Whether you’re a single young professional or responsible for a family sometimes it can be overwhelming to manage your budget to make ends meet. With so many vital household bills coming though your letterbox, food shopping bills that need paid, oh and let’s not forget all of those miscellaneous costs that often pop up such as someone’s birthday, the car needing servicing or the fridge packing up and needing replaced – sometimes your wage seems to just disappear within the first few days of getting paid.

With so much to think about, saving is often the last thing you are able to do, and managing all of your bills the right way is often a tough and stressful task. However, there is actually one very easy, and highly effective way in which you can easily breeze through the month, confident that you have each and every outgoing covered and even have the chance for the first time to start and put some money away for a rainy day, or shall we even say that well needed shopping trip you have been dreaming of!

The envelope system is one of the oldest and basic yet most effective ways to achieve this. The concept is also a piece of cake and anyone can do it, even when you have instant payday loans ready to help you out. The first thing you should day is make a note of every single thing you usually have to pay out each month. So perhaps your list will include rent, clothing and utility bills. When you make the list it will also be beneficial for you to put how much you usually spend on these areas every month. A little tip here, is to always round that figure up, so think worst case. For example if your bill last month for food shopping was £80 round it up to £100, this way your bills are always covered and you are never caught short or unable to pay a bill!

Now look at each expense and divide it up to categories, such as rent, bills, miscellaneous costs etc. You can then place each expense into a category. Add up the total of each and then you know exactly how much you need to put into that area each month from your wages.

So, to make some savings, add another category to those you already have, and yip you guessed it name it savings. Now look again at all of your outgoings, is there anything you can cut back on slightly? For instance, are you spending too much on nights out? If so even the littlest of cut backs like £5 per month can be allocated to your savings category. Do this with all expenses if possible and when you have done you should now be able to physically see how much you can save per month. The hardest part of this savings system is discipline. If you really want to save, and make sure each expense is covered you need to stick t it. Giving it a real go for even one month and actually sticking to it, will mean for the first time you have cash saved.

IVA is a legally binding arrangement between the debtor and the creditors in which the debtor agrees to pay a certain amount in a monthly basis into the IVA in order to clear off his debts. The amount that is paid to the IVA is calculated after analyzing the income and expenditure of the debtor. However, the debtor has to fulfill certain strict criteria to apply for an Individual Voluntary Arrangement:

In order to qualify for an IVA, the debtor must have a minimum amount of debt and the number of creditors.

The debtor or the partner must have a regular source of income originating from regular employment.

If the debtor is a homeowner, his mortgage payments will be taken into consideration as expenditure costs.

If the debtor’s personal financial situation changes during the IVA, the Insolvency Practitioner will act on the debtor’s behalf and submit a revised offer to the creditors.

The Individual Voluntary Arrangement will come into effect after the creditors have accepted the proposal submitted by the Insolvency Practitioner on behalf of the debtor. This proposal is approved during the creditors meeting when it is submitted to the creditors’ vote. If more than 75% of the creditors in value vote (in person or by proxy) in favor of the proposal, the IVA is considered to be approved. However, if any of those voting are associates (business associates, friends or family), a second count takes place during which 50% of non-associated creditors must vote in favor of the IVA proposal for it to be approved.

During the IVA period, if the personal and financial situation of the debtor changes, a new proposal has to be submitted by the Insolvency Practitioner. The creditors will review the proposal and vote for approval. Once the IVA is accepted by the creditors, all charges and interest rates will be frozen.

If for some reasons, the debtor defaults in his monthly repayments, it is more than likely that the debtor will be considering a bankruptcy if no new terms can be found in order to carry on with the IVA. An IVA and Bankruptcy are not mutually exclusive. A person who has already gone through bankruptcy can still propose for Individual Voluntary Agreement. If the arrangement is agreed post-bankruptcy, then the debtor can apply for annulment of the Bankruptcy Order from the court. It then becomes possible to nominate an Official Receiver to supervise the arrangement. This type of arrangement is called a Fast Track Voluntary Arrangement and is only suitable in certain cases.

There are many other articles also in the internet for IVA advice, if you want to know more about IVA to though them.

The Conservative Party in Canada was first elected to a minority government in 2006, making Stephen Harper prime minister. Since then his Conservative Party has won federal elections twice, both times increasing the size of his constituency.

Finally, on May 2, 2011, Prime Minister Harper won a solid majority for the Conservative Party in the Canadian parliament. This trend towards conservatism at the national level in Canada has led to a number of changes designed to help investors and businessmen. In 2008, one of these changes was the introduction of the Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA).

A TFSA has several perks that allow Canadian savers and investors to earn reasonably high interest rates on their cash. In 2009, any Canadian aged 18 or older could open a TFSA and contribute up to $5,000 per year. The contributions are not tax-deductible, but the money in the account compounds tax-free and can be withdrawn tax-free.

Withdrawals can be made at any time with no withholding tax. Owners may contribute to a spouse’s TFSA, who can withdraw contributions tax-free, which enables income splitting strategies to be used. TFSAs are extremely useful tools for Canadians who wish to save their money. Increased savings may lead to increased investment, which grows the economy.

Another favorable aspect of a TFSA is the ability to re-contribute the full amount of the previous year’s withdrawals. This allows the total savings room in the TFSA to stay constant. Canadians can take advantage of the various TFSA offerings by financial institutions to find the one that best fits their needs.

Several institutions are offering high interest tax free savings account plans, allowing account holders to earn higher-than-usual interest on their money.

A TFSA allows withdrawals to be re-contributed in recognition of the fact that savers have multiple competing objectives, such as buying a house, saving for college and investing. These objectives have different time horizons, which is why the TFSA is structured as it is.

Furthermore, Canadians who do not use the full $5,000 contribution limit per year have their extra room carried forward. For instance, an account owner that only contributes $3,000 in 2010 has the extra $2,000 room carried forward into 2011. Now the owner can contribute up to $7,000 in 2011.

As to investment options, a TFSA allows a saver or investor to put his money in a variety of instruments. The TFSA can be used as a pure cash savings account with a high interest rate. Conservative investment options include Guaranteed Investment Certificates (GICs) and bonds. More risky investments open to TFSA owners are individual stocks, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and segregated funds, which are offered by insurance companies.

The TFSA puts the decision in the hands of the account owner. They can invest their money however they choose and only pay taxes on the contributions into the account.

For many years, using a credit card while travelling abroad carried with it a couple unfortunate side effects: you could expect to see expensive transaction fees, not to mention a tacked-on exchange rate. But even so, American travelers knew that their cards would be accepted. The major card providers (Visa, MasterCard, etc.) are prevalent in population centers around the world, and being able to rely on your card saves considerable hassle, even though a fee will likely be included.

These days, though, American credit cards often don’t work overseas, due to a relatively new technology called chip-and-PIN. The technology stores all of a card’s information in a microchip, rather than in a magnetic strip on the side, which ultimately makes information more secure. The U.S., unfortunately, has not yet switched over to the new system. American credit card companies have been working to make the switch to microchips, but the process has been a slow one.

In the meantime, what should you do when traveling abroad? If all your cards have the magnetic strip, and if you prefer having a credit card to make purchases, then getting a prepaid travel card might be your best option. It works just like debit cards and Prepaid Cell Phones, but it is specifically set up for international use. While the card will carry high fees, it probably won’t be much different from using a credit card. Many major credit card providers offer this service.

Other options include cash, debit cards, and traveler’s checks, and all have their pros and cons. Cash is the most convenient option, and it is usually the cheapest, although there’s no recourse against stolen cash and many people feel uncomfortable carrying around large amounts of currency. Debit cards and traveler’s checks are safer options, but they often involve higher fees and are not accepted in many places.

Ultimately, if you’re planning to travel, it’s important to be aware of your spending options before you go and to plan accordingly. Most travelers will rely on a combination of cash, credit, and other payment methods. But a new and important step to take – even if high fees don’t phase you – is to check the encryption method of your credit card.

Scammers represent a very real risk to your financial future. Scammers take your personal information and use it to get credit or make purchases. A phone phishing scam will use personal financial information that you provide to do any number of things. Your Social Security number can be used to open loans in your name — and scammers can run up debts and then walk away, leaving you to foot the bill and deal with the fallout from the bad credit.

Credit Issues Associated with Identity Theft

If someone gets a hold of your credit card number because of a scam, they can run up your bill. Someone posing as a charity could call and ask for a “donation.” If you provide the credit card number, the scammers can use it to make purchases. It’s true you aren’t liable for these fraudulent purchases, but you will have to spend time to fix the problem, and your credit might suffer in the meantime.

Another problem is that you might give someone your Social Security number over the phone. Someone posing as a caller from your bank, or posing as a government worker, might call and ask you to verify your identity by providing your Social Security number. Once you give it — and confirm your address and name — scammers have everything they need to steal your identity and apply for a loan. You might not even know that this has happened for months. The scammers, of course, don’t make any payments, and pretty soon your credit is ruined. It can take weeks or months to have a fraudulent loan closed and removed from your account.

Be Careful with Your Personal Information

Even if you are reasonably sure who is calling, due to your diligence in performing a phone number lookup, it is still a good idea to go spare with your personal information — especially personal financial information. Your bank doesn’t need you to recite your entire account number. A charity can just send you a fundraising envelope; you don’t have to give out your credit card number over the phone. And, remember that many organizations won’t call you. A jury duty summons will come through the mail, and many other official government organizations will not contact you via phone and ask for any sort of personal financial information, or ask for your Social Security number. It’s important to keep these things in mind if you choose to answer the phone — although if you aren’t sure who’s calling, it might be wiser to avoid answering altogether.

Check Your Credit Report

In addition to being careful with your personal information, you also need to stay vigilant about your credit report. Check your report regularly and look for fraudulent entries. You should also check your credit card statement to make sure that fraudulent charges aren’t showing up. The sooner you catch these problems, and get them fixed, the sooner you can restore your good credit and financial reputation.

ID theft can happen to anyone. It’s the fastest growing crime in America. While you can’t completely protect yourself, you can be watching, ready to address the problem immediately should the need arise.

A critical illness insurance policy is an insurance product where a lump sum amount of money is provided to the policy holder under certain circumstances defined in the contract when he is diagnosed with a critical illness that is also clearly mentioned in the policy. In certain cases, the policy can be made in such a way so that the policy holder gets a regular monthly payment from the insurance company. The insurance coverage also includes certain surgical procedures.

Life insurance policies are offering critical illness riders which will pay anywhere from $5,000 to $100,000 upon first diagnosis of a critical illness. Some of these life insurance companies will pay you this benefit up to 3 times over the term of the life insurance policy.

It is usually less expensive to buy a critical illness rider on a life insurance term policy that if you purchase a critical illness stand alone policy. If you buy the rider, you also will get the added death benefit on a life policy in additional to a tax free benefit to your beneficiaries.

As per some insurance policies, the policy holder has to be alive for a certain number of years after the diagnosis of the illness before the insurance payment is made. This period is also called the survival period and usually ranges in between 28 to 30 days.

The critical illness insurance is also known as the crisis cash, living insurance or the serious illness insurance. Although different companies cover different different diseases in their insurance policies, but mainly they include serious diseases like coronary artery by-pass surgery, cancer, heart attack and stroke. Later, many other health conditions were added to this insurance coverage such as Alzheimer’s disease, kidney failure, major organ transplant, blindness, multiple sclerosis, deafness, Parkinson’s disease, paralysis of limbs, terminal illness, HIV or Aids contacted through blood transfusion etc.

The number of diseases or illnesses that are covered under this insurance policy and the insurance amount keeps on changing constantly depending upon the number of diagnosis being made and the treatment available for the disease. This means that coverage for diseases that seemed important years ago may not be that much in demand today and the illness that are covered today might not need that much insurance coverage tomorrow. Diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and diabetes are expected to get greater insurance coverage in the near future.

The critical illness insurance was earlier introduced to safeguard the financial conditions of people who are unfortunately struck by illness that were later deemed to be critical after treatment or diagnosis was made. The amount received from the insurance payment can be used for paying off the treatment bills and costs, used as aid for recuperation, repayment of debts, make up for lost income incurred due to inability to earn following the illness, or even to help the change the life style of a person once the illness diagnosis has been made.