Creating Your Financial Buffer: Your Emergency Fund

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Whether or not you believe money makes the world go round, there’s no doubt how important it is. Being responsible and on top of your finances gives you control of your life and means a potentially stressful situation can be avoided. As well as making sure you have enough funds to cover your outgoings each month, it’s important to be prepared for whatever life throws your way, After all, life isn’t always sweet, so we need to be ready when things don’t go to plan! Here are just a few of the reasons you should have an emergency buffer.

Losing Your Job

There are plenty of reasons you could lose your job. While we’re over the worst of the recession, companies every day are still being forced into administration taking the jobs of their workers with them. You could face disciplinary action and be fired, you could be made redundant or become injured or ill. While there are personal injury lawyers who can work to get you compensation if it wasn’t’ your fault, you’re still not going to be able to work while you recover. Losing your job can be incredibly stressful and even demoralizing, the last thing you need on top of this is worrying about how you will pay the bills while you find something else.

Disaster Strikes

Investing in bricks and mortar is a wise choice, and does give you financial security and stability. However, it’s not completely foolproof. If something happens to your home, you can find yourself in a real pickle without an emergency fund. Perhaps a flood, fire or other natural disaster does some serious damage? Maybe even criminal damage like arson can leave your property in ruins. You could be burgled or your home could be seriously vandalised. While you should have all of the relevant insurances, if these things were to happen having an emergency buffer in the bank can make the process much smoother. You may need to stay in a hotel for the night or purchase a couple of essential items before being refunded by the insurance company. Most households claim they would be in financial trouble if a bill higher than $300 came through unexpectedly. Let alone if something more serious happens where you need to fork out thousands.

You Car Breaks Down

Car trouble is an absolute nightmare, and when something goes wrong with your beloved motor, you can bet it’s not going to be cheap to fix. Whether you’ve had an accident and your car has been written off, or it’s broken down to the point of no repair, a new car is incredibly expensive. If you rely on your car for work or other commitments, it’s not going to be something you can live without. Having some money saved allows you to cover any repairs right away, or replace your car entirely if it’s a write-off.

Do you have an emergency fund? If one of these situations were to happen, would you have enough saved up to be able to cover it?

3 Investments You Should Be Making Into Your Life

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As much as we hate to admit it, money does make the world turn around. While it’s perfectly possible to live without a lot of money, if you want to enjoy the finer things in life then you’re going to need a good source of income, and stability with your finances. That’s why in many areas of life it’s a wise idea to make some investments so that if the going gets tough, you’ve got something to fall back on and also give you a steady extra income even when things are good. The big question here, is what to invest your hard earned money into? Luckily, we’ve compiled a quick list of the best 3 investments that you should be making into your life, so check them out!

Health

Pretty much the most important thing in life is your health, so why aren’t you already investing into it? Even if you live the healthiest of lifestyles, there’s no guarantee that you won’t fall ill or injure yourself at some point or another – what would you do then? A sad but true fact is that the healthcare sector is still a business, which means that much alike the economy, prices are going to keep rising when it comes to healthcare.

Even if you’re lucky enough to be under the care of a provider such as the NHS, there will always be treatments that aren’t covered. Have you thought about what you would do then? Imagine being gravely ill or injured and not being able to afford treatment – it’s not a nice thought!

Also, as morbid as it is, there’s always the death side of your health that you need to think about. What would happen if you were to die? Would your family cope with the costs of a funeral and also supporting themselves financially?

A great way of solving all of these dilemmas is by taking out life insurance. Not only does it cover you for costs of treatments, but it also gives you that peace of mind that if the worst does happen, your family are going to be able to cope financially without you there.

A problem that many people face is applying for life insurance. Many people are reluctant to give away personal details or have an examination for insurance purposes, and that’s totally understandable! However, did you know that you can get life insurance quotes without an exam or very personal details? Consider investing into your health and your family by taking out life insurance. After all, it’s one less thing to worry about!

Home

One thing that many people worry about is becoming homeless. If you’re a tenant of a landlord, you never truly know when they will want their property for other uses – leaving you homeless. That’s why it’s a good idea to invest your money into buying your own home so that you’ve always got that security, even if you’re struggling to make ends meet.

Property is also a good idea because you could rent out your property for some extra income too. Imagine having a month rent to play with each month?! There are now more ways than ever to become a homeowner, so why not see which route is the best for your financial circumstances and give you and your family permanent future stability!

Business

Finally, another brilliant idea to invest your money into is business. Whether you’d choose to create your own business and reap the rewards and benefits, or whether you’d prefer to invest in a business you believe in, there’s always going to be a lump sum of money waiting for you should you need it. Remember that if you are choosing to invest in someone else’s business, to make sure that you’re confident the business isn’t going to fall at any point as you could end up losing everything. If you’d rather start your own business but aren’t quite sure how, take a look at this guide on starting a business for beginners so that you can get the ball rolling and make some wise investments into your life!

As you can see, making smart investments into your life means that you could gain security financially, no longer have to worry about your health, and also create an empire for yourself to pass down to your children! What are you waiting for?

Homes For Growing Families That Won’t Bust The Bank

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When you get to that age where you’re finally starting a family, suddenly the rented apartment you’re in starts to look awfully small. Not only will the baby needs his or her own room, but the wave after wave of things it will need to live a comfortable life while so small and fragile will keep growing. There are no two ways about it; you need to find a bigger place. But the housing market is not so kind to new families unless you’re willing to take out an obscenely large loan, which will have to locked to the house and joined at the hip, perhaps for decades. There are options on the market, for homes that won’t rip open your wallet and swallow your credit card whole. They will, of course, be alternative options and not quite what the traditional home looks like, but for the affordable price, you can get bang for your buck.

Urban modern housing

If you work in the city, you’d be surprised at the newest schemes to make mass produced homes that are actually quite affordable. Often homes that have been constructed using basic materials, and the architecture itself being quite boxy and rigid, the large straight and rectangular rooms with few walls provide a great alternative to the traditional home for growing families. They are usually on the outskirts of the city, or perhaps in the outer ring of the central city area. They are urban but take up little room. Don’t expect any driveways or places to park your car though, as the space is purely therefore for cars going to and from the street. Creative communities live in these areas, whereby the society is very close knit, and tips and tricks are regularly shared out to newcomers. The homes are almost experimental, and companies will give you special deals if you sign up to be surveyors so that future urban homes can be improved.

 

Customized homes

You can also choose what your home will look like, completely with manufactured homes. Purely on a one floor style, the interior, however, can be just as modern and inviting as any home around the world. The best part is it’s more than affordable and gives plenty of space for small children as two adults. Choose from single wide homes if you’re not planning on having more than one child for the foreseeable future, or perhaps a double wide home if you’re planning on having a dog move in with you as well. Special home deals are also on the cards giving options to save money in multiple areas. The home itself can be delivered straight to your location, so you actually don’t have to move from a neighborhood which you have your heart set on.

Affordable homes for growing families are a priority for many governments around the world, but so far the traditional home route has not yet become cheaper. Customizable and manufactured homes may only cost a few tens of thousands to get the same interior quality as any other home on the market.