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It didn’t take long for social networking to hit the financial world in a meaningful way. No, it’s not a new app for your smartphone that lets you take a picture of a check and then deposit it into your bank account. As cool as that is, SmartyPig is at least twice as cool. Read on for proof.

What is SmartyPig?

SmartyPig (smartypig.com) is a goal-oriented internet-based savings account fully protected by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) just like the savings account at your local bank. What differentiates a SmartyPig savings account from traditional savings accounts is the unique social networking component attached to each account.

Set a goal for yourself

Aren’t all savings accounts goal-oriented? Sure, but not in the same manner as a SmartyPig savings account. When you setup a SmartyPig account you immediately identify a goal for the money. Want a new laptop computer? Make that the goal. Want to take a holiday cruise? Then that’s your goal.

After your savings goal has been identified, simply enter in the amount of your goal and the day you want to reach it.

Social Networking

What makes the SmartyPig savings accounts a zillion times more fun than a traditional savings account is that you get to share your goal with all your friends on Facebook! Just try and pretend that isn’t awesome.

But the Facebook fun doesn’t end there. Not only can your friends share in your goal by encouraging you to stay on track to achieve your goal, they can also contribute to your financial success. Just imagine 1,000 of your closest friends each contributing just one dollar each to your success. Okay, it’s probably not quite that easy, but you get the gist of how the social networking component works.

Retail Partners

Another exciting part of a SmartyPig savings account is the retailer shops that have jumped on board with cash-back savings of up to 11% on purchases, and it’s no small number of stores. Here’s a partial list:

* Amazon.com (3%)
* Banana Republic (10%)
* Gap (10%)
* Macy’s (11%)
* Old Navy (5%)
* Sports Authority (5%)
* Travelocity Hotel Gift Card (10%)

Here’s how this program works. Let’s say you have saved $1,000, reaching your goal for a vacation. When you transfer that money, as an example, to a Travelocity Hotel Gift Card you instantly get an additional 10 percent—$100 dollars—added to the gift card. That’s $1,100 to put towards your hotel. Sweet, right? Of course it is.

Interest Account

To top off everything you’ve read so far about SmartyPig savings accounts, they also pay a very competitive annual yield of 0.70% on any balance below $50,000. Accounts exceeding $50,000 earn an annual yield of 0.50%, making SmartyPig savings accounts among the most competitive in the industry.

So, what are you waiting for? Do you have a financial goal that could really get exciting with SmartyPig, your friends on Facebook, and cash back from great retail partners? Visit smartypig.com for all the details and set a plan into motion to reach your goals.

When a person is in need of a large sum of money to invest in or buy an asset they borrow money or take a loan from a bank or financial institution. By doing so, the borrower is bound to pay back that sum of money to the lender in monthly on yearly installments, or part by part.

Every loan has a tenure in which the borrower has to pay back the principal amount to the lender with an added interest. These installments are to be paid on time every month or every year. An interest is a sum the borrower has to pay the lender as a cost the loan is given at. It is usually a percentage of the principal that the borrower has to pay along with the installment.

Loans are of many types the main two being secured loans and unsecured loan. Secured loans are loans in which an asset of the borrower is promised to the lender. A mortgage loan is a secured loan. An unsecured loan is a loan in which no asset of the borrower is attached. A personal loan is a kind of unsecured loan. If a borrower fails to pay one or many installments on time a default occurs. In such cases, the lender classifies your loan as a defaulted loan.

Such a status can have adverse effects on the borrowers chance to get another loan in future. If the defaulter continues this pattern of not paying his installments on time it might lower his credit rating. Financial bodies refer to these ratings to decide whether to sanction a loan to borrowers.

If the borrower fails to pay his installments, defaulted loan notifications are sent to him. These notifications are not to be ignored. The longer the borrower ignores these notifications the worse the situation gets. Non-payment of installments or the loaned amount is also a criminal offence. The financial body that lent the money may use various techniques on a borrower to pay up. Default loan harassment is the most embarrassing and irritable technique. The lender keeps calling till you pay the amount due. They send agents to show up at your house and harass your family. The lender might also usurp the asset attached or mortgaged in case of secured loans. Once the asset is taken in there is no way to get it back but to repay the loan amount.

If you have recently suffered an injury while at work, on holiday or on the roads, you may be thinking about making a compensation claim. Ensuring that you have enlisted the help of the best personal injury solicitor should be your main priority. Yet such is the wide range of compensation claim solicitors available, it can be difficult to determine the best solicitor for your needs. Here are the top 5 things to consider when making a personal accident compensation claim:

1. Free Accident Claim Advice

Before you choose an accident claim solicitor, you may want to use a free accident claim calculator to compare your entitlements. This will help you to ascertain your rights. Many accident claim solicitors also offer no obligation accident claim advice free of charge. Solicitors are expensive so, aside from providing the details of your case in a free accident claim advice session, you must determine what would happen if you pursued your case and lost it. Many solicitors work on a no win, no fee basis so you may wish to ask your solicitor whether they are willing to insure your compensation claim against the chance that you may lose your case.

2. Specialist Solicitors

When seeking a reputable solicitor to handle your case, it is essential to ensure that your chosen solicitor specialises in the particular area of law in which you wish to pursue your claim. If you have experienced an accident in the workplace and wish to submit a workplace accident compensation claim, you will require a solicitor who specialises in this area of law. In the event that your chosen solicitor fails to specialise in a particular area of law, you could end up losing money.

3. Testimonials

Your chosen solicitor should provide you with testimonials from previous clients and you should also consider carrying out your own independent research by searching for reviews of your chosen solicitor on the Internet. Where possible, you should aim to enlist the help of a solicitor who has been recommended to you by trusted relatives or friends. However, it is essential to be comfortable with your chosen solicitor as you will need to frankly discuss the details of your accident case with them.

4. Solicitor’s Agreements

When you sign a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) with your chosen solicitor, you will wish to ensure that the solicitor will claim for their fees and expenses from the opposing party – not from the accident compensation that you receive. The majority of personal injury solicitors include a clause in the CFA that states that you will be responsible for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred. Out-of-pocket expenses may include the cost of medical treatment that you are advised to receive by your accident compensation solicitor and any overtime incurred by the solicitor’s own staff. Your solicitor should be responsible for recouping the money for meeting these costs from the opposing party.

5. Out-Of-Court Settlement vs. Court Proceeding

Some accident claim solicitors fail to listen to the desires of their clients and instead instigate full court proceedings. If you wish to settle your compensation claim as opposed to taking your claim through the courts, you should ensure that your chosen accident claim solicitor does not have any objection to you doing this. Conversely, if your solicitor is advising you to settle your claim out of the courts yet you wish to take your claim through the courts, you should discuss with your solicitor the disadvantages of taking your accident compensation claim through the courts.

The tools of budgeting all come down to a basic process of keeping track of income and expenses in one location. This makes it possible to target areas of over-spending and arrange a projected budget that is both realistic and oriented towards saving. Just as the old days of using a hand-held calculator and accounting pad gave way to computerized spreadsheets and stand-alone programs, newer methods have been supplanted in recent years by internet-based programs.

Tweaking categories and establishing limits is still an individualized matter, but it is no longer necessary to transfer the numbers from each account into a centralized system. Online money management tools are capable of accessing accounts for which they are given your login information, but this feature is not a given due partly to security reasons.

Many programs are available, and choosing the best depends upon which you find most compatible with your financial needs. Since all these programs are free, advertising should not be a surprise. Some of the most popular tools for financial planning are:

Mint

Mint is the most versatile and user-friendly of the options available. Login information is easily entered for a fast and comprehensive accounting of everything from monthly spending patterns to total net worth. One of the more valuable features is its ability to gather as much information as is stored in the account. Investment accounts entered into the system will be tracked on a weekly basis.

The downside for some users will be the automated budgeting. Preset totals are attached to every category, and it will take some time to configure these for your individual needs. Until you do, expect to face reminders and overspending warnings regularly. Initial setup can take around an hour, and it will take more time to get the program matched up with your financial life.

Wesabe

This program offers some of the same features as Mint, such as the ability to pull data from multiple accounts and automatically compile net worth, liquid assets and debt. If you have been using Quicken, this is a good choice for now. Mint does not yet support importing from Quicken, but Wesabe does support this option. One feature Wesabe does boast is an active user forum.

Importing from Quicken is the only way to get around the need to manually categorize types of spending, which is one drawback. Another downside is that Wesabe does not function with some accounts, which means you are stuck without information or having to manually enter it.

Manual Upload

Many free programs are available for monitoring your finances on the go, and most of them require manual upload of information. Before thinking this is more trouble than it’s worth, consider some of the advantages of sites like BudgetPulse, moneyStrands, and Buddi.

Since there is no account information entered, there is no risk of your accounts being compromised by hacking of these third-party sites. They are also more functional due to simplicity. Manual uploading may seem like time travel to the past after experiencing Mint, but these alternatives often include community, small business, and other group tools.

It is worth the time to find a program that best fits your financial situation and personality. Budgeting is the first step to overcoming debt and planning for the future. The only thing you’ll lose from a poor choice is time.

Are you looking for ways to make your dollar go further? Staying on a budget can be difficult if you’re not sure where to start. Try following these 5 easy ways to help you manage or lower your expenses.

1) Buy generic brands

Grocery stores usually offer a store brand or a generic brand that costs less than name brands. Pharmacies also offer generic versions of most medications that tend to be far less expensive. It’s also important to avoid shopping on an empty stomach. If you do, anything and everything will look delicious. You’ll throw out that budget you had in mind along with your will power to resist that chocolate cake in the bakery. So, eat before you go to the grocery store and stick to your list!

2) Carpool

With rising gas prices, who wants to pay so much to drive to and from work every day? Find someone you work with who lives close enough to you that you can carpool. Carpooling will save you money on gas, allow you to use the HOV lane, and give you time to catch up on water cooler gossip before you get to the office. If you have no options for carpool buddies, you can use public transportation or even consider moving closer to work to shorten your commute.

3) Pay off credit cards

Pay off your credit card with the highest interest rate first. It is imperative that you make your payments on time. Late payments can lead to a nightmare of late fees, increased interest rates, and seeing that dreaded decrease in credit score. It is a good idea to make a separate calendar just for bills and their due dates to avoid missing payments. You will never have to incur late fees because you simply forgot to pay the bill.

4) Pay yourself first

A wise man (my dad) once told me that the most important bill to pay is – you. All you have to do is budget a certain amount of money from every paycheck and essentially “pay” yourself. This money should go into your savings account. You’re continually adding a fixed amount to your savings and growing your emergency fund a little at a time.

5) Take advantage of free offers

There are free and discounted offers all over the Internet, you just have to find them. For instance, if you type in “pizza hut promo code,” you’re likely to find a coupon for a few bucks off your pizza. You can also sign up for newsletters from your favorite online stores. You’ll get emailed frequently with discounted offers. There are also tons of online coupon sites. If you’ve ever seen the television show “Extreme Couponing” you know just how much coupons can save you. There you have it! Try these 5 simple ways to stretch your dollar. Remember, creating and managing a budget plays a crucial role in your financial health. Don’t let the process overwhelm you. Simply pick a place to start and go from there.