Blogs

When we hear the word “household budgeting”, the first thing come to our mind is a sad situation where we’re going to cut off our food cost or our entertainment cost heavily to meet up house expenses. But actually, a household budget teaches us how to balance between income and household expenses in a simple manner. It’s essential for creating a successful financial future.

It is quite amazing that we often feel a giving mood, especially in the holiday seasons. Contributing to a noble cause is an excellent way to help people who are in need of serious support. A charity also gives you a tax reduction opportunity. Many organizations will reach you to get a good contribution from your end during the holidays. So, it’s very important to verify the details before handing over your money. Make sure your charity must be taken care of by a reputable charitable organization, instead of some fake trusts.

Hobbies make our life full of fun and liveliness. Without hobbies, we can’t enjoy our lives fully or life will be dull and only filled with eating, sleeping and work. In fact, your hobbies sometimes portray your personality and taste. Hobbies can take a big part of our lives, but it’s not mandatory that they’ll take a big share of your wallet also. Budget-friendly hobbies are also there that can save your money along with giving you an immense pleasure.

Most of us want to be an owner of a decent home, but the hefty down payment needed for buying a home creates difficulties towards owning a property. It is because most lenders demand for a 20% down payment on the mortgage when you choose to opt out of private mortgage insurance. Unless you have saved a lot of money or you’re a wealthy person, paying 20% on a $200,000 or $250,000 loan amount is very hard to do. Thankfully, future homeowners have several options to avoid giving up on the dream of a new home.

Paying off your mortgage is not anymore the most confusing decision. Some people might say it was, when the interest rates were floating between 6% to 9%, or even 11% to 13% couple of years ago. But, in today’s low rates, you don’t have that much urgency to pay off your mortgage right now.

Starting from January 2015, the mortgage rate didn’t increase too much. 30-year mortgage crossed the 4% mark surprisingly only 7 times in a row. Rest of the year, it remained under 4%. At the end of the year, the rate was increased by 0.30% in total and became 3.96%. Anybody knows how would be our next year?

People like to follow their basic habits most of the time. When we buy something, we like to try different brands, different fashions or, at least, different stores. But when the time comes, we often knock the door of our regular bank regarding mortgage or refinancing home loan.

You may not like to hear the sound of “Jingle Bells" in any stores near you before the Columbus Day. But, if you think seriously, it’s actually a favor to you by the retailers. If you delay your shopping to the last minute, you may encounter a holiday debt cycle and end up spending beyond your budget. You may need to use your credit card to pay extra bills during most of the following year.

To live a normal life, people like us normally go through many tough challenges in daily life and earn wages from a full-time or part-time work. Securing your job is an ongoing task. An individual always devotes his/her personal time for earning money, which he/she uses for living expenses, utility bills, personal savings, investments, and leisure.

If two or more people jointly apply for a home loan, that’ll be called a joint mortgage loan. A joint mortgage is not identical to joint ownership of a home. Ownership is decided as per the written agreement or legal deed. On the other hand, a joint mortgage denotes the persons who are legally responsible for repayment of the loan.