Adopting a Savings Mindset Even When You’re Saddled With Debt

From student loans to low-paying jobs, saving for future goals, like owning a home, can seem like a pipe dream for today’s younger generation. Financial expert and author Eric Tyson says there are powerful steps younger people can take right now to make the most of their money and save for a brighter future. He says it’s all about adopting a “savings mindset.”

According to Tyson, author of Personal Finance in Your 20s & 30s For Dummies®, a savings mindset involves getting the most from your spending while also spending less money in general. It also means living within your means, sticking to a budget and saving as much as you can. Two essential things to remember? Every little bit you save matters, and it’s never too late to start.

Here are few of Tyson’s tips and tricks for saving money that will help build your nest egg for buying a home before you know it.

Consider living with roommates or family. While you’re young and still free of dependents, take advantage of the opportunity to share a rental or live with relatives as opposed to living solo. If living with family, be sure to set expectations, raise concerns and establish costs and rental agreements up front.

Choose a low-cost rental. If you’re living beyond your means, now is the time to dial it back and find a place that fits within your budget. The less you're spending each month, the more you can save toward buying your own place.

Negotiate your rental increases. Some landlords increase their tenants' rent no matter how good the tenant and regardless of the state of the economy. If your local economy is weak and the rental market is soft or your living quarters are deteriorating, negotiate with your landlord. You have more leverage and power than you probably realize. Landlords don't want to lose good tenants who pay rent on time, and filling vacancies takes time and money. Craft a polite note or pay a personal visit to make your case.

Cut your utility bills. Even as a renter, try to keep utility costs low as landlords factor your energy consumption into future rental hike decisions. Adjust your thermostat and wear layers in the winter, and keep your place warmer during summer months. And if you pay for garbage service, recycle as much as possible.

Contribute to a retirement plan. Tucking away money in employer-based retirement plans, such as 401(k) or 403(b) accounts, or self-employed retirement plans is a great way to exclude money from your taxable income.

Use a health savings account. You can reduce your taxable income and sock away money for future healthcare expenses by taking advantage of a health savings account (HSA). HSAs can offer better tax savings versus retirement accounts because, in addition to providing upfront tax breaks on contributions and tax-free accumulation of investment earnings, you can also withdraw money from HSAs tax-free so long as the money is used for healthcare costs. No other retirement accounts offer this triple tax-free benefit.

Learn to cook. Cooking at home as opposed to eating out can save you hundreds of dollars each month, not to mention, keep you healthier as well. Be sure to cook enough so that you can brown bag your lunch with leftovers, too.

Eric Tyson, MBA, is the author of five national best-selling financial books, including Investing For Dummies, Personal Finance For Dummies and Home Buying Kit For Dummies. He has appeared on NBC's Today show, ABC, CNBC, FOX News, PBS and CNN, and has been interviewed on hundreds of radio shows and print publications. “Personal Finance in Your 20s & 30s For Dummies” ® (Wiley, 2017, ISBN: 978-1-119-43141-1, $19.99) is available at bookstores nationwide, from major online booksellers, and direct from the publisher by calling 800-225-5945.

3 Strange Things to Clean With

When cleaning your home, look past the vacuum and mop to get the job done right. Below are three strange household items that can be a huge help when cleaning.

Mismatched Socks
You know those socks that seem to lose their partners in the wash? Put them in a pile and use them for cleaning! Unlike a rag, you can slip your whole hand inside the sock, which offers better accuracy and mobility when cleaning the shower, counters and more.

Aluminum Foil
Did you know you could clean your old tarnished silver with boiled aluminum foil? Yep, you read that right! Simply boil one liter of water, a tablespoon of baking soda and one strip of foil. Once rolling, drop your tarnished silverware in for 10-20 seconds and remove with tongs. Voila!

Toothpaste!
Clean smudges from your windows, streaks from your glass and stains from your silver by scrubbing with a little bit of toothpaste. Afterward, wipe clean to avoid any lingering residue.

Tips and Tricks Every Homeowner Should Know

Becoming a homeowner doesn’t equip you with the basics of household know-how, although time and experience will likely teach you how to tighten up a leaky faucet. But technicians say that up to 30 percent of their service calls require nothing more than the flip of a switch or the push of a button to ‘repair’ the stated problem.

To save you from such an embarrassing experience—not to mention the cost of a service call—Readers Digest offers tips to help every homeowner recognize and ‘fix’ common issues:

• The fridge is warm. Check to see that nobody messed with the temperature dial. Turn it up if need be, and be sure no food containers are blocking the fridge and freezer compartment vents, which supply the flow of cold air.
• The bathroom lights don’t work. Sometimes all the bathroom outlets or several exterior lights are powered through a single GFCI (the red button in the middle of some outlets located in one bathroom). If there’s an outage, push the reset button on the GFCI, and you could be back in business.
• A kitchen appliance won’t turn on. When a light goes out in one room or a switch doesn’t turn on the coffeepot, check the main electrical panel for a tripped circuit breaker. Look for a switch that’s not in line with the others. Flip it fully to the off position, and then back on.
• The toilet is running. The most common cause is a worn flapper that no longer seals properly. The flapper is easy to replace without calling a plumber. Your nearest home store can sell you the part and tell you what you need to know.
• The paint needs a touchup. Mimic the texture a paint roller leaves on the wall without calling the painter. Dip an old washcloth in the paint, dab it on the spot, and toss it away.
• The garage is stuffed. Before you call a carpenter to add more shelving, mount a section of wire shelving to the undersides of the beams to give you a row of neat storage nooks. Unlike solid shelving, wire lets you see what’s up there. Then pick up a pack of S-hooks at a home center, and turn a length of wire shelving into a rack for holding garden and/or cleaning gear.

Interested in more home improvement tips? Feel free to contact me directly.

Finding the Right Contractor

When people buy a house, they’re hoping to find their dream home, but that doesn’t mean the place is perfect.

Many new homeowners buy a house knowing they are going to want to make some renovations in rooms like the kitchen and bathrooms. This would most likely require the services of a contractor, and picking an honest, fair and talented contractor is of the utmost importance.

With a little research, you can find the right contractor for you. Start by following these steps:

Read online reviews. Websites like Yelp and Angie’s List offer insights from people who share the experiences they had with all sorts of businesses, including contractors. They can be a great resource, but it helps to be a smart reader. Be wary of reviews that pile on praise to a degree that seems over-the-top, and, likewise, don’t take one or two scathing reviews too seriously without doing more research. The more reviews a contractor has, the more people have hired them. Reviews can help paint an accurate picture of what the contractor offers.

Get referrals. Any quality contractor is going to have references from past clients. The catch, however, is that these references are most certainty going to come from customers the contractor knows will speaking glowingly of them.

Still, talking to those referrals allows you to ask questions of people who have experience with a prospective contractor, and asking smart questions can give you a lot of information. Ask if the work was finished on time, if there were any unexpected costs, if the workers were considerate, if they cleaned up after they were done, and anything else you think is important.

Ask for recommendations. Even better than references are recommendations you find on your own. Talk to your new neighbors and ask if they know of anyone, preferably someone they’ve hired. This is also a nice way to introduce yourself to people in the neighborhood. There is probably even a Facebook page devoted to your new town where people share information, so join an online community and seek out recommendations.

Get specific. Be sure to ask if a potential contractor worked on the same type of room you’re looking to improve. For example, if you want to renovate your kitchen, ask for contractors who have worked on kitchens. And find out if they have experience renovating or completely redesigning.

Be smart and make sure you hire the right contractor; otherwise, buying your dream home could become a nightmare experience.

Americans Weigh in on Their Ideal Retirement

What’s your idea of a dream retirement? A sunny beach shack in the south? Or maybe a mountainside mobile home is more your speed?

According to a recent survey of 2,000 Americans from Provision Living, makers of senior living communities, living scenarios for retirement years are becoming increasingly more varied. Here are some of the most notable findings:

- While the average dream age to retirement is 60, millennials have a different scenario in mind, targeting age 56 as the ideal age to retire.

- While nearly 79 percent of respondents would opt to retire right here in the United States, for the 21 percent who prefer to retire abroad, Italy is the country of choice.

- The top 10 cities to retire in are:

1. Miami
2. San Diego
3. Denver
4. New York
5. Orlando
6. Honolulu
7. Los Angeles
8. Portland
9. San Francisco
10. Seattle

- The ideal retirement location is a city or town with a population of 52,000.

- The ideal retirement home style is a one-story ranch located along the coast/beach.

- When it comes to the size of the ideal retirement home, boomers say 1,150 square feet, but millennials would like something a little larger, reporting 1,890 square feet as their ideal size.

While retirement may seem like a lifetime away to younger survey respondents, the reality is that it’s best to start planning and saving now in order to create the ideal retirement scenario. As many as 43 percent of millennials have less than $5,000 in their retirement accounts.

But just how much money do you need to have an enjoyable retirement? According to the survey, the ideal savings to have by retirement is $610,000—with millennials saying that it should be $687,000, and baby boomers saying it should be around $574,000.

4 Simple DIY Projects for a Healthier Home

All the green smoothies and exercise in the world won’t keep your body healthy if you’re living in a contaminated environment. In order to help keep your body happy and thriving, try these four quick and easy DIY projects to improve your home’s health.

Inspect for Mold
Mold spores are everywhere, but when living in your house, they can give you pesky allergies or endanger your life.

To ensure your home doesn’t have any dangerous mold growth, do a walk-through and know where to look. Mold loves humid, damp areas. This means your bathroom, washing machine, kitchen, attic and basement are prime real estate for all types of mold.

If you spot a suspicious area, use an at-home mold testing kit to determine if it’s harmful. Certain types of mold (like black mold) require professional remediation, so don’t try to remove it yourself. However, you can treat most molds with a bleach solution, proper drainage and a dehumidifier. Just make sure you’re on the lookout to keep your home safe.

Install a Smart Thermostat
Smart thermostats do so much for your home. Not only do they help you save money on energy, but they can also monitor your air quality. Smart thermostats like Nest’s send an alert to your smartphone if it notices air problems. That way, you can make the necessary changes to breathe better. Installation of most smart thermostat models is relatively simple. Just make sure the product is compatible with your home, and follow the instructions carefully.

Change Air Filters
If you have an HVAC unit, you have air filters. These hardworking filters sift out impurities in the air so that they don’t wind up in your lungs. If you’re super sensitive and live with furry friends, replace your air filters every month or two. If you don’t use the heating and cooling system often, you can stretch that to twice per year. You could also purchase air purifiers for your home to keep pollutants down.

Dust and Vacuum
Sorry to add to your chore list, but keeping a clean home is essential to your health. Dust doesn’t just look dingy; it’s made of pet dander, human skin cells, dirt, grime, pollen and a lot more icky stuff that causes all sorts of health issues.

Do your lungs, eyes, sinuses, ears and immune system a favor by getting yourself a wool duster or disposable duster product. Then, run your duster along the backside of appliances, the tops of ceiling fans, under furniture and other places large collections of dust might be hiding. Once you see how dirty your duster gets, you’ll be glad everything you picked up isn’t floating around in the air anymore. Finish by vacuuming all the carpets in your house to remove more dust and other particles.

Staying healthy is a 360-degree endeavor requiring you to mind what you put in, on and around your body. Follow these tips to tackle an essential part of home health and add to your overall well-being.

Source: Fatima Puri/RISMedia’s Housecall

Buying Your First Home? Simple Tips to Keep the Process Running Smoothly

While buying your first home can be nerve-racking, paying attention to the following items will go a long way toward putting your mind at ease as you make your way through the process.   
 
Get your finances in check. Just because you have money in the bank doesn’t mean you will qualify for a mortgage. Meet with a financial advisor and get a handle on what you can truly afford. If you want to do the numbers yourself, make sure to create a comprehensive list of every possible expense—loans, student debt, monthly expenses, etc.—and don’t rely on your lender to figure out a total for you. Lenders look at your debt-to-income ratio and not necessarily your day-to-day spending habits.
 
Choose an agent. Buying a new home will likely be one of the biggest decisions of your life, therefore, it’s important to take your time when choosing an agent. Not only do you want someone who is willing to communicate on your terms, you want to be sure your agent knows the neighborhoods you’re interested in. Whether it’s the most experienced agent—or an eager up-and-comer—do your homework before choosing an agent to guide you through the process.  
 
Get pre-qualified. Once you know how much home you can afford, be sure the bank agrees by getting pre-qualified for a loan. While the pre-qualification process is not a guarantee that the lender will offer you funding, it does take into consideration your credit score and income level in order to determine how much the lender might be willing to offer through a mortgage program. The next step is to get a prequalification letter so that when you find your dream home, you can offer proof that you can get the financing to buy it.
 
Shop for lenders. Mortgage rates are still low, but that doesn’t mean you should jump at the first one that comes along. Compare and contrast at least three to five lenders to find the one that best serves your interests. It’s also important to disclose that you’re a first-time buyer, as it could potentially make a difference in the types of programs a lender offers you.
 
Seek out first-time homebuyer programs. There are a slew of programs specifically designed to assist first-time homebuyers with benefits such as down-payment assistance and no closing costs. Others offer first-time buyers competitive interest rates that are designed to make borrowing easier. Be sure to understand the various resources that are out there to help you.
 
To learn more about buying your first home, contact me today.

Be Smart About Your Smart Home When Selling

While smart home technology makes our lives simpler and more efficient, when it comes time to sell your home, things can get tricky if you don’t take the proper steps to protect yourself.

According to The Mortgage Reports (www.themortgagereports.com), begin by making a thorough list of all the devices in your home. Be sure to think this through carefully as you’ve probably come to take much of this technology for granted as it’s become woven into your daily life.

Once your list is in place and checked twice, divide it into items that are “fixtures” versus personal property. Fixtures are items that are physically attached or built into the home and intended to be a part of it. For example, a built-in microwave is a fixture, whereas a microwave on the countertop that you plug in is considered personal property that would go with you.

That said, any item in the house could be identified in the sale agreement as a fixture, according to The Mortgage Reports. In other words, what’s determined to be a fixture versus personal property is ultimately agreed upon between buyers and sellers. Be sure to list every device and system that’s staying in the house as a fixture in the sale agreement.

Be aware, however, that the smart devices and systems you leave behind can hold a lot of user-supplied data and information. While the U.S. is moving toward privacy policies similar to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) recently enacted in Europe, the misuse of digital information should be a concern for all users of smart home technology.

Unfortunately, there’s no uniform way to remove all personal data from devices, so sellers will need to go through each system and remove their information. This may involve transferring ownership and billing to create new passwords. Refer to owner manuals and tech support to determine the best way to do this.

Securing your smart home devices when selling may be a time-consumer task, but it’s well worth it in order to protect yourself and the buyer you’ll be handing the keys to.

Source: Themortgagereports.com

When and How to Negotiate the Price of Your New Home

You might be able to purchase the house of your dreams for less than the asking price. If the owner is in a hurry to move or the house has been on the market for months and you are the first person to make an offer, the seller might be willing to shave thousands of dollars off the price or to make concessions in other areas to sweeten the deal.

When to Offer a Lower Price
An owner who has to move by a specific deadline is motivated to sell. Someone who is moving for a new job will want to wrap up the process of selling the house in time to relocate and start over. If the deadline is fast approaching, the owner may be willing to cut a deal. You can ask the real estate agent why the owner is selling the house, but he or she may not be able to tell you.

How to Negotiate
If you want to offer the seller an amount below the asking price, make a reasonable proposal. The seller may be willing to make a counteroffer and negotiate, but not if you make an absurdly low initial offer. You might be justified in making a low offer if the house is in foreclosure or has been on the market for months because it is overpriced.

Submit a written purchase offer specifying the price you are willing to pay. The purchase offer should explain what will happen if you are unable to obtain a mortgage or if the inspection uncovers major problems. It should specify any additional terms, such as any concessions you are seeking. The offer should be accompanied by “earnest money,” a small but significant sum of money to demonstrate that you are genuinely interested in the house. Set a short time limit for the owner to accept or reject your offer. That can help you avoid getting into a bidding war with other potential buyers.

If the owner makes a counteroffer that is lower than the asking price but higher than what you are comfortable paying, you don’t have to accept it. No matter how much you love the house, you shouldn’t borrow more than you can afford to repay.

If the owner is unwilling to budge on the price, he or she might be willing to make other concessions. You could ask the owner to make repairs, leave behind appliances, or pay some of the closing costs.

If you and the seller are unable to agree on a price, be prepared to walk away. You may find another house you like even more at a lower price in the near future.

Don’t Be Afraid to Negotiate
Depending on the market and the owner’s circumstances, the seller might be willing to significantly lower the price of the house, but you won’t know unless you make an offer. Your real estate agent can provide you with advice and guide you through the negotiation process.

How to Transform a Modestly Sized Room into a Palace

A spacious home with grand vaulted white ceilings filled with light isn’t in the budget for every homeowner, but creating a space that feels open and airy can be achieved even in the most Lilliputian abode. Decluttering, playing with light effects, and limiting the amount of large objects you have in a single room will change how you interact with it and the way it feels. Every room in your house should make you feel like you can stretch your arms, take a deep breath and have room to spare.

Declutter
Is every shelf of your bookcase full of random stuff? Can you never seem to keep the clutter down? Finding a proper place for things will help you open up some spaces in your house. Pockets of clutter are everywhere and finding them will make your house feel open. A bookcase shoved full of rubbish will bring a room in a few feet even though it isn’t adding any actual bulk, and knowing that the second you open your desk drawer it will explode with scarves, scraps of paper, and other clutter will limit the amount of space in your house. For much of your clutter you can ask yourself: Will I use it this month and does it make me happy? If the answer is no, toss it.

Open Space
If clearing out your house doesn’t add the space you want, or if it’s light that make your home dingy, try playing some tricks with color or mirrors, or just get rid of the dust in your home. You can play with color in your home to add space and depth. White is a great default color because it adds light and goes with everything, but playing with color gives you the opportunity to carry the eye throughout the room. Painting a room a light shade of green, while doing the ceiling in an off shade will force the eye upward, giving the impression of a higher ceiling. If gem-tones (like emerald, sapphire, or a deep garnet shade) are what you're after, try painting just the ceiling and the far wall in that shade; it adds depth to a room and makes it appear longer. Whatever you colors you decide to paint, continue it with a central, simple theme that you can carry around the room. If you decide to paint the walls a very light pastel green, adding accents of pastel green throughout the room will throw the eye and give an impression of space that might be missed with a more complicated theme (like using brocade fabrics, or a multi-color spectrum).

Mirrors are perfect if you need to expand on a small space or just add light to a dim room. There are several key locations for a mirror to be set that may seem counter intuitive to their purpose. While it might seem most pragmatic to set a mirror right by the door, often times there isn’t enough light there. Placing a mirror opposite a window or in any sunny location will bring more light to a room. You can even place one next to a window as a way of ‘faking’ a window. If your tiny home is extraordinarily well lit but you want more space, placing a large mirror as the centerpiece for a wall can trick someone into thinking there is another room. Just make sure to not place mirrors in direct view of each other in a narrow room. Reflections of a mirror on a mirror will create a shadow and bring the size of the room down.

Limit Furniture
Do any rooms have two desks or is there an extra huge couch in the living room? If those extra pieces of furniture aren’t getting used, they are just space-wasting pieces sitting in your house. Pick one large piece of furniture as a focal point for each room of your house and keep the other pieces small enough to function as satellite pieces. It’s often best that the largest piece of furniture be the thing that is going to be used the most. So if you do more work in the living room than TV watching, consider getting a smaller loveseat and chairs so you can devote more space to the desk. If you have a huge bed in your bedroom, don’t add a large desk in the room unless you take your work home with you often.

Take some tips from home stagers to make smart furniture location decisions. Place furniture along walls, but with enough room to walk around to force the attention to a central location in the room. This is best done when each room has a central purpose. If you are designing around multi-purpose rooms, consider easily removable furniture. Like a desk that folds into the wall, or a longer folding table that can be tucked into a corner when not in use. These key furniture decisions will give you more space where it is needed and allow you more room to breathe.

Giving yourself an endless amount of space might not be possible in your current home, but you can still get the feel of a large house with these tips.
 
Source: RISMedia's Housecall

Should You Buy a Bigger House Than You Currently Need?

If you’re looking for a long-term home for your family, you want to find a house that’ll be able to accommodate your changing needs and lifestyle. It sometimes makes sense to buy a bigger house than you currently need, but you should think carefully before you do so.

Reasons to Buy a Large House

If you plan to have children in the near future, look for a house with extra bedrooms. Think about how many kids you’ll likely have and plan accordingly. You might also want to look for a house with a family room or an area that can be used as a playroom. An open floor plan can give children plenty of room to play and can make it easier for adults to keep an eye on them.

If your parents might move in with you when they get older, you can look for a house with a guest room, suite or in-law apartment. That’ll make the transition easier by allowing you to avoid the need for future renovations.

If you frequently have guests visit at the holidays or throughout the year, it’s a good idea to look for a house with a guest room. Your visitors will feel comfortable in their own space, and your family won’t need to move to different rooms or make space for air mattresses.

If you like to entertain family and friends, a house with a spacious kitchen can make it easier to manage the preparations. A dining room or deck with enough room for a large table and chairs can give you plenty of space for everyone to gather.

Is a Big House a Good Idea?

When choosing a house, layout is often more important than square footage. A house with many small, cramped rooms wouldn’t be right for a family that enjoys entertaining. A smaller number of spacious rooms or an open floor plan would work better.

When deciding whether to buy a large house, it’s important to separate legitimate current and future needs from things that would be nice to have. It only makes sense to spend tens of thousands of extra dollars to buy a house with extra rooms if those rooms will actually be used. Otherwise, you’ll simply be wasting your money.

Consider all the additional costs you’d incur by purchasing a large house. Your property taxes, utility bills and maintenance costs would all be higher than they’d be with a smaller house. Estimate the monthly costs and figure out whether you can afford them without becoming strapped financially.

Think It Over

A house is a major long-term investment, so you want to choose wisely. Consider how your life could change in the coming years. Choose a house that will continue to meet your needs, but don’t fall into the trap of buying a bigger house than you can afford. Think carefully about your current and future lifestyle, and choose a house that will meet your needs and budget.