budget

5 Ways To Keep Romance Alive – On A Budget

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Not everyone can afford to spend big money on romance ever time, but a bit of creativity can get the same results without breaking the bank.

Just about everyone agrees that a nice dinner and a good bottle of wine at a quiet, intimate restaurant will set the mood for romance, but have you seen the price tag? Not everyone can afford to spend big money on romance ever time, but a bit of creativity can get the same results without breaking the bank.

While most people know about ‘his and hers’ items like bathrobes and towels, there are a number of other items that can be enjoyed together as ‘couples’ items. Try getting matching T-shirts with cute sayings on them. Have matching his and hers overnight bags, coffee mugs, bicycles, cell phones, cars, holiday ornaments, tennis rackets, rocking chairs and even matching carved pumpkins on Halloween.

Surprise your partner by making the ordinary a little more special. If he or she is enjoying a good book, remove the bookmark and replace it with a note that says, “I bet you’ll never guess where I’ve hidden your bookmark.” If they always turn the TV on when they come home from work, tape a note on the television that says, “Wouldn’t you rather turn me on?” instead.

Making important memories is one way to be romantic on a budget. Challenge your partner to remember the most romantic kiss that you’ve seen in a movie. This will lead to some discussion about romantic kisses and should enhance the mood. As a surprise, buy that movie one day and try to recreate that special romantic kiss! Keep it in a special place and re-watch it whenever the mood strikes. If you can’t agree on the single most romantic kiss, go ahead and create a top five list. This tip works for anything. The top five most romantic songs. The top five most romantic movies. The top five most romantic books. You see the pattern. Make sure to go ahead and buy the books, songs, movies or whatever so you can use them in the future.

If you want to plan the ultimate romantic evening but funds are low or you simply don’t want to have to leave the house, shut down the electricity and imitate a power outage (it’s up to you whether or not you tell him or her!). You won’t have any distractions or heat, so it is up to both of you to keep the other warm and entertain each other.

It’s hard to find anyone who doesn’t enjoy an Oreo cookie. Take an Oreo (or generic version of one), scratch the top of the cookie until smooth and then scratch a heart and your initials into the smooth surface. You can also make your own cookies and create personal messages. Another version is to make your own cupcakes and frost them with special messages in red icing. You can also give your spouse a true treat and track down a box of his or her favorite Girl Scout cookie.

These 5 simple ideas are sure to warm up any relationship. Don’t be afraid to try simple tips and changes to “routines” to spice things up without having it cost a fortune!

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4 Keys To Freeing Yourself From Debt

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Debt is a way of life for many Americans. We owe money on our homes, our cars, our possessions (from furniture to clothes), and our education. Many Americans are so mired in debt they aren’t even sure just how much they owe and to whom — even worse they sometimes don’t even remember just what caused their debt.

Some debt is good for you. For example, what you owe on your home can provide a nice way to balance out your income tax. A little debt is not a bad thing either as making regular payments to various creditors helps build your credit rating which makes it easier for you to obtain loans at good rates. However the truth is that most Americans have more than a little debt — and many owe far too much money and are already, or soon will be, in financial trouble as a result.

Finding yourself owing a lot of money is not the end of the road and you can stop your cycle of debt by taking four positive steps to break the cycle.

First, attack your high-cost debts. This likely includes credit cards where you may be paying high minimum payments and high interest rates. Pay off the balances on credit cards carrying the highest interest rates first. Continue making your minimum payments for lower-interest cards but concentrate on paying off the highest interest. When the high-cost cards are paid off then work to eliminate the balances on your other cards.

Second, reach out to your creditors. If you are going to be late or have difficulty paying your minimum payments then contact the credit card company. Even if you can make all your payments in a timely fashion there are two benefits you can reap from contacting the card issuer. First, you may be able to negotiate lower rates or more favorable terms. Second, they might be able to recommend alternatives that can minimize damage to your credit rating.

Third, consolidate your debts as much as possible. You can accomplish this a number of ways. One possibility is simply transferring balances from one credit card to another with a lower rate, but be aware of transfer fees before choosing this option. Another possibility, if you own your own home, is to take out a home-equity loan or line of credit which should have a lower interest rate than most credit cards can offer as well as offering tax deductions. Finally, you can also consider a secured loan offering the value in another form of property, your vehicle for example.

Fourth, don’t sacrifice your retirement savings. Obviously paying off your debt should be a high financial priority but cutting what you save for retirement to do so may not be the wisest course — especially if that becomes a long term habit or if you are losing out on your employer’s matching funds as a result. Perhaps you may be able to borrow against (or from) your retirement funds at a lower interest rate which will allow you to continue to save for retirement while also getting out from under your debt.

While owing money may well be the American way it can also be a tremendous burden to bear. You can shed the weight of your load or at least trim it down to a more manageable level by taking these four steps.

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Is Zero Percent for Real?

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The desire to climb out of credit card debt is universal for anyone who is fighting this big problem. And it isn’t an isolated problem. More and more people are having big problems with credit debt especially in these times when you just about have to use credit every day.

There is something a little strange then about credit card companies coming in with offers to help you climb out of credit card debt when its they that are the problem in the first place. It’s almost like a drug pusher pushing a new drug that can get you off drugs but the drug he is pushing is just as addictive as the last one. But when you get offers for new credit cards each month, they often are pushing plans to help you get out of debt by going into debt to them.

Probably the offer that comes in that is most difficult to overlook are the offers to let you do a balance transfer of some of your debt and pay no interest on it. These are often called zero percent offers and they have skilled marketing people write the copy for these offers so you are prone to believe that you really are going to be able to have a loan paying no interest so you can just pay off the principle and that’s that.

Are these zero percent credit card balance transfer offers for real? Well, they are in the sense that they might transfer some of the funds and yes, the interest rate you will see on the first statement will be zero percent. But, like all things, there are catches and things to look out for. You have to remember that the credit card companies are entirely in the business of collecting interest. They don’t do anything else. They offer no value to society, build no roads or hospitals, sell no food or medicine, make no TV shows to make you laugh. They sit there, house your debt, collect interest and try to talk you into running up more debt.

When you get a zero percent offer, they plan on recovering the lost money from the time they support your debt, and you pay no interest. One way they do that is with a transfer fee. They will almost always charge you a 3-5% balance transfer fee with a minimum and sometimes a maximum value. Read the fine print carefully to make sure you understand how much this is going to be and that you agree to it. But be aware that the transfer fee is nothing more than disguised interest. So calculate that against the interest you would have paid leaving the debt where it is sitting now before you cash in on a zero percent balance transfer.

You will rarely see a zero percent balance transfer that is not for a very limited time frame, usually no more than three to six months, sometimes up to 18-months. With the transfer fee factored in, you have to wonder if the effort of moving the money was worth it. And at the end of the introductory period, they are going to raise your interest rate to something that they, the credit card company want it to be. Be absolutely sure you know what that interest rate is going to be and that they live up to that stated level of interest. If you enjoy that zero percent transfer for three months and then face years at 21% interest, you did not win in that transaction, the credit card company won.

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