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Life After Bankruptcy

Sometimes, even after the most careful spending, financial disaster can still strike, leaving one with no alternative other than bankruptcy.

Once the dust has settled after such a major life-altering decision, the question that will first surface is: how does one regain a decent credit score? And then, what is the fastest way toward something as simple as car refinancing?

Obviously refinancing a car after bankruptcy can be a smart move to help further reduce monthly expenditures, but part of making this a reality is boosting that credit score so one actually can obtain a car refinance.

So how does one accomplish both at the same time?

First, realize that you may need help. If you have a good friend or family member with a decent credit rating who is willing to co-sign for you, your chances of obtaining refinancing is much higher. A lender will look much more favorably at two incomes, especially when one has good credit.

Next, start a savings account.  A little money in savings can be the deciding factor for a lender in obtaining car refinancing.

Find out what the minimum credit score is in order to obtain a refinance and start working towards that goal. Most lenders will not even look at you until your score is at least 600 and even then, expect that a solid down payment is usually required.

Having a bankruptcy on your record is going to make refinancing difficult; expect it. Nevertheless, don’t give up. If your goal is to ease expenditures while raising your score, then stay diligent and you will begin to see positive results.

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On Being Responsible with Your Money

Debt Consolidation, Circa 1948

Image by Orin Zebest via Flickr

As a parent, you really have no other option than to be responsible with the money that you bring into your household. You need to be able to save money in order to be effective as a parent, because you need to be able to tackle the myriad of different expenses that come up when you are raising a family. Because your children depend on you, because your spouse depends on you, being frugal and fiscally responsible is an absolute necessity.

There are a lot of different things that you can do to get a handle on your finances. For example, a car refinance will allow you to earn some more favorable terms so that your monthly payment is not as difficult to tackle. By refinancing your auto loan, you are getting a longer loan term and a smaller interest rate, which means a lower monthly payment. The same is true if you decide to pursue a mortgage refinance, because you extend the term length of your loan and vie for a lower interest rate, and what this translates into is savings of hundreds if not thousands of dollars a year in mortgage monthly payments.

Learning how to save money does not have to be difficult. Whether you collect coupons to save money on your groceries or apply for a debt consolidation loan so that you can tackle your debts, there are a number of different things that you can do to be more fiscally responsible regarding your family’s finances.

A few basic activities along these lines can really have a profound impact on your finances, so if you want to stop spending so much and start saving money over time so that you can keep your family in good financial shape, then start out with a plan to save money and start paring down your monthly expenses accordingly.

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Tax Breaks for Families With Children

Parents, rejoice this tax season. Well, okay, maybe it’s not exactly time to get out the dancing shoes, but you can at least celebrate the fact that you might be able to take more tax deductions than you had originally thought. There are numerous tax credits you might be eligible to take without wading through a mile-high stack of forms. Not only might you get more money back in a tax refund, but you won’t have to hire a costly tax preparer when you take advantage of free tax filing.

If you cover over 50% of the expenses for a child, then you can claim the child as a dependent. In the case of divorce, check the divorce papers to see who can claim the child. If it’s not listed, the parent who has primary custody claims the child as a dependent unless other options are worked out among the parties. When you claim a child as a dependent, you are eligible for a reduction in taxable income for each child who is under 19 years old or a full-time student under 24 years old.

When you make less than a specific amount of money, you are also eligible to take a $1,000 tax credit for each child. You get deductions for adopted children (deduct attorney fees, state-imposed fees, and filing fees) and child care as well. Make sure you keep a record of childcare expenses throughout the year to be able to use them as a deduction. Just check out the International Revenue Service website for details. As you fill out the forms, don’t forget to take deductions for donated clothing (with proof of donation, of course). Another area you want to address is education. You might find that you are eligible for Lifetime Learning or Hope Tax Credits on your dependents. You can also deduct student loan interest.

Filed Under: Budgeting, Family Tagged With: , ,

Teach Your Children to be Financially Responsible

Credit cards
Image via Wikipedia

Just as they must learn to do other things, children must be taught to be financially responsible. When you start teaching this early, you are giving them knowledge that they can use the rest of their lives.

When a child enters elementary school is usually a good time to start teaching financial responsibility because that’s usually when parents start giving out allowances. You can sit down with your child and discuss how much he will receive.

From there, you want to immediately start teaching the importance of saving a small amount of money on a regular basis. Your child may not like this idea, because the money he has to put aside for his savings cannot be spent, at least not at the present time, but go ahead and have him set aside a certain amount from his allowance to be placed in a savings account.

Then, make sure he understands that once the remaining money is gone, there will be no more until next week or next month. This is a good time to help him learn good budgeting habits.

As your child gets older, you can start talking about the many ways that people get into debt, sometimes so heavily that they must use a debt consolidation service. Tell your child that the majority of people get into unmanageable debt through overuse of credit cards or by making purchases they really can’t afford.

A good way to discuss this is to call your child’s attention to a debt consolidation service advertisement that is shown on TV. Explain exactly what this service does, and how it should be considered a last resort.You can also explain that when they must use this service, sometimes it allows them to start putting money into savings, so that they will have money available should an emergency occur, thus preventing them from having to use a debt consolidation service again.

Filed Under: Budgeting, Family, Parenting

Finding Yourself and Your Kids Apartments to Rent in Atlanta

Photo taken in Atlanta area
Image via Wikipedia

Okay, so you want to move to the Capital of the South. Atlanta is such a great city, isn’t it? Well, once you get over the infatuation stage of moving, you will inevitably get bombarded with a lot of the little details that make the process a whole lot less fun to deal with. For one, you need to decide where you are going to live based on a few important criteria. Then you are going to have to decide how much you are willing (and even able) to spend for your new mansion. If you want to balance out all of the variables, it is going to take some effort on your part.

For one thing, how will you afford the place? If you live in an area where there are tons of high paying jobs, be prepared for equally high comparative rent costs. Of course, the up-side to living in the “good” part of town is that your children will most likely have access to a better quality school system, where they will be less likely to be bullied or encounter gun-fire, and more likely to have reasonably tame classroom environments in which they can really learn things.

Of course, the downside is, unless you have a highly desirable skill-set, even the robust economy of Atlanta may not yield too many jobs that will pay enough for your quest. It can be very challenging to find quality apartments to rent in Atlanta, just for the simple fact that while quantity is never that big of an issue, quality definitely can be. If you were fine with just being in a poor, go-nowhere job and letting your kids go to the cheapest, most dangerous school, you would have had no problem with just staying where you used to be. Give it all you’ve got.

Filed Under: Budgeting, Divorce, Family, General Tagged With: , ,