Travel is the best education you can give your children, and long term travel is more accessible than you might think. If you’ve been dreaming of quitting your job and heading out with your family to see the world, maybe it’s time to put that dream into practice. You can take your children to explore the Egyptian pyramids, discover the Taj Majal, and maybe even make it to Timbuktu!

But then reality pulls you back – you need to be a ‘responsible’ parent and work 9 – 5 and take the kids to soccer practice in the evenings, Or do you really? Traveling as a family can be a fantastic experience for all members of the family – regardless of the age. For parents, the opportunity to spend time with your children rather than behind a desk is a gift. For children, the opportunity to see the world and spend their short childhood with their parents is the best gift any parent can give them.

Long term travel isn’t as expensive as you probably think it is. While you are thinking there is no way you could possibly quit your job and afford to travel, you might be surprised to learn just how cheaply you can travel for. We, as a family of four, are currently traveling the world on our bicycles for about $1500 per month. That’s less than $20,000 per year! We’ve rented out our house, which pays for about half of our expenses. The remainder comes from interest on our retirement account and our website.

It is possible to ditch the normal, expected path through life to make your own path. Take some time to research options now and consider how you can turn your dream into reality. There are an unlimited number of ways to make that dream come true – all it takes is a bit of creative thinking. Jump outside the box today and make your dream come true!

4-Hour Work Week

Vagabonding

Nancy Sathre-Vogel has plenty of experience with long term family travel. She’s posted ideas for planning a family vacation on her website, www.familyonbikes.org

With the recent downturn in the economy, many people are realizing that they cannot afford to sustain the lifestyle that they have grown accustomed to living. Fortunately, this does not mean life cannot be enjoyable. There are a number of easy ways to live within your means without hurting your quality of life. With a little planning and knowledge you can live on budget without feeling the financial strain.

The following are a number of ways to live within your means while making life more enjoyable:

1. In order to live within your means, you have to be able to bring in more money than you are spending. Create a monthly budget that includes how much you spend on essential items such as home and vehicle insurance, utilities, food, cable, phone, mortgage payments, gas, etc. Then, calculate how much you earn monthly. Subtract your monthly income from necessary expenses to determine how much extra money you have to work with.

2. List extra expenses such as entertainment, recreation, and products you shop for in the home and on yourself such as clothing, personal care products, etc. Calculate how much you spend monthly on these items. You will then need to come up with ways to control your spending habits. This can include cutting down on the number of times you dine out each month, shopping for discounts at large department stores, second hand stores, surplus stores, etc. When shopping, look for deals, coupons, and sales. Never pay full price for an item. As well, you can often find great deals when shopping online.

3. Credit card debt is a major source of financial hardship. If you have several credit cards with high outstanding debt, you should at least pay the monthly minimum for each card, and then start to pay off the card with the highest interest rate. Owning fewer credit cards will make it easier to manage and remember. Always pay your bills on time to avoid having to pay any interest at all. To help wean yourself off of credit cards, start carrying cash with you at all times and pay using cash. Seeing the physical money literally change hands will help you consider needs vs. wants on a more regular basis.

4. If you are having trouble keeping up with debt payments, then maybe you should consider consolidating your debt in order to manage it better. Instead of making multiple monthly payments to several creditors, you can consolidate your debt and only need to make a single monthly payment. In addition to helping you get organized, this can also alleviate stress that is often associated with debt.

5. Clean up your credit score. Request a copy of your credit report from one of the following two major credit bureaus: Equifax, or TransUnion. Check it over for any inaccuracies. Look to see what debt is affecting your credit rating and work with a creditor to establish a repayment plan. Don\’t ignore your creditors as they will send your debt to a collection agency.

At first, implementing a plan to live within your means can seem very unpleasant. You may miss a few of the luxuries you had grown accustomed to. However, once you get used to the plan, you will find life more enjoyable as you will not longer have the worry of how you are going to pay all of your bills. You may even realize that you are much happier living on a budget.

Adriana Noton is a freelance writer who specializes in providing great financial information for Canadians. When searching online for debt counselling or credit counselling, one of the many resources available is Consolidated Credit; offering a variety of debt counselling services and financial planning tools to help Canadians get their debts under control.

I had been writing several articles that gave a comprehensive introduction on how to invest in the Philippine stock market . Focus was given on the basic principles that each prospective investors should know. In this article the advantages of investing in the stock market will be given focus.

As I said in the previous articles, the stock market is just another vehicle of investment. You might be asking yourself why would you want to invest in the stock market? What are the advantages of investing in the stock market.

The answer to such questions could be as follows. Note that the examples given refer to Philippine based companies and currency. Visit my blog if you want to view the entire article.

1.) Investing in the Stock Market has potential for great returns – Every financial expert would tell you that when the market has a potential to go up, it really goes up. Returns could range to as high as 30 % to 200 %+ per annum or even more. In the long term it is expected that you would really profit at lot. In 1997, the price of Globe Telecom Inc. (GLO) stocks was only P152.00 per share. Buying the minimum board lot which was 10 shares during that time would have only cost you about P 1,520.00. Now the price per share of Globe is P 1,620.00+. The value of those shares is right now P 16,200. That means in ten years time your money has grown times ten or a 1000 percent increase. It also means that you have a return of an average of 30 % per annum. Not bad compared to putting it in a time deposit account at less than 4 % per annum. You might also be interested to know that the Philippine stock market is at its highest these days. A bull run is still expected for the next 2 to 3 years. So hold on to your horses, I mean bulls and make the best out of the bull run.

2.)”Ownership” in the companies that you are investing in. – Wouldn’t it be so cool to have your own Jollibee franchise ? However the investment of 20 to 25 million pesos does not make it so cool considering that you also have to put in time and effort to run the store. So instead of owning a Jollibee franchise why not buy Jollibee instead through buying shares of stocks in the corporation ? The minimum board lot of JFC shares (Jollibee Foods Corporations – JFC) cost only P 5,000+. With this investment you indirectly own the more than 1414 stores in the Philippines and 175 in other countries not to mention Red Ribon, Chowking, Deli-France, A popular fastfood chain – Yonghe King in China and popular teahouse chain from Taiwan called Chun Shui Tang including Jollibee’s pilot restaurant “Tio Pepe’s Karinderia.” So next time you eat at Jollibee tell your friends and that you like to eat there because you “own part of the company.” You might want to own stocks of PLDT or Globe to help you become more prompt in paying your bills.

3.) Belonging to a “special group of people” -

When asked to join a multi-level marketing scheme, I always want to know when the company started. I ask this question because I believe that if it started a long time ago, my chances of recruiting other people will be lessened as most people that I know has already been recruited.

But investing in the stock market is not multi-level marketing. It does not matter whether the market is saturated or not. But it’s good to know that we are among the first to exploit the market’s potential.

Statistics released by the Asian Development Bank shows that as of 2005, only 600,000, out of the of the country’s 87 million population, invest in the stock market. If you do the math that is only 1 % or roughly around 0.7 % Most of the market players are from the Class A and B segments.

Would you want to know more about investment strategies ? Visit the blog of Zigfred Diaz where he writes about several interesting topics such as investments, financial management, business, making financial online and Stock market investing

Your credit score is the single most important factor that decides your financial success. The process of re-establishing your credit rating after having suffered a job loss or some sort of family emergency may seem impossible, but the truth is starting from scratch is more simpler that you think. The hard part when it comes to starting over and raising your credit score is maintaining a consistent payment regimen with the credit bureaus.

Before you can start fixing your credit score, the first step is to get a copy of your credit report. Once you receive your report, make sure that you examine it from top to bottom for possible errors. Checking your report may reveal some accounts that have been paid off already, identity fraud, or even double listing of the same accounts. When dealing with erroneous charges on you report, it is more effective if you seek the advice of a credit attorney.

The second step to raising your credit score is adding some positive accounts to your report. Even if all your negative items are removed or expire from your credit report, you still need to have some positive accounts to produce a rating.

A secured mastercard or visa is one way to add a positive item on your credit report. A secured credit card works the same way as any other credit card except for the fact that your limit will equal the amount of a security deposit. In many instances some banks offer a 25% or $100 increase on top of your initial credit card limit. Secure credit cards also report to all three credit agencies without disclosing the fact that your card is secured.

The third step is a little trick which is only possible if you know someone close to you who is willing to add you on as a co-borrower. The issues with using this trick is that you must make sure that the person you ask is reliable. If your sponsor misses a payment or stops paying, your credit will also be affected.

The last step is discipline. Making timely payments consistently is very important to improving your score with the bureaus. The most important thing that creditors look at when considering credit is your current payment history. The current status of your payments reflects huge in the eyes of creditors.

The magic number for a complete redemption of a bad credit history is 2 years. Two years represents great discipline and a restored financial standing. If you continuously make on time payments for 24 months, the credit report agencies will reward you with an increase in points for every month of good payments.

In summary, to take control of your financial future, you must first take baby steps. These steps include getting a copy of your report, removing bad accounts, adding good credit history and paying your bills in a timely manner. You may also want to consider step #5; getting identity protection to protect your good credit score.

For additional information on how to order free credit report you can visit how to improve your credit score.

There are many people that are looking for bad credit loans these days. Many people are looking out of sheer desperation. The recession has severely damaged our economy and crippled the credit scores of many people throughout the world.

The disadvantages associated with credit rating problems cause a lot of stress and hardship for the people of the U.S. If you want to avoid these problems and find a loan, what should you do? First off, it is impossible to say with certainty that you will find loans. They may be extremely tough to get with poor credit due to the heightened risk.

Is there any reason that bad credit makes it nearly impossible to find a lender? Yes – when you have poor credit, you are perceived as being a very risky client. On the other hand, good credit scores demonstrate that people are able to handle their payments on time.

A ton of individuals with quality credit ratings can get loans easily because they have a good track record. At the moment, are you working to get your credit card payments in on a timely basis? Do you get to enjoy the luxury of having a high rating of credit? Both these questions should be considered before thinking about getting a bad credit loan.

What if you have been turned down by loan officers for poor credit loans? Is there any place that you can go to in order to get money? The short answer is “yes.” However, you should be careful with where you decide to take out your loan from.

A lot of individuals experience rejection and think that payday loans are good to get. It turns out that they will only be good deals if you are getting minimal interest rates. Most of the time, people do not get what are considered to be very minimal interest from payday loan lenders.

There are always going to be other places that you will be able to find lenders. Many times people can get online loans with bad credit for better deals than payday lenders. In fact, there are always lenders that provide “no credit check” options in order to cater to a bad credit population. You should always compare rates of online lenders to bank rates and credit unions.

It is apparent that a payday loan may be advantageous in a situation where you need money very quickly, but it is generally not regarded as the best choice. You should make sure that you have compared all loan options before deciding to finally get one. You may want to even consider working with specialized lending institutions geared specifically towards individuals with bad credit.

One way to significantly boost your chance of your loan application getting accepted is by having a friend co-sign it. Anytime someone co-signs, they accept some of the responsibility for your missed payments. Co-signers reduce the risk that you carry and make lenders more likely to work out a deal with you. When you have finally gotten accepted for a loan, make sure that you know the full contract before it is finalized.

If you want additional information regarding poor credit loans, it is advised to look at a few lending institutions that offer loans for bad credit. This will help you learn about how the lending process works with poor credit.