The state of your finances considerably influences your lifestyle. If you live in an affluent area, or drive a fancy car, you probably have stable finances. However, if you’re like many Americans who are downsizing to smaller homes and cheaper means of transportation, you may need a little help when it comes to money matters. Managing your funds properly can help you get out of a financial rut and back on the road to financial stability. Here are some ways on how you can do just that:

Many people have checking accounts, although a significant portion of those who do tend to lose money because their accounts aren’t properly balanced. If you write a check that isn’t backed up by ample funds, you’ll be charged penalties such as a fee for insufficient funds (both by your bank and the merchant that accepted your check) or a fee for a bounced check. Start managing your checking account by keeping records of everything that goes on with it, and compare your records to your monthly statements. Keeping track of all transactions and ensuring you have enough money in your account to cover the checks you issue is one way of keeping this issue in check.

Most Americans have multiple credit cards, which can lead to a lot of money lost due to late payment fees, not to mention interest rates plus annual fees. A drastic step that helps reduce the money you lose with these is cancelling all credit cards but one or two, which you’ll then use solely for emergencies. Once you’ve canceled all other credit cards, make your payments on or ahead of time to avoid paying penalties. In addition, try and pay more than just the minimum payment due, especially as you might be faced with a huge credit card debt in the near future.

Controlling your finances could be as easy as cutting back on a few luxuries, or as difficult as throwing out most of your credit cards. It all depends on how unstable your finances are. In the end, you’ll find that wherever you stand in terms of money, you can give your funds a big boost by following these two tips.

Puritan Financial Group has years of experience in dealing important financial decisions. Puritan Financial Group will listen to you and your loved ones and craft a custom financial solution that supports your life goals.

Money problems are at the top tier of the average American’s personal concerns. When your finances aren’t stable, you could get into serious trouble. A simple reduction in unnecessary purchases or impulse buys, for example, could go a long way in balancing your budget and freeing up money for debt payment, investments, and other uses. To get more out of your money, follow these easy tips that can help you spend less, save more, and breathe a little easier.

Most people eat out more often than they should. Limiting how often you eat at restaurants will help you reduce spending, especially when you consider how much a dinner out costs compared to a home-cooked family meal. You can also augment your food budget by packing a coffee and bagel from home and bringing it to your place of work, which saves you half the money compared to buying breakfast at a coffee shop.

Many households can reduce their utility bills. You can get discounts if you decrease household power usage, or buy appliances with a low carbon footprint. Cancel any services that you don’t use, or can do without, such as call waiting or caller ID. Inspect your monthly water bill for big increases, which can be the sign of a major leak. Upon regular inspection of your utility bills, you may find unused services or erroneous charges that you can cancel or report and save money on.

You might have been with the same insurer for years, not knowing that you can spend less on home or car insurance by asking your provider for discounts, shifting to new policies, or moving to an entirely different insurer. You can get huge savings, especially if you have multiple policies from one provider. Check online insurance quotes websites to give you more information on better and cheaper policies.

Dining out less, checking your utility bills regularly, and getting a different insurance policy can help you spend less than you earn. As you increase the amount of money you save, you can pay off debts, make investments, and even enjoy the occasional luxury. Make sure that you budget your money properly and spend within your means – this will increase your chances at financial balance by reducing unnecessary spending.

Puritan Financial Group has years of experience in dealing important financial decisions. Puritan Financial Group will listen to you and your loved ones and craft a custom financial solution that supports your life goals.

If your business is struggling with bad profit, almost no cash, and bad financial situations? In today’s economy, this is common for a lot more businesses. It is harder to start and fund your business then ever before, and keeping your business alive gets harder and harder. But there are ways to keep your business financially strong. Smart financial planning. Even in this economy, your business can be successful, profitable, and secure. Using B2B CFO, you can get a part time cfo to help you understand how your financial planning works. B2B CFO has been around for over twenty years, and they have skilled and qualified CFO’s waiting to help you and your business. Their CFO’s have an average of twenty five years of experience, with the knowledge to help out your business. They bring plenty of assets to the table, like exit strategies for bad financial situations, financial planning, cash flow, and banking relationships.

B2B CFO wants to make sure that you goals for your business are accomplished. They will make sure that your goals are clearly understood, and that the right path for your financial success is chosen. This clear understanding helps pave the way for better financial success, profit flow, and more cash. Utilizing their skills in the best way possible, your part time cfo will construct the best financial plan for you. They also understand that at one time in your life, any owner may wish to leave the business. They will set you up for that financially, and professionally, so you are secure even after your CFO leaves. All of the CFO’s are seasoned professionals, who are dedicated to you and your business.

B2B CFO is a reliable, goal oriented business dedicated to help you. Much unlike interim cfo services, B2B CFO is a professional business that works with a strong handshake instead of lengthy contracts. They are here to set up professional relationships that last for a lifetime. Interim CFOs stay for only a few months, and when they leave they take their knowledge with them. The CFOs offered to you by B2B CFO will stay with you for as long as you need, five, ten, fifteen years. They will make sure that you are ready to continue your success once they leave, so the security does not leave with them. Take the step today, and contact B2B CFO.

Page Views works with B2B CFO. Interim cfo servicesprovide all your financial vision and direction at a fraction of the cost of hiring a full time advisor. Use a part time cfo to bring your business into positive cash flow. For more information about B2B CFO visit http://www.b2bcfo.com.

One benefit of running a franchise is that once you have proved to yourself that the system works and that the support is good, it is relatively low-risk to scale up, by acquiring other franchises and applying the same business principles that forged your earlier success.

Gary Everett is a case in point. Having run the Martin & Co franchise in Colchester for five years, the opportunity to acquire the neighbouring Ipswich franchise arose. Initially Gary had been looking to acquire competitor portfolios, but when he heard that the franchise itself was available he jumped at the opportunity without question. With it came the prized portfolio of 50 managed properties, and a good office location.

“The Ipswich acquisition is a classic economy of scale for my business,” said Gary. We have a thriving letting business in Colchester employing 10 support staff who have absorbed the accounts and management functions of the Ipswich operation into their office. The system is robust enough to input any number of cases, so the Ipswich office itself is effectively a low-cost satellite branch. Employing just two people at the branch makes it a very low cost yet well-exposed operation offering great personal service to anyone who walks through the door.”

“I see this approach to growth very much as the way forward. Lettings are currently thriving, with year on year growth. As property values fall, so the yields are effectively rising, and professional landlords are filling their boots – buying cheaply and letting quickly. We are seeing net returns of 7%-10% for many clients, so it’s a no-brainer for those with cash to invest (better than putting it in a bank, that’s for sure!). So I see a swing towards the larger scale landlord, which is exactly the type of client who appreciates the efficiency of our system, combined with the ability to speak to people who really have a deep understanding of the letting business. There are too many wannabe letting agents who just don’t cut the mustard, and you simply can’t entrust such a massive investment as a block of flats to someone who does lettings on the side,” he said.

Sharon Titchmarsh, formerly of Belvoir and Director of business brokerage Enable, and more recently employed as Portfolio Buyer at Countrywide Residential Lettings, has joined Martin & Co to develop the momentum for business acquisitions in 2009.

“It’s a busy market currently with many lettings businesses changing hands” commented Sharon. Martin & Co has access to substantial bank funding for expansion, so the year ahead is set to be an exciting time for the company. As well as specialist letting agencies our main opportunity is to acquire the letting portfolio of estate agents who are keen to add liquidity to their business during these turbulent times in the property market.

“My seven years experience in valuing and handling lettings business sales ensures that owners are getting a fair market price, and they can also rest easy knowing that their clients will be taken care of after the sale completes. As residential letting specialists with a well-proven franchise model, the company always has a dedicated team on hand to oversee a seamless transition”, Sharon continued.

Martin & Co grew its network revenue by 45% during 2008 and is confident of similar growth during 2009. Managing Director, Ian Wilson commented “Sharon is one of only a handful of experienced letting agency brokers operating in the UK, so we are privileged to secure her services. She understands the sensitivity of these transactions and the need for absolute confidentiality, along with a well-rehearsed process that gets the sale through quickly within minimal disruption”.

Matthew Anderson is the founder of The Franchise Shop website which specialises in accountancy franchises for sale and is an accountancy franchises expert in the UK

Knowing where you stand in terms of money can help you establish a better financial plan for now or for your future retirement. You can identify the state of your finances by answering the questions in this list with a “yes” or “no,” while keeping track of the number of times you answer “yes.” If you live at home with a partner, let him or her answer this questionnaire, too. Here are the questions that can help you determine your financial status:

1. Do you use a significant part of your regular income to pay off debt?
2. Do you only pay the minimum allowable amount on credit cards and loans monthly?
3. Are you beyond or near your credit card limits?
4. Are you using money intended for other expenses to pay for your household bills?
5. Are you taking out loans or using your credit cards to purchase what you used to pay for in cash?
6. Do you often pay your bills past the due date?
7. Do you withdraw money from your savings to cover your bills?
8. Are you always working extra hours, or juggling two or more jobs to be able to survive?
9. Do you postpone medical check-ups or treatment because you can’t afford the bills?
10. Do you get calls from collectors or lenders because of overdue bills or loan payments?
11. Are you going to encounter financial difficulties immediately if you or your spouse resigns or get fired?
12. Are you always worried about money?
13. If you’ve answered “no” to every question on the checklist, you’re in the pink of financial health.

One “yes” or two doesn’t necessarily state that you’re going to be encountering tough financial times soon, although you could take it as an omen warning you of possible money problems. Develop a realistic financial plan that includes proper budgeting and money-saving measures, or modify your current spending plans. Always be on the lookout for impending financial problems.

If you’ve answered “yes” three to five times, you’re well on your way to financial turmoil. If you don’t already have a financial plan that includes budgeting and savings, make one and follow the plan to the letter. Control your spending ASAP by minimizing unnecessary purchases and stopping credit card use.

If you’ve noted more than five “yes” answers, you may already be in financial ruin. However, it’s not the end of the road, yet. Skip the DIY planning and obtain professional help to get back on your feet and on the path to financial stability.

Puritan Financial Group has years of experience in dealing important financial decisions. Puritan Financial Group will listen to you and your loved ones and craft a custom financial solution that supports your life goals.

Part time franchises can be enjoyed by the increasing sector of society that is looked for an additional income stream or who simply do not have the time to go back into full time employment. This could be due to home demands or demands of a physical nature. Let’s take a look at the options available and how well they can work for you.

1. Vending machine franchise.

These take very little time to run and most of that time is simply restocking the machines once per week or more depending on how popular the machine is. They can vary widely from drinks and snack machines through to naughty (tee hee) vending machines, toy and gift machines, business card machines, and even weight machines fall into this category. quite simply anything which requires placing a machine in a store or building.
They tend to be fairly expensive for what they are due to the high cost of the machines but you can expect to pay anything from 8,000 – 20,000 pounds for 6 machines with options to purchase more. In many cases the franchisor will find you placement or have agreements in place with the major supermarkets and malls etc but also in some cases you are required to place them yourself.

Pros: Easy to maintain, little work.

Cons: Placement is everything. 6 machines in bad placement may only make you a handful of change each week.

2. Internet Franchises

It is debatable whether you can group Internet Franchises into the part time category but quite simply most internet franchises you get out of them what you put in. There are 3 distinct categories of Internet franchise. 1 Selling a product. 2 Selling a service 3. Providing a service.

Examples:

1. Well you can use your imagination on selling a product, everything from clothes to jewellery.

2. Services such as web design (you do not have to do the designing)

3. Running a local directory providing information to local people about the local area

Prices of course vary but the standard Internet franchise in the UK goes for around the ten k mark, rising to around 30k.

Pros: Work from home, can increase to full time.

Cons: Many are new and not established. Be wary of “made to franchise” internet franchises which may go under within a few years, taking your profit with them.

The fact is: Categorising part time franchises is virtually impossible. Whereas some franchises are full time in their own right, many of the home based franchises can be run to your own needs and expanded if time becomes more available.

The main thing to look for is what the franchisor requires from you. Obviously paying a large fixed chunk of your monthly earnings may not be possible or viable if you only want to work 15 hours per week so you want your monthly fee to be based on earnings. When talking to the franchisor remember to discuss with them your requirements and how it may affect the business you are buying into.

Matthew Anderson is the founder of The Franchise Shop website which specialises in financial services franchises for sale and is a financial services franchises expert in the UK

Scammers, such as those who target people who want to eliminate or alleviate their debt, may only get you into more financial trouble if you enlist their services. If you’re dealing with a large amount of credit card debt, how do you know if you’re entering a potential scam? Here are a few tips on how to identify credit repair scams:

If you have to pay for credit repair before you get results, it’s likely that you’re working with a scammer. If the service you’re working with doesn’t divulge your legal rights or outline the terms of your transaction or contract properly, it’s probably a fraudulent operation.

If you’ve encountered companies whose representatives tell you to directly contact an agency that does credit reports, you’re at risk of getting scammed. If you’re advised to create a new identity for a clean credit slate, stop working with the company as soon as possible. Aside from getting involved in credit fraud, you’ll get into identity fraud as well. Your involvement can result in prosecution if you apply for credit with false info – lying on credit applications or misrepresenting your Social Security Number could land you in jail.

When you’re faced with a lot of credit debt, you may be tempted to hire people who advertise “guaranteed” credit repair. However, many of these professionals are often scam artists who’ll only take your money and give you zero results. The best recourse for this type of problem is the do-it-yourself method (with help from real financial advisors and legit lenders, of course). Once you’ve recovered from credit card debt, take steps to prevent unmanageable debt from happening again by reviewing your credit report periodically, and ensuring that it contains correct information. These checks can also help you prevent identity theft or nip it in the bud if it occurs.

Puritan Financial Group has years of experience in dealing important financial decisions. Puritan Financial Group will listen to you and your loved ones and craft a custom financial solution that supports your life goals.

A sustainable and relatively comfortable retirement can be defined by having ample retirement funds that won’t get depleted before you pass on. While there are many opportunities for the young worker to accumulate adequate funds to retire on, many are unlikely to choose an exact retirement age, or feel confident that their retirement funds will be enough. The Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index, which ranks international pension plans based on these two factors, says that the United States isn’t in the best shape in terms of pension. There are a number of components that stops the country’s retirement system from improving.

There is an expected decrease in the rate of productive workers versus the country’s population. Social Security also warns that the program will reach a point where more people are taking money from it, compared to people putting money in. Government debt also plays a large part in how programs such as these work – if federal debt is too high, the certainty of benefits for low-income workers can be compromised.

People who have pension plans may understand the problems that result from inadequate funding: the potential inability of their pensions to give them proper benefits. Many have stuck to the same employer for a long time, such as a person’s entire working career, to get the benefits promised to a loyal employee. However, since many pensions don’t have the financial capability to distribute benefits, some providers wish to give up the responsibility.

Alternatives to pension plans, such as the 401K, aren’t giving the employee and future retiree much better options. The Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index has even stated that this component of the country’s retirement system is one of the most flawed. One of the main reasons behind this rating is 401K’s inability to match the employee’s contributions. Since the economic downturn, companies could no longer match the worker’s payments. Aside from participating employees, plan investors also suffered as well.

Depending on two of the supposed ramparts of the United States’ retirement system, Social Security and 401K, for the bulk of your retirement funds can leave you high and dry when you retire. Whether you’re a young worker who’s a decade away from retirement, or a senior employee with retirement on the horizon, finding other sources of stable income to augment what you can get from these programs is necessary. Otherwise, a financially troubled, stressful retirement may await you.

Puritan Financial Group has years of experience in dealing important financial decisions. Puritan Financial Group will listen to you and your loved ones and craft a custom financial solution that supports your life goals.

Controlling your finances has become more difficult, especially as advertising media has strengthened its hold on the consumer mindset through the Internet. All of these media constantly bombard the everyday Internet user with offers encouraging us to buy this or spend on that. This is quite tempting to the average consumer, often causing him or her to spend on non-essentials and luxuries.

It is this spending on non-essentials that puts the consumer into debt, as many households across the country are unable to cover even the most basic of household needs. To know if you’re prone to spending beyond your means and getting into more debt than you can handle, answer the following questions:

Do you use credit cards to buy things or services you used to pay for with cash?

Do you apply for loans to pay off debt?

Do you use savings to pay off bills?

Do you pay only the minimum amounts due on your credit card bills?

Do you frequently get notices for overdue payments?

Do you work overtime, or juggle more than one job to cover your household expenses?

Do you pay off only the most urgent debts?

Do you get advances from your credit cards to pay for your everyday expenses?

If you’ve answered “yes” to any one of these questions, then it might be high time that your review your spending habits and manage your budget better – you’re starting to dip into money that you should be setting aside. Two or more “yes” answers could mean that you’re in the thick of overspending, and well on your way towards debt that’s especially difficult to manage.

If you’ve answered one or two “yesses,” consult with the Citizens’ Advice Bureau for some tips on how to manage your household budget properly by cutting back on your expenses and putting more money into a savings account. More than three “yes” answers? Get on the phone with a professional financial planner, review your monthly expenditures, and establish a solid financial plan to get your finances back on track and off the road to debt.

Puritan Financial Group has years of experience in dealing important financial decisions. Puritan Financial Group will listen to you and your loved ones and craft a custom financial solution that supports your life goals.

Many seniors want to keep pets when they retire, which means additional costs which can place a significant drain on their nest egg. However, the prospect isn’t as simple as it seems. Oftentimes, keeping a dog or cat you obtained from the animal shelter, for example, is much more expensive than buying or adopting a pet of a better and hardier breed. A pedigreed dog can cost almost $40,000 over the average life span of 14 years, while a well-bred cat can set you back half that figure over the same time frame – a mixed-breed dog or cat will cost more than that.

Your choice of pet directly influences how much maintaining it costs. Although people may not want to fork out as much for a pet with a pedigree, they will pay upwards of a couple of thousand dollars for a trip to the vet. Consider that these costs can be compounded by other factors: kids who’ve moved out can move back in, or investments may not net the desired returns. This requires that the retiree’s attitude regarding what we now call luxuries – anything other than the bare essentials – should change. If you’re keeping a pet despite financial constraints, you need to specify each pet expense in your budget as you would other financial considerations.

It’s easy to say that you will make space in your budget to make way for the expenses of keeping a dog or cat in retirement. However, it’s much harder to determine how you’ll do it. If you’re working with a financial advisor or retirement planner, they’ll need to know exactly what you have in mind to project the impact your pets will have on your retirement funds. Your age, the health and estimated life span of your pet, and your overall finances are just some of the things that need to be studied to see where pet costs are in terms of your budget. It’s not as simple as putting dog food costs along with your own food costs – your pet will need a healthcare budget of sorts, as you do.

Keeping a pet during retirement may be much more than the average senior can afford. Discuss your pet plans with your friends, family, and financial planner to ensure that your dog or cat will fit into your financial future.

Puritan Financial Group has years of experience in dealing important financial decisions. Puritan Financial Group will listen to you and your loved ones and craft a custom financial solution that supports your life goals.