People who earned Money in Recession

Being a financial advisor, I come across a lot of people with a variety of financial issues. I met many people who got into deep debt in the recession period. Most of them were able to get out of debt after some time. But there were few people, who not only got out of debt, but also remain out of it as well as earned millions during recession period.

Most of my clients come to me with same issues of getting out of debt and most of the time I give them a simple suggestion but at the same time tough to follow. When we talk about finance, you’ll find two types of people with two types of spending habits. First one are those people who not only earn their income but also borrow money from market or banks and spend both which gets them into heavy debt. And the other category is of those people who not only save money from their income but also earn and save money that comes from different investment which not only help them to stay out of debt but also make them wealthier than others.

So my simple and at the same time tough suggestion to follow is to stop spending money beyond your means. Try to get out of debt as soon as possible for you. In case you are too much heavy debt, then find an extra source of income and be sure that this income is not coming from any type of investment. When you are out of debt, first thing try to remain out of it and also save money which you were saving earlier for your debt payments. Then after some savings from your income, invest your money for a higher rate of return.

Few days back, I read an article in a newspaper where a Teacher didn’t spent his money beyond his means and invested most of his savings. In this way, he was able to accumulate $900 million in his account. So there is nothing impossible in this world. Even anyone of you can create this magic. So if you want to be millionaire, start saving now.

Your Health vs Economic Recession - II

In my last post I was discussing with you that what you should do to lower down your medical bills in this time of recession. In this post I would share some steps that you should follow when you are negotiating with doctor or medical staff of any hospital to lower down your medical bill:

• Never feel nervous or shy when talking to doctors about your bad financial condition and inability to pay the whole medical bill. Doctors are common man like us and they do understand the logical and reasonable motive behind your inability to pay whole medical bill. They will give you discount or offer you an easy installment plan with 0% interest.
• Never say to any doctor or billing staff of hospital: “The other doctor (or hospital) is doing the same thing and takes $200 less than you. Why can’t you do this for me?” If you’ll say this sentence, then no doctor or hospital will give you any discount. Never forget that you are trying to lower down payment to a DOCTOR, and not with a car mechanic.
• Most of the doctors loose a large amount of money every year on unpaid bills and on dealing with insurance people over remuneration. You can make them happy by paying them on time. There are many real incidents when a patient gets a small or heavy discount from a doctor because of payments on time.
• In case if you don’t have any insurance and you are going for any operation or any medical treatment which is costly, then request the billing department of hospital or treatment centre for a discount or for an easy monthly installment plan. Never go for such treatments without knowing the whole treatment cost or without discussing the matter with the billing department.
• There are few websites where you can compare the hospitals regarding facility and treatment cost. After making comparison it becomes easy for you to choose the hospital as well as to starting point of negotiation.

I’ll always pray that no one in this beautiful world suffer from any disease but in case if you or any relative of you suffer from any disease, follow these steps to negotiate the medical bills.

Your Health vs Economic Recession - I

I literally apologize for doing so much delay in posting any new informative blog post for all my readers. Actually I was in New York to take care of my Uncle who was admitted in a hospital. Now he is fine but we spent too much money in hospital for him. Even in this time when the whole world is suffering from economic recession, you can’t stop any unexpected expense from occurring especially if it is any health problem. You can’t tell yourself or your family members that this is recession time, so please don’t fall sick and wait till the end of this economic recession. It’s good to have medical insurance for yourself as well as for your family members but still sometimes you find it very difficult to pay some medical bills with the help of your insurance.

In present scenario, lots of people are losing their jobs and many more are losing their health insurance or they are choosing some less valuable health insurance plan because of this economic recession. So in hospitals or clinics, doctors or hospital authority are facing more people who are unable to pay their medical bills or are struggling in paying the bills. You don’t need to feel hesitate to do negotiation with doctors or billing staff of hospitals because they do these things all the time with insurers. So if you think that you can negotiate with doctors, hospital, medical lab or medicine bills, please negotiate and believe me in most of the cases you’ll be successful in negotiating the bills according to your need. There is a lot of thing which I want to discuss regarding this matter but right now I am not getting that much time to share all things with you. So in my next post I’ll share all the steps which you can take regarding negotiating medical bills with doctors or hospital billing staffs.

11 Tips for People having Pet in Recession

Whenever you buy a pet for yourself or for your family, it becomes a responsibility of everyone in the family. It is always suggested to go for any pet with proper planning and ideation. If you are keeping a pet that can be with you for more than 10 years then I’ll suggest you to make some financial plans for the pet too just like all other members of family. In this time of economic recession when everyone is loosing money, having a pet is an extra expense. Following are some tips to save money on everything from buying to caring of the pet:

• Buy larger packets of food that you feed your pet.
• If you are buying expensive brand of food for your pet then switch to cheaper brand as the quality of food remains same in both. You can check that by comparing the ingredients of both brands (expensive and cheaper).
• Calculate and make a rough amount of money which you spend on your pet’s food. This activity will help you a lot.
• Look for those supermarkets and stores with some offers or have same quality of food at cheap price.
• Group together with your other friends who have pets and buy food in bulk from a food supplier.
• If you have oven at your home, you can bake biscuits for your pet from cheaper brand flours, eggs etc.
• Dog owners can walk with their pet everyday. This will keep dog and owner both healthy and fit and will not cost a single penny for that.
• Sometimes veterinary bills can be too much expensive so it is suggested to have pet insurance.
• Take out some time and find out cheaper insurance for you pets. You can check that also in main supermarkets which have a financial department.
• You need to cover only because of basic veterinary need, so don’t go for any other policy.
• You can ask companies who have covered your house, vehicle and health insurance. May be they can arrange a cheaper insurance policy for your pets.

These are some useful suggestions for the people having pets so that they can keep a pet without spending extra money in this recession time.

Tips to make your wedding recession proof - III

I was not able to share few more points regarding recession proof wedding in my last blog because of meeting with a client. So here are few more suggestions which you can implement for a recession proof and financially healthy wedding:

• Never look for any outside resource for the fund of your wedding. Everyone is going through this economic crisis. You cannot go for any personal loan as banks have also raised the rate of interest on personal loans. Even credit card companies are giving fewer credit line increase and even that at a very low rate and newer credit cards are coming with very high annual percentage rates.
• May be your parents had promised you few months back some good amount of money for your wedding, but I request you to not go for that money. It is crisis time and even they are also suffering from this economic crisis like us. Instead of that you can take more valuable thing than money from them and that is their blessings.
• Take everything in writing when doing a contract with someone like vendors, flower decorators etc. and everything here means EVERYTHING. This activity will help you to fight against anything wrong done by them like quality and quantity of meal, flowers and other decoration in the event.
• While signing any contract, always read all the policies, cancellation policies, hidden fees and anything that makes you responsible for any damage or expenses.
• Always give preference to quality over quantity in every aspect of your wedding from guest list to decoration to meal selection to everything.
• Depend on DIY (Do It Yourself) factor. Though DIY factor requires a lot of time and patience but it is great way to save some more money.
• Together with your partner, try to make an alternative plan for your wedding in case of any financial disaster like the cash you saved for your wedding disappears or one of you loses your job or anything that can affect your wedding financially. Always make a plan that minimizes the financial loss and still doesn’t affect your wedding event.
• As a financial advisor, last advice which I can give you is to invest some money on wedding insurance. This is something which can protect you at a minimum amount. But as I always say that read all policies before signing since all wedding insurance policies are different.

If you can keep these points in mind and implement them in your wedding then I am sure your wedding will be financially healthy as well as recession proof.

Tips to make your wedding recession proof - II

Just came back from deciding the venue for brother’s wedding. I am little bit tired but thought of sharing all tips for a recession proof wedding will not allow me to rest. So here are some more suggestions for your recession proof and healthy financial wedding:

• Discuss with your partner each one’s priorities and necessities on the day of wedding. Then try arranging your fund according to the need and priority. Also, try to cut some extra expenses related with wedding day. I know it is very hard, but try to minimize the expenditure for your each need. Also, don’t allow anyone to influence your and your partner’s decision.
• Never go for debt in any case for any wedding expenses. Spend only that much money which you can afford easily because marriage doesn’t mean spending money only for a single day and then trying to earn money whole life to get out of debt.
• Choose your wedding venue and vendors intelligently. In this time of economic crisis, they are also trying to survive just like us. So spend some time in search of cheap but quality venue and vendors. Always give a look on the previous history of venue and vendors, means whether they are able to provide quality service or not.
• Give some time on shopping and you can buy the best bargain on every item or service.
• May be you’ve decided some fixed amount which you want to spend on your wedding. But that doesn’t mean if you are able to cover up everything within that limit, it is necessary to spend rest of money too. Save it for your future.

Tips to make your wedding recession proof - I

Now a day I am very busy because of two things, first because of this economic recession which made my job more hectic than before and second is organizing marriage event of my brother. He is very relaxed because he knows that I’ll take care of every financial issue while organizing the event. But still it is my responsibility as a sister as well as a financial advisor to suggest him and Christina (his life partner) few tips which can make their wedding event and life after that prosperous and happy. So I am sharing these tips with all those people who are going to be married very soon and afraid of this economic recession:

• Wedding is an important function, so plan everything much before the wedding day. Balance your personal finance as soon as possible.
• You and your partner should start an emergency fund for themselves much before wedding. If you have not started till now, start NOW. The motive is to have that much money which is sufficient to cover your basic expenditures for 3-6 months in case of any emergency.
• Watch your own expenses and note down all the expenditure done by you every month. At the end of each month, look at the money spent by you on yourself. This activity will make you more active about personal finances and will help you and your family whole life.
• Talk about money and finance openly with your partner. Since it is responsibility of both of you to create a healthy financial life together, so it is important for both of you to know each other’s financial priorities, goals and habits.
• Plan a monthly budget with your partner for your lives after wedding. May be this tip will not work at once but will work slowly and surely. But you have to make budget for every month and then look at all the expenses. This habit will reduce the unnecessary spending of money.

I’ll sure discuss some more tips with you in my next blog because right now I’ve to go to check and choose the wedding venue.