Financial Information

Saving money takes time and discipline, but with the right strategy and a good savings account you can reach your savings goals a lot faster than you might think.

Many of the good things in life cost money and saving for big items like cars, boats, or even houses, can take months or years. However, with the proper planning and by creating savings goals you might be making that dream purchase a lot sooner than you think.

Before you begin to plan your saving strategy, you should open a high interest savings account if you don’t already have one. This will allow you to keep your savings completely separate from the rest of your money and will pay a higher interest rate. Also, if you are willing to leave the money untouched for a certain number of months, or even years, you should be able to get an even better interest rate. There are plenty of savings accounts available, so shop around for one with good interest rates and low fees.

Once you have a savings account set up it is time to set your savings goals. As with much in life, it all comes down to time and money - how much you want to save and when you want to have it by. If you are struggling to work it out search for a ‘online savings calculator’ online to work out how your savings can accumulate.

Do not overstretch yourself. If necessary, establish a longer timeframe so you can save without putting yourself under too much pressure. Alternatively, you could take a detailed look at your personal spending to see how you can save money here and there. Are there some day-to-day luxuries you are willing to part with to help you reach your savings goals?

The best thing to do now is create a household budget to get a good idea of all your typical ingoings and outgoings each month. Best to be a bit cautious and over estimate with this to allow for unexpected costs. If you find you have money left over each month you can easily deposit to your savings account.

Once you do your calculations and decide how much you need to put away each week/month, there are a few steps you can take to make the process easier. First, you should arrange regular auto-deposits into your savings account from your checking account as soon as you are paid. Alternatively, many employers can organize for the money to be deducted from your salary and deposited in your nominated savings account. This will reduce the temptation to spend and get your money working for you in your savings account as early as possible.

If you can do so it is critical to avoid debt wherever you can. If you have longer term, larger loans then you will just have to factor that into your budget. However, any new debt, and especially debt from credit cards, should be avoided at all costs. Attempting to save while trying to tackle an expensive credit card debt is like taking one step forward and two steps back.

It does take some discipline to reach a savings goal but as your money builds and your goal gets nearer, it gets easier and easier. For longer-term savings goals you may find that your circumstances change during the process and you can save the money even faster than expected.

Tips and ideas from Richard at compareyourbank.com.au which compares banking products including. Visitors can compare products including Suncorp Savings and then apply online with the bank.

If you are a landlord, you will know especially with the current credit crisis that costs have been gradually rising, and the introduction of new laws like the mandatory Tenancy Deposit Scheme and the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) don’t exactly help with the penny saving.

During an economic downturn everything helps, so here is a brief list that we have put together

1.Get quotes always
Always get quotes for any repairs or maintenance. Get two or three quotes, no matter how big or small-scale the chore. It may appear easier to adhere with somebody you know, but it may not be the most cost-efficient selection. It’s a buyer’s market right now, so take advantage of that and haggle.

2. A hollow property is expensive
One of the worst fears for a landlord is having a property that is empty. If you are finding it hard to find tenants then try lowering your asking price. Lowering your rent by 30 pounds each month could be cheaper than losing out on one or more month’s worth of rent.

3. Abide by the law
Keeping on the right side of the law can be expensive, and consequently a lot of landlords opt to brush aside their responsibilities. For example, if you fail to assign your tenant’s deposit into a Tenancy Deposit System, you could be forced to compensate your tenant with 3 times the deposit quantity. This is one field you don’t want to try and save money.

4. Choose free online advertising
There are a variety of online resources, but Gumtree really is one of the most beneficial places online to look for a tenant. It’s free to post an advertisement with them, and they essentially draw in thousands and thousands of prospective tenants from all over the nation on a day by day basis - a great way to avoid pricey lettings agent fees.

5. Be good to your tenants
Once you’ve got a good tenant (you know, paying rent on time, not destroying your property by holding wild parties etc.), you need to uphold your end of the bargain. Do the things that count, like making sure necessary repairs are done on time and quickly.

The process of business loan refinancing has become more relevant to small businesses which are trying to deal with reduced sales and cash flow. In some situations business owners are being forced to refinance existing loans by current lenders, and in other cases they are attempting to secure additional cash. Difficulties for refinancing are now occurring frequently with short term business financing and long term commercial real estate loans.

Some commercial finance situations lend themselves better to refinancing than others. There are two scenarios that are particularly difficult to refinance, one involving SBA loans and the other business opportunity financing. The need to replace existing business lines of credit with new financing arrangements is now emerging as equally difficult.

The need to revise commercial real estate loans in which commercial property serves as collateral is a more traditional example of refinancing. Some borrowers are finding that they need to refinance simply to replace their existing commercial mortgage because many banks have decided to stop making commercial loans. Due to a slow economic pace, a number of small business owners are exploring the possibility of refinancing in order to get cash from existing equity to support their business financing needs. In either case, business borrowers are increasingly discovering that commercial refinancing is not as straightforward as it might have been in the past. In particular, there are two problem areas that will often be hard to overcome.

One factor proving to be a refinancing obstacle is business valuation. Declining sales levels lead to reduced commercial property values because commercial appraisals often derive business value from the income approach. The lack of recent profits for many businesses is another key problem impacting business loan refinancing. Because some financial uncertainties have reduced sales for many businesses, a high number of merchants are showing losses on recent financial statements and tax returns. Because lenders look at cash flow to see if it is sufficient to cover debt payments, recent losses are likely to be a significant difficulty when attempting to refinance commercial mortgages and other commercial loans.

Borrowers should find themselves in better shape if they realize in advance that there might not be the usual choices for business refinancing. It is likely that most businesses will need to evaluate and consider both new commercial lending sources and new business financing programs before the end of their current efforts to refinance business debt.