Joe finally got financing on his house after searching for days for anyone who would offer him financing. His solution: stated income loans. “This was crazy, I was making 75K a month and nobody was willing to give me a home loan. I have almost an 800 credit score and decent reserves and they still refused!” Joe finally found one bank that could finally meet his criteria.  This bank required excellent credit, $100,000 in deposit with the bank, and a down payment of 60% of the purchase price.   Many Americans find themselves in the same predicament as Joe, they may have a sudden source of income, but their wealth has not been demonstrated with two years worth of tax returns to show income proof to the lenders. Therefore, those who are able to afford luxurious homes are having difficulty purchasing homes due to new bank regulations placed after the recent mortgage meltdown.  For the newly minted rich, their only alternative may be stated incomes, but these kind of loans are getting more and more difficult to find.  Another option if all else fails,  may be private money, where you pay outrageous rates (from 9-12%), but sometimes it may be the only other alternative for those have run out of resources.
Luckily Joe was able to finance his house with a stated income but he almost missed the opportunity. “I was lucky, you need to do a lot of searching to find the right lender. My advice is to not give up, there are still lenders offering great loans, but with strict restrictions.” Joe welcomes anyone to contact him if they believe they are a great candidate for a stated income. He hopes he can guide you to the right path and not make the same mistakes he did. Contact him at joeradan [at] gmail dot com.

Because although money really doesn’t buy happiness and some of the best things in life are free, there is a catch to this: money is a means to that end you’re seeking — a vehicle for putting you in a better position to lead that more pleasurable life you’re after.

The hard reality is that if you’re under constant financial pressure, it’s hard to enjoy the beautiful, free things life has to offer. You might not be someone who can be considered poor; you might not-be on the verge of starvation and may in fact be in the category of the well-off; and yet, you may still also be struggling for financial survival —on your own level. For example, a laborer out of work may be spending a sleepless night worrying about where he could borrow a few dollars to feed his family, while a businessman whose business has gone sour may also be losing sleep pondering where he could loan a couple of millions to keep his company from closing shop. If, like these people, your mind is cluttered with thoughts of financial insecurity, unpaid bills, long-overdue debts, threats of litigation for these I.O.U.s and lack of income and achievement, you wouldn’t even notice those freebies that are out there. In Today’s tension-filled world, it’s impractical for the average person to maintain hopes for happiness without first achieving some degree of financial success.

So, what then can money buy? Perhaps, the most important thing it can buy is freedom.

That’s right — freedom. Not total of course, since this is impossible so long as governments exist. But even so, you can enjoy more freedom with money than without it. Just having peace of mind is already a great liberation in itself — being free to think pleasant thoughts instead of mentally hassling over financial problems.

Achieving financial success is therefore necessary to enable you to do what you want to do in life, to give you the freedom to concentrate on your search for happiness, to act out of your choice instead of chance or the choice of others. Only you can be the judge of how much financial success it will take to obtain the freedom you desire: for one person, this might mean making two hundred fifty thousand dollars a year; for another, it could mean being no less than a millionaire. Whatever the case you can now see why all of us are obliged to join in the pursuit of financial success: but it doesn’t mean that the effort to achieve it should make your life a living hell in the process.

The one thing you must guard against from the outset is setting yourself up for a big disillusionment. People who don’t have money but dream about the day when they’ll hit it big all too often are expecting something from financial success that it can’t bring them — it’s like the person who makes the mistake of expecting more from people than they are able to give. Instead of the fantasyland you envision, the only thing you’ll find when you finally get there will just be the real world all over again — only, on a higher financial level.

Yes, making money does matter; in fact it’s great, because it rids you of many burdens which can sap your limited supply of time and energy, thus freeing you to concentrate on the pleasantries of life. But if you lose sight of the reality that money only represents a means to an end — an aid to your search for happiness — you’ll probably never really be free to enjoy life. It becomes a vicious cycle. You seek more and more success, without stopping to figure out what you’re actually after.

 During lunch, they discussed their current financial status. Some of his friends were well off. Others were struggling. He was somewhere in between but was in danger of being broke most of the time. They exchanged a lot of ideas on how to save money. Here are some of those tips that came out. Some of these tips apply only to car owners, home owners and parents.

 1. When purchasing gasoline, go to the gas station very late at night or anytime early morning (up to 5:30 a.m.). Gasoline expands when the weather is hot and contracts when the day cools off. People who gas up during hot hours of the day end up with less gasoline in their cars by nighttime.

 2. Have your vehicle tuned up (change in spark plugs, contact point, condenser and idling adjustment every 5,000 km or six months). This reduces engine stress and allows your car to consume gasoline efficiently.

 3. A complete change in oil, along with radiator flushing every six months, or 5,000 km traveled, is another way of saving up on gasoline expense.

 4. Tire pressure should be maintained at an optimal level. Deflated tires account for a 20 percent rate in fuel wastage.

 5. Plan your trips. Avoid rush hour errands unless absolutely necessary.

 6. Car Pooling is always an intelligent option.

 7. Use your car less by taking public transportation.

 8. Housewives and those handling the family budget are advised to open a savings or ATM account and enroll their utilities and other monthly bills there. This saves one from wasting time queuing, especially during peak days. Banks that offer Phone Banking and internet banking are worth the minimum balance requirements placed on them.

 9.  If you are a smoker, stop. With government agencies losing money in a bad economy, the first place they look to raise your taxes are cigarettes.

 10. Bring your own food to work.

 11. Buy in bulk.  

 12. Shop for discounts and don’t forget to use coupons when you go grocery shopping.  If you are shopping online, look for coupon code sites that will help you get some of your money back.

 13. Some internet service providers (ISP) offer unlimited hours for a fixed fee. Some would only charge you for $20 a month for unlimited number of hours. This saves you a lot of money if you are a heavy user.

 14. Use internet based services to send SMS/Text messages. You can send literally hundreds of messages for free by using Yahoo, ICQ, and other sites offering this service. You may only use my cell credits for calls and emergencies.

 15. Recycle old newspapers, scratch paper, cans and cartons. You can still make money from them.

 •           To determine how much you can afford, you need to look at three elements: How much funds you have for a downpayment, your loanable amount or how much the bank will lend you; and the monthly amortization or what amount of loan payment your monthly income can sustain.

 •           The next step is to determine the selling price. This is the purchase cost of the property you intend to acquire. This is the amount that is paid to the seller and does not include other acquisition costs; specifically those related to any mortgage loan that the buyer assumes to be able to purchase the property.

 •           Know how much downpayment is required and find out if this is within your budget. The downpayment is the difference between a property’s selling price and the amount of the mortgage loan you can get from a bank. If you are a first-time buyer, your savings will give you a good indication of how much you can use as a downpayment. If you are planning to upgrade your residence, you can add to your savings the estimated gain from the sale of your existing property.

 •           Know how much the bank will lend you. This is your loanable amount and will depend on your income and the appraised value of your mortgaged property called collateral. Your capacity to pay is computed on your current gross annual household income while the loanable amount of a property is a percentage of the property’s appraised value. The loanable portion of a property also depends on the type of property (house and lot, condominium, or vacant lot). For example, the loanable portion of a house and lot is 80% of an appraised value less than $30,000.00.

 •           Can you afford the monthly amortization? The monthly amortization depends on three things: Loan amount, which is determined by your income and value of collateral; the loan interest rate or the rate applied to your loan at the time of loan release; and loan term which is the number of years you will pay for the loan.

 •           When availing yourself of a housing loan facility, look for special features that will make it possible for you to calculate how much you will be paying over the next couple of years. With the unpredictable market situation, getting a loan that offers a fixed interest for a certain period of time will not only help you plan your finances more accurately, but will also provide you with stability, against rising market rates.

Somewhere between the shopkeeper’s first lie and his final price, she gets to ask him where she can find the tastiest moussaka in town, and he gets to announce with fatherly pride that his bright son last week got straight As at medical school. Sometimes, too, she “gossip” about how in her country some merchants sell beautiful antiques made last night.

In Jogjakarta, she once got so fascinated by a vendor’s interestingly-spaced teeth (which were either goldcapped or rotten) that she asked her guide to say things to make him laugh; she wanted to capture the laughter on film. Shooting almost made her forget about her bargaining, and before she could resume on haggling the vendor gave her the item—a hand-carved comb made of buffalo horn—at her price. She discovered later on that no other store would give the item away at that price. What do you think did it? (If she didn’t get the comb she would have been just as grateful; imagine having a picture of that laughter!) It was because the vendor enjoyed the experience as well.

World-class bargainers have to be actresses, gamblers and mind readers all rolled into one. You can be one yourself. Start sharpening your bargaining skills right here, at home, so when you suddenly find yourself in other lands you’ll know how to play a cash-ual tug-of-war with the toughest flea-market veteran.

Here are a couple of tips on how to be a world-class bargainer:

•            Especially when abroad, be sure you have the time—and the stomach—for shopping. Good social skills are part and parcel of bargaining, particularly in countries observing traditional hospitality gestures. For example, all over Egypt, a customer is served shai, a rather strong local tea, whether she’s in the market for antiques or for trinkets. And no reason is valid for refusing a glass, when offered. If you don’t take tea they’ll offer you Turkish coffee, cola, fruit juice, even water, and you must take one because they’ll be hurt if you, a guest, won’t take anything while in their premises. It’s simply their custom and this does not oblige you to buy or refrain from haggling.

• Never take either bargaining or item seriously. Any kind of attachment is bondage, and if you must enjoy your haggling (or life, for that matter) you must be free! It’s pointless to shed tears over that Ming vase you could have had—there’s a lovely Persian rug waiting for your elsewhere.