If your best friend of childhood had just given birth to a baby girl, then you must congratulate her with some awesome baby gifts. If your colleague is also expecting a baby in the recent times, then you must also arrange for a baby shower where you need to congratulate her with the baby gifts.
A baby always makes the elder ones smile with joy. This article will try to give you some idea about the various adorable baby gifts that are available in the market so that you can get an idea about the ways of greeting the new baby in to the family with these baby gifts and lots of wishes.
There are many baby gifts available in the market, some of the contemporary baby gifts like the baby time capsule. This is one of the unique gifts that help you in preserving the memories of the arrival of the new baby. It is such a gift that can be treasured forever. The baby gifts consist of the plush bear; the baby memories set that has in fit the profile of the baby, the daily lives of the new parents, stationery, envelopes, coloured stickers to stick on the photo album, the how to kind of a guide that suggests you about the storage of the baby gifts etc.
This capsule is one of the best baby gifts that you can treasure for the baby. When he grows up, you can hand that over to him so that he can walk back on his younger days with some nostalgia.
Another great baby gift can be the piggy banks for the baby. The piggy banks are great keepsake for the baby as well as the parents of the baby. The Piggy banks are supposed to be the first step towards savings for the baby and hence it makes for a great baby gift.
This can also be the starting lesson for the baby so that he can understand the value of personal finance and give due importance to them. The piggy banks are the ideal way to start the lesson on personal finance and it will also teach the baby to save money for his pocket money in future. Alternatively, the piggy banks can be also a good keepsake for the parents as well so that they are also careful about the money that they constantly need to bring their baby up.
On the other hand, you can also buy the baby gift baskets that contain all the necessary accessories for the baby. There are the bath toys, the normal toys, the baby blanket, the baby towels etc in the baby gift basket. There are also the teddy bears, candies etc that are available within the baby gift baskets.
Whatever baby gift you buy for the newest and the youngest member of the family, make sure that they are able to utilize the gift when they grow up a little. Thus the piggy banks can make for the ideal baby gifts.
Archive for the ‘Personal Finance’ Category
UK Sports fans looking to purchase tickets for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympics will be unable to do so unless they have a Visa card.
This restriction has been enforced as a result of an exclusive deal made between Visa and the Olympic organisers, which will see the estimated 10 million ticket sales go through the credit card payment system.
The official London 2012 ticket site states: “In recognition of Visa’s support of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, London 2012 is proud to accept only Visa payment cards (debit, credit and prepaid), along with cash and cheques.
Sponsor support is crucial to the staging of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games and the operation of organisations throughout the Olympic Movement.
“London 2012 will also welcome cash and cheques. However, to enjoy the benefit of the quickest and easiest means of payment, see below on how to apply for a Visa card.”
One Finance Blog said that Visa cards are offered through a number of credit card providers so they come with a whole host of features to attract new customers.
Those looking to apply for a Visa card should compare the latest deals to make the most of what credit cards have to offer. For example, you could benefit from 0% purchases deals allowing you to acquire what is effectively an interest free loan to pay for the tickets, as well as any other costs such as accommodation.
The AA credit card currently offers up to 10 months 0% on all purchases, giving cardholders the means to spread their costs over this period.
Alternatively, if you already have a credit card and currently pay interest on the balance you owe, you may wish to consider opting for a balance transfer card, allowing you to move your debt onto a 0% card and pay no interest for the zero percent duration.
These cards do charge a low transfer fee (usually around 3% of the balance transferred), but this is likely to be significantly lower than the rate you currently pay.
The Barclaycard platinum card currently offers the longest 0% balance transfer period, allowing consumers to pay no interest on their balance for up to 20 months, with a transfer fee of 3.2%.
An important thing to remember when using any credit card is to always pay off at least the minimum monthly payment. This will keep you from having to pay any interest; breaking any agreements made with the provider; and avoid having a negative impact on your credit rating.
According to one product-testing and campaigning charity, the restrictions only apply to UK cardholders, so anyone with a credit card registered outside the UK will still be able to purchase tickets.
With the cost of University taking a steep rise, students need to be even more savvy with their finances to avoid getting into more debt.
According to Which4U, the average course fees will cost around 8,000 per year, causing students to rack up debts of 24,000 based on a 3 year course and this doesn’t include anything else.
Add on the cost of living, along with the traditional beer or 5 and you could find yourself in large amounts of debt before you have even started working.
The main tool that students will rely on to manage their funds are student accounts. This type of bank accounts is unlike any account available to non-students, so it is important not to miss out on the deals that come with student bank accounts.
Most banks offer student accounts, but many people simply stay with the bank that they are familiar with and fail to look at the competition. This can be a costly mistake, as banks are very keen to get the attention of students – seeing it as an investment as many students will go on to earn good money which is great for the bank if they remain a customer.
Many student accounts come with freebies, but by far the most valuable tool (if you make use of it) is the 0% overdraft. This feature allows you to spend money you don’t have, while paying no interest for the privilege. Many accounts offer overdrafts of 2,000+ which generally starts off lower then can be extended subject to your financial situation.
If you don’t think you will need an overdraft then there are plenty of other attractive features on offer, from student rail cards that provide students with discounts on train fairs, as well as a number of other incentives.
Alternatively, you may wish to be savvy and earn some extra cash by stoozing. Before trying this make sure you know exactly what you’re doing, as getting it wrong could end up costing you. The idea is to withdraw your overdraft (ensuring it is all 0%) then putting it into a high interest savings account, fixed rate bond, or better still an ISA.
This will allow you to earn interest on the funds, and since you don’t have to pay for borrowing them anything you make is profit. By making use of your ISA limit you can benefit from tax free interest, allowing you to earn higher returns.
If you find yourself accidentally going overdrawn, you will probably be charged. The amount will depend on your bank, but some student accounts cap the amount you will be charged. Something that is worth trying is contacting your bank and explaining that it was an accident – more often that not they will cancel or refund the charge.
This is unlikely to happen if you have exceeded your overdraft several times within the last few months, but there’s no harm in trying.
The best student accounts tend to appear later in the year before the new University year begins, so hold tight then compare accounts to find the best deals.
Meanwhile, researching personal finance options such as student accounts can often be done by consumers from the comfort of their own home.
That is according to Justin Modray of online resource Candid Money, who believes all individuals should take the time to weigh up their options when it comes to such decisions.
Mr Modray explained that the “obvious route” of discussing these products with a financial adviser can often prove too costly for many people, while some professionals in this field may not be as independent as they claim. “For more straightforward products such as savings accounts, credit cards and mortgages it’s not too difficult to do your own research,” he noted.
The expert went on to state that the internet represents a “great resource” for many monetary matters.
Recently, the Financial Services Consumer Panel revealed that many Britons find the process of signing up for the best personal finance options for them both stressful and unrewarding.
Standard and Poor’s recent downgrade of U.S. government debt may seem too remote from small businesses to have any impact. But what really are the factors that the downgrade raises, and how can small businesses adapt to the change?
If your small business depends on federal funding, Standard and Poor’s recent downgrade of U.S. government debt may affect you directly.
The U.S. government has sought to boost the economy out of recession by borrowing on the international wholesale markets and spending on a range of job creation, welfare change, and capital spending projects. A cut in the credit rating from AAA rating to AA+ by Standard and Poor’s raises the potential risk of a default on debt payments, and lenders to the U.S. government will seek an additional few basis points of interest to compensate for the risk.
How Credit Grades Change Fiscal Dynamics Now a few basis points may not seem much compared with the rates a small business borrows at, but imagine the impact of any increase, no matter how small, on the $14 trillion dollar debt burden and you can see that less money will be available to prime the U.S. economy. Apart from the prestige of having the best credit rating, there is a real knock-on cost on the existing as well as new debt.
It may well be the case that some international lenders will not buy U.S. bonds due to the downgrade. That means borrowing may become more difficult in the near future, and the government may be required to consider even further cutbacks in spending.
What Can Small Businesses Do? Secure any existing funding lines now before the effect ripples through the market. Do a thorough financial review and develop a detailed cashflow plan. Talk to investors and bankers about getting the business funded in the most appropriate way.
If your business depends on federal funding, then start to look hard at how to streamline your business even further to save on costs. You may come under pressure to retender for contracts as projects get closely evaluated for cost effectiveness in these tight fiscal times.
Know How Much It Costs to Borrow If your business has any borrowings at all, then make sure you know the interest rate charged and the way the charges are actually worked out. Use a loans calculator to see how small changes in interest rate can affect what you may have to pay and see how changing the term can reduce monthly cashflow needs.
Armed with this information, go and talk to your lenders or investors and negotiate a secure fixed-rate core lending line with a flexible working capital facility big enough to cover the greatest periods of need.
The word “budget” makes many people head for the hills. Who wants to sit down and do a budget? Budgeting means no more spending money, you can’t get your favorite coffee anymore, and Christmas can’t be fun.
I disagree. Our budget has helped me and my husband focus on two things:
1.More of the things we really want
2.Less of the things that aren’t that important
Over the years, I’ve made many mistakes. I’ve also learned how to overcome my mistakes, and have talked to other couples about their budgeting process.
Budgeting does not have to be hard. It’s a process like anything else. Here are the 3 biggest budgeting mistakes I’ve lived through myself:
1. Leaving things out of the budget!
•Clothing -We all need to wear clothes, so it’s hard to say “I’m going to shop at Goodwill for the rest of my life, so I don’t need a clothing budget.” I’ve tried this myself when the kids were little…guess what? We still needed essentials…. Who wants to wear used underwear and socks?
•Spending money-I suggest you each have your own “allowance” for every budgeting period. Money you may spend however you wish. Makes budgeting a little less painful.
•Gifts- Christmas, birthdays, Mother’s Day, weddings, baby showers, etc.
•Restaurants- Times have changed. When I was growing up, to go to a restaurant was a huge treat! Now, most of us have restaurant food at least once a week. According to the National Association of Restaurants, in the year 2000, we were ALREADY eating out 4.2 meals per week on average. Even if you THINK you aren’t eating out anymore, I suggest putting a number in the “Dining Out” category.
•Infrequent expenses- insurance, memberships or subscriptions and medical expenses
2. Not being realistic.
There are a few areas in your budget that are surprisingly more costly than you think!
•Groceries-You probably have a number in your head right now for how much you spend per month on groceries. I always thought I could keep it under $500 a month. (this was several years ago…I’m up to speed now) Food is now the first item in the budget, and it gets more than its fair share. You will be surprised when you start tracking your grocery receipts. All those little trips to the grocery store add up!
•Gifts- This has got to be the most frustrating category in our budget. Christmas comes at the same time every year….but weddings, birthday parties, baby showers….those things are sometimes unpredictable. Here are two ways I’ve learned to deal with the problem:
–Set aside money every month for Christmas.
–”Pre- buy” baby gifts, wedding shower gifts, and kids’ birthday gifts. That way, I have a stash when the event happens unexpectedly.
3. Not communicating with your partner and giving up too soon.
I put these together because it’s easier to give up and say budgeting doesn’t work rather than sit down with your partner and work on finding solutions.
•If you’ve never budgeted before, it’s a new skill. New skills take time to learn. It is going to take several months of trial and error before you have a workable plan.
•The “final” budget is never final! It will change due to new jobs, added income, lost jobs, illness, etc. At the beginning of each month, you only make a budget with the knowledge you have at that time.
•It’s not something to beat yourself up about.
As a CPA, I figured this stuff should come easily to me.
Wrong assumption!
I’m still human and have a husband that’s human too. We BOTH make mistakes with our money. We have the normal communication problems many marriages have. I have learned to accept that the budgeting process is not perfect, and it’s OK that I don’t spend the EXACT amount for every line item in our budget.
The best thing you can do for yourself is keep these things in mind, be flexible, and GET STARTED!
Managing Finances is one of the most challenging areas in life. To be able to achieve your financial goals, managing all your financial priorities and lead a life you want is the ultimate possibility you can accomplish. But it is not easy to do these things and require a great amount of discipline and planning.
First you need to set priorities by narrowing on your objectives. This is the step which requires utmost attention because there may be a conflict when you set on goals that matter. Cut expenses brutally to accommodate more savings. It is a known fact that money saved is money earned. Involve everyone that matters to you in planning your expenses. There is no best time as now. Start setting goals, start prioritizing and drawing lines.
It can be a bitter experience to begin on such a planning. Change feels unwelcome at this point and you might wish to go back to your previous self. However, this is when you have to tighten the strings even more.
Start by budgeting; budgeting is the best way to check your expenditure. Take into account where your money is going, evaluate the current spending habits and set guidelines for yourself to be within that budget. All you have to focus on is spending your money wisely.
Design a priority list of your expenses: It is good to know which expenses are important, unimportant, urgent and not urgent. Close your pulse to the items that tempt you to spend aimlessly. Your spending should be guided by the personal budget. Stop the tendency of impulse buying.
There are many personal finance plans available as software. They are of great help as they have automated tables that do the calculations for you if you give your resources and expenses. You can also do it the old-fashioned way of paper, pencil, and calculator. Just find a way that works and that you will maintain for at least one to three months every day – writing how much you spend and on what you spend it, as well as how much money you make. Once you see the numbers, and try to save, you will become addicted. Most people get addicted to numbers, and once you see how much you have accomplished by saving on certain costs, you will be inspired to do even better next time. Of course, try not to deprive yourself or your family of necessary expenses such as required food to get the nutrition that you need. However, you could probably eat out less and save much more money and eat healthier by cooking your favorite foods at home.
Credit cards play havoc with your budget by tempting you into buying stuff you may otherwise not buy. Do not over spend on credit cards and be up to date in payments. Once again curtail the temptation of spending on cards. Mortgages take a long time to repay, hence better take a smaller loan and pay it off as fast as you can.
We’re used to thinking of American corporations fighting one another, competing for market share and consumer dollars. But every now and then, often unbeknownst to us, they band together.
That’s happening right now, as many companies strike back against credit cards. Striking a loud blow is the “Merchants Payment Coalition,” which comprises many industry groups, each of which in turn comprises lots of companies. One member, the National Retail Federation (NRF), includes companies such as:
Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF)Best Buy (NYSE: BBY)Yum! Brands Whole Foods (Nasdaq: WFMI)Sears Holdings (Nasdaq: SHLD)Macy’s Harley-Davidson (NYSE: HOG)
Together, the coalition’s members employ 50 million workers.
What’s the beef? What’s their gripe with credit cards? Well, you may know that when you charge something at a store, the store pays a little fee to your credit card company — that’s the “interchange fee.” The thing is, it’s not such a little fee. It’s set by credit card networks like Visa (NYSE: V) and MasterCard (NYSE: MA) and is typically around 2% of your purchase, and it can be even higher than that, depending on what type of card you use.
Think about it: If you charge $300 at your local home improvement store for some cans of paint and painting supplies, the retailer might have to fork over $6 to your card company. (The fee is charged on your whole transaction, including any sales tax — not just on the products or services you bought.) If your total credit card bill for the month is $2,000, you may have generated $40 that gets split between the bank that issued your card and the card networks. If you charge $24,000 per year, as many of us do, that’s $480 for the credit card companies, from just one person or household! The NRF estimates that the total interchange fees collected in 2008 added up to about $48 billion. That’s a lot, no?
The retailers think so. And I see their point. After all, retail in general isn’t a high-margin business. As solid a company as Best Buy has been over many years — its stock has risen an eye-popping average of 28% per year over the past 20 years — it sports a net profit margin of just 2.2%. Sears’ margin recently was just 0.1%. Whole Foods’ was 1.4%. For companies with tiny margins, a 2% cut off the top is a big deal.
So what? Well, the thing is that retailers — especially those with low margins — can’t afford to take the cost of interchange fees out of their profits. To stay in business with lean profit margins, the only way they can cover a 2% fee is to pass it on to their customers. What that means is that the prices you pay are often a little higher than they might otherwise need to be.
Of course, if you have a card with perks like cash rebates or frequent flier miles, then your bank basically shifts some of its revenue from those fees to you. If interchange fees were to disappear, you could also expect many reward cards to go away as well.
What to do Congress is looking into all kinds of reforms for the credit card industry right now, as it focuses on what will be good for consumers. We can support that effort by letting our representatives know our thoughts — and we can support an examination of interchange fees, too.
Learn more in our Credit Center and in these articles:
nine tips for doing it right.Learn to how to win the balance transfer game.More reasons to worry about credit card companies.Get ready for credit card hell.
Remember 2007? We called this the “subprime mortgage crisis,” assuming the risks were contained to one relatively small section of the economy.
But as Nouriel Roubini pointed out last September, “We don’t just have a subprime mortgage lending system. We have a subprime financial system.”
And so it went: Subprime spread to Alt-A mortgages, which spread to prime mortgages, which spread to auto loans, which spread to student loans, which spread to corporate paper, which spread to …
Credit cards Yep — credit cards. Their problem is a controversial one because millions of Americans are not only losing their jobs and seeing their wealth go up in flames, but watching their credit card interest rates go from 8% to 25% or more. That’s terrible. It’s infuriating. It’s frustrating, and you can’t blame anyone for being peeved about it.
Not surprisingly, Congress is slogging through new regulation that will, among other things, hinder the “abusive and unfair” practice of banks jacking up interest rates on existing credit card balances.
Regulation, meet confusion In fact, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont went so far as wanting interest rates on credit card balances flatly capped at 15% — a proposal that was recently voted down by his peers.
Legions of consumers are now upset that these interest rate caps were rejected as part of credit card regulation moving through Congress. “Enough is enough. People are hurting. It is time to stop the rip offs by banks,” says Sanders’ website.
But there are two sides to this story. Forcefully reining in interest rates on existing balances — especially to a rate of 15% — could disastrously backfire if it’s intended to help consumers whose problems are ultimately linked to a lack of credit in the economy.
Confusion, meet insanity The interest rates that card companies charge consumers aren’t simply a profit-making tool. It’s a tool to offset the percentage of loans that aren’t repaid — net charge-offs, they’re called.
These charge-offs are exploding to historic levels right now and are all but certain to keep rising as unemployment grows. In the latest month alone, here’s how major card issuers have fared: Decrease is slightly misleading. Capital One recently changed the accounting method it had been using for charge-offs, opting to wait longer before deeming its receivables dead.
Worse, these numbers are likely a pittance of what’s to come. Since unemployment typically lags the end of a recession, the nastiest days for credit card companies are almost certainly ahead of us.
In fact, the Treasury’s own recently completed stress test assumed that banks could face average credit card charge-off rates of 22.5% by the end of 2010, which annualizes out to, coincidently, 15%.
Hence, the same government that’s demanding banks prepare for card losses as high as 15% a year — a number that may very well become woefully optimistic — has thrown around the idea of capping the amount at which banks can offset those losses at the same number. Factor in operating costs, and simple arithmetic tells you that such a law would push the entire credit card industry into bankruptcy in short order. I mean, honestly, when you charge your customers 15% and write off the same amount as losses, you can’t keep the doors open very long.
More importantly, banks would react to such regulation by eliminating consumer credit like there’s no tomorrow, reflecting that new regulations make their business economically unviable. Remaining credit would evaporate almost immediately. In a recession where the chief complaint is that “banks aren’t lending enough,” this seems thoroughly insane.
Complex problems, complex blame Few doubt that banks shouldn’t be allowed to run around a trillion-dollar free-for-all. But as soon as you impose regulations that guarantee an industry will lose money, you’re doing more harm than good to the consumers you’re trying to protect.
President Obama recently said of credit card companies: “These practices, they’ve only grown worse in the middle of this recession, when people can afford them least.”
True. But with losses piling up faster than ever, banks can’t afford not to impose these practices. We have a crisis where banks need healthy consumers, and consumers need healthy banks. Both need cooperation from each other. Obliterating one side and hoping for the best won’t get us very far.
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A travel card can be very handy while on travel, but you need to avoid the pitfalls to get the best out of it.
When traveling around the world the last thing you want to think about is money. Unfortunately, the dirty little paper notes, coins, and plastic cards are what takes us to our dream destinations.
Without these vital travel tools the closest we’d get to magical islands or mind-boggling cities would be through magazines in office waiting rooms.
Fortunately, finance companies and banks are on the same level as those with itchy feet and have created travel credit cards, making it easy for you to fulfill your dreams without the financial pain.
If you’re anything like me, you’re probably way too busy (and excited) organizing your next adventure to even think about what the best credit card is for you while traveling. But I can’t stress enough about how important it is to research before you fly.
While traveling around China recently, I was hit in the face with my lack of knowledge of using credit cards overseas. I was strolling around Shanghai when I spotted a genuine wooden Mahjong game set which my Dad had been hunting for during our entire holiday. So being the thoughtful daughter I am, I grabbed it, took it to the old Chinese lady sitting behind a cash register, pulled out my card, swiped it, punched in the pin and DECLINED!
What!? It couldn’t be possible so I tried it again. Declined. I was left puzzled over why I couldn’t use my card and dad was left without his Mahjong set.
Once I returned home I found out the card wasn’t compatible in shop machines, however I was able to withdrawal cash from a hole in the wall at the cost of a huge fee.
Here’s what to look out for when getting a travel card Apply for a travel credit card which earns air points and rewards the more you travel.
For example, the bmi American Express Card gives you 20,000 bonus destinations miles when you spend 250 within the first 90 days.
The likelihood of spending 250 in 6 weeks while shopping in Beijing or soaking up the nightlife in Ibiza is very high. Therefore this would be an ideal card to gain rewards.
Make sure you ask your credit card dealer what ALL the fees are (withdrawal, penalties, interest rate). Often companies will have quite a high withdrawal fee so I recommend using your card in shops or take out a large sum of cash so the fee justifies the withdrawal.
Find out the policies on transferring money onto the card. Some companies allow you to load money onto your card at a fixed exchange rate which is fantastic if you secure a high rate. But you may get stung in the tail when you want to add more money onto the card.
It’s a good idea to get a second card just in case you lose one. Keep one in your wallet and one in a safe place at the hotel.
Tell your provider you will be using your credit card overseas. Some companies will block cards if there has been an unexpected purchase in a foreign company. This will create huge problems and added stress while on holiday, so it’s best to let your provider know.
Then it’s just a case of sitting back and enjoying your holiday, leaving all your worries and stresses behind!