Can You Afford To Buy A Home?

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“I’ve been saving towards the deposit on a house for a couple of years. Given the rising real estate prices, I think I should try to buy a home now, but I’m not sure if I can manage the mortgage payments. How can I know if I’m really able to afford to purchase a home?”

The real estate market boom has led to rapidly increasing housing prices and consequently, diminishing hopes of acquiring dream homes. The temptation for some anxious homeowners-in-waiting is to buy quickly before prices get higher, without knowing if their financial position really allows them to afford it.

Last week we looked at the pros and cons of buying a home versus renting a property. If you’ve decided that owning your own home is an important goal, you have to examine your finances to ensure that you’ll be able to meet this major commitment.

The first thing to consider is: what are all the costs involved in buying a home? Continue reading Can You Afford To Buy A Home? →

Buying vs. Renting a Home

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“I’ll be forty years old this year, and all my friends keep encouraging me to buy my own home before it’s too late. I’m very comfortable with my rented property and I really don’t want to spend a lot of money buying a house. Am I making a financial mistake by continuing to rent instead of buying? “

The biggest financial dream of most persons is to own their own home. However, an increasing number of people are opting out of home ownership, even though they may be able to afford to buy.

Is purchasing your own home the great financial benefit that it’s always portrayed? Or could it be more profitable to put your cash in other forms of investments? There is no one answer that will suit every person.

Buying a home is a significant investment of time and money, and you will need to consider the pros and cons of renting versus buying, in order to decide what’s best for you. Continue reading Buying vs. Renting a Home →

Money Management for Teens

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“My 18 year old son is driving me crazy. He has a great summer job and every cent he earns is spent on clothes, cell phone calls and parties. I’ve tried to encourage him to save some of his pay, but he refuses to listen to me. How can I get him to understand the importance of good money management?”

Talking to your teenager about money management can be a thankless task. I remember my mother’s pleas several years ago as she tried to encourage me to save, and I recall that her advice went in one ear and out the other. The good news is that at some point I saw the light, so there’s always hope!

How can you get your teenager to grasp the importance of starting an early savings and investment plan? As with any other communication issue with a reluctant listener, it is crucial to present your discussion from his point of view.

If you try to force your ideals and tell him why you think it’s essential to save, he might just tune you out as I did many years ago.

Continue reading Money Management for Teens →

Jamaican Style Money Management

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Let’s look at some old-time Jamaican sayings that can help us to understand the basic principles of sound money management:

“Nuh care how tree big, woodpecker know weh fi do wid it” – Begin with a dream

To be successful at managing your money, you must be clear what you want your money to achieve for you. You are much more likely to buy a house, send your children to college, start your own business, or retire in style, if you focus on your dream and establish an action plan to help you accomplish it.

“De more yuh look, de more yuh see” – Know your current financial picture

Being very clear about your present financial position is a crucial step to attaining your dreams. Many people are afraid to be honest with their finances, and pretend that they are not in difficulties. List all your savings and property, and calculate all outstanding debts. Subtract liabilities from assets to get your financial net worth. Whatever your money situation is now, it can be improved with an appropriate plan of action. Continue reading Jamaican Style Money Management →

Time is Money!

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“I’m 39 years old and I’m trying to save up for the deposit on a house. It seems like time is not on my side, because housing costs are rising much faster than I can save. I really regret not listening to my mother when she encouraged me to save when I was younger.

“I feel discouraged because if I had started saving earlier, I probably would have owned my house by now.”

As the popular saying goes, “Time waits for no man.“ Although it’s never too late to start saving towards your goals, you won’t be able to turn back the hands of time to recreate that nest egg that would have grown with an early savings plan.

Time is probably the most important factor in achieving your financial dreams. Small consistent savings earning a steady interest rate over many years has made many persons wealthy. When we waste time by not investing early, we’re actually losing money.

What are some of the factors that may cause us to put off saving, and lose the advantage of time? Continue reading Time is Money! →

Be Credit Card S.M.A.R.T.

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Last week we looked at how easy it was for consumers to accumulate credit card debt, and we provided some practical steps how to reduce this liability over time. While the words ‘credit card’ and ‘debt’ tend to run hand-in-hand, owning a credit card doesn’t have to be a negative thing.

A credit card is just a tool that can help you to manage your cash flow and bill payments. However, like any other tool, if it is handled incorrectly, it can hurt the user. To be successful with credit card usage, you have to learn how to be credit card S.M.A.R.T:

S- Start with your budget

Your credit card should always be used along with your budget guide, to ensure that you’re making purchases that you can really afford. Identify those expenses that can be paid with a credit card, and don’t charge more on your card than you would have paid if you were using cash. Continue reading Be Credit Card S.M.A.R.T. →

Credit Card Crisis

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“Help! I moved out of my parents’ house six months ago, and I’ve run up balances of over J$90,000 on three credit cards since then. I had to buy things for my apartment, and I think I went overboard. I can now only afford to pay a few thousand dollars every month on the cards, and seems like it’s taking forever to reduce the balances. What can I do?”

You’re not alone in your credit card crisis. News reports have indicated that credit card use in Jamaica has grown significantly in recent times. The resulting increase in credit card debt has left many customers feeling desperate for solutions to get rid this seemingly endless liability.

Credit cards are not necessarily bad- they can be an extremely convenient way to pay bills, or to provide funds in the case of a sudden emergency. However, a credit card can be like an out-of-control racehorse who has thrown its rider, if proper money management skills are not used along with this convenience. Continue reading Credit Card Crisis →

Enjoy the Summer Vacation on a Budget

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“I would love to do some traveling this summer with my two children, but I don’t have a lot of money to spend. I don’t want to disappoint them, as they are looking forward to something different this year. Any tips on how to spend less and still have fun on summer vacation?”

School is out and summer is here! For the children it’s the beginning of two months of freedom, but for the parents it can start a period of over-spending and loss of budgetary control.

While you want to ensure that your children enjoy their vacation, it’s important not to spend more than you can afford on summer fun. The best way to ensure that your holiday plans are affordable is to prepare for it many months in advance.

How do you factor summer spending into your regular budgets? Continue reading Enjoy the Summer Vacation on a Budget →

Five Steps to Achieving Your Financial Dreams

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“Sometimes I dream about being a financial success -owning my own home and having enough money to buy nice things for my two children. Then I remember my present ‘hand-to-mouth’ existence, and I feel hopeless and depressed. I’m tired of worrying about money! Can you show me how to start turning my dreams into reality?”

We all have dream wish-lists that we like to think about: we hope to one day get rid of our landlords and turn our own keys; we wish that somehow we could be rescued from the jobs we hate; we desire that our children would be able to live better lives than we did.

Why is it that many people never seem to achieve their financial dreams? Sometimes if we dare to speak out about the big things we want out of life, we’re met with the words, “Stop dreaming and get real!” So we accept our present condition as our reality and give up without a fight. Continue reading Five Steps to Achieving Your Financial Dreams →

Your Dream Wedding On A Budget

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“I just got engaged, but my fiancé says he can’t set the date yet, because we don’t have enough money to have a nice wedding ceremony and reception. I really would like some advice on how we can get married on a limited budget”

A beautiful wedding can be one of the most cherished events in a person’s life, but it can also be one of the most expensive undertakings. The good news is that it’s not impossible to have your dream wedding without breaking the bank.

Plan Your Budget

The first step in preparing for your wedding is to make a detailed budget outlining your expected costs. Some of the major expenses to consider are: Food, Clothing, Wedding rings, Location rentals, Invitations, Photography & Videography, Decorations, Music, and Honeymoon expenses. Continue reading Your Dream Wedding On A Budget →