Best Savings Programs

Most if not all banks offer a couple different types of accounts designed to help you save and earn on your savings.  Some banks go as far as offering special savings programs to assist those that may not have the necessary discipline to stick to a savings plan or simply want an easy way to save automatically.  Listed are a few of the most popular bank savings programs presently available to customers.  Most require that you have an active checking account in order to qualify.

Wells Fargo - Way to Save by Wells Fargo allows you to schedule daily or monthly transfers of amounts greater than $25 and in addition with their Save as you go option an additional $1 transfer from your checking to savings account will be made for each debit card pin purchase or online bill payment.

Bank of America - Keep the change from Bank of America automatically rounds up each transaction to the nearest dollar and transfers the difference to your savings account every time you use your debit card.

US Bank - The START program allows customers to schedule monthly transfer of $25 or more.  In addition they reward customers with a $50 visa gift card once they reach $1000 saved and an additional $50 visa gift card if the funds remain for a period of one year in savings.

Why Should I Make a Budget?

You say you know where your money goes and you don’t need it all written down to keep up with it? I issue you this challenge. Keep track of every penny you spend for one month and I do mean every penny.

You will be shocked at what the itty-bitty expenses add up to. Take the total you spent on just one unnecessary item for the month, multiply it by 12 for months in a year and multiply the result by 5 to represent 5 years.

That is how much you could have saved AND drawn interest on in just five years. That, my friend, is the very reason all of us need a budget.

If we can get control of the small expenses that really don’t matter to the overall scheme of our lives, we can enjoy financial success.

The little things really do count. Cutting what you spend on lunch from five dollars a day to three dollars a day on every work day in a five day work week saves $10 a week… $40 a month… $480 a year… $2400 in five years….plus interest.

See what I mean… it really IS the little things and you still eat lunch everyday AND that was only one place to save money in your daily living without doing without one thing you really need. There are a lot of places to cut expenses if you look for them.   

Set some specific long term and short term goals. There are no wrong answers here. If it’s important to you, then it’s important period.

If you want to be able to make a down payment on a house, start a college fund for your kids, buy a sports car, take a vacation to Aruba… anything… then that is your goal and your reason to get a handle on your financial situation now. 

The Budget – The Ultimate Financial Management Tool

A carpenter uses a set of house plans to build a house. If he didn’t the bathroom might get overlooked altogether.

Rocket Scientists would never begin construction on a new booster rocket without a detailed set of design specifications. Yet most of us go blindly out into the world without an inkling of an idea about finances and without any plan at all.

Not very smart of us, is it? 

A money plan is called a budget and it is crucial to get us to our desired financial goals.

Without a plan we will drift without direction and end up marooned on a distant financial reef. 

If you have a spouse or a significant other, you should make this budget together. Sit down and figure out what your joint financial goals are…long term and short term.

Then plan your route to get to those goals. Every journey begins with one step and the first step to attaining your goals is to make a realistic budget that both of you can live with.

A budget should never be a financial starvation diet. That won’t work for the long haul. Make reasonable allocations for food, clothing, shelter, utilities and insurance and set aside a reasonable amount for entertainment and the occasional luxury item. Savings should always come first before any spending.

Even a small amount saved will help you reach your long term and short term financial goals. You can find many budget forms on the internet. Just use any search engine you choose and type in “free budget forms”.

You’ll get lots of hits. Print one out and work on it with your spouse or significant other. Both of you will need to be happy with the final result and feel like it’s something you can stick to. 

Spend Wisely to Save Money

Have you ever noticed that the things you buy every week at the grocery and hardware stores go up a few cents between shopping trips? Not by much…just by a little each week but they continue to creep up and up.

All it takes for the price to jump up by a lot is a little hiccup in the world wide market, note the price of gasoline as it relates to world affairs.

There is a way that we can keep these price increases from impacting our personal finances so much and that is by buying in quantity and finding the best possible prices for the things we use and will continue to use everyday… things that will keep just as well on the shelves in our homes as it does on the shelves at the grocery store or hardware store.

For instance, dog food and cat food costs about 10% less when bought by the case than it does when bought at the single can price and if you wait for close out prices you save a lot more than that. 

Set aside some space in your home and make a list of things that you use regularly which will not spoil. Any grain or grain products will need to be stored in airtight containers that rats can’t get into so keep that in mind.

Then set out to find the best prices you can get on quantity purchases of such things as bathroom items and dry and canned food.

You will be surprised at how much you can save by buying a twenty pound bag of rice as opposed to a one pound bag but don’t forget that it must be kept in a rat proof container.

You can buy some clothing items such as men’s socks and underwear because those styles don’t change, avoid buying children’s and women’s clothing, those styles change and sizes change too drastically.

Try to acquire and keep a two year supply of these items and you can save hundreds of dollars. 

How to Fill Out an Advance Cash Form

Filling out an advance cash form can be done through a website if the cash advance company allows that.  Due to the fact that many cash advance companies are based online, there will usually be an online application form that can be filled out regarding your cash advance request.  The company will usually get in touch with you regarding the cash advance, and may be able to give you an answer within 24 hours of receiving the filled in form.

Filling in a cash advance form is also very simple, it doesn’t require any hard questions to be answered, just simple questions including name, where you live, etc.; hopefully they won’t need to utilize any information like that because you can keep up with the repayments.  That way they won’t send anyone to knock on your door asking for the money which you haven’t paid back yet.

An online cash advance form is meant to be easy to fill out because the companies understand you are in need of cash and every small bit of help that will make it easier for you to receive that cash will be highly regarded among the customers.  Because of a speedy and easy process, companies can promise an answer within 24 hours after you have filled out the cash advance form; they understand the kind of situation that you are in and will help you with the whole process.  All they ask is that you meet certain requirements such as being over 18 years of age and earning at least $1,200 a month.  Making sure their customers meet these requirements is the safety net for many companies so that they know that you can make the repayments with the money that you earn.

Speed and ease that is what people want when filling in a form requesting quick financial help and with a cash advance form they can receive that speed and ease.

How to Get Out of Your Cash Advance Addiction

Cash advance loans can be addictive -- when you need them they are there and waiting to be used.  They are very handy if you are short of cash until your next payday. You can simply borrow a small amount of cash then pay the cash advance company back on your payday.  But, when people become addicted to borrowing the cash from a cash advance company, they become addicted to the borrowing.

When you are addicted to anything it is hard to break the addiction -- you get a buzz from the addiction, but you know that you have to break out from it because otherwise the addiction could get you into trouble.  Cash advance addictions can only lead to one thing and that is a horrible mountain of debt that could destroy you.

To get out of your cash advance addiction you must first of all realize that these companies are taking away more of your money each time you borrow from them in part because their interest rates can be rather harsh to the customer. You must get yourself a budget written down and you must stick to it.  If you can stick to a budget, then you are showing yourself that you can look after your money and you do not need to keep going to the cash advance companies every time you think you are in a small financial hole.

When you realize that you can survive without the help of a cash advance company, you will feel better about yourself and you will know that you can support yourself with your payday checks.  It is easy to get addicted but it is hard to break the addiction, which is why you must look for a more sustainable financial solution for the future.

Relying on Cash Advances

Unfortunately, there are people who rely on cash advances too much; they apply for one every time they are low on cash, instead of waiting for their next payday.  These people go to cash advance companies and apply for a cash advance loan just to keep going until their next pay check, rather than using careful budgeting methods to avoid money shortages and to save money in the long run.

This is fine if you can repay cash advance companies with your next pay check and if you only borrow a small amount of money.  If you do only borrow a small amount of money, then you can alleviate your debt burden in the short run; however, if you are not careful, you may find yourself in a tight spot again in the future because of the interest attached to the cash.  

The interest on these cash advance loans is higher than that of most credit cards. This is because cash advances are somewhat risky to the lender because they must base their acceptance only on an income test, rather than your credit rating, which means they approve too many people and subsequently have a higher default rate.

If you want to find a way out of your debt, then a cash advance is a good option; and you should consider it.  But, if you don't have a budget in place, you should set one for yourself to be sure that you can pay back the cash advance.  If you can stick to a budget, then you are more likely to succeed in getting yourself out of the financial mess with or without a cash advance. You should also factor cash advances into your budget, so you use them only when you must and when it is actually a financially-rational decision.

Don’t Fall Victim to Cash Advances

The easy and convenient way by which cash advances are providing people with money is creating a social problem called "cash advances dependence."  Many people aren’t even aware that they are becoming dependent on cash advances. They have created a secure destructive nest for themselves of which even they aren’t aware.  The best thing is to admit you have a problem and get yourself out of it.

With cash advances people are finding out how easy it is to get money.  That means that even when they do not have a financial emergency, as this is what cash advances where intended for, they still take out a cash advance loan.  This means that people are using the money that they get from cash advance loans to go on holiday, purchase a new car or anything to that effect.  This is clearly not the smart way of using this financial system.  This is in fact abusing the privilege that one gets from being able to get a cash advance.  

The "no credit policy" of most cash advance loan companies is also the reason why people are becoming cash advances addicts; people can loan money from more than one cash advance company, which means that they end up having a high debt to pay, or worse yet they have to file for bankruptcy.  This indeed is becoming more than just a personal responsibility but more broadly a social one.

The most proactive thing you can do is to get out of debt as soon as possible.  You should seek help from a financial advisor from your bank or seek help from a private advisor; they can help you make a better step in the direction of making payments and being able to enjoy your own interest free, hard earned money.  This will also help you get back on a better and healthier track with your financial situation.  

The cash advances are not to be blamed for your own human weakness.  Money does that to even the best of us.

Building Cash Reserves

Building a financial cushion for your business is never easy. Experts say that businesses should have anywhere from six to nine months worth of income safely stored away in the bank. If you're a business grossing $250,000 per month, the mere thought of saving over $1.5 million dollars in a savings account will either have you collapsing from fits of laughter or from the paralyzing panic that has just set in. What may be a nice well-advised idea in theory can easily be tossed right out the window when you're just barely making payroll each month. So how is a small business owner to even begin a prudent savings program for long-term success?

Realizing that your business needs a savings plan is the first step toward better management. The reasons for growing a financial nest egg are strong. Building savings allows you to plan for future growth in your business and have ready the investment capital necessary to launch those plans. Having a source of back-up income can often carry a business through a rough time. 

When market fluctuations, such as the dramatic increase in gasoline and oil prices, start to affect your business, you may need to dip into your savings to keep operations running smoothly until the difficulties pass. Savings can also support seasonal businesses with the ability to purchase inventory and cover payroll until the flush of new cash arrives. Try to remember that you didn't build your business overnight and you cannot build a savings account instantly either. 

Review your books monthly and see where you can trim expenses and reroute the savings to a separate account. This will also help to keep you on track with cash flow and other financial issues. While it can be quite alarming to see your cash flowing outward with seemingly no end in sight, it's better to see it happening and put corrective measures into place, rather than discovering your losses five or six months too late.

Bookkeeping Basics

So what goes on the accounting and bookkeeping departments? What do these people do on a daily basis? 

Well, one thing they do that's terribly important to everyone working there is Payroll. All the salaries and taxes earned and paid by every employee every pay period have to be recorded. The payroll department has to ensure that the appropriate federal, state and local taxes are being deducted. The pay stub attached to your paycheck records these taxes. They usually include income tax, social security taxes pous employment taxes that have to be paid to federal and state government. Other deductions include personal ones, such as for retirement, vacation, sick pay or medical benefits.  It's a critical function. Some companies have their own payroll departments; others outsource it to specialists.

The accounting department receives and records any payments or cash received from customers or clients of the business or service. The accounting department has to make sure that the money is sourced accurately and deposited in the appropriate accounts. They also manage where the money goes; how much of it is kept on-hand for areas such as payroll, or how much of it goes out to pay what the company owes its banks, vendors and other obligations. Some should also be invested. 

The other side of the receivables business is the payables area, or cash disbursements. A company writes a lot of checks during the course of year to pay for purchases, supplies, salaries, taxes, loans and services. The accounting department prepares all these checks and records to whom they were disbursed, how much and for what. Accounting departments also keep track of purchase orders placed for inventory, such as products that will be sold to customers or clients. They also keep track of assets such as a business's property and equipment. This can include the office building, furniture, computers, even the smallest items such as pencils and pens.

    Prepare for financial emergencies
Few of us think about what would happen if we lost our jobs or suddenly became too ill to work. The thought is simply too terrible to contemplate in many cases, especially if we are living paycheck to paycheck with a job as it is.


    The fact is, though, that financial emergencies happen to almost everyone at some point and they can have devastating impact in your credit. In fact, most people who declare bankruptcy do so because of a huge financial disaster such as sudden unemployment, huge medical bills, a lawsuit, or divorce. Despite this, few people plan for these problems, even though they can happen to anyone.  If you want to keep your credit score in good trim, you should know exactly what you would do in case of an emergency. Developing an actual written plan can help you by letting you take action to save your credit as soon as an emergency occurs. Some items that could be on your financial emergency plan could include:

1) A list of all assets you could liquidate if you had to.

2) A list of all extras or luxuries you could cut out of your life right away if there was a problem (i.e. newspaper subscriptions, cable television, water delivery service, Friday nights at the movies).

3) A list of any resources you have that could help you in case of an emergency. Maybe you know a lawyer who deals in financial facets of the law. Maybe you have insurance that could help you. Maybe your employer offers a severance package. Whatever it is, write it down. Keeping a list of these resources will make them easier to access in case of an emergency.

4) Other ways you could get money if you had to - jobs you could take, things you could rent out to others.