Joy Olivia Miller

Archive for the ‘Money Issue’ Category

Were you a passive financial partner in your relationship? Did you leave paying the bills, finding the best mortgage deal and pension planning to your significant other?

Recent research in the UK undertaken by the Department of Work and Pensions highlighted that many of single women over fifty suddenly have to deal with the financial affairs and paperwork that their partners took care of while they were married and have to deal with money issues they have never tackled before.

Learning how to budget is therefore something many women have to get to grips with after divorce, the death of their partner or the breakdown of a relationship.

Here is a personal budgeting strategy that works for me and I am sure it will for you too.

You will need to set up two bank accounts which you can do from the same bank. I call mine Number One and Number Two account Arrange to have your salary/wages/pension/income paid into your Number One account Put aside some time when you will not be disturbed and gather all the information you have about income and expenditure e.g. bank/credit/cards, salary, pension, savings, receipts etc. Make a list of your monthly expenditure, your fixed costs for example, food, utilities, mortgage/rent, Council Tax etc. Look back through bank/credit card / store cared statements to help you. Make another list of all your irregular expenses. For example car tax/insurance/maintenance, insurance, holidays and Christmas.Now divide the total by 12 and arrange a Direct Debit with your bank for this amount to be moved to your Number Two account each month. I also arranged a Direct Debit to a Savings account which I keep specifically for unexpected expenditure to cover emergencies. You know, the times when the washing machine or TV breaks down, root canal treatment looms at the dentist or the cooker blows up. You may find after a month or so there is something you have forgotten or you have under-estimated an aspect of your budget. That’s OK, just tweak your budget and make the necessary changes as it is important to ensure your budget is both accurate and realistic

Budget finance can feel scary when you have lost your, Personal Financial Advisor, Personal Banker and Personal Budget Manager all in one go. So do not worry about it and know that help is always available if you need it. You will be thrilled how much more confident you will feel once you have mastered money management budgeting.

The major public-education issue today is money. How much money do we spend on education? Do we need to spend more? What do we need to spend it on? There have been studies that have proven that the number of dollars that we have spent on public education has not had a positive impact on student achievement. So what is the problem? The problem is that we continue to spend the money on programs that are directed toward the wrong philosophy. The latest initiative was President Bush’s “No student left behind.” In theory that sounds great. Obviously we do not want to leave any child behind. Politically speaking it is a great slogan and did a great deal to get President Bush elected. That within itself is one of the major issues. (problems) Education is a major issue in every political campaign. Politicians continue to come up with programs every four years that promise to solve pubic educations problems. While they may sound good they are designed more to get a politician elected than they are to actually helping public education.

The “NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND” initiative for example, sounded real good. Not only did it take care of all students but it put accountability on schools that were not successful. Citizens today want to put the blame for the lack of success in American schools directly on the schools. The accountability sounded great to the American people. The problem is, what to do when you find out that you still do not have success. You can not close down every school that was not successful according to the No school left behind guidelines. While the program called for greater expectations of students, it does not give students any alternatives in case they are not successful. It also puts other school systems in a compromising and overcrowded state if you close down schools that are not successful on the standardized test.

So what do I resolve? I believe that we need to have alternatives for the individual students. I do not believe that we can continue to use the cookie cutter approach to public education. We can not continue to attempt to teach all students in the same manner in hopes that we will get the same results. We have great examples in Europe, China, and Japan. We compare our brightest to their brightest and come up short in math and science. We need to concentrate on individual students who have exhibited ability in math and science, and continue with their efforts, while providing other meaningful careers and professions to others.

More importantly we need to start teaching our students how to think, and solve problems. The key lies in teaching students how to think, not just to memorize a set of facts. The students who gain a love for life long learning and knows how to solve problems will go much further.

When it comes to the issue of health care, politicians have a plan that is directed by doctors, hospitals, and hospital administration. These are the real professionals who can make a difference in health care. The issue of education needs to be left up to the real professionals, teachers and administration, not politicians. The number of dollars spent on public education would then be worthy of the education they would get.

Now, there is a heated issue that is whether money will influence the relationship. Some people hold the opinion that borrowing money from a friend or relative will not influence a good relationship. In my experience, borrowing money from a friend or relative can ruin a good relationship.

I think that borrowing more than three days worth or salary is essentially a business deal. In these types of situations, I agree with the opinion that borrowing money form a friend can damage the friendship.

First of all, asking a friend for money puts your friend in an uncomfortable position. It is very difficult for a friend to say “no”, even if his good business sense tells him to. I think most people will say “yes”, just to save face, but may develop a grudge against you for putting them in that uncomfortable position.

Second, I think borrowing money from a friend can alter his perception of you. He might receive you as reckless as or less responsible than he thought. I think most people would prefer to have a careful and responsible friend and you may no longer fit the bill.

Finally, if you borrow money from a friend, it changes the balance in the relationship. You are no longer equal to your friend. Now, you owe him a favor. He might expect you to treat him better or do more things for him in the future.

To be in brief, I think borrowing money from a friend can hurt friendship. It creates more problems than it solves. It is better to borrow money from a bank.

In many deals and negotiations, much time is spent on price. One side negotiating for the highest amount they can receive and the other negotiating just as hard to keep the number as small as possible. And while I won’t say this isn’t important, because it certainly is, often the actual dollar amount may not be the most important issue on the table, and sometimes even when it is the most important, there are other variables that are equally important or almost as important that can be major influences in the final outcome. We have all heard stories of the person who refuses to settle for a large amount of cash, because what the person really wants is for the other party or side to admit to wrongdoing and apologize. For a person such as this, the principle of the thing really is the most important, and money does not matter. There are other circumstances where issues other than money will make or break negotiations and in the end can be the factors in making better deals.

I have seen episodes of “Shark Tank” on television where the Sharks offered to purchase the name, or the entire business, and then license the idea out to other manufacturers and so forth, and besides the initial cash offering, provide a continual royalty to the seller for life on all profits the idea makes. Some people have accepted such an offer, and others have refused because they wanted to remain a part of the business they helped create. While selling everything and accepting a continual royalty very well might have made them rich, it was not enough. For some people, being a part of the businesses growth and daily activities was more important that just making money. These people were willing to walk away to find other resources and continue their dream, which was not necessarily money, but the pursuit of their creation.

At other times, things other than cash can turn out to be worth many more times that which is anticipated. Any one who has ever watched “I Love Lucy” reruns on television added to the net worth of Lucy and Desi, or their estate after they were gone. During the negotiations for the show, Lucy and Desi negotiated for the right to rebroadcast the shows at a future date. At the time reruns were virtually unknown, because who would want to see a TV show more than once? The rights seemed worthless to the network, so the readily agreed to that part of the deal. An issue that wasn’t money sure made Lucy and Desi a lot of it.

There are many things that can be negotiated other than money. That’s often what expanding the pie is all about. The creative negotiator will keep money in mind, but look for the other issues to negotiate the best deal possible.

Business relocation can be a costly procedure. Not only is there the actual cost of moving the business, but ancillary costs can escalate. Hiring and training new employees can be substantial. If necessary the business may lose days if not weeks of production. Data can be misplaced or lost causing customer service problems. Key employees may elect not to make the move further adding to the overall cost of relocation.

In these cases, many companies start looking for other sources of capital to assist with the relocation. Business relocation grant money may become a consideration for the informed business owner. For those who have already considered business relocation grant money, there are a number of ready options that can be resourced by the business that needs to relocate their operations. Following are a review of a few of these options. Look them over and see which ones may be applicable to your business relocation and it’s accompanying extraordinary costs.

There are several online organizations that appear to specialize in providing resources, information, and access to grants and loans for every conceivable need including, education, occupational, and small business assistance. Accurate information that you can use to help in your relocation requires viewing the information offered with a critical eye. After some investigation you’ll find that some of the small business grants service firms do not provide all the services they advertise. For those businesses that do find business relocation grant money, it may take some time to research different organizations to see if their reputation and credentials are legitimate. For those that prove to be sound in their practices, the next obstacle may be whether your business meets the requirements to receive grant money.

Although becoming more popular, these independent online organizations, still have not replaced the traditional sources like federal, state, non-profit and endowment funds, all which offer some provisions for issues like business relocation grant money. Most of these more traditional options will contain a mixture of public and private funding institutions. Federal and state grants, as well as those provided by non-profit groups are generally distributed on the basis of panel approval of the business seeking grant money to be used in its relocation efforts. These traditional options generally seek to govern how the money is used. Another consideration is that the funds are used consistent with the grant request and is appropriate to the other guidelines of the granting organization.

Economic development departments within various regional planning commissions, cities and state agencies also dispense grant relocation grant money and other financial assistance. In addition many states have programs which provide financial, tax and assistance to relocating corporations. The assistance provided, generally, attempts to benefit specific areas that it has been determined need additional economic development. The introduction of new businesses, it is planned, will often have a revitalizing effect on the local economy. For more information on specific areas you can contact the areas Department of Economic Development.

Are most women after money? Generally speaking, most women are not after men’s money, except for those women that are materialistic. How do you know if she is after your money and should you end the relationship if she is? How do financial issues affect the mature dating relationships?

You know your woman is only after your money if she always expects you to pick up the tab; which ordinarily would not be too bad, but if she wants you to pay for everything she buys and every time you are out, she begs you to buy things for her. She is especially after your money, if she is asking you to buy things for her, even when she knows you are not rolling in the dough. If you are rolling in the dough and she’s after you that could be a dead give away right there that she’s after your money.

In a mature dating relationship, financial matters should not be an issue that causes tension or hardship to either of you. In a mature dating relationship, the man usually pays for the dates in the beginning of the relationship and when the relationship moves forward, the woman sometimes begins to pay for some of the dates. However, until you are in a long-term committed dating relationship or engagement or marriage, you are not expected to pay for each other’s every materialistic desire.

If you find that your dating partner or girlfriend seems to be only after your money and not interested in pursuing a true mature dating relationship with you, then you need to seriously consider ending the relationship. If she is materialistic and is just using you for your money, then you will never have a mature dating relationship; unless, of course, she decides to change her ways and wants to be with you for who you are.

If you really like your girlfriend and want to try to keep the relationship going, you need to seriously consider the consequences of such a choice. Are you ready for the hard work that will be involved? You may even be wasting your time and efforts in trying to make this relationship work because if she does not want to change, then you will never be in a mature dating relationship.

You both need to work together in order to have a mature dating relationship and if you are not on the same page, then it won’t work. Anything is possible and it could work out between you two, but you have to weigh the possibilities and seriously take a look to see if this is something that is worth pursuing.

If you decide to end the relationship and are seeking to find a mature dating relationship with a perfect match, then think about the possibilities of working with a professional matchmaker who can help you in your search to find a love. You will have a professional on your side and you can increase your chances at success.