MONEY AND BLACK RELATIONSHIPS - Finances can Ruin a Perfectly Good Relationship!The biggest challenges facing black RELATIONSHIPS today are money and finances. Many people mistakenly feel that money does NOT matter. In fact, money matters the MOST! Why? Most people do not have a clue about their own financial destiny. Do you have your financial destiny charted? You know you want to own a home and save some money toward retirement but have you PLANNED what it is you are saving each month and how that money will assist you in the future. Do you have a PLAN to empower yourself financially by NOT depending on your JOB to pay your salary and that's your only source of income. Times have CHANGED. Jobs come and go(and so do SPOUSES). To protect yourself financially you need to be proactive and not depend on anyone else to solve your financial issues. You can improve your finances RIGHT NOW if they are not in order. There are low costs alternatives to improve your credit score and increase your buying power. Power not to be wasted on designer shoes, clothes, and automobiles, but to be invested in REAL estate. An interesting term to be sure. REAL because it is the foundation of all REAL wealth in this country. Estate, because that is what you can leave your children and family if you handle your business correctly - RIGHT NOW. Money matters because in a relationship YOU should have your OWN MONEY! That is right- I said it! You should not count what someone ELSE brings to the table when all your money is tied up in petty and senseless bills. Talking about petty and senseless- let us discuss CARS! What would possess a person to lease an automobile? Other than as a BUSINESS expense (which also means TAX WRITE OFF) someone PLEASE Tell me WHY? I have heard of folks paying $500.00-$900.00 monthly on car payments. WHY? My car is paid for and I am proud of it. Yes, it is ten years old - BUT I don't work to support my vehicle. If you are serious about getting more money in this lifetime, you will need to STOP SPENDING money RIGHT NOW on things that DEPRECIATE in VALUE such as CARS! Nuff said! We all need just ONE major credit card. The other credit cards need to be in the trash. The reality is- if you CANNOT pay for something you purchased within 30 days, you CANNOT afford it! Brutal I know but I have been there and done that. When you have to spend real $$$ on what you purchase, it truly does slow your roll. Contact me if you need to be pointed in the right direction. I will be happy to assist! In a personal relationship many of your disagreements WILL stem from money issues. Not just who makes what, but how it is spent and how it is saved. It seems like such a small thing but when you are commingling finance and love you need to establish boundaries up front. PLEASE DO NOT IGNORE THIS ADVICE! You should decide in advance if you want to keep your finances separate and have a joint household account. The household account should be open to both parties (online access is great for this) and not used for personal spending in any way. The check card will let you market, pay bills etc. A joint savings account would also make saving for special purposes much easier. No matter how much you trust each other, the savings accounts should REQUIRE both parties to sign off on withdrawals. Just to keep everything clean and above board. The traditional (old fashioned) way is to have just one account for checking and one for saving. Even though our parents did this, most mothers (and fathers) always had personal money SOMEWHERE that was just theirs. So why not be upfront about your own personal money issues so they do not come back to haunt you down the road. For restoring, improving, and increasing your credit score please consider a professional financial consultant.BeWare of companies promising to give you brand new credit, delete bad credit etc. If they cost more than $400.00 look ELSEWHERE! They are NOT worth the money and do very little that you cannot do for yourself. I have been "taken" by a very prominent business here in Baltimore that did NOTHING to warrant the money they requsted upfront for a 2 year "membership". In fact, if they even say the word "membership" RUN FOR THE DOOR!
I have had personal contact with a financial service company, Shani Enterprise that is affordable, realistic and WORKS! Please contact them directly if you need assistance!
Shani Enterprise - Financial Services with emphasis on SERVICE! Looking for a Home? Need a refinance,or cash out on your equity in a hurry? Is your credit challanged, or do you have perfect credit?
NACA -America's BEST Home Mortgage! 15 ways to make money on the side Essence, June, 2005 by Ingrid Sturgis Find Articles.com Marcy Jones has been physically fit all her life. She started out as a gymnast in high school and has stayed active in sports. But when a friend asked for her help to get in shape, the 44-year-old Washington, D.C., executive assistant parlayed her athletic ability into a healthy sideline as a personal trainer. Today she does in-home personal training four to six days a week, seeing two or three clients an evening, with most of her business coming by word of mouth. 1) Become a Performer If you can sing or have theatrical talent, make the most of it by performing at weddings, parties and other events. Place an ad in your local paper or grocery-store bulletin, and let friends know you're available. Church-choir singers or musicians can make anywhere from $50 to $1,000 and more performing independently for weddings or parties. Sisters with theatrical talent can make between $40 and $150 an hour working children's parties as clowns, magicians or cartoon characters, painting children's faces, telling jokes, and creating balloon animals. 2) OFFER A CUSTOM SERVICE When Essie "Star" Dantzler, 44, bought her commercial embroidery machine in 1992; she intended to use it to design clothing. Today she runs a thriving logo-embroidery business. She has ten regular clients who place large orders for jackets, caps or T-shirts. They may order as many as 240 jackets, but most requests range between 50 and 150 items. She also embroiders baby bibs and blankets for gift baskets and sells them for $5 to $25. The embroidery machine cost $9,000, which Dantzler paid off in three years, thanks to her thriving business. 3) PROVIDE ANIMAL CARE Love animals? Become a pet sitter or dog walker. More and more people have pets and don't want to leave them alone, you can make up to $20 an hour per pet. 4) TEACH A CLASS If you have a specialty, teach it to others. Offer your services to a local community center or college. That's what technology specialist Phyllis Caraway-Franklin of Grand Prairie, Texas, did. She teaches seniors to use computers and charges $20 each to ten students for a one-hour class, which she holds twice a week. "When I get off work, I go there for an hour," Caraway-Franklin, 47, says. "I give back to the community, and I can see this being a lucrative business when I retire." For details on teaching a class, check out learningannex.com. 5) SELL USED BOOKS Are you an avid reader? Recycle your collection on amazon.com. Amazon sells both new and old books. First set up an account at the amazon.com site, list your item, and be ready to ship it to the buyer. Experiment to find what kinds of books do well; some say fiction paperbacks on relationships are popular sellers. Scout local used-book stores for inexpensive finds to mark up online. To price your book, check the site to see what similar ones have sold for; Amazon also offers guidelines. You collect payment from Amazon, which is credited to your account, minus Amazon's service fee. See amazon.com. 6) BECOME A VIRTUAL-OFFICE ASSISTANT Thanks to her computer, the Internet and telephone call forwarding, Victoria Parham, 37, of Emporia, Virginia, creates presentations, takes messages or transfers calls for the owner of a small business--all from the comfort of her home, charging $27.50 an hour. The virtual-office assistant says, "I can do it totally online for people all around the world." 7) SELL ON CONSIGNMENT This is a great way to get rid of lightly used clothing and furnishings you no longer want. Consignment shops will sell your goods for you at a cost of about 40 to 60 percent of the selling price. 8) BECOME A MYSTERY SHOPPER Also called consumer evaluators or secret shoppers, mystery shoppers help gather information on stores, restaurants or other marketing clients. Ayodele Branch, 39, of Teaneck, New Jersey, became a secret shopper after responding to an ad in her local newspaper. "The assignments vary," Branch says, including getting paid to go to the movies, where she evaluated everything from the number of people waiting in the ticket line to how soon the previews start to the theater staff's appearance. Secret shoppers can earn from $10 to $800 a month, depending on the number of assignments they take. But beware of scams that ask you to pay a fee to become a shopper. Check out Mystery Shopping Made Simple by Ilisha Newhouse (McGraw-Hill), justshop.org, bluebook.org or mysteryshop.org. 9) BECOME A NOTARY PUBLIC A notary public is a state-appointed impartial witness to the signing of documents and the administering of oaths. Specific requirements vary from state to state, but in general you must pay a license fee of about $35 to $75. Other requirements may include taking an exam or providing a list of references. A notary can earn from 50 cents to $10 for each notarization. A notary-signing agent who specializes in real-estate documents can earn up to $125 per signing. Go to nationalnotary.org. 10) MARKET YOUR HANDICRAFTS If you have an artistic flair, use your skills to create handmade wedding cards, beaded jewelry, window treatments, throw pillows or costumes for plays or dance recitals. 11) BAKE CAKES Nanette Harris is known as the Cake Lady for the tasty wedding and other specialty cakes she makes when she's not working as an office manager in Cleveland. "I've always loved to bake," says Harris, who made her first wedding cake when she filled in for an aunt who became ill just before her sister's ceremony. "I looked around to see the average price of wedding cakes, $2 to $4 per person. I charged them $1.50 per person for a four-tier Amish butter cake with buttercream frosting, and calls started coming in. They saved money, and I made a little money." Harris still sells only by word of mouth. Her busiest times are Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. 12) RENT OUT A SPARE BEDROOM With housing prices at an all-time high; there is a huge demand for affordable living space. Consider renting a room to a college student or senior citizen who otherwise could not afford to rent on her or his own. Make sure you check references and credit, and take into consideration the possible increase in gas, electricity and water usage, as well as whether the renter will share meals. 13) BRAID HAIR Because mothers have less free time than ever before, consider cornrowing hair for children. Some braiders charge between $20 and $60 per child, depending on the design's complexity. 14) DO DIRECT SALES If you have a knack for sales, try selling Amway, Avon, Mary Kay, Warm Spirit, The Pampered Chef, Tupperware or Body Shop products. Janice Banyon, of Hyattsville, Maryland, took her Mary Kay business a step further when she began to present the products in decorative gift baskets. "Each year I got more creative," she says, "and people began to ask me to make baskets for other occasions." She sells the personalized baskets for from $35 to more than $100 and puts in ten to 15 hours a week to create up to ten a month, when she's not working as a department-store bridal consultant. Her busiest occasions are Valentine's Day, Mother's Day and Christmas. 15) HELP OTHERS ORGANIZE Neatniks can find a sideline as a professional organizer, charging from $40 to $200 an hour to help others clear up their space. The Big Daddy of online auction sites, eBay is a great place to make money, as Laverne Deanes of Collierville, Tennessee, has learned. She buys hip-hop clothing from local discounters and sells them on the Web site. But there's no need to limit yourself to clothes. Nearly everything, from the ridiculous to the commonplace, has been sold on eBay--from a small town (Bridgeville, California, sold for $1.8 million) to a submarine to a golf game with Tiger Woods, as well as Black collectibles, dishes and designer goods. You'll need a computer with Internet access and a digital camera to get started. Begin by registering with eBay. You can set up an account with paypal.com or bidpay.com to accept online payments, or request other forms of payment from the buyer. The seller handles the packing and mailing. "I can pay for my shipping online and drop the package off at the post office--no lines to stand in," says Deanes, who spends two to three hours about three nights a week taking pictures, uploading them to eBay and writing descriptions. Read eBay Business the Smart Way: Maximize Your Profits on the Web's #1 Auction Site by Joseph T. Sinclair (Amacom Books).--L.S. Think twice before you cosign a loan, advises finance professor David L. Scott, because if the borrower fails to pay, you are liable and may be subject to litigation or having your wages garnished. Scott's book Managing Credit and Debt (Houghton Mifflin Co.) provides valuable tips on managing your finances. COPYRIGHT 2005 Essence Communications, Inc.COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group
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