Hobo Joes

There’s an old saying about a certain bodily waste product rolling down hill that springs to mind when I think about the high unemployment rate. What I’m saying is that those at the low end of the skill and experience ladder are going to be hit harder by the depressed job market than those with more to offer. College kids fall into this demographic. As older workers are forced out of careers at crumbling companies, they must look elsewhere for temporary employment. Many of the jobs they end up finding are those that have for the last several years been held by college students. Times are tough for everyone, but they’re even tougher for young adults.

In a booming economy, employers are often forced to hire workers with few skills and little experience such as college kids and teens. Once unemployment picks up and more experienced workers flood to these jobs, employers get to pick from a wide base of experienced workers. The bottom of the group gets pushed out of this sector into even lower paying jobs. Fortunately there are things that college students can do to earn money without resorting to panhandling.

Internships and apprenticeships

A good strategy to get a foot in the door is through an internship or apprenticeship. Though these are often jobs that don’t pay, they can pave the way for a steady job once school is over. Having already proven themselves, employers are more likely to hire a former intern than even an older person with an extensive job history. Point to the college kid.

It’s pretty easy for those in college to find these opportunities since colleges are often the only place the internships are advertised. Colleges help match students with employers, giving them a way to get inside corporations that may not be hiring conventional workers. Many of these jobs, though they don’t pay a salary, offer other perks in the form of meals or even lodging. Some also offer financial assistance to students. Get everything you can out of the employer.

Cooperative learning programs

These are programs designed to allow people to attend college while they work at a job. Though the salary may not provide the wages of a full time job, they often tie in nicely with one’s course of study and are a good way to gain real world experience while getting paid.

The model is often designed where the student attends classes for one semester and then works at a related job during the following semester. Though graduation might be delayed slightly, the experience you gain is worth the delay. Hiring rates for co-op students is very high, hovering around 95%.

Research grants

This may be a good time to buckle down on your studies and try to get funding for a research project. The research can go towards fulfilling your school requirements and you will receive funds to subsidize your living expenses while you are doing the research. These grants are offered by schools, the government and private companies. These grants are competitive so try to start your proposal early.

Instead of fighting the losing battle of looking for a job, perhaps it’s better to accept the situation and us to time in another productive way. Remember, you are having a hard time finding a job because others have more experience. Use this time to remedy that and get yourself some real world training.

Six Figure Income

A six figure income seems to be the gold standard for the middle class to feel they’ve made it big. Several jobs pay this kind of a salary, but they are not common enough to be a reality for the majority of us. We will likely need to find something other than the basic nine to fiver to make our six figure dreams come true. Fortunately it can be done and is more common than you would think.

Your Own Business

Owning your own business is viewed as the easiest way to reach a high level of income. Even a successful part time business will add enough to your regular wages to push you past the $100, 000 a year mark. Even if you have only a couple hours a day or a few hours a week, a small business is not beyond your reach. Almost everyone has a set of skills that they have acquired through life that they aren’t using to make money. Turn what you love to do into a money making opportunity and watch your income grow without even “working.”

Online Marketing

The internet is a cash cow of part time opportunities. Online marketing is one of the fastest ways to supplement one’s income without devoting a lot of time. It requires little or no investment and can continue making you money without requiring any time at all once you are well established.

Online marketing opportunities include affiliate marketing, pay per click, website banner ads, etc. If you like to write, you can use this skill to add content to websites promoting various products or companies and get paid for your efforts. The more time you devote, the quicker the money will roll in.

Investments

A good investment strategy can also supplement your normal income and get you to the 100K mark. Investing wisely will require time spent in research and education and the risks can be enormous. However, many investments exist that are rarely dangerous and if you have the capital to put up, can pay great returns. Besides the stock market and mutual funds, other popular investments are in gold and foreign currencies. Though you may not become a stock baron overnight, good investments can earn you returns for a long time without any additional effort, allowing you to search out other money making opportunities.

$100 thousand a year is not a distant dream. It can be achieved if you are dedicated and do what you must to make it happen. It doesn’t have to mean 80 hours of work a week either. A few extra hours spent doing something you enjoy can help you substantially add to your income and achieve your financial dreams.

Great Mortgage Rates Despite Bad Credit

If you are looking to get good mortgage rates, but you don’t have the credit score to back you up, there are still ways to locate institutions that will offer great rates; you just have to be diligent, and to know where to look.

1. Look to government lending institutions like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Fannie Mae actually does run an “expanded approval” program. This is designed precisely to help those who don’t have great credit ratings get competitive deals on mortgages that are actually up to 2% lower than what private banks offer.

2. Take a look at what the Federal Housing Authority is offering. The FHA does not require a high credit rating. Interest rates are government regulated and can only be less than a quarter of a point more than what private banks offer. You will need to deal with an HUD approved broker though, who has dealings with government approved lending institutions.

3. There are actually good deals to be had from private banks though. There are private banks that actually specialize in giving loans to people with questionable credit ratings. They do usually require high deposits, and have been known to charge stiff penalties. If you are patient though, you can find some good deals.

Step 1-Every state in the U.S. allocates specific funding to help their residents. Regardless of where you live, each county has a department of Health and Human Services. If you don’t have access to a computer and are not able to visit their website, you can dial 211, the largest directory assistance. Once you contact them, you’ll have to visit their location, fill out an application and an assessment will be given to you. If you’re unable to reach the destination, talk to a representative and you can probably do an application and an assessment over the phone. If you qualify forfinancial assistance, you’ll be allotted a certain amount of cash each month based on a person’s income and family size. This cash is provided to you either on a debit card or direct deposited into your bank account.

Step 2- In 2009 the number of people without health insurance rose to an all time high of 46.3 uninsured Americans. The majority of low paying jobs don’t offer health insurance to their employees and if they do it’s too expensive to take advantage of. The Government recognizes the need for health insurance and offers programs such as Medicaid and Medicare. Under Medicaid, your children will more than likely qualify if you’re a single mother. In some states, adults can also qualify, but you must visit your local department of health and human services to understand the provisions of government regulated health insurance.

Step 3-Another Government regulated program for the struggling single mom is food stamps. This is also available from The Department of Human Services and is also based on family size and income. But unlike cash assistance, Food Stamps can only be used to purchase food. If you qualify, you’ll receive a card with a monthly allowance and will not be able to purchase items such as cleaning supplies, tobacco and alcoholic beverages. What’s convenient about the debit card style, is that after each purchase, your receipt will let you know your available balance. If you have children old enough to be in school, they’ll most likely also qualify for free or reduced lunch, just to help the struggling single mom even more.

Step 4-Another very important government program that single mothers often forget about is energy assistance. The application process is the same, but this emergency electrical funding is for those in danger of losing their service.

Step 5-Now, one of the most important, and expensive need for a single mother is housing expenses. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) offers programs such as Section 8 Housing, to help you afford a decent home in a safe neighborhood. Another housing option is through the non-profit organization known as Habitat for Humanity. Habitat for Humanity builds homes for struggling families who make below a certain threshold of income. According to Barbara Inman, the executive director of Habitat for Humanity in Pinellas County, the organization works with clients who most likely could not get approved for a home loan through a bank.

Through these government programs, single mothers can find solace despite how dismal their situation may be, knowing that there is help out there for you and especially for your children.

About the Author

My name’s Leilah (like the Eric Clapton song just not spelled the same), and I’m here to provide single mothers everywhere with helpful information on how and where to get financial help with bills, grants, child care and any assistance I can possibly think of, to make sure you find the help you need so you’re able to provide for your family.

Graduation is coming up, and all the money you needed to borrow to get through college will be due soon after as well. Is consolidation the best option at this point? Whether or not you should consolidate, really depends on a lot of things.

First you need to take a look at all the loans you have taken out, which of these are federal, and which are private? PLUS, Perkins and Stafford loans are Federal loans. Private loans are those that were given to you by a private bank. As of July 1, 2006, federal loan rates have been fixed at 6.8%. Private loan interest rates can fluctuate, but cannot exceed 8.25%. Because of the fixed interest rates on all federal loans, there is little advantage to consolidation. Furthermore, federal loans come with options such as deferment, forbearance, and cancellation; you would forfeit these loans if you consolidate them with a private lender.

When consolidating loans, your rate will have to change, as you will need to make a single payment regularly, instead of several. Your new rate will be the weighted average of all the interest rates of your outstanding loans, raised to the next 1/8th of a percent. For example: If the weighted average of your interest rates is 6.834%, your single consolidated rate will be 6.875%. Institutions that offer student loans will always offer discounts for payments that are made on time for 36 to 48 months.

In 2009, a new payment scheme was introduced. Students can now borrow under an income-based repayment plan. This means that the amount of the monthly student loan payments will be based on your income. The amount you need to pay at any given time will be your income minus 150% of the poverty line. Should you still be in debt 25 years from the loan, your debt will be written off; however the balance of your debt will be taxed as income.

When considering whether or not to consolidate, and looking for the best way to consolidate should you decide to do so, it is best to know what options are available and to weigh them carefully. Look at as many offers as you can. What discounts do they offer? What will the payment scheme be? What will the interest rate be? Will they have stiff late penalties? Make sure there is no prepay penalty, you don’t want to have to pay a penalty just because you have the means to make earlier payments. Check out studentloanconsolidator.com, loanconsolidator.ed.gov, chasestudentloans.com and studentloan.com, these are some of the leading student loan consolidators in the business. In the end, consolidating loans means you may wind up paying a bit more, but the convenience of dealing with just one financial institution is very often worth it.

After developing spreadsheets from your spending history and loading the data into Quicken, you have created a financial plan. Now what? The challenging portion! You actually must continue your budget and set your procedure into action. This is harder to accomplish than believe. In many cases you will have abandoned your budget and your financial goals 6 months or a year in the future. How do you prevent this from happening to you?

Here’s how. Make sure you use a few of these suggestions beneath so this doesn’t happen to you.

1. Create achievable objectives – for example, commit to not eat out on a regular basis. This may be unrealistic if you are honest with yourself. Occasionally, it can be a release or a reward to dine out. Realistically thinking, do not set yourself up for failure. Drastic and unrealistic goals are one of the guaranteed ways your budget is not going to succeed.

2. Create a plan for unforeseen expenditures – Yearly expenditures have to also be included. Your financial plan can be devastated by an unpredicted expenditure. Assess your fiscal calendar and assign a dollar sum to these sporadic costs. Put them in the month they are anticipated to happen so you can plan in ahead of time how you will provide for them. The usual customary expenses aren’t the reason your budget will fail. These “one time” or catastrophic revelations will devastate your plan if not anticipated.

3. Put your financial plan in writing – Take the time to write down your budget plans. Writing your plan without adaptability can simply result in disappointment. Don’t take for granted that your financial outlook will take care of itself by remembering a simple note to remember to yourself. If you have your budget goals detailed in writing you can reconsider and remind yourself weekly and monthly of your fiscal objectives.

4. If you have a bad month or week, don’t give up! – Consider you have met your objectives for a quarter. In the fourth month, for some reason, you did not achieve your goals. Maybe you even quit attempting to stick to your financial plan! If this takes place, do not just “throw in the towel” and confess to collapse. Every person falls off the wagon from time to time. Your financial plan is a voyage. There will probably be unforeseen events, so the solution is to realize that everybody makes mistakes. This makes me think of a renowned golfer named Walter Hagen. Walter would remind himself before each game that he would experience a couple bad strokes. During the golf round, if he hit his ball into a bunker, he would tell himself, “There is one of my bad shots that I was expecting”, hit the ball out of the bunker and move on. He would not to let it to worry him because he was anticipating a few mis-strokes.

5. Adapt your budget as your life moves forward! Perfecting a budget can take months or years. When you initially made your budget plans, you almost certainly had to speculate at a number of your numbers. A number of these figures were probably not realistic. As an example, you might have miscalculated your monthly grocery or utility bills. If this occurs, analyze all of the underlying money that was spent in this group to see if your initial estimate was unworkable. If this was the situation, recalculate the real expense and use this altered sum. It is this kind of adjustment that is one of the foundations to making sure you can continue your budget.

6. Evaluate your budget every month – This will offer you the opportunity to create periodic modifications. Allocate the first day of each new month to review your earnings and bills and match them to your budget objectives. By actively reviewing your funds and comparing it to your financial plan, you can change your spending behavior. This gives you an opportunity to evaluate parts that surpassed your financial plan predictions and make the alterations in your spending behavior or your plan. Keeping your budget at heart is the goal. One idea that has been successful for me is to place a printout of my fundamental budget objectives on the refrigerator. This gives the occasion to appraise your budget numerous times a day. Being conscious or reminded of your budget will help you stay true to your objectives. Visualization is why tip number 3 is fundamental.

7. Set specific short-term goals – Let’s say one of your financial plan endeavors is to have all of your credit card bills paid off in two years. A $20,000 outstanding balance would equate to $10,000 per year. Split that total more into quarterly reductions in your credit card bills, in this instance $2,500 every 3 months. Now, this is a more substantial budget objective to shoot for isn’t it? I feel that I am better likely to do well with all of my budget goals if I divide them into short-term practical stepping stones. This brings us to number eight…

8. Reward yourself – That is right! When you have achieved some of your intermediate targets you ought to reward yourself. Since your financial budget is actually a voyage, take some time to smell the roses on your road. Staying with your budget should not be a restrictive, objectionable endeavor. Rewards should be part of your financial plan as you proceed to achievement of your goals. Be certain your benefits do not harmfully effect your objective!

9. Pay yourself first – I am certain that one of your financial plan objectives is to put aside and invest a percentage of your income. One of the ways to make sure you succeed at this is to do what the IRS does with your wages, take it out of your discretionary income immediately. By doing this, your cash is saved right off the bat. The cash ought to be transferred in a savings, money market or mutual fund account. Automatic deductions can be made from your wages. The every day pressures we confront can harmfully influence your savings.

10. Attitude is everything – When the majority of people think of a financial plan, they imagine restrictions and nuisance. Almost like a diet. You know what comes about with most diets? They usually do not persist long! At the outset, if your budget is overly stringent, excessively laborious on your spending, it will not succeed either. Then again, you will need to regulate your spending in some areas and this will take some change in your attitude. I discovered that when I am feeling restricted and disappointed when I can not buy whatever that I would like, I remember my monetary objectives I established with my financial plan. I think about the achievement I feel when I achieve those objectives. In time, you will discover that you feel disappointment if you forsake your objectives. Now, I in reality get more delight knowing that I am reaching my budget objectives when the thought of an impulse acquisition crosses my mind.

Your budget will be a triumph if you follow these guidelines. You will realize that living within a plan is not as demanding as you projected if you bring about some simple changes. It can actually be enjoyable and rewarding!

Regulation

When it comes to the commodities marketplace, there are numerous regulating concerns. Previous to the commodity market’s trading day begins, governments on a worldwide basis typically insure, regulate and fund insurers of the market. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is the United States’ foremost governing body. It is responsible for regulating commodity traders in addition to stopping and detecting distorted prices on commodities and other distortions to the markets. The commission is also responsible for licensing of future contract exchanges, or they cannot be offered or purchased lawfully on the exchange. One illustration of what the commission does is with regards to the negotiations of the restrictions of speculations on energy markets. This situation was brought to light in July of 2009. The regulating of energy markets will influence each American. Distractions to the economy and significant inflation can be the outcome of speculation in energy markets.

Chicago’s National Futures Association assists the federal commission in regulating commodities and futures. This relationship is considered the industry’s self-regulating method. It works to implement the many rules and other regulations that govern the performance of associate firms, floor traders, and floor brokers. The National Futures Association demands the previous registration of anyone who requests to manage clientèle’s currency to buy or sell options or futures. Even those who want to offer guidance in futures must also sign up with the association. Commodity trading advisors and associates, commodity pool operators, and preliminary brokers are all governed by the association’s myriad policies.

Why Invest in Commodities??

Investing in commodities has various attractions for traders. Commodities may be considered as a wise investment for nine major factors:
1. Because commodities are traded in huge numbers with fair price discovery being guaranteed, their trading is considered a transparent transaction. This wide scale involvement will reflect the expectations and views of a much larger group of investors.
2. This type of investment is a great way for traders to protect their investment when they become sellers.
3. The possibility of insider trading doesn’t be real.
4. Demand vs. supply generates a large level of simplicity.
5. A minimum of ten percent of a contract’s worth is all that’s mandatory for purchase. Other asset classes necessitate a larger amount. Small margins permit bigger positions with lesser investment.
6. Investors are aided by regular patterns.
7. Clearing houses enable commodity future markets to eliminate the country-party danger thus assuring every contract’s period will be met.
8. The commodities market has grown as a result of the availability of online investing. This also means that the market is increasing closer to both traders and users.
9. Involved pricing is a prodigious advantage of commodity markets. This occurs for the reason that when the number of contributors climb, the caterlizating risk shrinks, which will result in price stabilization.

Money Market Account Interest. A Money Market savings account is very much similar to a savings account in the implication that you deposit money in the bank and then you get a matching interest depending on the amount that you put in. The only variance is that the bank uses your capital and loans it to other individuals with a higher interest rate. Money market rates are compounded every day and paid monthly determined on the rate offered at the time. Depositors should be cognizant about the existing interest rates prior to putting their money on money market investments as these rates fluctuate over time.

BANKER’S ACCEPTANCE. It is a negotiable device or time draft drawn on and accepted by a bank. It acts much like a postdated check that is given to the bank by the bank’s client to pay a sum total of money at a definite period of time, typically in a 6 month time frame. After the bank takes this draft, it can be traded in secondary markets a lot like any other claim on the bank. Global trade relies on Banker’s Acceptance. As an example, an importer may require financing from an exporter. What the importer does at this point is to obtain a bank acceptance from his bank of choice and as soon as he gets the acceptance, can at this point generate dealings in behalf of the bank; he then issues a time draft on the bank as his contract to pay. The bank then marks down his check, and gives the cash to the importer but take note that the amount is a smaller amount than the face value of the initial draft. The importer pays the exporter the said sum. The bank now has a transferable device that it can add to its collection or resell in the secondary market.

TREASURY BILLS. T-bills are the most saleable money market security. T-bills are given for 3-month, 6-month and one-year durations. T-bills are bought either non-competitively or competitively. Non-competitive limits your bid to what is stated at the time of auction. Competitive bidding, on the other hand, gives you a better flexible take because you can bid higher than the precise returns. If they find your offer too high, they might deny you of the T-bills or they may still continue with the offer but only provide you with a percentage of what you bid for.

T-bills are marketable because they appeal to the general single investors. Alternative kinds of money market savings are usually not as reasonable. T-bills are normally available in quantities of $1,000, $5,000, $10,000, $25,000, $50,000, $100,000 and $1 million. T-bills brief period also make them attractive to traders. You can acquire a T-bill for a 4-week time frame. But the draw back to this is that your money is locked-up for the 4-week period of time with no opportunity to remove it earlier than maturity as with CDs.

$1000 increments are offered for acquisition. Any quantity in surplus of a thousand is not going to be qualified and will have to be placed in other short-term money market vehicles.