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Twelve Tips to Help You Prepare Your Business Budget

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A budget is a crucial planning tool for managing a business. Your annual budget will help you control costs and provide you with targets against which you can monitor the performance of the company. A budget, though, is not a statement of what you want to happen; it is a realistic forecast of what you expect to happen. Some businesses, however, do create three different budgets to reflect the best case, worst case, and most likely scenarios. So, where do you start the budgeting process, and how do you make your budget as accurate as possible? Here are twelve tips to guide you through the budgeting process. 1. Two Approaches The first question you will need answering is where to start preparing a business budget. Well, you have two options. You can either begin the budgeting process by forecasting your costs and target profits and then calculating the sales you will need, or you can predict your sales and then adjust your expenses to achieve the desired net profit. ...

Why Renting a Home is Better Option Than Buying

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Do you wish to rent a home and not to buy it? Worry not, your option is right as there are several reasons why it is advantageous to you. Renting a home means you will only be a client to the homeowner, and you will be paying some amount. Buying a home means you will have to exchange money, goods, or services to own your home. Owning a home is a guarantee it will serve you for a long time. Your coming family generation can also find a place to stay. But renting a house seems to be the best option than buying. Here are some reasons why it will be better to rent a home. Amenity accessibility Rental homes are made for business purposes, and they may include entertainment structures such as swimming pools. When you rent a house with these structures, you will have to entertain yourself more. You will be exposed to many amenities as they cannot all be found in your home. Putting amenities in your home may be costly, and you may not enjoy all benefits. Renting houses includes...

What Is Inheritance Tax And How It Works

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In this guide, we'll look at what inheritance tax is and how it works. We'll also dive into how it differs from the federal estate tax, among other relevant topics. The taxes mentioned above are different from each other, something that most people miss when discussing them. Each of them has their practice and concepts in the application, which are essential to understand. Additionally, not everyone knows whether inheritance is taxable and if it is – some still don't understand how it works. Every heir does not have the habit of paying inheritance taxes, just like not every estate will pay the estate taxes. It's also essential to understand how the taxes mentioned above can affect you as an inheritor or a benefactor. Defining Inheritance Tax Some states impose an inheritance tax on those who inherit assets from the deceased. The tax rate is different in all the states because of influence from several factors. Some of these factors include the inheri...

Tips to Improve Your Business Credit Score

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A business credit score is a summary of your credit report into a single number. This summary number represents the credit history of your business. It features details such as how long your business has been around and the number of credit inquiries of your business. Simply put, your business credit score shows how healthy the finances of your business are, and it's potential. It helps to determine how your business should be viewed by banks, other businesses, and lenders. Having a good credit score in your business can help you get loans easily , win contracts faster, and get better terms with vendors. So, how do you improve or ensure your business credit score is up to par? Below are essential tips to help you out. 1. Always Analyze Your Business Credit Score Report Your credit report plays a significant role in your business. That is why you always need to ensure that you carefully analyze it. You can get your business credit report from various credit report...

Home Improvement Budgeting: Which Costs Should You Plan For?

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The leap from renting to owning is one of those classic markers of adulthood, and with that leap come new responsibilities from mortgage loan payments to homeowners insurance. One cost that catches some new homeowners off guard, though, is maintenance. After all, in the renters’ world, these costs are typically covered by the monthly rent check. That leaves new homeowners with a lot of questions. How much should you expect to spend on home maintenance each year? Should you tackle the projects yourself, or call in a professional? Which projects are worth your time and money in the end? And should you finance it with your credit cards, a home equity line of credit, a personal loan — or save up to pay it all with cash. To get a better idea of what to expect from this new set of costs, let’s take a look at some of the national averages for home improvement. Improvements are a reality of home ownership A survey from Hanley Wood shows that of about 3,000 homeowners and renters, ...

How To Dispute Your Credit Report

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You may know what your current credit score is, but when was the last time you looked at your full credit report? Besides applying for a credit card or a loan, your credit report is used for a myriad of other purposes — including applying for insurance and employment background checks — that you may be unaware of. If you don’t annually review your credit report, there’s a chance it contains errors. If the errors are big enough, they could seriously jeopardize your chances at getting insurance, landing a job or more! Ordering Your Report Before you can dispute any errors on your credit report, you need to get a copy to look through. The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires all three of the nation’s top credit reporting agencies — Equifax, Experian and Transunion — to send a free copy of your credit when requested, once every 12 months. You can request a copy of your report online at AnnualCreditReport.com, by phone at 1-877-322-8228 or by filling out the Annual C...

Do Payday Loans Ever Make Financial Sense?

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Is there ever a time to use a payday loan? Living paycheck-to-paycheck can wear you down. Spending every penny of your income leaves no room for error. While such behavior may be thought of as a hallmark of the poor, studies have shown that some “hand-to-mouth” households are relatively wealthy. But most of their assets aren’t easily or painlessly converted to cash, like a home or retirement account. These folks may find themselves confronted with a pressing need for funds and no easy way to get the money quickly. Payday loans — short-term, high-interest debt that’s usually backed by a borrower’s post-dated check — may offer a tempting alternative. While these products are particularly poisonous to households with limited financial resources, there may be times when resorting to a payday lender seems to make sense. Yet that solution is often like treating the symptom rather than the disease. Who takes out payday loans? While living hand-to-mouth is a financial condition ...

Q&A: I Have Tons of Debt and Virtually No Income. What Are My Options?

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Got a lot of debt, but no leftover income after all of your bills? Here's what to do about it. Jessica writes: I’m a 23-year old undergraduate student with tons of debt that is all in collections. I only make $50 a month plus room and board as a residential assistant. I feel overwhelmed because I just can’t do anything about it right now. Do I have any options? You’re in a tough spot all right. Collections agencies are merciless, will have no sympathy that you don’t have any inc...

How to Cut Down on Financial Anxiety, No Matter Your Situation

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For millions, these are tough financial times. Here are a few steps that can help calm financial stress. In January, shortly before we collectively learned of COVID-19, Capital One conducted a survey. The survey found that 77% of Americans are anxious about their finances. Further, 58% feel as though they are controlled by finances. We have yet to measure the financial anxiety born of dealing with a global pandemic or fully understand how our mental health will be impacted by such a turbulent year. Money stress is a reality in the best of times. What we're dealing with now is a deeper distress than what most of us have ever experienced. Financial anxiety can make you sick and rob your life of joy. We can't control everything in our lives, but we can cut down on financial stress and learn to control our money rather than allow it to control us. Before we go any further, let's look at what anxiety does to us, physically, emotionally, and mentally. While this list...

Reaching your goal of becoming credit card debt free

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Credit card debt can put a serious drag on your net worth. That's not a surprise when you consider that most banks offer credit cards with double-digit interest rates. And, they require monthly payments that only cover a portion of the outstanding balance. It’s no wonder that many people struggle to break the cycle of never-ending credit card payments. If getting rid of your credit card debt is one of your financial goals, use these steps to achieve your credit card debt free goal. 1. Stop Adding To Your Debt Credit cards offer what is called a “revolving line of credit.” The portion of credit you pay down every month is available for you to use for the next billing period. This can leave you in a never-ending cycle of charging purchases on your credit card, then making your scheduled minimum payment, followed by the additional spending of the available credit remaining. To banish the cycle of credit card debt, avoid any additional spending on your credit cards. Opt t...