Why you Need a Budget if your In Debt

Debt is a problem. When you get debt initially, either through a loan or a credit card, it doesn’t seem that bad. You can afford the payments. Over time, that debt begins to build up. It causes problems because you can’t afford to make your payments and pay your regular expenses. It becomes cyclical over time and could eventually lead to bankruptcy or worse.

You Need a Strategy

In order to get out of debt, you need a strategy that allows you to make your minimum payment each month and pay as much as possible more toward your debt to get rid of it quickly. The faster you get rid of it, the less you’ll pay in interest. The more aggressive you are at paying off your debt, the faster it will disappear. A strategy will get you there. A budget is the ideal strategy.

How to Budget

Budgeting isn’t that complicated. Once you learn how to construct a budget, the process of following it is simple. It’s not painless, but it’s not complicated either. You’ll have to make sacrifices and do without, at least until your debt is paid off, but once you set limits on your spending and stay within those limits, it will become a rewarding habit.

Benefits

What does a budget help you do? The benefit of a budget when you’re in debt is that it helps you to squeeze out every extra dollar possible to put toward your debt. A budget helps you cut back on your spending in the most efficient way. As long as you follow the budget, you’ll have a lot of extra money leftover to put toward the debt.

Another benefit is that it makes getting the extra cash you need to put toward your debt payments a lot easier. You don’t have to constantly think about whether or not the things you are buying are okay and if you’re putting enough money toward your debt. A good financial plan will set up a timeline for your debt repayment, and as long as you follow the budget, you’ll reach your goals to pay off debt simply and quickly.

Save 15 Cents Per Gallon at Exxon Mobil

I just received an email from Exxon Mobil where you can save 15 cents per gallon when using your Speedpass when you fill up for the next 60 days or 100 gallons, whichever comes first. You will not see the savings at the pump, however will get a credit on your card as one lump sum on gas that you used the speedpass for. It should appear when you reach 100 gallons or after 60 days, whichever comes first. Check out their Promotion FAQ for more details.

Just sign up for the promotion at the Exxon Mobile Speedpass site. You need to register an online account with them if you haven’t done so already.

If you are unfamiliar with a Speedpass device, it is a little key fob that you wave in front of the machine to active the gas pump. It links to your credit card, so you no longer have to use your credit card at the gas station. Exxon Mobil gas stations also have readers inside as well as at the car washes. No more dealing with money or credit cards anymore.

If you don’t already have a Exxon Mobil speedpass, you can Sign Up Here then register for the promotion after your account is created.

You figure with current gas prices at around $4. Getting $.15 gallon off is like saving 3.75% at the pump. Not a lot, but at least you can brag to your friends that you only paid 3.85 for gas while they still paid $4!!!

Save Money By Renting Textbooks Instead Of Buying Them

As you can probably tell from the lack of consistent posting on this site, there is something else keeping my busy. Well you were right. I recently have started back at school to pursue my MBA. It has been a while since I did my undergrad when I graduated in 1997. Back then the Internet was still a baby and you actually had to go to a book store to buy your textbooks. Well these days, there are a bunch of sites where you can by textbooks and then resell them later and they usually are much cheaper that the campus book stores.

I came across a site called Chegg.com where you can actually rent textbooks. This saves you the hassle of buying them and then trying to sell them. I remember back in college when you would spend $100 on a book just to realize after you took your final that they would be a new version of the book and they weren’t going to buy yours back. Lets just say I have a bunch of useless books in my basement.

I decided to look into the text book rental a bit more. As I had just completed my first MBA class, I did a quick comparison. I purchased the text book Organizational Behavior from Amazon.com for $169.34, which was about $40 cheaper than the bookstore my school recommended. I then sold it back to amazon using their trade-in program for $89.20. So I only ended up paying $80.14 for the use of the book. Well I took a look at Chegg.com and their rental price for the book was $60.70 for the dates that would have covered my class.

A savings of $20 would have definitely been handy. I then checked for my upcoming class and it is a savings of over $35. I ordered the book through their website and just received it yesterday. It comes in a reusable box and contains info on how to print a return shipping label for free once you are ready to send it back. The nice thing is that all shipping is included in the rental price. All you have to do is make sure you send the book back by the rental expiration date.

At this point, I think I am going to switch to textbook rental. Obviously it doesn’t make sense to rent if you actually want to keep the book, but for right now I am just taking general education required classes which I could really care less about keeping the book.

If you are in undergrad or grad school, I would definitely take a look at Chegg.com and do the comparison between them and the other bookstores to see if money can be saved on the books. Lets face it, tuition isn’t cheap anymore and for some reason the cost of books increases right along with it, so why not do what you can to keep a little bit more money in your pocket.

Once I send the book back I will do a more indepth Chegg.com review for you all.

Discover More Card 0% Balance Transfer for 18 Months

If you overdid it during the holiday season, now is the time to start knocking off that debt. The Discover More Card has a promotion going on where you can get a 0% rate on balance transfers for 18 months when you sign up for the card.

Note that there is a 4% balance transfer fee on the balance of the transfer. If you are going to balance transfer for the full 18 months, then the 4% fee is pretty negligible.

0% balance transfer offers are becoming more and more scarce these days as the credit card companies try to find other ways to increase their revenue based on the new consumer card act that was passed last year. If you are needing to transfer some debt at a low interest rate, then this deal could be for you.

Other benefits of the card include the following:

• 0.00% introductory APR for 12 months from the date of account opening.
• 5% Cashback Bonus in categories that rotate each quarter
• 5% to 20% Cashback Bonus through our exclusive online shopping mall
• Up to 1% Unlimited Cashback Bonus on other purchases, automatically
• Redeem rewards for cash

For more details on this offer, check out the Discover More Card Promo offer details. Make sure to read the “Interest Rates and Interest Charges” section at the bottom of the application so that you are fully aware of the terms and possible fees with this promotion.

Unlimited FDIC Deposit Insurance until December 2012

Most people know that the FDIC has increased the deposit insurance to cover up to $250,000 per depositor per banking institution, from the $100,000 limit that has existed for some time.  However not many people may have noticed that on December 31st 2010, the FDIC implemented the Dodd-Frank Provision. This act allows for unlimited deposit insurance for any amount of money you have in a bank that is deposited in a non-interest bearing account.

 So in simple terms, if you have 1 million dollars in a single bank you normally would only $250,000 would be insured. But today, if that money is in a non-interest bearing account, all of that 1 million dollars in insured. A few things to stress here is that the money MUST NOT BE in an account that earns interest. If you have questions, make sure to ask your local bank representative to clarification on which accounts will work with the Dodd-Frank Act. Also note that this unlimited insurance is only in effect until December 31st 2012. You are still insured up to $250,000 on interest bearing accounts.

If you are like me and am not even close to meeting the $250,000 limit then this really doesn’t concern you, but if you have a ton of cash that you don’t want to earn interest on, then at least you can rest assured that if your bank fails, your money is still safe. Not sure how many people want to have over $250,000 in an account that earns nothing, but hey, to each his own right?

More information on the Dodd-Frank Act.

Best Checking Account With Unlimited ATM Rebates

Are you sick of paying fees at ATMs? Most people don’t realize, but with most bank accounts if you go to an ATM not owned by your bank you will end up paying 2 separate fees, one by your bank and one by the owner of the ATM.

Some banks waive their fee when you use ATM’s that aren’t theirs up to a certain amount, others increase the fees the more you use them.

If you are like me, you probably think, I don’t really want to count anything. I want a bank account that rebates ALL fees each month no matter what ATM I use. Well you are in luck. Ally Bank has an online checking account that does just that. Any fees that are incurred from an ATM withdrawal are credited back to your account when the statement for that month closed no matter how many times you do it.

What makes this account even better is that there are no minimum balances, no fees, 0$ to open, Free Online banking and Bill Pay and no direct deposit requirements. They actually pay you interest as well depending on the amount you have in the account. They have an ACH transfer system where you can transfer money in and out of the account to any other bank account that you have.

If you are being choked by your current bank where you get no interest on your money, ridiculous ATM fees and crazy direct deposit requirements, then you should check out there Ally Bank Checking Account . It literally costs you nothing to open and use, but can save you a fortune in fees and hassle!

Originally posted at Budgetcents.net

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