Your Guide to Credit and Personal Finance

If you have checked your mailbox recently, you may have noticed the amount of envelopes for credit card offers. One that may have attracted your attention is the 0 APR credit card. But what exactly does it mean? In a world where hundreds of companies are trying to sell us something or the other, it is better to take a look at these offers and find out more about them instead of making a hasty decision.

What is a 0 APR Credit Card?

Actually, the first question is what APR stands for. The Annual Percentage Rate or APR is the amount of money that a bank charges you in a year. This money includes the interest rates that they assign to each one of your charges and the administrative fees of the financial institution. By law, every company that offers a credit card has to disclose this information.

In this case, a 0 APR credit card means that the bank won’t charge you interest or administrative fees for the advertised period of time. Sounds great, doesn’t it? This offer means that regardless of how much you use your 0 APR credit card, you will not have to pay any related fees.

So, where is the catch? It’s quite simple. The bank wants to maintain a long term relationship with you. They can survive for one year without charging you their fees and rates, but after that period of time you will start paying them. It is a marketing tool for increasing their client base and both the consumers and the banks can benefit from it.

Is it Right for Me?

It depends. For example, let’s say that you are not interested in airline miles or cash back options for using your credit card and you only want to find a card that will not bleed you with ‘extras’ each month, then a 0 APR credit card is an excellent choice.

On the other hand, if you can afford to pay a monthly interest and are very interested in other perks like airline rewards, then a 0 APR credit card should not be your first choice.

Banks have become very creative in the products they entice you with. You may see that 0 APR credit card have periods of time that go from 6 to 15 months and beyond, and may even offer some additional benefits.

Before signing on the dotted line for a new 0 APR credit card, or any other kind of credit card for that matter, do your homework. Compare apples to apples and research the different options that are offered in the market to find a 0 APR credit card that suits your financial lifestyle.

When people have a goal in mind or want to find something, there’s one simple process that needs to be carried out - that of actively going after or searching for that prize. The search for a great job is no different, and while mass communication makes job hunting easier, there’s still a lengthy process involved when you’re trying to find the job you want. Here are a few tips and pointers that will help you on your journey to employment.

The most common and preventable mistake in the great job hunt is limiting one’s search to a single source, such as the employment section of a single newspaper or a single job search website. It can be hard to keep track of all the places you have applied to, but if you take notes from the start, you should be able to keep track of where you’ve sent your application, no matter how many sources you’re searching.

While job listings, whether in a newspaper’s employment section or an internet job site (preferably more than one of each), are both great places to look for work, never underestimate the power of networking in helping you find a job. Friends, former coworkers, and even previous employers can all give you a lead on a job that’s open, if you’ve remained on good terms with them and ask politely. The easiest way to start networking is to expand the horizons of your search. If you don’t have the time to do an in-depth search, make the time - the efforts will pay off.

Another easy-to-fix issue is the mistake of giving up the job search too soon, which basically means giving up completely. The process of finding a good job is long and taxing, sometimes even painful, but giving up, even temporarily, is a huge mistake. The opportunities for employment change from day to day, and there’s no telling what you’ve missed by giving in to despair. To combat discouragement and frustration, consider applying a limited amount of guilt and shame to yourself. If that prospect frightens you, find a way to reward yourself for sticking to your search. No matter what method you use to motivate or to force yourself to keep looking, if it works, continue applying it.

In a similar vein, there’s no such thing as a job search where you aren’t actively searching. Though it can sometimes seem like an easy, hassle-free process, particularly with the advent of the online job search, the process of finding employment is something you have to commit yourself to and never trust that a job will simply fall into your lap. You have to go out there and find opportunities rather than wait for them to find you, though if you are lucky enough to have that sort of luck come your way, seize the chance.

Finally, don’t go searching for a job without doing a little research beforehand, specifically into the state of your industry’s job market and finding information about your potential employer. The research doesn’t need to be terribly in-depth, but a little bit of knowledge may take you a long way while searching or interviewing. To succeed in the modern job hunt, you must be like a bloodhound, thorough and persistent, ever on the trail of new opportunity.

It seems that everyone today is working on a shoestring budget. Many people decide that breaking into the business world with their own company might be a venture they’re willing to try. Everyone knows that starting a business requires start-up capital for office space, equipment, certifications or licenses, and plenty of other things that cost money. There are ways to get your business off the ground on that shoestring budget so many of us are already familiar with.

The service-based business is the cheapest one to set up and start. You can use your home computer for billing and invoicing by adding low-cost software and you can save on office space rental by setting aside a room in your home that serves the same purpose. Publicity might be a little more costly, but finding ways to reach potential customers, such as using targeted-market campaigns and distributing flyers, can still be relatively inexpensive. Anyone running as service-based business will need credentials to back up the services they offer, but these costs total no more than a few hundred dollars.

You can then build your inventory of materials and supplies as you go. Simply re-invest all or most of your profits into tools of the trade. This method means that your company may operate at a zero gain for the first several months, but it dramatically lowers your initial costs. It also eliminates guesswork during startup, as a tool you might think is critical may not actually be required for your first six months worth of jobs.

If you plan to open a store, your initial cash requirements will, of course, be much larger. However, even in this case there are ways to significantly lower your initial overhead. Target your customer base. Conduct market research and determine what items they are most likely to actually buy. Maintain a small inventory of popular items, as well as a catalog of items that can be ordered. Many new store owners make the mistake of attempting to be all things to all people, and end up with a lot of merchandise that they simply cannot move. Remember that you can always expand later. It is much more difficult to cut back, and cutting back also sends the message to customers that your business is not successful.

Keep your store hours reasonable. A new store may find that most of its business takes place during a 4 or 6 hour period. Keeping the shop open longer results in significant bills for utilities and possibly payroll, and may not generate enough additional sales to cover those bills. Keeping your hours reasonable also ensures that you can operate with a skeleton staff.

Do not invest in a large storefront. A small shop will make your limited inventory seem bigger, and the bills will be much lower. It may even best to start out at a flea market or other shared space, then make the move to a storefront once your company is profitable.

There are many individuals who started their companies with less than $1,000 in their pockets and that went on to become self-made millionaires. Using resourceful ideas and applying frugal tactics will serve you well, and applying some creative approaches as well as unique strategies for solving issues that arise are good ways to help build a business up from limited funds and a shoestring budget.