5 Tips for Living Without a Credit Card

For many people, credit cards symbolise a trap which continues to keep them in debt. While they can be very handy, credit cards often cause more harm than good. If you’re looking to shake your debt for good, here are 5 top tips for living without a credit card.

Get Your Finances Sorted

To ensure that you can really get the best start on living without a credit card, you should take a good look at your financial standing first. Without a solid foundation, you may end up having to revert to credit once more just to get you out of a difficult financial situation. If you are experiencing difficulty paying your bills, meeting your loan repayments and balancing your credit cards, it might be a good option to seek professional help.

Professional debt solutions specialists such as Fox Symes provide a range of support and advice to help you to consolidate and eliminate your debt, as well as alleviate financial strain. Fox Symes is one of Australia’s leading debt solutions specialists, and their team of professionals can help you to regain control over your finances for good. With this sorted, you can focus on living life without your credit card debt and take charge of your finances.

Update Your Budget

If you’ve been living off your credit card, chances are your budget will need a serious adjustment before you can get rid of your card for good. Sit down and work out exactly what your weekly expenses are, and weigh them against your income. Focus as much of your leftover funds into paying off your credit card as soon as possible. Once the card is paid off, allocate the money you were using into a separate savings account. Now instead of using your card, you can work with your own savings and stay debt free for good.

Resisting Temptation

The simple thing to remember about living without your credit card is this: if you have to use credit, you can’t afford to buy it. Don’t let the temptation of bargains or a special deal ruin all of the hard work you have put in to becoming debt free.

Cut Up Your Card

The reason so many people advocate cutting up your card is that it is a simple and effective way to remove the temptation of using credit without actually harming your credit rating. If you cancel your card, you run the risk of damaging your credit rating and undoing all the hard work you’re currently putting in. When you cut up the card, it is a physical as well as psychological commitment to living without credit.

Use Debit Instead

The majority of debit cards issued by banks can be used just like a credit card. They are designed to work with internet transactions as well as over the phone, so you can use your own money to pay bills and buy online rather than putting it on credit.

Breaking the cycle of credit card debt isn’t easy, but it can be achieved with a bit of hard work and determination. Credit is designed to be easy to access and hard to pay off, so you need to put all the odds in your favour if you are going to get rid of your card for good. Remember to seek professional help if you feel like you’re struggling with your finances, and find a reputable company such as Fox Symes who will work with you to eradicate your debt. Following these top tips will have you well on your way to enjoying life without the financial stress of credit card debt.

Feeding the Bookworm in You on a Budget

It is no secret that I am a voracious reader. My desk is a happy mess of piles of books that I’ve just read and about to read (or read again). I probably spend more on books than on clothes and shoes. Even my bag is never without a pocketbook that I read whenever I’m out. I definitely am a bookworm through and through. Books aren’t the only thing that feed my insatiable hunger for written words. Magazines also dominate a good part of my desk and bookshelf.

Reading a dozen different magazines a month takes a hefty chunk of the budget though. With my little girl starting school and our new home still under construction, I had to find a way to sustain my love for reading books and magazines without having to spend too much. Not wanting to sacrifice my reading pleasure, here are several ways through which I now feed the bookworm in me:

1. Find A Local Library. You are lucky if you have a local library that’s well stocked with the latest publications and book titles. You can simply go there to spend your free time poring over your favorite magazines and books. Most libraries are open to the public, while some charge a minimal fee that allows you to borrow books for a limited time. This small expense is nowhere near the amount of money you will spend buying magazines and books from newsstands and bookstores.

2. Second-Hand Book Shops. You will be surprised to find treasures in these quaint shops. Some books are a little tattered, but most of the stocks in these shops are still in great condition. Be patient in scouring through the shelves for your favorite titles and authors. It’s really just like going through the library shelves. Your book budget will go a long way with the great discounts on these second-hand books.

3. Magazine Subscriptions. Subscribing to your fave magazines would save you more than 10% from newsstand prices. If you search hard enough, you may even get to save up to 90% on your magazine expenses from sites such as Subscription Addict. If you think about it, that’s like getting 10 magazines for the price of one. Even if you have the same budget, wouldn’t you want to get more magazines for your money?

4. Magazine or Book Swap. Favorite books deserve a permanent place in our book shelves but others can be passed to other book lovers or traded for a different book. There are magazine or book swag groups online and offline. Joining these groups will allow you to get new titles without spending any money. At the same time, you can also get rid of some of the old reading materials overflowing from your shelves.

It is not impossible to indulge in a reading frenzy even if your funds are limited. While I have found ways to save on my expenses for books and magazines, there is also a way to earn more funds to spend for your reading materials. If you have more than enough magazines and books lying around, sort through them and pick out those that you are already willing to part with. You might want to think about the fact that magazines may lose their novelty over time. But, there are still those who find use for old magazines. You may want to make some money out of your old ones by selling them. Have your own book sale to build your “reading fund.”

5 Cleaning Tips For The Time Conscience Mum

If you are a single mum, stay-at-home mum or a mum who works outside the home, you probably feel as if you never have enough time in a day to properly clean your home. Many mums become overwhelmed by the sheer number of obligations in their life and trying to accomplish everything in one day. The first step is to relax and enact the following five cleaning tips.

Short Spurts:

Do not try to clean the entire house in one fell swoop. Take 10 or 15 minutes and either dust, vacuum or clean one room at a time. You can accomplish a great deal in 15 minutes, including cleaning up a bathroom or unloading and loading the dishwasher. If you spread your cleaning throughout your day into easier and more manageable segments, it will help you get your house clean without you feeling overwhelmed.

Enlist Help From Your Children:

Little kids love being a helper to mum. The possibilities are endless when assigning each child a few age appropriate chores. The key here is to acknowledge your child's standards for cleanliness are different from your own; however, they will improve with age and practice.

• Children are able to put their books and toys away properly.

• They can make their bed.

• Children can learn to load a dishwasher or place dishes in the sink.

• Older children can be assigned the chore of vacuuming or sweeping the floor.

Pick Up Clutter Throughout The Day:

Clutter in a home with children is a given but will make a home seem messier. Make it a habit to pick up any stray belongings and put them away as you walk through a room. Never leave a room empty handed. Create solutions for everyday clutter. Designate a spot for mail and school papers, so they are not strewn about your home. Place a laundry basket in every bedroom, this way you only need to retrieve the basket and not spend time gathering dirty clothes off the floor.

Divide and Conquer:

Make a schedule and divide cleaning tasks to a different day of the week. Create a rotating schedule to accomplish all of the chores needing to be done in weekly increments, such as every Monday is clean the bathroom day, Tuesday is dusting day and so on. A set schedule will keep you on track and your home will be clean.

Simplify Recylcing

Simplifying recycling helps you maintain a clean home while teaching your children about social responsibility. Designate different recycling bins for different items. Have one bin each for paper, glass and cans. These bins will help eliminate clutter from your home. If you do not have recycling pickup at your home, plan bi-monthly trips to the recycling center to avoid accumulating too many items to recycle at one time.

 

 



And for that little extra help investing in good quality house hold appliances such as robot vacuum cleaners would strike a chore off your list and give you that little bit of extra time.

 

Tom is a tech head and is currently studying computer engineering. He loves everything to do with technology and writes these blogs hoping that it will help those who are not to savvy when it comes to basic tech knowledge.