Friday, December 28, 2007

Student Shopping Habit

Shopping can be an emotional release for many students. Lots of students shop to reduce stress or just to pass the time with their friends. Shopping out of boredom or to cope with life’s woes can lead to much bigger problems. When it starts to get out of control, consumerism becomes a bad habit, even an addiction. If your bank account has been taking a beating due to over purchasing, you might have a compulsion to shop.

Shop-a-holics show signs that are similar to other addicts. You think that shopping and buying things, even little things like make-up or gifts for others, is going to make you feel better and forget about your problems. Actually, it makes you feel worse, compounding guilt, financial hardship and anxiety on top of whatever was wrong to begin with. Finding yourself in a financial struggle or deep in debt can strain relationships with your friends and family. Living beyond your means stretches your sanity as well as your wallet.

Do you go out for just a few things and come home with your trunk full? Do you seem to shop more after an emotional trauma or stressful situation? These are questions that students with a problem don’t want to face. Don’t get caught in that downward spiral of spending due to stress where that moment of elation leads to even more stress and worry. Ask yourself every time if what you are about to buy is a “need” or a “want”. The hard part is not buying the things that you only “want”. Try to recognize the signs that you may have a problem. Have you made purchases and regretted it later? Bought things that you never used? Maybe your family or friends have expressed a concern or disapproval that led you to hide items, or lie about prices. Many compulsive shoppers report feeling elated and nervous at the same time when making frivolous purchases. They later feel guilty or embarrassed about the truth of their shopping spree. They also have a general belief that shopping is “bad behavior”.

Something to think about is that you’re letting marketing control you. Commercials and ads seem to prey on your psyche. Just passing a store or getting a little extra in your bank account sends you into a “What can I buy?” mental frenzy. Remind yourself that you will only feel worse afterward. It’s really not worth the guilt and trauma that it causes.

Avoid circumstances that may make you want to spend. Never use credit cards. Keep one emergency one at home. If it is in a store, it’s most likely not an emergency. Exercise, yoga and hot baths generally curb the temptation to shop. Take a drive through the country where there aren’t any stores. Patience is a learned skill. Have patience with yourself and your money. Immediate gratification doesn’t last long, but patience can benefit you for the rest of your life. If you need more help than you can give yourself, there are support groups out there that can help. If you have a real emergency, take the time to research if your credit card is really the best option. You may be eligible for student loans or private student loans that have fixed payments and are easier to get out from under than a credit card.

Holiday Spending

Spending extra money around the holidays can be very easy. There are so many family members, friends and important people in your life that you would love to express your appreciation to. All too quickly, we seem to run out of money and still have things on our wish lists that we try to find a way to buy. A lot of people resort to running up their credit card bills at this time of year. But what other options are there?

Try to find a way to make extra money if you can. Offer to clean your friends’ houses or do some yard-work around your neighborhood. Have a garage sale and get rid of some useless items. This is a good way to make room for new stuff coming in around Christmas time anyway. Ask for extra hours at work or take a second job providing seasonal help to local businesses. If you just don’t have time for the extra work, don’t give up. There are other ways that you can get some Christmas money fast.

Running up your credit cards should be your absolute last resort. Many people find that when they charge Christmas gifts, they just end up making minimum payments on them for the whole next year. Then when the next Christmas rolls around, they still haven’t paid off the gifts from the year before, and the problem compounds. Not only did the interest cause you to grossly overpay for each and every item that you charged, but now you’ve probably racked up a few miscellaneous fees as well. If you made one late payment on those fifteen dollar slippers, then you probably paid about fifty dollars for them in the end. That is, if you decided to pay off the principal when you paid the late fee.

So what’s another alternative? If you need to borrow money for the holidays, then your goal should be to only borrow as much as you need. Your second goal should be to pay it back as quickly as possible so that you don’t give the loan time to cost you a lot of interest. You especially don’t want to carry on making minimum payments forever or risk having a late payment at some point. Both paying late and only paying the minimum can hurt your credit. So how do you help your credit while borrowing for the holidays without getting yourself into a long-term bind? You could consider a quick online loan.

Online loans generally have less paperwork and involve less scrutiny than a regular bank loan. Some web sites even boast a faxless approval process. Just fill out an application online and you could have money in your bank within twenty four hours. The payoff is much quicker, sometimes as fast as your next payday. You can choose to pay it off in a shorter or longer amount of time. See if you can get a payday loan or cash advance with someone who doesn’t charge an early payoff fee. Some also offer to pull payments directly from your bank account on your payday so that you don’t have to worry about late payments. If you need money fast, then a payday loan or cash advance could be your answer.

The Power of Titles in Marketing

"A good title is a work of a genius!" - E. Haldeman-Julius E. Haldeman-Julius single-handedly sold over 100,000,000 (One Hundred Million) Books by only describing each book by its "Title Only."

Haldeman-Julius used to sell little blue books at $.05 each back in the late 1800's and early 1900's.

If a particular book didn't hit its quota of 10,000 sold a year, for a couple consecutive years, it would go to what he called the hospital. That is where he would analyze the book to see if he could improve the title to increase the sales and revive the book.

He did this with several books, even classics, and often increased sales drastically. Here are a few examples:

"The Fleece Of Gold" in 1925 only sold 6000 copies but in 1926 with the new title of "The Quest for a Blond Mistress" sold a whopping 50,000."The Mystery of the Iron Mask" at 11,000 vs. "The Mystery of the Man in the Iron Mask" sold 30,000 copies. "The King Enjoys Himself" at 8,000 sold vs. "The Lustful King Enjoys Himself! Snatched From The Grave!" sold 38,000 copies.

This is only a few examples of the hundreds of books that he was able to increase sales with by improving the title.

Now this does not only apply to books. This applies to all kinds of things, even marketing life insurance.

Titles to Express a Message

Having the right title can serve you, and your life insurance business well. A company's name for example. Like Budget Rent-A-Car. The name alone conveys a message and appeals to a certain demographic.

Hertz and Avis have to do much more advertising to convey their marketing message. There are plenty of places to get your oil changed in your car quickly...but Jiffy Lube instantly comes to mind when I glance down at the odometer and realize that I'm over due for an oil change myself.

Some titles brilliantly convey a much desired promise of speed and ease. Minute Maid Lemonade Or Minute Rice Or Easy Mac.

Some titles convey superiority. The Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Other titles convey a trustworthy and desirable service, like Certified Retirement Planners, CRP.

Consider the Purpose of the Title

If you ever intend to put a title on anything: like a book, service, product, business or whatever...consider its purpose. Think about the message you want it to convey. A title is no less than a headline. It is often your first and last chance to lore in new prospects and clients. Take full advantage of the opportunity to stand out and make a good first impression.

What is Mortgage Broker Bonds?

In general term, a bond is similar to IOU. An investor obtains a bond from any financial institution for a fixed amount of money. It is then that financial institution promises to return the money back years from that day with a small percentage of interest added to the actual amount.

Lets sort this with an example, when a person purchases a house, he or she usually require to go for a loan that is to borrow money from a bank or a mortgage lending company. To borrow this amount, people need to sign up a promissory note stating he or she would pay back the loan amount by particular given time, plus a percentage of interest that is accrued each month. Normally, a mortgage fee spans fifteen to thirty years and is paid back in way of EMI Monthly installations.

To issues these mortgage loans, the mortgage lending institute might require to "borrow" a huge sum of money from a higher financial institution. The mortgage lender provides a number of mortgage contracts in one lump-sum package to a fiscal institution that issues a mortgage broker bond in return. With a mortgage broker bond, the higher financial company "buys" the mortgage contract from the mortgage lender and gets the borrower's monthly fee in exchange. The mortgage broker bond process assists the mortgage lender get the money it requires, while the larger financial company earns excess money by getting the monthly payment from the borrower.

On the whole, a mortgage broker bond is a win-win place for both financial institutions. The current augment in the cost of homes, on the other hand, has caused some complexity with the mortgage broker bond arrangement. Because homes were rising in cost, mortgage lenders issued mortgage to people who were not the perfect candidates. As such homeowners defaulting on more loans and the cost of housing levels out, the mortgage broker bond might be value more than the worth of the house.

If the borrower defaults in his/her on the mortgage loan, the loss is passed on to the financial company, which issued the mortgage bond. To recover the money lost from the mortgage broker bond, the financial company that issued the mortgage broker bond could resell the house. This could yet result in a loss of money if the mortgage broker bond is value less than the home.
By Ron victor