I am sure there will be some out there who would be planning not to retire. So do we all need to save for retirement? Of course we do. Whether we are planning to retire or not. Saving for retirement is a must. Want to know why ? Read On !!!

* Now that i am young and bubbling with all energy i do not want to think of retiring. After 30 years the situation might not be the same. Especially with new kind of diseases being discovered everyday, i don’t know if i would be healthy enough to work even if i plan to.

* Even though i might want to work, my organization might not want me because i am old. Other similar situations might force me to retire.

* I might want to take a month or even a year off from my work to explore things that i have always wanted to. Like serving people by joining an NGO or go on an archaeological volunteering project.

In the worry of saving for the future, we must also not sacrifice to enjoy today. There should be a balance in spending and saving only then the flavour of life would be worth savoring.

]]> http://www.8000credit.org/871/save-plan-retire/feed/ 0 http://www.8000credit.org/818/save-clothes/ http://www.8000credit.org/818/save-clothes/#comments Wed, 07 Oct 2009 01:17:08 +0000 Teena http://www.8000credit.org/?p=818 Do you find yourself shopping for clothes so often that you have become very friendly with the shops’ staff or every time you go for clothe shopping to your favorite store, you know exactly where a particular dress of specific design and color would be stacked? Then definitely you are a shopaholic like me , who just cannot resist the temptation to keep adding dresses to your wardrobe.

After beginning to write these blogs, a sudden realization dawned upon me that i should start saving in as many ways as possible and clothes are no exception. While cleaning my closet a couple of days back, i realized i don’t wear half the dresses that were piled up. So i decided to have only the ones that were functional. I also decided that i would stop being impulsive when it comes to shopping for clothes. As a result i read an amazing post on Get Rich slowly about organizing one’s wardrobe and saving money.

I would like to share a few Tips with you all from what i read

Step 1:

Categorize your clothes into 4 categories. Discard, Contribute, Alter and Functional. Now you would know what to do with the clothes falling under each type. I know its extremely difficult to discard the gown you wore on your first date, and i am not going to ask you to throw it away because i haven’t. Some sentiment is good but make sure you don’t end piling up a wardrobe full of clothes associated with different sentiments.

Step 2:

According to Michael Kors of Times Online, 70% of your clothes should be meat and potato and the rest 30% icing and fluff. These denotes color, pattern, shine and accessories.

Step 3:

Dress according to the season. If you are living in a country like where i do, its hot most of the times, so i prefer buying more clothes that is comfortable and doesn’t make me sweat much. If you live in a place where all 4 seasons could be experienced, allot your budget accordingly for all types of clothes. If you find yourself traveling to often to various weather zones, plan your wardrobe accordingly.

Step 4:

Ask yourself what is your lifestyle? Are you a college graduate, busy mom or you work out of home? Accordingly decide the kind of dresses that would suit your purpose. Do not waste money on clothes that you hardly wear. Of course there is nothing wrong in owning a couple of branded, expensive clothes but don’t make it a habit unless there is a regular use for it.Buy clothes that fit you. Do not buy dresses to wear after losing 10 pounds.

Step 5 :

Price should not be a parameter. Look for good quality dresses that would last for a considerable amount of time. Every time you buy a dress ask yourself if its is really worth the money.

I love clothes. There is no denying it. But for me, my clothes should reflect my personality deeply and give me abundance confidence. Else the purpose is lost. So i resolveto have a functional wardrobe henceforth. Would you like to try too?

You are not alone. There are millions out there who share this glorious title of ‘Procrastinator’ with you and i shamelessly agree i am one among them. I am a big time procrastinator. For example i decide that i want to post at least 2 posts for my readers everyday but for past few months i have been failing to do so.

But i have received my wake up call and now i have resolved to put an end to this ‘ I will do it Tomorrow’ syndrome and change it into the ‘ Today ‘ habit. There are few steps i have been following for pats couple of weeks which have been really helpful and  would like to share them with you.

Step One:

Instead of making a huge ‘To Do’ list and never bothering to check it i decided to make short lists for everyday and ticking them as i finish the job. Sometimes it happens so that i manage to do only the top two items in the list, however its a great improvement comparatively.

Step two

I have started using Google calendar. My biggest problem is my forgetfulness. I sometimes entirely forget that i even i have a client named ‘So and SO’ and i am supposed to deliver the work at this time. No Kidding. So i started entering everything on Google calendar. As i am online most of the time, the reminders it sends to my emails proves to be very useful.

Step three:

I have started to  keep a pen and notepad with me to jot down any task small or big that comes my way.I have realized the power of putting everything in writing.

Be it my monthly budget, task schedule or appointment with a physician putting it down in writing has helped me a lot and i am able to go to bed with the satisfaction that i have lived my day to the fullest.

What did you do to kick the postponing habit?

]]> http://www.8000credit.org/816/rid-ill-tomorrow-attitude/feed/ 0 http://www.8000credit.org/796/sell-house-week/ http://www.8000credit.org/796/sell-house-week/#comments Sun, 27 Sep 2009 20:20:34 +0000 Teena http://www.8000credit.org/?p=796 Is It possible to sell a property in such a short span of time? Well It is, Use the Ebay technique. If it can work for books, tickets, cameras and clothes, it surely can work for your house.

Start by displaying ads on local news papers, internet and sign boards for an open day.

Conduct 2 open days and ask the visitors to bid their amount in a piece of paper.

Next begin to call the bidders and ask if they are ready to raise their bid until you are left with the single bidder.

Now what? Sell your house and enjoy the profit.

Isn’t that simple? In this fast paced life, why should selling house cannot be done swiftly? How did you sell your house in a week? Give us more tips.

We all know that using credit card could be a tricky business. Every purchase you make is being tracked by the bankers and accordingly your credit score and cash limit is adjusted. So i suggest you to avoid using credit cards for 5 unique situations by which you could avoid lowering your credit score or credit limit.

1)If you are prone to get attracted to over speeding or parking your vehicles at wrong places, then you might better avoid using credit card for this , i.e. if you have decided to continue with this habit. As people who pay traffic tickets would be considered as a lower category borrower who is likely to be a defaulter.

2) Credit card companies think that saving money by retreading tires than replacing them, your financial condition has deteriorated. Hence your benefits might be altered. Can you believe it? In a Democratic country we do not even have the right to be a little more cautious about saving money.

3) I have not heard anything more funnier than American Express Curtailing the benefits for customers who do shopping at Wal mart, or any such bargain shopping outlet. It is believed that the sudden concern for money might be because of the fact that a job loss might be around the corner.

4) If you are consulting a relationship counselor,the credit card company thinks that the possibility of divorce might even leave you bankrupt as a lot of expense is involved in the process of divorce.

5) DO NOT BUY PORN with credit card. Adult entertainment is no more considered entertainment but an escape from real world. Hence they consider that the customer might even want to escape from his financial obligations. I wouldn’t be surprised if in coming years going to theme parks and watching movies are put under the same category.

Now don’t think that some employee is tracking down all of your activities, the computer is programmed to detect and keep a record of such purchases. Hence it would be better if you just paid  cash for such purchases as you will have to give up on many benefits that might even include paying more mortgage interest.

There is more to follow in this regard in future. Meanwhile what are your opinions?

]]> http://www.8000credit.org/638/top-5-purchases-to-avoid-to-keep-credit-card-companies-happy/feed/ 0 http://www.8000credit.org/452/colleges-admissions-shirkers-and-dumbbells/ http://www.8000credit.org/452/colleges-admissions-shirkers-and-dumbbells/#comments Sat, 20 Jun 2009 18:41:22 +0000 Teena http://www.8000credit.org/?p=452 President Obama, backed by his team announced that he strongly supports the idea that many American citizens (including encroachers) should attend college and hence there’s a need for taxpayers to fund grants and loans. I find this plan faulty and propose something’s that’s best.

From what I understand, the students who Obama has in mind are shirkers and duffers or people who are otiose or dumb to get to attend a college and America has no dearth of them! Although Obama isn’t bothered if they are lazy or dumb, what he cares is the vote bank.

I don’t want to spend a penny of my tax in proving or providing education to adults who cannot attain a degree in an age where grades seem to touch the sky. I have an intelligent and economical plan for such a population that is currently under merited by such colleges. What we really need to do is to enforce the Five-minute University, first proposed by Father Guido Sarducci.

If you think that I am kidding then I am not. There are plenty of people who attend colleges but it’s very obvious that President Obama cannot notice that. I have a better proposal for him, let us make such people attend such colleges for less than two weeks and give them important pointers to keep in mind and grant them a degree and they can carry on with their life! My plan would not only save the student his money but time as well.

If you think that, these students wouldn’t learn much then it’s no different from those students who spend a lot of their time and money learning anything that’s of significance. Father Sarducci says that one can learn in five minutes which all students remember post 5 years.

What do those students who study in specialized subjects like film, communications, or any other subject that has a study attached to it exactly remember and learn? Even if they concentrated and preserved such knowledge in their minds as memory then what’s its value? All I feel it’s worth is about five minutes of tuition. Studies reveal that 31% college pass outs are capable of reading and comprehending a composite book.

More such studies reveal that only 62% graduates were working in jobs that require degree and just 55% were working in a job pertaining to their specialization. Wonder why, at all such students even attempt a college degree? This data tells me that a fast course degree is much better and I can put these graduates to some productive purpose like mowing my lawn!

There is one substantial advantage that these Five-minute graduates get over a normal college graduate and that is a six-figured loan. In addition to this, the graduation rate of students of my five minute university is 100% compared to the pathetically low graduation rate of 56.1% of college graduates.

If you agree with me then do call the Congressmen and pursue them to pass a bill that routes a few millions that it’s currently extending to the federal student loan policy to fund my Five Minute Universities nationwide and printing diplomas. What, about the remaining money you ask? Well I propose that it can be returned to the rightful taxpayers.

The president would be happy and so would we! What say people?

The United States President Barack Obama seems to have gone wiser by the day and has brought in the ‘PAYGO’ legislation. This legislation aims to reduce the government spending by a considerable amount.

The legislation says that all the new congress tax cuts or increase in the government expenditure will result in higher taxes and lesser spending in some other department of the government so that the excess spending is offset.

The statutory “Pay as you go” legislation has been submitted with the aim of curbing government expenditure and preventing it from going over board. If this legislation were to work, the fiscal deficit in the United States could slightly bee soothed. Touted to hit a whopping 1.8 trillion mark this fiscal, the mood of the US economy still remains gloomy.

At this time, this legislation comes as a tiny relief as it is expected to reduce government spending by a good fifty percent. The legislation however does not have too many supporters. One insider says that is like a ‘Fig leaf’ adding that this is just the government’s way of increasing or bringing in money to spend on newer policies. On this note, President Obama’s words would be nice to recall.

When the announcement was being made, he went on to say that the deficit which has resulted in the government’s pockets have been mainly due to the administration falling prey to several new policies such as huge tax cesses which have not only drained the economic resources but also benefited the masses in a very disproportionate manner suggesting the ‘rich grow richer and poor become poorer’ trait of a typically capitalistic economy.

If the president is to be believed, the announcement of this legislation is just the beginning of one of the many steps that he plans to take to bring in “fiscal discipline” into this administration.

What does the ‘paygo’ mean for the common man? Honestly speaking, Nothing! This will continue to be a replay of the ‘paygo’statutory of the 1990s which was a proven failure. Even now, there remain many aspects of the government spending that remain exempted from this legislation.

In fact, on the other hand, this legislation coming into effect may have a negative effect on the healthcare reforms besides the unknown nature of the automatic benefit reduction the policy would put the US Agricultural industry, says Mr. Max Baucus, the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.

If history were to be repeated, recommended spending cuts will be voted out and the government will continue to window dress its increased spending on its ‘new’ policies that yield invisible results.

Things are getting so expensive and folks are losing so much money that this doesn’t sound like a joke but reality.