Avoid After Vacation StressWritten by Ida Byrd-Hill
Have you ever gone on a vacation and had a marvelous time only to feel stress later as you overspent????? Well, you are not alone. Many of us get so wrapped up in perfecting our tan or getting rest we need that we do not even want to think about how much we will be spending. ”Very few people, no matter what their net worth and level of their intelligence and financial savvy, do any kind of budgeting for trips,” said Gary Buffone, a psychologist and director of Family Business Center, in Jacksonville, Fla. as quoted in an article on www.cbs.marketwatch.com It stands to reason you take a vacation to relieve stress. Why would any sane person ruin euphoria of a vacation with mundane task of budgeting?The average family takes 2.6 trips annually according to YPB&R/Yankelovich National Travel & Leisure Monitor as quote by. The average cost for domestic vacations is $1000 with average cost for international vacations exceeding $3500. If average family takes 1.6 domestic vacations and 1 international vacation annually then they are spending at least $5000 on vacations a year. The cliché “Pay now or Pay later!” takes on a new meaning as you are paying by credit card later. When you add interest, cost to pay off these vacations grows to $9148.62. (Assumes 18% interest over 4 years) Add those cost over 4 years of vacations, credit card debt becomes astronomical. It is easy to see why average American family has a lot of credit card debt. The easiest way to eliminate this credit card debt is to not create debt at all or create a system to pay it off before you create it. Most people do neither creating stress after vacation. Budgeting makes most people revolt is it seems so complicated. Who wants to take time to perform mathematical calculations? No one. Ida Byrd-Hill, a 10 year veteran financial advisor has created a self calculating Vacation Budget Form. The form completes all calculations after you input basic information such a plan/train/ cruise ticket prices, number of nights and number of persons going on vacation. The form makes it easier to save for vacations as you will know true cost of vacation and whether you need to save some more money or allocate a larger portion on your credit cards. The best part you do not have to do complicated computations. The form is found at www.livinginstyleonline.com. Livinginstyleonline.com is a luxury lifestyle magazine and luxury discount shopping marketplace where motto is “you can live good life without breaking bank!!!!!!
| | Is Your Trash Cash? 5 Easy Places to Sell Your StuffWritten by Karen Fritscher-Porter
The old adage that says "one person's trash is another person's treasure" never goes out of date. So when you're looking for some extra spending cash and you want to make some space in your home, combine two endeavors by selling your stuff instead of donating it or trashing it. Use extra cash to pay a bill or start a holiday gift fund. Even better, use windfall to treat yourself to a weekend getaway! Plenty of people and places exist to buy what you could be selling instead of giving away or trashing. Here are some places where you can sell your stuff: ANTIQUE DEALERS AND COLLECTORS: Sell anything from old coins and costume jewelry to old records and toys that are in great shape to dealers. And sometimes not so great shape. I got several offers for an old hand-me down jeweled pocket watch, even with its bit of chipped paint. Dealers often resell your item to make themselves a profit. The telephone book yellow pages yields names of area antique dealers or check local newspaper classified ads under "wanted to buy" sections. Be sure to get more than one quote or appraisal before you sell it. FLEA MARKETS: Got a bunch of stuff to sell like books, video tapes, figurines, fake (or real) potted plants, even clothing in good shape? Rent a booth at nearest flea market that generates a lot of traffic. Often just $5 - $15 rents a space with a table. Visit first to scope out best booth for your bucks. Perhaps even bring your own additional tables, shelves or hanging clothes racks. A sheet or cheap tablecloth will dress up your flea market table too (Sometimes good displays attract more shoppers!). Don't forget lawn chair and $20 in small bills for change. And flea market shoppers like to haggle. So inflate your prices just a bit so they can strike a bargain with you. It's expected! CLASSIFIED ADS: Make room for new couch by selling old one in your local freebie paper, especially if you're in a college town. Used furnishings are hot sale items to students. I once netted $200 bucks for a small quaint and deteriorating three piece wood bedroom drawer set someone gave me a few years back. I placed an ad in local "Pennysaver" newspaper for just a few bucks, and dozens of potential buyers called almost immediately. It sold in two days (to a furniture design graduate student who wanted to restore furniture).
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