Tag Archives: money

How You Can Save Money By Investing In A Dashcam For Your Car

Dashcams are becoming more popular and a lot of people are fitting them in their cars these days. They are simple devices that sit on the dashboard of your car and record everything that goes on around you. In the event of an accident, you have a full video of the incident, exactly as it unfolded.

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But there are a lot of people that are still on the fence about dashcams. They can be expensive, especially if you go for a high-end model, so is it really worth the expense? People often assume that they won’t need a dashcam because they are a careful driver and they aren’t likely to get into an accident. However, you never know what could happen on the road and a dashcam could be a huge help. In fact, it could save you a lot of money in certain circumstances. These are some of the ways that you can save money by investing in a dashcam for your car.

Save Money On Your Insurance

Insurance is one of the biggest costs associated with owning a car, but it’s a necessary expense. The good news is, there are ways you can reduce your insurance costs, like getting a dashcam. Dashcams are becoming more and more common, so insurance companies are starting to offer discounts to drivers that have them installed in their cars. In some cases, you could save up to 10% on your insurance costs.

The footage can be used to prove who was at fault in an accident, which makes things much easier for everybody, including the insurance company. They’ll save time and money when investigating claims, which is why they encourage their customers to use them by offering discounts. 

Dashcam footage can also be used to demonstrate that you are a sensible driver, and your insurance costs will be reduced as a result. So, this simple investment can save you a lot of money over the years.

Keep Your No-Claims Discount

A no-claims discount is a feature you get on your insurance when you have a clean driving record. This discount is forfeited when you claim on your insurance policy, which means that if somebody else crashes into you and they make a claim against your car insurance, then your costs go up in the future. But if you can prove that the other driver was at fault, their insurance company will pay out and you won’t have to claim on your own insurance policy, so you keep your no-claims discount. 

Your discount builds year on year and the longer you go without making a claim, the better the discount will be. So, being able to maintain it makes a huge difference.

Protect Yourself Against Insurance Fraud

The majority of insurance claims are made when a genuine accident occurs. However, there are people out there that make money by committing insurance fraud. This is when they deliberately cause an accident and then make a claim against the other driver’s insurance. This costs the insurance company money and it drives up the cost of premiums for everybody. 

This is a nightmare situation to find yourself in because, if it’s just their word against yours, you might end up having to claim on your insurance. But with the advent of dashcams, instances of insurance fraud are becoming less common because it’s easier to prove who was at fault. If somebody deliberately slams their brakes on for no reason, it will all be caught on video and you can show this to the insurance company and the car accident lawyers, so you won’t be liable. You can also show it to the police, so the perpetrators can be prosecuted and they won’t be able to scam people again in the future.

Be A More Economical Driver

Learning to drive economically is important if you are keeping a close eye on your spending. Fuel is expensive, but you can find ways to reduce fuel consumption if you adjust the way that you drive. 

If you keep it recording at all times, you can watch the footage back later on. This will help you spot any mistakes you are making and correct them so you can be a better driver. Not only will this save you money, but it will also make you safer on the roads. This is especially beneficial for new drivers that are not that confident yet. 

Sell Your Car For More Money

When you come to sell your car, the buyer will want to know about the history and how well you have cared for the car. They’ll usually ask to see the service history and any details of repairs that have been made. But you can also show them the dashcam footage. This is a good way to demonstrate that you are a sensible driver and you haven’t been putting the engine under unnecessary strain. 

All of the other benefits of a dashcam also mean that you are less likely to be in an accident, which increases the value of the car too. Improved driving practices will reduce wear and tear on the moving parts of the engine too, which means fewer repairs. In short, having a dashcam helps you avoid accidents and keep your car in better condition, so it will last longer and when you do come to sell it, you can get a better price for it.

There is a reason why dashcams have become so popular in the last few years. If you are still on the fence and you think that it might be a waste of money, think again. A dashcam is one of the best investments you can make because it helps you save a lot of money. You can cut insurance costs by easily proving that you were not at fault, especially in cases where people are trying to commit insurance fraud. You can also use it to drive more economically and save money on fuel. Finally, you can keep the car in better condition so when you come to sell it, you’ll get a much better price for it. So, what are you waiting for, invest in a dashcam today?

How Credit Card Debt Relief Programs Work

Your credit card usage has driven you into a financial ditch, eh? You’re not alone. Americans owe nearly $900 billion to card issuers, according to a WalletHub study, with the average household balance at $7,519. That’s a lot of swiping. The good news is that debt relief can help you. Here’s how credit card debt relief programs work.

What is Debt Relief?

In a nutshell, the approach makes it easier for you to lower your debt burden. That can be through numerous ways including debt consolidation, debt settlement, interest rate reductions and repayment term changes.

Who is Debt Relief For?

You’re likely a prime candidate if you’re delinquent on your plastic or loan payments or have mulled bankruptcy. Also, depending on the option you choose, debt relief may work if you’re not yet late on payments, but you’ve been cutting it close. Another chief reason people cite for using debt relief is that they’ve tried to manage their obligations on their own but cannot make progress.

Be mindful, though, that the financial strategy may not be a good fit if won’t commit to a long-term plan for paying off your debt, or if your spending is still unchecked.

Debt Settlement

Credit card debt relief programs include debt settlement. Here, you hire an accredited company such as Freedom Debt Relief to negotiate with your credit card issuers or other unsecured creditors to get them to allow you to pay just a portion of your total obligation to clear your debt. Because creditors know your next step could be bankruptcy, they usually go along. How it works is, rather than pay creditors directly, you put funds each month into an escrow-type account that you’ll use as settlement leverage. When you’ve saved enough, negotiations will begin, and settlement funds are derived from your account. Oh, and you don’t pay anything until your debts are settled.  

Debt Consolidation

Debt consolidation allows you to roll high-interest debt, particularly credit card debt, into a single payment with less interest. This allows you to save money and streamline payments, since you’ll have only one to monthly bill to cover. That’s as opposed to multiple payments of varying amounts and due dates. You can consolidate through a personal loan or what’s called a balance transfer card. With the latter, you can shift your high-interest card balances onto one of those promotional 0%-interest cards that companies sometimes issue. You’ll need to clear the account before the promotional period ends, though, and the rate shoots back up. You will need fairly good credit for consolidation to work or even make sense.

Credit Counseling

Certified credit counselors can go over your situation and help you produce a plan for managing your debts and spending. This approach might work if you simply need a doable debt repayment plan. You’ll also come away with new knowledge about finances and budgeting. Such services usually come free with nonprofit credit counseling agencies. Just make sure your agency is accredited with the Financial Counseling Association of America or the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. 

Debt Management

If your debt woes are too severe, your credit counselors may suggest that you go the debt management route. What happens is, you pick which debt to enroll in the debt management plan (DMP), and you’ll make just one monthly payment to the plan. That payment is allocated to your creditors, according to plan terms. With a DMP, you also may get a better rate or have some fees waived.
Now you know a bit more about how credit card debt relief programs work. The strategy is a proven one, particularly if you pick an established, accredited and reputable company to help you.

Burnt Out and Overwhelmed? Having a Poor Business Structure May Be the Reason

Everyone has heard the advice that it’s better to work smart than to work hard, but many business owners assume it doesn’t apply to them. More often than not, they assume that working 60-hour weeks and finding themselves constantly busy is a sign that their companies are becoming more successful. Unfortunately, constant work can leave entrepreneurs feeling burnt out and overwhelmed, and poor business structures are the most common underlying cause of this problem.

The Importance of Delegation

Delegating tasks to competent employees or third-party contractors is the best way to improve a business structure and reduce stress, but few business owners know how to do this effectively. Those who find themselves stuck doing too many tasks that fall outside the purview of general managers need to recognize the problem before they can make any changes.

To get an idea of whether this is a real problem, keep track of 100% of the time spent at work for one to two weeks. Analyze the resulting timesheet to see how most of that time is getting spent. If most of the tasks on the list are things that business owners don’t enjoy and aren’t very good at, it’s time for them to start finding ways to delegate those responsibilities.

Making Use of Outside Resources

Some tasks can be delegated effectively to existing employees. Others are best left to outside specialists. Bookkeeping Services are a perfect example.

Most small to mid-sized companies don’t have it in the budget to hire full-time bookkeepers. Instead, business owners either take on this work themselves or delegate it to managers who don’t have the specialized training required to do the work well.

Not all tasks can be delegated to just any employee. Delegating tasks to employees who don’t have the skills to complete them efficiently can still create extra work for business owners since they’ll have to check every step of their managers’ work for accuracy. It makes far more sense to hire an outside specialist.

Stop Making Excuses

Many business owners put off changing the structure of their companies until they are already overworked and overwhelmed, making up excuses about why they should be doing 100% of the work themselves. Being too busy all the time is not a sign of success, but of poor business structure, and making excuses for it can hold business owners and their companies back from reaching their full potential.

Try a Stress Test

It’s common for business owners at successful, growing companies to assume that their companies could not survive for even a moment without them. Sometimes, unfortunately, that’s true. A company that can’t operate for even a week without the business owner at the helm is not structured correctly, and things will only get worse for the already overworked owner as it continues to grow.

To see if the company’s organizational structure is up to snuff, put it through a stress test by taking some time off. Aim for at least a week of no contact. Take a vacation and avoid taking a single email or call, and see what happens. If things keep running smoothly without the business owner at the helm, that’s a good sign that the company’s organizational structure is solid.

The Bottom Line

Everyone from office workers to business owners deserves to have a life outside of work. For the average employee, managing work-life balance is relatively easy since the entire company’s success does not rest on his or her shoulders. While business owners inevitably have more responsibilities than the typical office worker, they still deserve to get enough time off to have meaningful lives outside of work. Restructuring can help them avoid burnout without risking damage to the company’s bottom line.