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Most people in our society today only loosely follow a budget and don’t save enough. The consequence is excessive borrowing to cover every unexpected occurrence and whim. By saving enough money to cover the unexpected and to pay for larger, planned expenses, you greatly improve your odds of living within a budget. When you successfully live on a budget, with it comes a sense of pride, accomplishment and control.

It’s important to focus on the positive aspects of saving money and living on a budget when you make this a serious goal. If you haven’t been very good at saving and budgeting up to this point, you will likely have some fear and loathing about finally becoming financially responsible. Most of this is fear of the unknown. The rest of the fear comes from the spender in you that thinks somehow you’ll have less money to spend once you start sticking to a budget. The reality is when you start saving money and living on a budget, you will have less money to spend, at first. But, as you build the habit of saving for purchases instead of using credit, and you reduce your debts, compound interest will start working for you rather than against you. Within a few short years you can find yourself happily saving, doing more and spending more than you could when credit cards and flying by the seat of your pants is how you ran your finances.

Most people don’t like the sound of having to be strict with their money. The word ‘budget’ carries a negative connotation for them. Most people also tend to be broke. You don’t have to follow the crowd over the cliff that leads to bankruptcy and despair. Make compound interest work for you (stop using your credit cards), save money and live – better than you ever have before – on a budget.

For any loan officer that is looking for mortgage leads in today’s market, let me first start by saying congratulations to you.

They say that only the strong survive. So if you are still originating loans in this day and age, it says a lot about your ability, your experience, your salesmanship, and your determination.

When it comes to mortgage leads, you want to make sure that you are getting a good quality lead. A mortgage lead that provides you with current and accurate information. A lead with these standards coupled with your experience highly increases your chances of closing a deal.

So how do you find mortgage leads like this you may ask. Well, for starters, you need to take your time and do your homework. You need to research the lead companies you are considering.

Here are some very important if not crucial things to consider when researching mortgage lead companies. To begin with, call the mortgage lead company. Make sure there is someone there for you to speak with.

Why is this important?

In the event that you may need a refund for one of your mortgage leads. You will definitely want someone to speak with should the need arise, and most likely it will.

Secondly, make sure the mortgage lead company you are considering generates their own mortgage leads. You want to be absolutely sure that they generate their mortgage leads from lead generation web sites that they own and operate. Steer clear of the mortgage lead companies that do not.

Look for low minimum deposit requirements or some free leads to give the company a test run. This says a lot about the confidence the company has in their mortgage leads. Also, this is a way you can feel out a mortgage lead company with very little commitment on your part. Stay away of the lead companies that require large minimum deposits.

Keep in mind, over the last couple of years, a lot of loan officers as well as mortgage lead companies have dropped out of the industry or have gone out of business. So, the competition has dwindled.

But like I said in the 2nd paragraph of this article, only the strong survive. So chances are, the majority of mortgage lead companies that have survived the mortgage crisis have done so because of their ability to produce a good quality mortgage lead. There really is no other reason as to why they are still up and running. But please, please, please, take your time and do your research any way.

If you are struggling with your mortgage, you can start to regain control by writing a monthly budget. This is an invaluable tool in helping you to understand how you are spending your money, how much money you owe and who you owe it to. Whilst this can be unnerving, it will help for when you approach any third parties for help and advice. As well as collating your monthly outgoings, you should also consider if there are any other ways that you could improve your situation. For example:

o Could you get a lower mortgage payment -perhaps by extending the term, taking a payment holiday or negotiating a lower rate?
o Are you entitled to benefits that you aren’t currently claiming?
o Do you have Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance that you could claim on?

As well as any mortgage arrears, you should also establish if you are behind on any other loans, particularly those secured against your home. Once you have a clear idea about your debts and outgoings, you may find it helpful to seek independent mortgage advice from the following organisations:

o The Citizen’s Advice Bureau offers legal, financial and benefit advice, free of charge to everyone. There are bureaus in most towns and every London borough.
o Shelter is a national charity that helps people facing housing difficulties. Their advice is free, as is their advice line.
o The National Debt helpline also offers free advice if you are worried about your debts.

You may also find it useful to talk directly to your mortgage lender. Many people are intimidated by this prospect and presume that any mention of difficulty will make the problem worse. In fact, lenders are generally sympathetic, and committed to helping homeowners. Please also be reassured that there are protections in place and protocols that banks are obliged to follow. Even if you are already in mortgage arrears, repossession is always a last resort.

Whilst you are in discussions with your lender, you should still try and make a payment on time every month if possible, even if it is not for the full amount. This shows that you are making every effort to meet your commitments. Depending on your situation, there are also a number of specific mortgage support schemes that might be available to you. Some of these include:

Homeowners Mortgage Scheme

If your family income has dropped due to redundancy or a reduction in hours, you may qualify for the Homeowners Mortgage Scheme. This scheme allows you to defer some of the interest on your mortgage for up to two years.

Support for Mortgage Interest

If you are a home-owner who is claiming certain kinds of benefits, you may be eligible for assistance in paying the interest on your mortgage for up to two years. Your local job centre can advise you further.

Mortgage Rescue Scheme

The Mortgage Rescue Scheme is an England-only government scheme, run by your local housing authority (if you live outside England, speak to you local council about equivalent schemes). Those who are eligible could get financial help to stay in their house, either by selling it to the local authority and renting it back, or by receiving a low-interest loan to pay off some of their mortgage. For more information and eligibility criteria, please speak to your local council.

Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) refers to the average number of days that a company takes to collect payment on an invoice after a sale. Why is this number important to small and mid-sized businesses?

Because a low DSO number means that it takes a company fewer days to collect its accounts receivable, while a high DSO number shows that a company is selling its product or services to customers on credit – essentially a free loan – and taking longer to collect money.

On average, it takes companies over 60 days to get paid for these goods and services. This means that their working capital is tied up in outstanding invoices for months when they may really need the funds now, whether it will be to add new resources, get a discount on raw materials or take advantage of growth opportunities that arise.

Through an innovative finance solution, small and mid-sized firms can quickly access the funds they need and significantly reduce their DSO at the same time – without taking on additional debt.

This working capital finance solution is a type of invoice financing. Using an online auction marketplace, small and mid-sized companies can post their commercial accounts receivable and sell to the highest bidder.

The seller sets all the terms, the minimum advance amount they want, maximum discount fee they are willing to pay and the length of the auction. Registered and approved, accredited institutional investors from around the world have access to these auctions 24/7 and can bid in real-time on the invoices that meet their investment criteria.

A seller can choose an auction length between 3 and 10 days. In some cases, small and mid-sized companies can access much-needed working capital in as little as 24 hours, if they set a “Buyout Price”. Similar to eBay’s “Buy It Now”, if selected by a Buyer, the auction would close immediately, regardless of the auction length.

Once the auction closes, the advance amount minus a small transaction fee is electronically deposited to the seller the next day. This means businesses can expedite improvements and take advantage of growth opportunities when and how they choose.

For small and mid-sized businesses, one of the largest assets is its accounts receivable. Typically about 60% of potential funds is tied up in outstanding invoices. When the average DSO is 60+ days, that is a long time to wait for finances that a business can use for sustainable long-term growth.

In today’s economy where unemployment is up and bank lending is down, small to mid-sized business owners are seeing this average grow even more as their debtors request extensions on payment. Tapping into outstanding accounts receivable for much-needed funds by using this efficient online working capital finance solution means they can use their outstanding invoices to significantly reduce their DSO.

In this online receivables marketplace, the seller chooses how many and which invoices to sell depending on what his financial need is at the time. With each invoice that is listed in auction and sold, his average DSO drastically decreases. Growth potential for a small and mid-sized business relies on ingenuity, but very little can be accomplished without quick access to funds.

When an opportunity arises, small and mid-sized businesses need to act fast. This innovative type of invoice financing gives them the freedom and flexibility to do just that. A falling DSO means greater fluidity of working capital, better overall financial performance and greater growth potential for small and mid-sized businesses.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act contains detailed instructions and guiding laws that regulate credit activities. The original credit reporting act was created in 1970 but over the years there arose the need to revisit the act in order to provide proper protection for consumers. This was done in 2003 and a new version, The Fair Accurate Credit Transactions Act was created allowing consumers to have a say in what goes on in their credit file.

Provisions have been made within the new act for improved resolution of customer complaints, annual access to free credit reports, security and access to see credit scores and factors used to calculate those scores.

Improvement in terms of security allows consumers to place fraud alerts on their credit files with the bureaus. Fraud alerts allows for extra security steps before an account is opened therefore making it harder for identity thieves to open fraudulent accounts.

Provision has also been made under the Fair Accurate Credit Transaction Act to allow customers access to free credit reports from any of the credit bureaus via phone calls, email or from the website annualcreditreport.com.

Because most creditors do not properly verify accounts before placing it with the bureaus, customers can now directly dispute an account on their credit report. This was not available in the previous act. Customers can also ask for an investigation to be carried out against an item in their report and depending on the results the negative item can be deleted from your report by the bureaus.