Choosing a financial planner is a great idea in order to set a financial plan in motion and make money from your investments. There are several questions that you should ask any financial planner before considering doing business with this person.

Experience and Qualifications - Find out where the person went to school, where they trained, what companies they have worked for and to describe what they did at each company (including what types of clients they had). There are certifications in the field of financial planning so ask what types of certifications this person has and how they stay current on their training. Some planners do not actually sell anything rather only offer advice so find out what services are offered. Other planners sell but are limited to selling what they have licenses to sell.

Financial Planning Approach - A conservative planner will not suit your needs if you are looking for aggressive growth. Finding someone who matches and can execute your growth strategy will provide you with the best return on your investment.

Rates and Service - Financial planners will disclose rate information (fees or commission based) to you in their agreement to provide services and it should always be in writing. It is also helpful to ask if they are the only person that you will be working with or if they have other people who assist them in providing service to you. You should meet everyone who will be handling your money.

Making certain that you are comfortable with your financial planner is key for a successful relationship. Your financial planner must be competent, communicative and above all, one whose style matches your needs.

While credit cards are convenient and give you instant gratification, credit card debt is a huge problem in modern societies. If not used wisely they lead to overspending money you still do not have. Spending just because you can is never a wise move. Mounting credit card debt, especially if you have more than one card, may be a disaster if you can not pay off the balance of them all each month.

Now is the time to take control of your financial future. If you need to use credit to buy everything you want, do you actually need it? Or is it a want? Look at consolidating your credit card debt into one low interest payment and throw the rest of your credit cards out. Only keep one with a low minimum balance. Keep the limit close to an amount you can pay off in no more than two months. Once you only have one payment, you can afford to increase your monthly payment to pay your credit card debt off more quickly.

There is nothing worse than the pressure of several maxed out credit cards and the resulting credit card debt. Get your spending under control. The financial pressure it adds to your life is just not worth it. Use your credit card for emergencies. Stop spending beyond your means or you may find yourself trying to avoid bankruptcy next. Start a financial plan - start a spreadsheet on your incomings and outgoings, and record everything you spend for a month. Absolutely everything - takeaway food, bills, outings - every single cent you spend. And, don’t cheat. The only person you cheat is yourself. At the end of the month, take a look at what you spent. How does it look? How much was on essential items?

food, utilities, loan payments? Now look at where you spent the rest - how much could you have lived without? Take a long hard look and be honest about it. I’ll bet there is a lot you don’t need that could be put towards your credit card debt.

Plan your future and live within your means. And stick to your budget to avoid more credit card debt. Paying your credit cards weekly will help pay your credit card debt off quickly and no more will you fear your monthly credit card bill. It will give you freedom to save for the future and achieve bigger dreams and goals. It will also give you an excellent credit rating to help you make your financial dreams come true. No-one is going to do it for you. So what are you waiting for? To head straight into bankruptcy because you don’t know what to do? Get out there and deal with your credit card debt.

Always pay the credit card with the highest interest rate first. This is just commonsense. Do you even know what the rates are on your credit card debt? Maybe you should check then you’ll pull your head out of the sand and get your finances back in order. Get rid of all those credit cards, take control of your life and have a wonderful future.

Obtaining credit cards after bankruptcy is not as difficult as most people believe. While bankruptcy does practically destroy your credit rating, this change to that mysterious three digit number used by lenders does not last for ever.

And while bankruptcy appears in your credit report for (up to) ten years, even before it is dropped from the report, you may still qualify for loans and credit cards without predatory rates and terms.

Adopting good credit practices, such as timely payment and using only a small portion of your credit card limit, can help reduce the impact of bankruptcy and repair you credit.

One of the most important things you can do when obtaining credit cards after bankruptcy is to acquire a credit report. All too often, some old debts and unpaid loans are still present as delinquent accounts on credit reports after bankruptcy. If this is the case for you, contact the credit agencies immediately to correct the error. Be prepared with your personal information, so they can verify the bankruptcy and remove those negative entries.

When you apply for credit cards after bankruptcy, be careful and selective. Avoid so-called “predatory” or “maximum rate” lenders who may offer extensive and attractive credit, but can charge interest over twenty percent.

Avoid filing too many credit applications at once, which can further damage your already lowered and delicate credit rating. Large numbers of credit applications and open credit accounts for a bankrupt person can send red flags to lenders about the creditworthiness of the applicant.

It may be a wise choice to start with a “secured” credit card, where the credit limit is backed by money deposited in a bank account. This allows you to build up a positive credit history, while providing reassurance to the lender that the debt will be repaid.

After receiving your post-bankruptcy credit cards, develop some good habits. Avoid using your full limit. Try to make modest purchases with the card on a regular basis. Pay your credit card bill on time. When making payments, try to almost in full but leave a small balance (about 20% of limit) in order to keep it reported. All of these things can drastically improve your creditworthiness.

Obtaining credit cards after bankruptcy is possible and can be an excellent tool for rebuilding your financial reputation. With a little bit of caution and good credit habits, you can see your credit rating in great shape and your bankruptcy removed from your credit reports within a few years.

Look for the Signs

First of all, many times a recession in the U.S. economy is only recognized and acknowledged by politicians and officials several months after it has ended. According to the Department of Labor and the Bureau of Economic Research, the average American recession lasts for ten months, and the two most recent economic recessions only lasted about eight months each.

During a recession, unemployment typically rises about 1½ percent over non-recession figures. You’ll see economic jitters in the stock market and falling prices in some (but not all) real estate markets. The talking heads on television will most certainly wring their hands and say that the sky is falling - (bad news is always good for the news business). On the other hand, investors in real estate and in stocks take advantage of falling prices to acquire good stocks and properties while the prices are temporarily lower. Bob Thornton, a respected Florida-based real estate investor says “Everything in the store eventually goes on sale sometime. It’s just real estate’s turn”.

Regroup and Reorganize

None the less, there are many specific steps you can take to not only ’survive’ a recession but also to ‘thrive’ during shaky economic times.
Let’s take a look at some specifics.

Reduce or Reallocate Expenses

I have a business friend who swears he can’t live without his $9 cup of fancy foo-foo coffee everyday on the way to work. That’s $2,160 a year. He could be use that money to reduce his credit card debt or it could go into his retirement account to be invested for his future. We take a lot of expenses for granted that are not really necessary. These are called ‘discretionary’ expenses that may not pay us back for the money invested.

Business owners should always look at dollars expended as being investments in the business. That is, make every dollar spent either in support of your business or in marketing it to your potential customers. Look at every dollar in terms of ‘what can it do to support, grow and expand the business.’

On both a personal and business level, there are a variety of checklists that can help you. One website - http://beingfrugal.net has a very checklist on surviving a recession in its 2008 archive of articles.

Spread Your Risk and Think Long-Term

If you’re a stock investor, look into well-balanced mutual funds with a 5-year or 10-year track record that reflects both bull and bear markets. That way you’re dollars are diversified across hundreds of stocks and overseen by professional managers whose compensation is tied to the fund’s performance.

If you’re a real estate investor, take advantage of the fact that sellers are competing for buyers - often selling properties just for the amount owed on them. Also look at different forms of real estate investing - including tax liens, trust deeds and other forms of ‘paper’.

Look at the long-term when considering investments and business moves. As a general rule of thumb, recessions tend not to last very long - usually from 9 to 18 months. They are counter-acted by moves in the Fed’s interest rate, by adjustment of loan qualifications, by government spending policy and by consumer spending at key times of the year. 80% of the recessions since 1948 have lasted less than a year with the recessions of 1990 and 2001 each last only 8 months.

Emergency Fund

If you don’t already have one, get an Emergency Fund going. Consider putting money into your emergency fund an expenditure of the first priority. Many financial planners say that an emergency fund should be built up over a period of time so that you have at least one or two months worth of normal expenses set aside in a safe, conservative account. Experienced planners say that three to six months is even better.

Your credit cards should not be your emergency fund. Using them only makes matter worse and digs you into an even bigger financial hole. Instead, look at every possible viable alternative before turning to credit cards to get you through any thin period.

After the recession is over and things are turning around, you should commit a steady and consistent percentage of your income to renewing and building up your emergency fund ‘for next time’.

Focus on Where You’re Going

Don’t lose sight of your goals. Yes, they may need to be readjusted for a time during a recession but remember that a recession is by its nature temporary. The end of the recession won’t be announced with trumpets blaring and sirens going off; however, things will eventually turn around so that better times have arrived. If you’re an investor, you’ll be tempted to cash out poorly performing investments. But be careful and look before you leap at the underlying basis for the investment. Is the underlying value of the investment something that stays with it even though the price varies up and down during different markets? If so, then unloading it during a temporary recession may cause you to lose money. On the other hand, if the inherent value is something that stays with the investment in both good markets and bad, then instead of unloading it when prices fall, you may want to use the opportunity to get more.

Take a Skills Inventory

Regardless of your age, you can ‘find a home’ if your skill set is worthy of an employer taking a risk on you. If you’re working for someone else (rather than yourself), do a skills inventory and beef up those that need to be improved. Your skill set is really what makes you attractive to a prospective employer.

If your professional resume is outdated, dust it off and update it. Put some feelers out among your friends and contacts, and don’t be afraid to reach out beyond the locality in which you now live. Also, make sure that you are perceived at work as a ‘valued employee’ instead of someone who is expendable if things get tight for your employer. To avoid being laid off, strive to be among the top five percent of the employees.

Spread Your Net

This is the time to network a lot more than you might usually do. Take the time to search out meet-and-greet networking meetings of business people in your area. See what the chamber of commerce or other business associations in your area might be sponsoring. If you belong to any associations or clubs, make an effort to reach out and let people know you are ‘looking’.

Networking itself is a skill everyone should develop. Doors that close on you only stay that way if you don’t do anything about it. Networking in your industry or skill set is a great way to not only open doors for employment opportunities but also make new friends. Relax, be ready to help people remember your name and contact information, and don’t be afraid to shake the hand of someone you haven’t yet met.

Bottom Line

It’s up to you to prepare and be ready for a recession. It’s your responsibility to take the initiative and keep your ear to the ground listening for signals that won’t always be obvious at first. Remember that a stampede can be heard and felt before it reaches you. By the time it does so, preparing for it is too late.

You need to plan ahead and build an emergency fund to give you a financial cushion. A recession isn’t always ‘announced’ or ‘proclaimed’. It builds over time, and the smart money is preparing for the worst and hoping for the best.

If you’ve waited too long to prepare, it can catch you by surprise. Look at the signs around you, read the music that’s being played in the media and in the business environment in which you operate. Keep your eyes open and look for ways you can take advantage of the changes. Once you see a recession on the cover of most print media (newspapers and magazines), it’s already arrived and your preparations are behind schedule. So take the time now to build your resume, to review your list of contacts, and consider what you need to do so you’re not a statistic of the recession.

I’m on a mission to help folks become more financially fit, so I’m encouraging readers to start a budget. However, we’ll call it a “Freedom Plan” because our goal is going to be to free you from financial stress and chaos. If you are one of the millions of Americans swallowed by debt, you need one. If you’re one of the millions living paycheck to paycheck, you need one. Even if you have money to throw around, you should still have one. Why? Because you want your money to work for you! Financial freedom is at your very own fingertips.

The basic idea of the Freedom Plan is to find out how much you earn, verses how much you spend. If all goes well, you’re earning more than you spend. If not, it’s time to fix that problem.

*First, you’ll want to find out where you are financially and set goals as to where you want to go. So, grab a pen and paper and start figuring out your net worth. Do this by comparing what you own, or at least the value of it (assets: house, cars, savings, other personal property) to what you owe (liabilities: mortgage, auto loans, credit card debt, etc.). Hopefully, you have more assets than liabilities, but if not, you’re not alone and you CAN turn that around.

*Then, you’ll need to track your spending for at least a month. Whether you use cash, checks, credit cards or debit cards, make a note of every purchase you make, even the twenty-five cent pack of gum. Also, track all of your income. This is just to make you aware of where your money goes each month.

*At the end of the month, put all of your expenses into categories, Fixed (the ones you pay every month like Rent, Utilities, Car Payment, etc) and Variable (the ones that change every month like Gas, Eating Out, Movies, etc.)

*Next, take a good look at where your money has gone. (Pay close attention to the Entertainment and Eating Out categories!) If you’re spending more than you earn, you’ll need to find ways to cut back on the variable expenses. If after cutting back on your variable expenses you find you are still paying out more than you earn, perhaps you’ll have to take more drastic measures like getting another part time job, moving to a less expensive home or selling a vehicle, for example. If you aren’t an over-spender, you might like to try to cut back on your expenses just so you can put a little extra in your savings account each month.

*Finally, make the necessary adjustments to your spending and put it on paper!! Housing should generally cost you less than 40% of your income. The Food and Auto categories should fall into about the 15% range. All other categories should run at about 3-5% of your income, but you should adjust it to fit your current needs and work toward whatever goals you have set for yourself. Don’t go over 100%, though!

These simple guidelines should help you begin your journey to financial freedom. Remember, if you take control of your money now and not spend so frivolously, then later, you’ll be debt free with lots of money in your savings account to buy what you want, when you want, free and clear. Whatever age you are or phase of life you’re in, it’s not too late to get started, so please, get on your way to financial freedom today!

One of the easiest ways to save money on food is by simply being organized. When making up a list of items to be purchased, I always go through the ads to see who has what on sale, and when. You’ll be amazed at how much you can save just by spending a little time looking at the Sunday ads, and seeing who has the best prices on items that you need. After making your list of stores to visit, set up a route and hit all of the stores in an orderly fashion purchasing the items on sale at each store. Don’t just look at the food stores either, but look at places like drug stores who often discount many food items as ‘loss leaders’ to draw people into their store. After a while, you’ll get a good feel for which stores have great deals on certain items, and when the items tend to go on sale. Another benefit of hitting several stores at a time is that you’ll spend less time running to the stores, and use less gas in the process, saving you more money.

Another easy way to save lots of money is by belonging to one of the Wholesale clubs like Costco or B.J.’s. Don’t let the idea of a membership fee keep you from belonging to at least one of these places because you’ll more than make up for it in savings. The problem many people have with these type of stores is the fact that you have to buy everything in such large quantities. While this may be an issue for items like meat and other perishable foods, you can definitely save lots of money by buying non-perishables like canned goods, paper items, and many other things that have a long shelf life. If you do a co-op with a family member or friend, you can even split the purchases and the cost.

Like many people, I used to have an aversion to clipping coupons. However, my attitude about coupon clipping changed one day when I watched a woman in front of me purchase a cart full of groceries for about $17. She was an expert at using coupons to save money. If you really want to get serious about saving money with coupons, you have to be organized and only clip coupons that you’re going to use. With the advent of the Internet, you can even print a lot of coupons online. A couple of sites that allow you to do this are coolsavings.com and coupons.com. Many stores also match manufacturers coupons, saving you twice as much on an item. While using coupons can save you a great deal of money, be aware of the prices of the items you’re purchasing and compare them with the other brands. Although large name brand manufacturers offer coupon discounts more often than local brands, the name brand prices can be much higher, negating much of your savings. Be smart and compare.

There are some other things you can do to save money while in the store. First, avoid impulse buying. Stores place certain higher profit items at strategic places in the store, increasing the likelihood of your purchasing them. Be aware of this, and keep your hands in your pockets. Also, leaving the kids at home while shopping for food will likely decrease your impulse purchases since few parents can long resist the screaming of children wanting everything they see. Also you’ll save a good bit of money by avoiding the junk or processed foods. These foods offer the most profit for stores and therefore are pushed at advertised overloaded consumers. Avoid the aisles that offer all of these ‘goodies’ and you’ll save lots of money and your waistline.

While there are few absolutes in life, the need for food and the likelihood of this commodity continuing to increase are about as certain as death and taxes. Since none of us live in the make believe world of government statistics, it’s a good idea to try and save a bit of money on this necessity whenever possible. Try implementing some of the tips mentioned here, and use your imagination to come up with some of your own.

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