There are numerous times in life that you may cause you to deal with financial stress. Of course, if you don’t have the money to pay your bills, you may need to act. One of the things you can do is file for bankruptcy to relieve your mind and your wallet. Successfully obtaining this status can allow you to stress less about your bills by having some of these discharged for you.
However, you’ll want to do the right things and avoid the wrong moves. Being aware of several mistakes you don’t want to make when filing for bankruptcy may be helpful.
If you have some money you would like to invest, but you don’t want to risk losing it, getting a Guaranteed Investment Certificate (GIC) is a great idea. With a GIC, you are guaranteed to get your money back, with some interests.
Before you buy a GIC, you will need to shop around for the best rates, and to consider your different options. Here is how you can get a Guaranteed Investment Certificate.
Whether you plan on using it for everyday transactions or just in emergencies. As you begin to look at your options you feel inundated with all of the cards available with different terms and benefits. Below are 5 factors to consider when choosing a credit card. Being conscious of them will ensure you get the one that is best for you.
Burglaries are a risk you cannot afford to ignore no matter where you live and what the economic times are like. Unfortunately, many people ignore the importance of a good safe in the event of a burglary. You don’t want to be caught flat footed should a burglar break in despite your best efforts to secure your home. So, what’s the best home security safe? Let’s go over the options available to you.
Diversion Safe
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This is probably the most basic type of safe you can go for. It is commonly referred to as a hidden safe given that it’s made to look like a typical household item such as a book, candle, or can. Its basically a diversion that makes the would-be burglar miss the target. It would normally be stored in plain sight and is an excellent deterrent provided the burglar is not aware of its existence.
Fire Resistant Safe
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These types of safes are made to protect the contents from extreme temperatures. They are rated based on the amount of time they can withstand a fire without exceeding a given internal temperature. Normally that’s about 350 degrees. You’ll find safes rated anywhere from 30 to 240 minutes fire protection time. You can increase the fire rating by installing the safe inside concrete floors. While these safe will largely work well during fires, they may not be water tight and can fill up with water as you try to put out the fire. For this reason, you should make sure to put your valuables in sealed containers or double zip dry bags before putting them in the safe.
Wall Safe
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Wall safes are typically used to protect or hide documents, guns, or jewelry. They’re installed in the wall at varying depths depending on the thickness of the wall. You can opt for those with recessed pry resistance doors and concealed hinges for added security. You can easily hide a wall safe from plain sight by covering it with a painting or a piece of furniture.
Jewelry Safe
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Jewelry safes are usually smaller than other types of safes. They come equipped with tastefully designed compartments for storing your prized possessions. The interior is usually made of wood and fabric and you can get one customized to suit your taste and preference. The safes are usually fire resistant and are very hard to break into.
Environment Resistant Safe
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If you live in a harsh environment and need a safe to protect your valuables from the elements, then you might want to get one of these. It helps keep away dust and water that may cause damage to your items. These safes can withstand submersion in water unlike fireproof safes.
Burglary Resistant Safe
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These safes are designed to withstand brute force attacks by burglars. They’re built to prevent access to the valuables by resisting the tools and techniques used by burglars to break into safes. This is the best security safe if your major concern is a break in.
If you’re unable to determine the best safe for your needs, talk to a registered locksmith to help you with the selection process.
How much does a lawyer cost? This is a question many entrepreneurs battle with when faced with a legal challenge. If you need a lawyer for one reason or other, then you will realize that getting the right legal advice can be a costly affair. It makes sense that you might want to save some money on lawyer fees. Below are some tips for saving money when hiring a lawyer.
Avoid It If You Can
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One of the best ways to avoid having to deal with hefty legal fees is to avoid a situation that drives you through a legal battle. For instance, it will cost you less to involve a lawyer when drafting a contract than it would cost you to get a lawyer to defend your business against a legal dispute emanating from your contract.
Trust Your Gut
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It is not always about finding the most experienced and decorated commercial litigation lawyer. While finding someone with experience in the field is a plus, finding a lawyer who understands your case and clicks with you is better. A client and lawyer relationship should be more of a collaboration.
You should spend your money on a lawyer who takes their time to learn more about your business and thus find the best way to defend it legally. Always go with your gut feeling. If your gut tells you that something is wrong, then it probably is.
Avoid the Billable Hour Pay Method
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Some good ways to save on legal fees include negotiating cheaper hourly rates, paying zero paralegal time fees, and asking for a budget from the onset. Ask for a flat upfront fee. A lawyer who bills you by the hour may not give your case the attention it needs since they will only handle it based on how many hours you pay for. Also, you really do not want to be billed every time you call in with a pressing question on the case. Find a lawyer who charges a flat fee with no hidden charges.
You Can Do It Yourself with The Help of a Lawyer
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How much does a lawyer cost? If you are asking this question, it is probably because you are worried it may be more than you can afford. If you run a startup or a small business, seeking legal advice and representation can be quite expensive. One way to cut on legal fees is to go through the legal process on your own with the guidance of a lawyer. This way, you only get to pay for the help they offer as opposed to paying for the entire legal representation.
Use the Internet
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We live in an age where information is readily available online. Before you seek legal advice from a lawyer, you can actually find all the help you need online. You can conduct a little research online regarding your legal issue. If you need legal representation, you can look for a lawyer after you know everything about your kind of case. This can go a long way in cutting on consultation charges as you will know what exactly needs to be done.
Do you own rental property? If you do, then you must have thought about what would happen if a fired razed down the property. Insurance helps protect you against unforeseen dangers and disasters that could wipe out your investment in one fell swoop. Without a doubt, house insurance for rental property is an important consideration for any serious investor. Before you invest in those Toronto condos you’ve been eyeing, here are some of the policies you need to discuss with your insurer.
Property Protection
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Policies meant for rental property are meant to provide coverage for damage to the property by lighting, fire, wind, ice, hail and other similar incidents. Standard policies for landlords do not provide coverage for flood damage. For this, you will be forced to take out a separate policy.
It is worth noting that insurance providers refer to property protection as dwelling coverage.
Personal Property Protection
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Such a policy will provide coverage for your personal property left on site for tenant use or maintenance. This includes items such as lawnmowers and appliances. Such a policy will not cover tenant property so you should inform your tenants to get their own renter’s policy that will cover damage to their personal property. This will prevent confrontation and disputes about who covers the cost of damaged tenant property.
Liability Protection
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Liability coverage is often included in landlord policies. This helps meet any medical expenses and legal fees incurred as a result of a tenant or guest getting injured on the property.
Rent Loss Protection
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There is a chance that your property could be damaged as a result of a disaster such as a fire. This could easily render it uninhabitable and result in loss of rental income. If you’re still making mortgage payments on the property, then you could easily end up in financial ruin. This is where rental loss insurance comes in. It covers the lost rent as repairs are done on the property. This allows you to meet your obligations and mitigate financial loss.
Flood Protection
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You must purchase a flood insurance policy separately in addition to your landlord policy. This policy is run by the federal government through the NFIP (National Flood Insurance Program). Flood insurance will normally include coverage for the building, the contents of the building, and the replacement costs. Ask your insurance agent to help you with the purchase.
Acts of Nature
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Earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, and other acts of nature can cause untold damage to your rental property. House insurance for rental property does not always include coverage for such events. If you own property in an area prone to tornadoes, hurricanes, and earthquakes, then you need to talk to your insurance agent about including these perils in your cover.
It is worth noting that you can never have enough insurance coverage. As an investor, it is always best to take a ‘safe than sorry’ approach to your investments. Talk to your insurance agent about how best to protect your property against disasters.
Online shopping has gone mainstream. You can now buy practically everything you need without ever stepping out of your door. You can get great bargains and a mind-boggling selection of items without much fuss. It’s secure, shipping is fast, and returns are seamless. It has never been easier to shop in the comfort of your home. However, it’s not all rosy. The challenges you face picking a clothing item in a physical store still abound online. It’s even more difficult since you can’t touch or try out the items before purchase. The wide selection doesn’t make it any easier and you might end up moving from store to store looking for something that tickles your fancy. This can be very frustrating and you can end up spending countless hours shopping for one item. Below are some online shopping tips and tricks to help improve your productivity.
Use the Live Chat Feature
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Why not let someone at customer service do the legwork for you. When the live chat window pops up, don’t hit “No Thanks”. Instead, use the opportunity to get real time assistance. They can help you pick the right color and size of the item you’re interested in. You can get the info you wouldn’t be able to get otherwise. For example, they can tell you whether the material is stretchy, whether the hem has fabric to spare and how sheer the item is.
Use the Filter Feature
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You can waste a lot of time browsing through items you’ll never even be able to wear. For example, if you’re a size six, it’s a total waste of time checking out items of other sizes. For this reason, it is important to use the filter feature. You can filter items out by size, color, and even price. No need going through the whole catalog just to get when you need.
When you find something that piques your interest, add it to cart. If you don’t do this, there’s a chance you might not be able to find it when you’re ready to buy. If an item is sold out, make use of the watchlist feature. This will enable the retailer to know there’s interest in the product and prod them to follow up with the manufacturer for more merchandise.
Use Discounts
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Take advantage of discounts available to you. There are no discounts that are too small. They do add up. Look for coupons and use saving platforms such as Crowdsavers to shop. You can also take advantage of days like Black Friday and Cyber Monday to get amazing discounts on products you’ve been eyeing. There are usually plenty of discounts dished out during holidays by retailers to maximize on the holiday shopping craze.
Take Shipping into Account
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Right off the bat, you should find out what the shipping cost is before wasting tons of time selecting items only to find out later that the shipping costs are extortionate. Add one item to cart and attempt to check out. This will give you a rough idea what the shipping costs will be. You can get shipping discounts by buying items worth a certain amount of buying multiple pieces of the same item. Look out for such discounts as you shop.
Get Recommendations
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When you shop online, it’s easy to waste tons of time moving from one store to the other looking for items that might interest you. One way to save time it to seek recommendations from friends and family. They will be able to tell you where to get the best items at the best price.
It is true that you need to reach the age of 18 in order to be eligible to have your own credit card, but you should start gathering information long before that. When it comes to teens, there are many options when it comes to credit cards that can be handled with guidance. However, there are many criteria that should be taken into consideration when it comes to choosing the right card in this case. The most important criteria in this regard are definitely the teen’s age, maturity, and financial skill. But, if you make the right choice, you will not bring yourself into the position that you need to find a lender to pay for your children’s college or some other crucial things. Smart parents start thinking about this on time and manage to teach their children how to handle credit cards and finances in general in a very responsible manner. However, the most important thing to know is that best credit cards for teenagers are actually best credit cards for anyone who is a starter and completely unfamiliar with anything that goes together with this. The main characteristic one may have is responsibility, and if you don’t have it, you can tank your credit score and dig you deeper into debt. But, let us see what are some of the best credit cards for teens.
Secured MasterCard from Capital One
This credit card is usually marked as one of the best credit cards for total beginners. The best thing about it is that a security deposit of $49, $99 or $200 can give you access to a credit line of $200. Although it does not seem to be much, if you are a beginner, this is more than enough to start with. As the time goes by, and you pay your bills on time, you become eligible for a higher line of credit.
capitalone.com
Discover It Card for Students
This card is perfect for students, and it comes as a privilege to those who are straight A. The users of this card are also eligible to receive 5% cash back on purchases in different spending categories, including grocery stores, gas stations or restaurants, and there is also some extra cash every school year if their GPA is above a 3.0. Sounds excellent for a credit card!
discover.com
Chase Freedom Card
Chase Freedom Card is also very popular among those people who don’t have much of a credit history, as it offers many advantages to beginners. The users are eligible to get 5% cash back in a series of rotating categories that they are probably spending money in any way, such as department stores, restaurants, and drug stores. There is no annual fee, but there is a sign-up bonus of $150 if you spend $500 in your first three months.
creditcards.chase.com
Citi ThankYou® Preferred Card for College Students
This is an excellent card for teenagers and beginners, as it allows earning points on restaurants, entertainment, retail, that is; almost all of those places frequently visited by people of this age group. It does not have the annual fee, and it has a great Google alert a week before your payment is due. Additionally, you may also set up auto-pay for at least the minimum payment due each month.
citi.com
Wells Fargo® Cash Back℠ College Credit Card
This card will offer 3% cash back on gas, grocery and drugstore purchases and 1% back on everything else, and the good thing is that it does not have the annual fee. In general, the best thing about this card is that you can redeem your cash back points directly into your savings account, or you can redeem them for travel or gift cards. Sounds cool, right?!
