6/22/12

Living above our means


Trevor pulled out his calculator as he prepared to crunch the numbers, he was certain that he would not like what he came up with, but it was a task that he would have to endure. After a messy divorce and a string of expenses that left him in more debt than he cared to think about, it was time to reevaluate where he was financially. His good credit was now in the toilet and there was every reason to believe that he would lose his home. He won the house in the divorce  settlement, but that was due to the fact that his ex-wife could not afford the payments and she had a place to go with her new boyfriend anyway.

When we purchase a home, especially when there are two sources of income, we tend to adjust our payments with both of those income sources in mind. We should always consider the possibility that only one of us could be around to keep up with those payments. People get divorced every day and we all know that we are mere mortals, so it is possible to leave this earth before the property has been paid for. In order to manage mortgage payments when two people become one, we should consider financing just enough money for a one income household.

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Preparing for a life of Harmony


After being married for a few weeks, it dawned on Rose that there was a lot to be said for married life, if only of the fact that they had to look at things from a different perspective. There were issues that needed to be addressed like life insurance and budgets and protection for the home. As she sat down with her new husband, they discussed the possibility of children, along with being prepared for tragedy and the best way to take care of the family, should anything go wrong. It was a little early in the relationship to discuss the possibility of purchasing an insurance policy, however, considering the fact that his job would entail having to travel quite a bit, it not have been premature.

There is nothing wrong with having a well planned future, in fact most financial advisors will tell you that your future should be planned before you even get married. The earlier we address things like life insurance, the less the cost will be to us. Premiums remain lower and as we all know, preventative medical attention is always better than waiting till something goes wrong before attending to it. There is no reason we should wait to suffer the consequences as we remain unprepared and without any coverage whatsoever.

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6/16/12

Your dream home, versus your monthly bills


The calculator was on the table and the bills were laid out in front of them. This would be the first set of monthly bills to be made since they purchased their home and they wanted to make certain that everything would come out right. They arranged for payments they felt as though they could afford, but somewhere along the way they must have miscalculated the income needed to cover their bills. It was not until after signing on the dotted line that a couple of bills surfaced and had to be included in the new budget. The revised numbers were much different than what they started out with and they had an uncomfortable feeling about how they would be able to keep up with the payments.

Most of us are fortunate enough to purchase a piece of property of our own and unless something goes wrong, that property will either be paid for or sold in an attempt to upgrade to something better. One of the biggest responsibilities when buying that new home is making sure that we can fulfill that mortgage payment, which means that we must do everything in our power to produce an accurate budget. The problem is that it is difficult to do anything about your payments when the deal has been signed.
It does not matter what size house you purchased , if you do not get the budget right you will lose your new home before you even get started paying for it.

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Should we get insurance or change travel plans?


Plans were well under way for the annual holiday and the travel agent had suggested that they include the cost of an insurance policy. This would be the first time they chose to go this route, but the way the travel agent spoke, it seemed like the logical thing to do. They had decided to head to Israel on this vacation and that came about due to the recommendation of a friend of theirs that recently made the trip. As far as holiday experience goes, they had been to several destinations, so this one would be a big change. Because of the unrest that takes place in that part of the world, the travel agent felt that it would be in their best interest to have some sort of coverage in case the trip had to be canceled.

Most of my decisions are based in some way by my financial state of affairs and although I understand the importance of travel insurance. I am not so sure if I would ever be able to add that extra charge to my vacation budget. Because I know it is important to protect yourself against the possibility of political and other forms of unrest, serious consideration will have to be made as to whether I could find somewhere with less of a risk to travel. There are many options to the decisions we make, so rather than walk away with the opinion that we are stuck with what we have, remember that we are the ones that have to pay the bill, which simply means that if we need insurance insurance and can't afford it, then we should change our travel plans.

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6/11/12

The mind of a child


We live in a world where most of us believe that we should protect the child, then there are those who believe that children should be used as toys for sexual favors. Because the laws in the United States are tough, sex offenders are spreading their wings to different countries where they can fulfill their sick and demented ways. Some are suggesting that tourism laws should be tightened to adapt to offenders caught overseas, but I am not sure such laws will change the sick behavior that these people take part in. Once someone heads down that road they are pretty much heading for a collision.

If we hope to build a strong foundation we should begin with the children of tomorrow and insist on protecting them from child sex offenders, because there is nothing worse than a child that has managed to get their mind torn apart by a sick and demented individual. Whether you are in law enforcement or a member of the family, you should be putting together an  aggressive plan to help keep these children safe. There is nothing worse than a child molester or pedophile who takes advantage of a helpless child and if you have a problem believing that, just think about how these criminals are treated when they enter the penal system.

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The tragedy lives on


Until about five months ago the island of Giglio was a little known tourist destination of the coast of Italy. Thanks to the Costa Concordia and its ill fated accident news organizations from all over the world have pounced on this beautiful island. Instead of welcoming their many visitors to enjoy the assets, Giglio has now managed to find themselves responding to questions about the effects that have come about after the Concordia disaster. Everyone knows that it is easy to end up in an accident, however, with an event of this magnitude the repercussions will obviously be quite extensive.

A trip to Giglio island would greet its guests to a fun time that was chocked full of Caribbean like festivities as they would come out in droves to savor the sun and the white sand. There was more than one way for visitors to take advantage of this paradise island, however, after 32 passengers died on that fateful day in January, entering by cruise ship has to be nerve racking for anyone choosing this option. Having traveled on several cruise ships in my time I cannot even imagine how these passengers must have felt during their ordeal, but as time moves forward and others follow their course we can only hope that there is no repeat of the same disaster.

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6/5/12

Really? You prefer to deal with a bad experience?


I am forever looking for ways to improve my computer and help it operate like a well oiled machine. Every so often I have a friend give me a call and ask for some help with their computer and being the kind of person that I am I gallantly agree to step up to the plate and do what I can. I recently helped out an individual who though that he needed to purchase a new computer because of the problems that his old one (about 1 ½ years old) was not performing as it should be. The problem this individual appeared to be having was with the operating system and not the computer itself. Naturally I suggested that the OS should be changed and because of pure frustration they agreed.

If I was to try to explain how happy this individual was once I made the change for them, I would probably fall short of the true experience. Suffice it to say that there are no more problems with that computer and it will probably be around for awhile, if not, I am always a phone call away. One of the biggest concerns that I always get from the people I try to convince to change their operating systems is usually about the programs they use on a regular basis and 99.9% of the time I am able to find a FREE alternative for them. What strikes me as odd is the fact that so many people continue to allow themselves to be tormented by online disasters instead of doing the smart thing and change their OS. The problem gets worse when they ignore my suggestions, pick up a virus and come back to me to help them remove it, now that takes the cake.

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