Our Saturday Home Finance Tip deals with your savings account.  If you are asking, “what savings account?” this article is for you.  Saving is a financial musts that many people do not do.  It takes a high degree of financial discipline so if you are one of those who has a savings account, take a second to congratulate yourself. 

Financial advisors differ on how much money we need in our emergency funds but they seem to agree on a 6 to 10 month range.  How do you calculate that?  First you have to know how much you spend each month.  You will always estimate low so get your bank and credit card statements out and add it all up.  Take that number and multiply it by 8 months (or somewhere in that 6 to 10 range) and that’s your goal.  Once you’re there, keep it in a savings account.  It can’t be tied up in a CD and you can’t risk losing it in the stock market.  (By the way, I strongly suggest that you add disability insurance to your monthly expenses.  It’s cheap and if you became sick or hurt, the monthly bills will be out of your mind)

Now that we know how much you should save, you brain might be in overdrive thinking about how you will fund your savings account.  It’s going to take discipline but here’s a fun way that will put some big money in your savings account over time.  You can think of it as my Chick-fil-a method.  I love Chick fil a in part because the food is good (hey chick fil a, are you reading?) but also because they give out coupons all the time.  I would have gone to Chick Fil a and paid full price without the coupon but with it, I saved $4.  That $4 goes in to my savings account.  Because I put everything on my credit card and pay it off at the end of the month, I get rewards points.  I always buy $50 gift certificates with those points.  Guess where that $50 goes?  Let’s take it a little further.  Rather than going to Chick Fil a and getting a chicken sandwich and waffle fries and a diet coke for $9, I go to the grocery store and pick up a pack of chicken breasts and a couple of potatoes and drink water.  First, I’m saving calories but I also saved $5 by not eating out.  I ironed my own shirt rather than taking it to the dry cleaner, $2.  So let’s see; in this article alone I saved $70 and have a sizeable amount for my savings account.

Keep a 1 week journal and see what you can do to pay yourself.  It’s fun, it’s a challenge, and you will feel better about getting closer to your financial goal.  We are not in an economy where we can count on having a job tomorrow.  Economists predict that 1 out of every 10 working Americans will not be working before this recession is over.  Don’t forget about this week’s home finance tip.  If you need it, you will be grateful that you have it.

In this article we are going to look at car financing tips to help you determine, which is your best option when buying a new car. There are many options that you have regarding car financing and the most common is always the loan. The loan is often easier for many to obtain over a lease option. So we will concentrate on loans for the general car financing tips.
• When buying a car you need to know what your credit scores and history say. Sometimes a bank or loan office is going to try and offer you a worse deal than what your credit scores really reflect in order to make more money. They may fudge the credit score numbers to make it seem probable that you are more of a risk. Knowing what your credit scores are can help you determine if the loan company is on the up and up. You have two options for car financing. You can go through the dealership for financing or you can seek financing on your own. In either case know your credit score and history. Make sure there are no surprises.
• If you are refused a loan because your credit is not sterling enough you will need to wait for a few months until your scores are in a place that you can obtain a loan. Don’t try to find multiple loans when your credit has already been rejected chances are the other financing will refuse you and make your credit score worse.
• When searching for a loan for car financing you are going to want to make sure you have researched the current market. You will want to know what the current car loan interest rates are for someone with sterling credit as well as someone with little credit or bad credit. If you know where the numbers are on average you can negotiate for a better loan. This will help in the long run. Remember you don’t have to take any loan that seems fishy or just isn’t what you hoped for. You have the right of refusal.
• Keep in mind that a down payment towards a new car is going to help you with the loan. A car dealership is going to hope that they can get a little money from you up front and the car financing will appreciate this. It will lower the overall amount you need to borrow and make your payments more affordable.
• Keep in mind that you can also trade in another vehicle. If the trade in value is a fair price you can also have the down payment to partially pay off the car. This will again lower the financing you need to obtain. You can also just trade in a vehicle without the down payment if that is what you would like to do.
There are many options and tips regarding car financing and overall using common sense and knowing where you stand financially is going to save you a lot of hassle and get you what you want.