Final farwell

Throughout this trimester we have covered a lot of things from Saving, to Investing, and  Retirement, Debt, Credit Scores, Taxes, Insurance, Budgeting.  The most important, however is budgeting.  With out a proper budget you aren't going to be successful in handling your money.  The budgeting made the most impact on me.  We took time to use the forms and to use real life examples.  These idea are being used throughout my life and should be used in everyones.  This class will stick with me throughout my life when I am buying a house or a car.  

Importance of balancing a check book

This week we learned how to and how important it is to balance a checkbook.  You balance it by reviewing what you recorded you spent and what the bank recorded you spent.  The items that are the same you check off.  If the bank has not recorded all the transactions than you mail them a form stating what you did and what they need to fix.  You need to balance your check book because if you do not you may over draw you account and obtain a fee.  It doesn't matter to the bank how much you over draw it is always a fee.  To avoid this every time you get your bank reconciliation you should balance your check book.

Difference in Men and Women when it comes to finaces

Men and women are different in many ways, and when it comes to finances it is no different.  Men do not like the emergency fund suggested by Dave Ramsey.  They believe it is not sophisticated enough.  Women believe it is a great tool and a must.  When it comes to getting deals men like to use the negotiating technique.   Women like to do bargin hunting and shop around for good deals.  Men like to go to a store get their item and leave women like the process.  Men and women are totally different when it comes to finances.

ID Theft

We learned about Identity Theft this week.  We learned how easy it is for some one to steal your identity. They can get it in a coffee shop when you are sharing the same internet.  There are many other ways and all they need is one  piece of information to do a lot of damage.   The most dangerous is medical id theft.  This is when some one you don't know get onto your medical account and inserts their information.  If a doctor needs to make a life threatening dissuasion he will look in the files and go off their content.  With someone else's information it could in return kill you.  Another type that can get you in a mess not only finically  is criminal id theft.  When some one gets in trouble and it is under your name like you did it you will get presses with charges that can be a pain in the rear end to clean up.   It can get you into trouble for someone else's crime.  You want to avoid id theft at all costs.  Get protection.

Caveat Emptor

This week we have learned about how businesses try to get us to buy their product.  They plant slogans into the consumers head so when every they are about to buy something related to that producer they think of the slogan.  They also use colorful adds to get are attention, and financing phrases like "90 days same as cash."  Producer spends billions of dollars a year on ways to plant information in the consumers head.  If we, the consumers are not careful we will be buying all the products that the media, friends, newspaper, internet say are a need to have. 

If making a significant purchase you need to do the following things:
1.) Wait over night no matter what. 
2.) Consider you buying motives,  no amount of stuff will keep you happy. 
3.) Never buy anything you don't understand.
4.) Consider the opportunity cost.  what will you be giving up?
5.) Seek wise advice. 

Steps out of debt

On Friday we learned the steps out of debt.

1.) Quit borrowing more money

2.) Need to save money

3.) Sell something

4.) Get a part time job or work overtime

5.) Use the Debt snowball

We learned that the debt snow ball is accounting for all of your needs and debt.  First you have to organize your debt from smallest amount to largest amount.  Divide your paycheck up into the category that are required to live.  Utilities, Food, Transportation, Bills and all your minimum payment on your debt.  When you have done this you put all of your extra money towards your smallest debt so that you will erase it faster.  When you pay off one you put all the money you were putting into the smallest payment and add it to your next smallest payment.  You continue this process until all the debt is gone.

Trouble with debt

This past week we learned about how debt can destroy people.  The first area we visited was the rent to own and the tote the note.  We discovered that if you use a rent to own you end up paying between 200-500 percent interest depending on the amount of the item.  Tote the notes are very dangerous because if you do not pay back the money on time then they take your car from you.  Neither of these ways are safe way to borrow money.

We also learned that when you day a pay day in advance that you fall into a cycle of debt.  If you take a early payday you have to pay it back when you get your paycheck and then you will take it out again because you had to pay back that money and it just keeps pilling on month after month.