Start Organising Your Savings Online

One of the main benefits of online banking is the flexibility that comes with it; you have access to your accounts 24 hours a day, 365 days a year from absolutely anywhere where internet connection is possible.

Having access to your savings with such speed and convenience means you can avoid queuing at your local branch or spending too much time with telephone banking. Most major banks in the UK now offer online banking to customers, with many choosing to carry out their banking via the World Wide Web.

Many transactions can be carried out online, from simply checking your balance to making payments. As you can instantly view transactions and statements online, it becomes much easier to control your savings when compared to the traditional monthly paper statement. It is also very easy to move money between accounts, so if you chose to set up both an online current account and savings account, you could transfer funds between the two with just a few clicks of the button.

Due to the savings that banks can generate from carrying out transactions online, preferential interest rates are becoming available for e-bankers, which is particularly good news for savers. The higher the interest rate you can secure for your savings the better; opting to bank online can help you in doing so.

Preferential rates and benefits aside, the different types of savings account available online are similar to those offered on the high street. Most savings accounts pay interest on an annual basis; however you should also look out for savings accounts that offer introductory rates or bonuses as this can be an easy way to secure even better terms. Therefore, spend a little time researching the different types of account and make sure you pick the best one for your requirements.

But if you're worried you might not be able to stick to your savings plan then why not set up a standing order? That way, your savings account is topped up every month without fail. In fact, it might be possible to arrange this online, especially if you already have a current and/or savings account with the same provider.

Making the Most Out of Your Savings

For many partners or married couples saving is a fundamental part of living as they look to get themselves on the property ladder, save up for a new car or go on a dream holiday. A number of banks and building societies offer a good range of savings products that with the right investment can give the investor a great return and additional source of income.

As well as selecting the right savings product to maximise savings income, partners or married couples should take full advantage of tax allowances. Tax allowances enable every person to have income earning assets up to a certain value that are income tax free. The figure is currently around £5,000 and by spreading out assets couples can ensure that either no tax or as little as possible tax will be claimed from their savings income.

For example, a man with £10,000 invested can avoid paying income tax on his assets by having half of the money invested in his spouses name so that the investment does not apply for income tax. Another great way to maximise potential income from savings is to go for a product with the least payment dates. Savings products usually give an option of having interest paid monthly, quarterly or annually with the highest interest rate being offered for the product with the lowest payment dates. So for any saver who can afford to live without their saving income for a whole year, this can be a great way to earn extra from their savings.

Setting Aside Your Money For When You Need it Most

According to new research, many people are now relying on their savings accounts as a place to keep their extra money safe. Indeed, households are choosing to put away their extra money instead of spending it - a sign that many see the current economic downturn as a cue to save, rather than spend, their money.

A surge in attempts to save more money has led the cash value of savings of households in the UK to rise to £11.7 billion in the last quarter of 2008. The rise comes as consumers choose to change their former spending habits. In the same quarter, the sales of food and drink fell by the largest percentage in five years. Instead of spending lots of money on holidays, restaurants and electronics, many are choosing to put that money away in order to let it grow without spending it on non-essential goods.

Experts have noted that many are choosing to save because they are expecting to see a drop in their household income. Though the interest rates surrounding mortgages has decreased in recent times, this has not led many households to increase their spending on other goods.

In the final quarter of 2008, Britons alone saved £7.6bn of their incomes in savings accounts. It has also been noted that the proportion of what is saved in accounts across the nation has grown radically, and is at its highest since 2006. In addition, each household is now saving an extra £3 per month compared to what was being saved a year ago. As people borrow less money and reign in their spending, savings accounts are surfacing as a reliable option for people to save the money they might need for later.

What's more, it has been noted that the number of people choosing to save money hasn't risen, but those who do choose to save are putting away more each month. In addition to saving money, household spending also fell by close to 1 per cent, as families continue to cut down on unnecessary costs. Many experts are cheering the move, as it implies that families dealing with debt are beginning to tighten their spending habits in order to pay it off.

How to Survive the Depression

Many people today are asking how to survive the depression. Although, only a recession has been officially declared, some believe a full blown depression is looming and they want to be fully prepared.

The best way to survive the depression is by keeping a hold of your job if at all possible. One of the worst signs of a depression is high and chronic unemployment. Many companies may be considering making redundancies in response to the depression. Try your best not be among those that are axed. A high level of conscientiousness at work is advisable. If you are one of the employees with the highest productivity, your employer will be less inclined to put your name at the top of the layoff list.

During a depression there is usually less money to spend and goods and services become more expensive. You can survive the depression by being much more frugal with your expenditure. Cut down on household bills by making use of low energy alternatives in lighting, for example. You can cook many meals in one go and store in the freezer. Try to make calls only during off peak hours and make the most of free talk time offers. Look after your clothes properly so that less needs to be spent on your wardrobe. You can also try shopping in bulk at the supermarket to make use of cost saving multi-buys.

You can survive the depression without having to forgo on leisure and entertainment. You may just need to make some adjustments in this area of your life. A depression is a good time to spend time together with friends. Instead of going to the cinema, why not all gather around someone's home to watch a DVD? Substitutes to expensive restaurants can be cook-offs at home. Take it in turns to host a meal. You can also use this as a game similar to those on reality TV shows where points are awarded for the best meal.

You can survive the depression by applying equal amounts of careful planning, expenditure reduction and creativity.

Three Opportunities During a Recession

Of course there are opportunities during a recession, including those listed below. In fact, many "lucky people" will prosper in these tough economic times. If you want to be one of them, you have to start to think like them.

To begin with, you might want to turn off the stream of bad news on the television. You get the picture, and there isn't actually that much "usable" information that you can get from these sources. Believe me, you'll hear about any really "big" news anyhow.

Once you have stopped feeding yourself a diet of negativity, start developing new habits and perspectives. See problems as opportunities, for example. See every setback as a valuable lesson (and many of them will be more valuable and less expensive than the ones you got in college). Start choosing to be in the right places at the right times.

With the habits and thinking patterns of a lucky person, you'll find ways to make the coming years some of your best. Here are some examples of the opportunities that are out there in the midst of this recession.

1. Buy Stocks On Sale!

If you have been hesitating for years to invest in stocks, hoping for a "half price" sale, this may be your chance. I won't try to guess where the market is headed next, but it sure has to be better to invest when it is lower than back when it was at record highs.

2. Pay Less For Your Home

If you don't yet own a home, you'll be happy to know that they cost less now. In fact, even if you own one, the drop in prices offers the opportunity to get your property taxes and possibly your insurance lowered. Record low interest rates (this is being written in early 2009) mean you might be able to refinance and pay less each month on your mortgage loan.

Many people are only seeing the negative in the real estate slump. Those who create their own luck look to see how there may be opportunity in these problems. Paying less for a loan, insurance and taxes means paying less for a home - regardless of where the current value may be. Incidentally, you might make back everything you lost in home value if you buy a few rental homes while they are cheap, and interest rates are low.

3. Learn Valuable Lessons

The idea of learning lessons the "hard way" is not too inspiring, but why not? Many people have come back from bankruptcy to become wealthy. Others have lost jobs only to discover what they really want to do with their lives. The hard times come in any case, so why not make them into turning points on the path to a better life?

Money management is extremely important to your financial well being

10 Basic Rules For Money Management

Money management is important to your financial well being. Here are 10 basic rules to help you get your finances into shape.

1. Plan your finances. Plan for your families future, any major purchases you require to make & for the periodic expenses that come up ever so often such as birthdays & holidays.

2. Make long term & short term financial goals. This includes everyone in the relatives. Helping children learn the benefit of setting financial goals will help them in the future. By learning to manage money, your children will be better in their own financial situations.

3. Know your financial situation. You should know what your monthly & periodic expenses are each month. You should know what your monthly income is & keep track of your amount of debt.

5. Trying going without your credit cards & learn to live on your income only. Even try paying over the minimum payment amount on your credit card balances.

4. Develop a budget & stick to it. Do a planning budget & then compare it to your actual budget to see what you have actually spent. Learning to stay within your planning budget will help you develop better financial situations.

6. Save money for a rainy day. Put away some money each month. Literally pay yourself a small amount each month so that you are putting away some money for various things. By trying to put away 5% to 10% of your money each month, you will have a reserve fund that will help with most emergencies. Having a reserve fund of 6 months to 1 years worth of living expenses will help you keep from ever having a complete financial breakdown.

7. Keep up on your bills. By paying your bills on time & in full, you will begin to build a good credit history. good credit becomes such a necessary thing these days & by protecting yourself you will keep your expenses such as interest rates & fees down. This will help your financial situation greatly. If for any reason you are unable to pay a bill on time, contact your creditor & work out an arrangement. Do Credit Repair on any inaccurate information on your Credit Report.

8. Know the difference between your needs & your wants. You must make your needs a priority & get those things on your require list when everything on your needs list has been met. Getting things on your require list is great but without taking care of your needs first, you are generating problems to your financial situation.

9. Control your credit. Don't let your credit control you. If you use your credit wisely, you can make good use of your credit & help your credit score. Your credit payments should never exceed over 20% of your net income. By knowing that figure than you can use your credit wisely to help you purchase things that you can not pay for to begin with. Automobiles & Homes are generally things that you should put into those categories, but you can even use it for recreational items such as Vacations, hobbies & other activities. never ever use your credit to pay for another credit item. For example, never use six credit card to make a payment on another credit card. you are paying interest one times & just throwing money away.

These suggestions are meant to help you determine where you can generate opportunities for a better financial situation for you & your relatives. By following this advice you will find yourself in a stronger financial situation & teach your children how to better handle their finances.

10. Know your daily expenditures. If you are aware of where your money is going, then you can control where you money goes for the future. A spending diary will help you keep track of that information. one times you know where they money is going better control can be made where necessary. You may not realize that you're spending $20 a day on a sandwich & coffee because you feel that you're spending a couple bucks here & a couple of bucks there. But they add up & seeing the total each day of where your money is being spent will often open up your eyes to where money can be saved.

Dont Mistake on your Financial Planning

When it comes to our personal life plus money, they all have make mistakes. &, surely there are more mistakes to be made. But here are some mistakes that you must become aware of plus begin avoiding if you're to generate the tomorrow you need.

A life without purpose is a languid, drifting thing; every day they ought to review our purpose, saying to ourselves: This day let me make a sound beginning, for what they have hitherto done is naught! - Thomas A. Kempis

Then look at all your insurance needs, life, health, disability, home plus auto plus make sure you've the protection you require. plus if you've query, be sure to get a profession who understands insurance plus can answer you questions.

Procrastinating. It's so much easier not to deal with serious issues like death plus retirement. Unfortunately, they're a part of life. So start today thinking about how your death will affect those you love plus if the effect is not what you wish then change it to what you'd like. Look of how you will be affected by your retirement plus if you don't like the result change them!

Spending more than you earn. If you require to be Stress Free plus enjoy your life, you've to spend less than you earn. If you continue to live above your means, you'll always be in debt plus you'll always be stressed about the fact that you're in debt. Debt make us all slaves so don't let that be you. So set up a budget plus begin sticking to it.

Not saving . they hear it all the time, Bahamian do not save plus most of us have less than $1,000.00 in our bank. That's not going to get us too far, since for retirement most of us will require anywhere from 85 to 100 percent of the annual income they were earning on the last day they worked. So start saving a portion of every paycheck you get. The worst thing that can happen is, you'll end up with too much money at a time in your life when you'll have the time to enjoy it.

Overusing your credit cards. If you can afford to pay off your credit card in full at the end of the month, no matter how much you charge, then use that card as much as you like. Unfortunately, most of us can't afford to do that. plus so, month after month, they continue to pay the maximum payment plus so doing outrageous sums of interest. If you're in debt up to your ears (other than mortgage debt), you'll seldom get ahead financially. So pay off all your debt as quickly as possible.

Looking for the big kill by buying "numbers". Yes, it's possible you can win plus collect more than money to live in style. But if I were you I wouldn't count on it. Look at how lots of persons around you that you know have been playing "numbers" for most of their lives plus still haven gotten that big pay day. The only persons winning are the owners of the number houses. If they had only saved plus invest their money, I am sure that their returns now would far outweigh their winnings. So keep your money for you!

So look at yourself today plus begin to understand those things that have created your current circumstance plus decide to change your tomorrow by not making the same mistakes. Remembering that "Regret for the things they did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things they did not do that is inconsolable."

Don't chase "hot" investments You should not count on picking a winning stock plus put all your eggs in that basket. Look at what has happened with the performance of a number of sure winners. Remember that stock prices will rise plus fall plus that you should be investing for the long-term. What you require to do is find undeveloped land plus and invest in them after you've thoroughly done your home work. While past performance is no guarantee, when it come to land there is not query because land has continue to return better than 25%.