All First Time Buyers Are Not Equal

I read a comment yesterday from a potential first time buyer that was the first time I had seen someone write what I believe to be true about the reality of being a first time buyer in the UK today.
He or she ( who knows with these cryptic pen names ) wrote that without 100% mortgages a first time buyer looking at a property in the region of £165,000 is being asked for a 25% deposit or more to secure a reasonable mortgage rate.
To him or her that equates to £ 41,250 which is alarmingly more than double the annual wage in this country. They went on to write that this in no way reflects what any previous generation has faced and went on to point out that several years ago a 5% deposit on a £20,000 house was
£ 1000 and the average annual wage at the same time was around £14,000.
There were a significant amount of comments about young people should be "going without" for a while once they got their first home, but in my opinion this simply misses the point. Whereas £1000 deposit years ago was a reachable sum through saving, I do not know many young people with £ 41,250 in savings.
The UK used to be a nation of home owners, that is clearly changing rapidly.

Bank of Mum & Dad ? That's What You Call a Solution?

I am a follower of Motley Fool, although I find some of the articles lack real content but I have never felt cause to comment on any until this morning. I like to keep up to date with business, money and the economy every morning and am following the trends of the credit squeeze which I feel simply has to get worse yet.

Then an email this morning from Motley Fool blunders in with 5 Tips for First Time Buyers, 4 out of the 5 were to ask your parents to help you out. The 5th was get a second job, although the article went on to not recommend that option. Needless to say I felt compelled to leave a comment about what was a completely useless article aimed at helping nobody in particular.

Having reached a stage in my life that I can concentrate on investing, I came to realise back in 1999 that financial education starts and finishes with one person - yourself. Just as it is not up to the Bank of England to bail the Banks out, everyone should invest in their own financial education and stop looking for someone else to give them a hand out.

The UK used to be a land of homeowners, this is clearly changing rapidly, let's hope we are better than a nation looking for a hand out.

Update on Teen Money

As part of my campaign to raise awareness for the need to bring financial education into schools immediately to help stop the rot of the last decade, I have become a member of WIRE
which stands for Women in Rural Enterprise.

It comprises of 1000's of women members who join to provide a community of women in business thriving in rural and semi rural locations throughout the UK. I joined as a Mum & business owner myself to promote Kids Money Packs to a largely female audience.

After several months, meetings and networking, I realised there were some difficult situations for Mums with Teenage children and how to best handle the subject of money with them. The principles are almost exactly the same as Kids Money Packs, so we are currently working on Teen Money Manuals to help provide parents with a more consistent way to help prepare their Teenage sons and daughters for later in their young adult lives.

I will say, that Kids Money Packs are aimed at 6 to 12 year olds for a very good reason, TIME is on their side, but Teen Money can be put to good use straight away to help stop those terrible arguments parents seem to endure every weekend!

Why Should I Pay Off My Mortgage?

There are financial experts who will give you very good reasons why you should never pay off your mortgage. However, with the daily headlines showing you every reason why you should at least give it a go; it seems fairly evident that in the not too distant future, the choice option you have now may well become a necessity.

I must admit, my own mortgage freedom was part of a plan to gain financial freedom. In order to concentrate on building wealth and gain financial freedom, I knew I would have to start with being debt free. That was my WHY factor that kept me going and I would recommend it to anyone who is willing to accept that short term sacrifices in their mildest form are replaced in a few short series of months by long term gains month after month. To learn more about setting goals you can visit my website www.i-believe.co.uk

I can honestly say, I am not affected by any mortgage squeeze, housing price slide or indeed utility and food price increases because of being mortgage free.

The Pay Off Your Mortgage Challenge is being revisited to raise awareness for the need to bring financial education into schools, sooner rather than later.

Week 4 - The Great Re-mortgage Debate

Week 4 : Friday 18th April 2008
The Great Re-mortgage Debate

Mortgages are simply large loans over a longer period of time that typically we use to buy a house ( or houses ) with. For whatever reason, we tend to think of them as some sort of thing that "everyone" has and therefore do not add it in to our personal debt total or indeed think of it as a debt in it's own right.

With the worry factor starting to kick in, you need to be aware that the savings to be made by remortgaging to a better deal can make a huge difference to your monthly finances. You can easily release £ 80 to £100 a month or more, depending on the size of your mortgage. Plus you save oodles in the long term interest savings.

Now this is where opinions differ to mine as most people looking to save money on their mortgage are looking to go aaaaaaaaahhhhhh! & breathe a little bit easier, after all utilities are rising, so is food, and now so are some mortgage deals!

The reason this challenge is ongoing is to show you week by week how you can use the savings you make to repay your mortgage in less than 3 years BUT to do this for the short time required ANY savings you make MUST be used to pay off your outstanding debts or the whole process will be wasted.

Those savings will sneak back into your current or bills account and be used on other things, you are not controlling the savings and directing them towards the whole aim of the challenge. Which deal? What Rate? It doesn't really matter if your goal is to:-

1. Save money by getting a better deal and .......
2. Use the savings you make to make additional payments.

The ultimate challenge is to add any extra money you make to the pot aswell and then you really start to see the some big figures.

For the purpose of this challenge I will use an average of £100 per month saved by getting a better mortgage deal. Whatever deal you choose should be one you can make extra payments to to reduce your mortgage and the interest charges being applied.

This whole challenge is being carried out week after week to show you that everyone can achieve success in their own mortgage freedom. It's not a "magic" formula, nor does it rely on eating baked beans on toast everyday.

It is perfectly within the reach of anyone who commits themselves to completing the challenge, arms themselves with the plan and simply implements the step by step formula that will lead to mortgage freedom.

Week 4 So How is it Going?

Now lots of new people have been arriving on the site recently and maybe thinking what's the catch? Why would this woman be showing you how to pay off your mortgage in 3 years or less on the easy to remember site www.payoffyourmortgagein8yearsorless.co.uk

It's all a big free demo on putting thoughts and ideas into action, there is no catch other than to raise awareness for the need to bring financial education into schools sooner rather than later.

In my eyes the economic crisis, the housing price crash, the looming recession, the fear factor has very little to do with anything other than financial literacy; or lack of it. Up until recently the banks, governments and estate agents rather liked it that way, in fact they have been"filling their boots" with it for the last ten years.

They will be bailed out, that's for sure, and I don't know about you but I will never venture to a bank for financial advice ever in my life, talk about a vote of no confidence, they have just shown how inept they are by being bailed out.

What is left for the majority of people, who won't be bailed out ? Raise your financial IQ and check out the start of the Ebook coming your way, it's all the information you need to turn the way you think about property developing UPSIDE DOWN.

Feel free to say hello to me on facebook http://profile.to/dianecossie/ I'm human too!

Don't Compromise Style on your Quest for Mortgage Freedom

Week 3 : Saturday 12th April 2008
Clothes, skincare and make up

Is shopping the most popular "hobby" in Britain? I should think it is somewhere near the top of the league. We seem a little obsessed, we even go on holiday to go shopping! I lost count of the number of Brits with shopping bags either side of them on a recent trip to Florida. The poor guy I was talking to at the airport was complaining all they had done for two weeks was shopping!

So we are a nation who love to shop, and clothes seem to have come down in price A LOT! Bargains are everywhere you look, from supermarkets such as Tesco, Asda and Sainsburys to the hugely popular Primark, Matalan & Peacocks stores to name a few.

My mission - to shop for style ( in my eyes at least ) for less than £50 --
The Key Thing to Remember with this, is stick to neutral, classic cuts and colours, then accessorise!

Black high waist, partially lined well cut trousers £10
T-shirt ( white/grey metallic motif ) £ 4
Vest top ( white with grey glitter in the knit ) £4
Gun metal grey tunic top with scoop neck & slight puff sleeves £3
Crisp white shirt ( with stretch and black tie belt detail ) £ 5
Wide belt ( gun metal grey ) £ 3
Chunky necklace ( matches the belt to perfection ) £ 1
Multi chain necklace with diamante heart - silver colour £ 1.50
Grey/black/ivory swirl light weight scarf £1 (reduced!)
Silver over sized bracelet with huge "diamond" £ 3

Total spent £ 35.50

Next shop - Peacocks
Motif T-shirt ( pink with cute cat wearing a tiara ) £8
Silver chunky ring with huge "diamond" £ 3

Total spent £ 46.50 ( 12 items - average of less than £4 each)

As all the items mix & match I have loads of outfits to dress up & dress down and all for less than £50. I could have added a handbag for £ 3, a hat for £4 and shoes for £5 too. Paying off your mortgage in record time does NOT have to be difficult!

Skincare & makeup

With the internet being so useful to find some bargains in skincare & makeup I always check out Ebay first ( always check the postage & watch the sizes to make sure you don't end up with a trial size by mistake. ) For the Pay Off Your Mortgage Challenge I went to my favourite internet site at http://www.saveonmakeup.co.uk/

My bill came to around £15 for this ( all name brands by the way!)
Moisturiser , nail polish, mascara, lipstick, eyeshadow, eye liner and blusher!

Sorry for it being a bit "girlie" but it's exactly the same principles for men. Men's personal care products are one of the fastest growing industries at the moment.

The savings made here are more than half the average "spend" and for the purpose of the challenge I have recorded a modest saving of £100 per month, although in reality it is substantially more than that!

More next week!

Let's Get One Thing Clear About Debt Management

A few years ago I visited a very large Debt Management Company at several locations over the space of a few months on business appointments.

The very nice offices, in very nice locations were BUSY with a capital B. They employed hundreds of people just to cope with the enquiry levels. There were levels of administration assistants BUSY contacting mail order companies, utility companies, writing letters, telephoning banks etc to "Deal With The Creditors" of their customers. These customers were looking for a solution to their financial problems and sought what they perceive to be experts who can help them. ( Not a bad thing you would argue, and not only that these companies employ people and keep them in much needed jobs, again not a bad thing at all & I wish them every success. )



So as I left the very BUSY building and passed the three PORSCHES of the Directors in the car park I learned an invaluable lesson. No-one can help you get out of a situation better than yourself. I was thrilled I kept my own destiny under my control and I am so thankful that I made the choice to re-work my finances myself because the pay back for doing so was not temporary, it was permanent and pays me back over and over again every single day.



Recommended as a way to get back in control of your finances by a National Newspaper Control Freak a Recipe for Debt Freedom http://www.payoffyourmortgagein8yearsorless.co.uk/

Week 3 & the Running Total is over £12,000

3 weeks ago on Saturday 29th March 2008, I donned my "mortgage free quest" cape once more and set about showing week by week exactly how to Pay Off Your Mortgage in 8 Years or Less. I am currently aiming at beating my own record of 3 years LIVE for people to follow.

If you can make 3 small changes that add up to £10000 over 3 years then you are just 11 small changes away from £140,000 in the same amount of time. It's not magic, it's maths. The reason people find it so hard to believe, or tap into why they even need to think about becoming mortgage free is living by " way it's always been" teachings that haven't actually worked for years.

There is no guesswork involved, you do not need to be an expert to see that the ( in my opinion ) irresponsible lending of the banks and in particular the credit card companies has left us a legacy of ten years of borrowing instead of 10 years of growth. ( I'm not talking politics here, I believe everyone has the right to their own opinion including politicians ) however unlike the 80's we have merely been able to buy a lifestyle rather than create it.

It all starts and ends with financial education, or lack of it, hence my campaign to raise awareness to the need to bring financial education into schools. You can leave your vote on the Kids Money section of the Pay Off Your Mortgage Challenge website if you feel the same way.

Week 2 of the Challenge : Thrifty's Utility Savings

Week : Saturday 5th April 2008;
Utilities

Groan & moan as we do, you simply cannot avoid the dreaded ever increasing utility bills. As with an awful lot of other things these days, there seem to be more comparison sites than utility suppliers and it is difficult to know which one to choose.

Due to the fact these companies have millions of customers you will experience frustrating customer service WHOEVER you choose! You will also experience billing issues, mistakes and special offers, this is part of their immense systems built to deal with a huge customer base.

So simply look for the best deal which applies to you, ie it is no good simply going for a well known name if they charge the highest prices. If you want to speak to someone in 15 seconds ( in the UK ) then Utility Warehouse ( who have a relatively small customer base in comparison ) are very good. If you need a great deal on Gas, don't forget to include the cost of regular servicing. Check out Martin Lewis's Site for the best deals this week & make the switch this week from the UK's leading expert in money saving tips : martin's money saving tips website

The average saving is around £150 - £200 per year, although this is notoriously difficult to monitor with fluctuating prices, so I suggest you simply use the monthly saving as around £ 3 per week for your Freedom Payment purposes.

Remember, it is the process involved that it is important in this Pay off Challenge, some savings will be small, some huge & some in between, but they all add up to become very powerful in the longer term. ( You do not have to make this a way of life forever, the idea is to do this now, and receive the pay back forever. )

On the subject of utilities, I was drawn to the Utility Warehouse, not only as a way of combining all my utilities on one bill, mobile phone, home phone, gas, electric & broadband, but also because there is a residual income business opportunity attached to it. ( There are a lot of Piggy Symbol loving Distributors out there!)

Now this sort of thing causes diverse reactions, but it is worth a look if you are serious about passive income routes. I still receive a monthly income from this business and I haven't been active for over 2 years. Much in the same way that many of you will either agree or disagree with my choice of football team ( I'm have been a Manchester United fan for over 34 years ) you will either see a way of making a residual income or not, it does not matter which you see, there is no right or wrong answer. I have placed a link at the bottom of this page on the blogsite for those who wish to check it out and all I will say is that I still love having all my utility bills in one monthly bill so I am still a customer today.

Money 4 Life Becomes a New Way of Life

Money 4 Life is all about achieving a successful balance with your finances. It addresses the number one mistake most people make when it comes to managing their finances and how to correct it.

The biggest mistake people make when it comes to managing their finances comes from years and years of out of date "teachings" that you must only ever start to invest with what money you have left over each month.

This contributes to the single most obvious reason why most people insist on living from Pay Day to Pay Day, and consequently end up saving to spend. Through the coming weeks of the Pay Off Your Mortgage Challenge in the Money 4 Life section, we will be adding income streams to our Pay Off Challenge "Totaliser".

These will be starting on Saturday April 26th 2008 when through the Carpe-Diem Ebook Reseller Site at http://www.mycarpe-diem.com/ we will create a website using the Profitmatic Website Builder ( http://www.1636124.profitmatic.com/ ) and show members a step by step way to create an Ebook & then sell it on the newly made site and record the profits on the Money 4 Life Totaliser.

We are hoping that as the weeks go by and you see the totaliser reaching huge figures by implementing a series of small changes, that anyone can follow; will give people the belief that they can become mortgage free, exactly as I have done in less than 3 years starting from now.

Week One £ 5832.00 in 3 years from £40 per week

The difference between this saving money tip & other saving money tips is the power, discipline and decision to make the saving behind it.

If you simply make a saving for savings sake, then proceed to either simply spend the saving, save the saving or treat yourself with something else with the saving you are missing the point of the Pay Off Your Mortgage Challenge.

In week one Thrifty's Tips from the supermarket revealed :

Week : Saturday March 29th 2008;

The Grocery Bill

We will cover this area more than once, as the subject matter is so huge. After most people's mortgage payment, the second highest monthly bill is that of our grocery bill. I have seen people part with £120 at the till every week plus they "top up" midweek, plus the takeaway!

1. Supermarkets sell convenience, not food! They carefully hide the bargains on the bottom right hand side of the shelves which is the last place "we look" naturally.

2. Check out the own brands, low priced basics such as tinned tomatoes, kidney beans, orange juice, bread, cereals and biscuits. They usually taste just as good. This saves at least £ 5 per week.

3. Always make a meal plan for each week & if your locality allows, have a home delivery ( this makes you focus on planning ahead and you can avoid those impulse buys at the till or on the "specials" aisle.) It saves around £20 per week cheaper even if you pay a delivery charge * some days are half price*

4. Never go food shopping when you are hungry. You will reach for a cake "as a special treat". Saving another £ 2 per week

5. Never "have a cup of coffee" whilst you are there ( we all usually shop at our nearest supermarket so a cup of tea at home costs less! ) Saving another £ 2 per week.

6. Buy in bulk items such as pasta and rice, they will always be a good "standby" and are much cheaper when bought in bulk. Saves another £ 1.50 per week.

7. Monitor how much "money" in food you throw away each week uneaten. Visualise this in pounds & see if you feel OK about it then. Saves yourself up to

£ 10 per week in wastage.

Total savings over one week £ 40.50

Over One year £ 1944.00

Over Three Years £ 5832.00

Now you can begin to see why this formula can be so powerful and why I took & executed this challenge in less than 3 years. I did the calculation over 5 years initially & when I understood that the average person earns over £1,000,000 in their lifetime it didn't take to long to focus on short term pain, long term gain.

The Real Power of Saving Money is Taking the Right Action

We are extremely lucky in the UK to have such a People's Hero as Martin Lewis campaigning relentlessly about great money saving deals. The USA have Mary Hunt whose Cheapskate Monthly is an absolute gem.

I see Martin Lewis animated and passionate about the subject frequently on TV slots & I have followed the progress of the forum over the last 12 months as part of my research into why I managed mortgage freedom and so many do not.

Apart from finding out that part of my success was inline with the Law of Attraction's ruling, that putting debt on autopilot meant I could focus on wealth & prosperity instead, it was because of my continued effort & consistency to keep sending off those Freedom Payments.

I often draw the comparison that dieting & debt freedom are mysteriously closely linked, and if you have ever been a visitor of a slimming club, you will find that week in week out there are winners and losers of the week. There are a group who are going to "take it really seriously again" this week, or "start over again this month" and there are those who have reached their goal weight & tap into the group for support and motivation to keep the weight off.

The difference between the two is the winners take the right sequence of actions that create results.

Week two of The Pay Off Challenge will appear later on the site.

Money Smart Parents produce Money Smart Kids

To me, children are just little people. They usually have far more imagination than adults and are far more open minded. It is only when we grow up that we get conditioned by our own paradigm that we struggle to dream big dreams. In the writing of Control Freak a Recipe for Debt Freedom I was lucky enough to work with some very financially literate people and I noticed they usually had a family background that revealed they had financially smart parents.

They grew up with the subject of money from a very young age. It was this conditioning that put them on the fast track as an adult. This was the seed for Kids Money Packs.

Kids Money Packs offer parents an opportunity to help their kids learn this valuable information in a very easy to understand way. Available as a dowload from the website www.kidsmoneypack.co.uk you receive the Parents Guide, The Pay Day Agreement and the Kids Money Book ready to print and give your children a better chance at not becoming yet another of the UK's debt statistics of the future.
Best wishes, Diane

Tips on How to Teach Your Kids to Save Money

A lot of teens nowadays do not understand the value of earning and spending money. They were not oriented that investing is necessary even if they are still students. As parents, you play a crucial role in this area.
You should be able to teach your kids on how to save money. They should be able to understand the concept of money and investment as early as childhood. This will prepare them to learn money management, as they grow old.
Here are some tips on how you can teach your children how to save money:
1. Your children should be educated of the meaning of money. Once your children have learned how to count, that is the perfect time for you teach them the real meaning of money. You should be consistent and explain to them in simple ways and do this frequently so that they may be able to remember what you taught them.
2. Always explain to them the value of saving money. Make them understand its importance and how it will impact their life. It is important that you entertain questions from them about money and you should be able to answer them right away.
3. When giving them their pocket money, you should encourage them that they should keep a certain amount for the future. You can motivate them to do this by telling them that the money can be saved and they can buy new pair of shoes or the toys they want once they are able to save.
4. You can also teach them to work for money. You can start this at your own home. You can pay them fifty pence to one pound every time they clean their rooms, do the dishes or feed their pets. This concept of earning a little money will make them think that money is something they have worked for and should be spent wisely.
5. You can teach them to save money by giving them piggy banks where they can put coins and wait until they get full. You can also open bank accounts for them and let them deposit money from their pocket money. You should always show them how much they have earned to keep them motivated.
Money and saving is not something that is learned by children in one sitting. You should be patient in teaching them and relating the value of money in all of their activities. Children will learn this easily if you are patient and consistent in guiding them and encouraging them in this endeavor.
Have a great 2008! Diane