor about ways to better manage their debt. It all points to signs of debt fatigue – feeling completely overwhelmed by the amount of money you owe but continuing to spend anyway. Six months? One year? Three years? There is no set timeline for when someone reaches debt fatigue, but when you throw your hands in the air and just start spending; you can bet you’ve hit your saturation point.

    There’s some nonchalance there, we’ve had an extended period of low interest rates, and the banks and financial institutions have done a very good job at marketing. You’ll see an ad for a car: just $199 every two weeks. People think ‘hey, that’s not bad,’ without stopping to think about the long term. People may think, ‘a bagel and a coffee a day is only five bucks a day. It’s no big deal,’ but when you add it up for a whole year, that’s close to two thousand bucks. Payday loan companies make borrowing seem easy too.

    According to a poll, 60% of Canadians currently hold debt. Historically low interest rates have played a huge role in this. People have a lot more debt than they have in the past; because it’s relatively inexpensive debt, debt seems like less of an issue. Although debt repayment has been the number one priority for Canadians, according to CIBC research, less than half of Canadians are taking concrete steps to lighten the load. The latest poll found that 46% of Canadians have cut spending in order to better manage debt, 34% have implemented a household budget, and 20% have made at least one lump sum payment toward debt on top of regular payments.

    With debt having become a fact of life for so many Canadians, there are ways to tell when your money woes are growing just as fast as your interest owing.  The standard question is: ‘Are you having trouble sleeping at night?’  When it becomes an issue with people’s day to day lives, when you can’t sleep or are worrying too much, when it’s affecting relationships, then it really starts to wear mentally. When you get a credit-card statement that shows you that if you make the minimum monthly payments and it will take you 84 years to pay off the debt – that really starts to hit home.

    Seek Support & Make a Plan

    Things don’t need to reach a crisis point before you can seek help and start chipping away at debt.  For starters, talk to someone, whether it’s an independent advisor, someone at your bank branch, a credit counsellor, or friends and family.  Money doesn’t have to be a taboo subject.  Don’t be afraid to say to someone, ‘Hey I can’t afford that. If they want to go out for dinner you can say ‘why don’t we do a potluck or we’ll order in pizza’.  Everybody struggles with these issues, and you’d be surprised once you start talking about it how other people can relate to where you’re at.

    Don’t let terms like budgeting or tracking spending scare you off.  Find money-management strategies that work for you, just the way you’d integrate exercise into your routine.  If you know you’re not a morning person, it’s unlikely you’re going to commit to going for a jog every day before work.  If you don’t have the patience to write down every single purchase you make over a 30 day period, try giving yourself a weekly spending limit instead.

    If you find it too easy to use debit or credit cards, use cash.  Be clear about what it is you’re trying to accomplish. The thing most people do not do is look at what their goals are.  If you have $500 in your account, do you buy the Lululemon hoodie you really like or do you put that money toward your home renovation fund?  You have to have goals, because that allows you to make choices.  Turn to technology to keep you on track too, most banks have tools where you can receive an alert via text message, phone, or email if you’re getting close to or have surpassed your customized budget.

    By Gail Johnson – Yahoo Finance