My current position November 19, 2008:

• .BABZ BA FEB 2009 40 Call - cost : $5.70
• CVI - cost : $3.60
• .KOBI KO FEB 2009 45 Call - cost : $4.20
• MECA - cost : $2.10

I bought all stocks and option hoping the price will go up.

Saving money is very important in your life. By saving money, you can have a better future for yourself and your children.

Here are some tips:

• Saving on Credit card. Having a credit card is very convenient since carrying a lot of cash becomes unneccesary. You should obtain your credit card records to have a better idea of your spendings. Be sure to pay on time and don’t spend more than you can afford. Consider cancelling your credit card if you are not using it frequently, because their annual fee might be high.
• Saving on gas. The price of gas is on the rise, but recently is has gone down. To save gas, you can exchange driving responsibilities with your friends. You can save 50% from this. Go to work by using bus, or maybe riding a bike. Your car should be on very good condition too. Check your engine and tire pressure. Having unequal pressure can greatly affect the car’s fuel economy.
• Save Money on Groceries. Before shopping create your shopping list and stick with it. Don’t buy branded goods, and buy cheaper product with the same quality. You can also shop once or twice a month. In that way, less time will be spent on going to a grocery store and at the same time, chances of overspending will be minimized.
• Save Money on Utilities. Identify which appliances consume much electricity and change them. You can save a lot. Maintain your heating system appliances because they are the ones that consume too much electricity. The refrigerator and the water heater consume that much energy as well.
• Saving Money on Medication. The most important thing is being fit and healthy. Prevention is the key. Reducing cigarette and alcohol consumption can save you a lot of money. If you are sick buy generic drugs. Generic drugs are basically the same as the branded ones in terms of ingredients and quality. Ask you doctors about the possible alternatives that you can take. Ask him if there is a generic drug that you can take. 

My last article talks about student loan, where you can find loan to pay your college. When you have this loan, you need to pay monthly payment. Loan can be very dangerous for you. So if there is a chance for consolidating your loan, go for it.

When interest rates is low like now, there is no reason for the graduates not to consider student loan consolidation. With student loan consolidation, students and graduates can save thousands of bucks in interest charges.

Student loan consolidation is the process or the act of combining multiple loans into a single loan in order to decrease the monthly payment amount or elevate the repayment period. By doing loan consolidation, you can save money. When you take a loan, you will be assigned with different variable interest rates. When interest rate is low, this is the change to lower your interest rate. By considering consolidation and remaining on your 10 years payment plan, it is possible that you can lock your interest at today’s current loan rates and save some bucks over the long haul. Aside from that, all of those loans may have come from different lending companies or banks. So, if you consolidate, it means that you only deal with one single company and one payment rather than several. 

By considering a loan consolidation, borrowers not only save money but can also help improve their credit score for the better over time. Credit score is very important factor when you want to have mortgage or taking other loan.

Saving is your best defense against bankruptcy. It insulates you from possible financial loss and gives you the ability to expand your finances and create a money-generating business machine that will help you earn extra. 

Here are ways on how you can effectively maximize your financial resources and helps you manage your money by developing correct habits and outlook suitable for your goal:

• Only buy products because you need them. Food, shelter, clothing and transportation are the primary examples. In a modern world, car and phone gadgets are a necessary part of a busy working individual. However, unless you are receiving more than $10,000 per month, you basically won’t need to have a $40,000 to $50,000 luxury vehicle. The same is true for your telephone media. Having your own cellular phone is necessary but keeping up with the latest model or buying the all the latest releases are not practical and earns you more points on plunging into a staggering financial downfall.
• Less Is best. Although we sometimes need to afford a little affluence in terms of the food we eat, the body pampering devices and accessories, such as clothes and body-relaxing services, we also need to consider that these types of activities should only be reserved for special occasions and for cases when you have some excess left in your household budget.
• Spend Less; Save More – Spending more than what you earn or produce is a bad habit that most people get used to doing everyday. Allocate a special percentage of your earnings to go into your savings accounts while spending the rest for your day-to-day expenses.

Emergency funds are considered to be a necessity as far as financial security is concerned, since it can provide one with financial resources that one can resort to and depend on when an emergency arises such that when one is sick and have the burden of paying huge medical bills, or unexpected home or major car repair.

When one has no emergency fund, one can be obliged to acquire debt on your credit card that might take several years to repay with interest that would later cost so much more.

However by putting an extra thirty to fifty dollars every month in an individual “emergency savings account” one can be secured with what emergency the future may bring. In doing this, it is recommended that one regards the emergency fund as an additional bill, to be punctually paid each month. The emergency savings should ideally be equal to at least three months your living expenditures.

Budgeting is putting or setting aside money for anticipated and unanticipated future use.  It is here that one sets up a goal so as to save.  So set an emergency fund as your goal. Checking, savings, money market accounts and “certificates of deposits”, are great places to keep one’s cash that might be needed on quick notice.

The amount saved from budgeting can either go to your savings goal, emergency fund or both.  One could utilize the money saved from budgeting financial expenses by saving half of it to your savings account and half of it for emergencies. This way, you achieve your goals in savings and at the same time put in funds for emergency use.  It’s your choice.

Budgeting your monthly expenses in order to get the greatest return on your income doesn’t have to be extremely hard. You just need to know the right tool. Here are some tools to help you:

• Various budgeting programs are available for use. Money management programs provide you with a usual package that allows you to enter your cash inflows and outflows, categorizes your expenditures, and at times, presents to you analysis of your spending behavior.
• Another budgeting tool that you can utilize are coupons. Various stores and magazines contain coupons that you can use to get discounts on various products. Should there be a need to purchase a particular product for which you have a coupon for, you will end up saving a fraction of what you might have had to spend on a regular purchase.
• Lists—whether on a piece of paper, on your cellular phone, or on your personal digital assistant (PDA) will help you keep focused on what you have to buy, and in effect, keep track of the purchases you make. A classic example is your regular grocery trip. Prior to making the trip, plan out the week’s entire menu and identify what food items and materials you need to purchase that are unavailable in your pantry.
• A filing system where you can put together your bills, your receipts, and whatever bank documents are issued to you when you save or pay. By putting together your bills, your credit card receipts, and the like, you are able to keep track of how much you owe and when your payments are due.

Timothy Sykes turned $12,000 into $2 million in four years, lost 1/3 of it, starred in the hit TV show Wall Street Warriors and is now committed to teaching everyone, finance freaks and normal people alike, to profit from the world’s trashiest stocks, penny stocks through his publishing company BullShip Press, LLC (seriously). This is part of the stock market that is filled with hype, manipulation and corruption and once you learn how to identify all the players and the games they play, which surprisingly isn’t very difficult, you can make some serious money with little risk.

The key is learning discipline and not getting too cocky from all the money you make! (seriously) This ain’t no get-rich-scheme, it’s the first brutally honest blog (www.TimothySykes.com), book (An American Hedge Fund), instructional DVD (PennyStocking) and subscription service (TIM ALERTS) focused on teaching the risks AND rewards of stock trading, broken down to the basics and integrated with a blog so our customers can interact and ask any questions whatsoever. Totally open. No more financial BS. No more sketchy schemes. No more overpriced crap. This is stock trading, specifically penny stock trading (ideal for people with just a few thousand dollars) going mainstream. Affiliates will earn 25% commissions on all products, meaning $75 per PennyStocking DVD package sold ($300 retail), $12.50 per month per TIM ALERTS subscription ($50 monthly retail) or $123.75 per TIMalerts annual subscription ($495 retail).

No joke, Timothy has learned from the boiler rooms themselves to give out big commissions to salespeople - except that these products are quality, not fraudulent! Think of the BullShip Press brand as a financial Girls Gone Wild, instead of profiting from young trashy girls, investors, traders, non-finance people and affiliates alike will profit from low priced trashy stocks! Read some blog posts (any blog posts) to see that this is all real and it’s gonna get everyone loving this greatly unloved and misunderstood financial sector.

There’s nothing more we want than to be able to efficiently manage our money. After all, the money that we want to manage is money that is oftentimes, hard earned. This is where a budget comes in. A budget executed properly, should help you see where your money is going, get more utility out of every buck, and help you save some extra for future use. Here are smart ways about budgeting:

1. Set a goal. What do you want to achieve? By having a goal, you will be able to shape your budget to best serve your interests.
2. Take note of where your money usually goes. This includes bills, major but regular purchases (like grocery costs, healthcare costs, and the like), and everyday miscellaneous purchases. Only when you list down where you know your money usually goes will you be able to identify which expenses you can do without. Once you’ve identified these regular expenditures, take into consideration what you can cut back on. You will be surprised at how much you’re saving out of your older budget.
3. Being indebted is a vicious cycle on its own.The best way to deal with this is to pay the minimum on all of your debts in order to avoid paying extraneous late fees. Whatever cash excesses you may have, you can opt to add on to the payments you make in your biggest debt. This way, you are concentrated on getting the biggest debts first that cost you the greatest interest rates. Doing this progressively, you’ll be amazed at how much you’ll get off your huge debts.
4. Calculate the amount you earn the sum you spend. You can make use of computer cash management programs, or make database sheets of your own. Make a system that works for you and will help you keep track of your monthly budgeting progress.

A lot of teens nowadays do not understand the value of earning and spending money. They were not oriented that investing is necessary even if they are still students. As parents, you play a crucial role in this area. It’s your responsibility to show them the right path. You should be able to teach your kids on how to save money. They should be able to understand the concept of money and investment as early as childhood. This will prepare them to learn money management, as they grow old.

Here are some tips on how you can teach your children how to save money:

1. Your children should be educated of the meaning of money. Once your children have learned how to count, that is the perfect time for you teach them the real meaning of money. You should be consistent and explain to them in simple ways and do this frequently so that they may be able to remember what you taught them.
2. Always explain to them the value of saving money. Make them understand its importance and how it will impact their life. It is important that you entertain questions from them about money and you should be able to answer them right away.
3. You need to give them their allowances in denominations. Then you can encourage them that they should keep a certain bill for the future. You can motivate them to do this by telling them that the money can be saved and they can buy new pair of shoes or the toys they want once they are able to save.
4. You can also teach them to work for money. You can start this at your own home. You can pay them fifty cents to one dollar every time they clean their rooms, do the dishes or feed their pets. This concept of earning little money will make them think that money is something they have worked for and should be spent wisely.
5. You can teach them to save money by giving them piggy banks where they can put coins and wait until they get full. You can also open bank accounts for them and let them deposit money from their allowance. You should always show them how much they have earned to keep them motivated.

One of the most important is out life is education. With education, we hope to have a better salary, better life. Education is just like a major investment. You invest time and money, hoping that you will gain in the future. But some of us may not have the money to have education. Thanks to some schools and institutions out there that financing your education through loan can now be made. There are some lending companies or persons you know who will support you where you can borrow even just the minimum amount necessary to fulfill your education aims.

Before you take a loan, you need to prepare yourself.  First you need to understand the terms and conditions of the loans. This will help you get out from any problem during the repayment period. Things you should know before you take a loan:

1. How much should you borrow? This is the most crucial question.  Usually, the amount will greatly depend on the cost of attendance as established by your school, loan limits established by the federal government and other student loan lenders, your savings accounts, and the debt you can afford to repay once you leave school.
2. From where will you get money to pay the loan? If you need to work,  you need to know how much you will your future income.  You can perform some research on the current job market and start salaries in the area you plan to pursue.
3. Are there eligibility requirements for the loan?
4. How to apply for loan and what applications are needed?
5. Will my parents be expected to provide any of their financial information or contribute to the cost of my education?
6. Is there any move that I can take to lessen the amount I have to borrow, yet still attend the school of my choice?

To answer those questions, you can find help with the financial aid administrators at the schools you are considering.  There are also some consult publications from funding organizations out there where you can seek for answers.  You can also find information in the internet, like what you are looking right now. Other information is also valuable, like the importance of good credit, how to manage your student loans while in school, and even repaying your student loans.  There are also some interactive calculators online these days to help you plan your in-school and out-school budgets.  These calculators are even useful when it comes to projecting the cost of your student loans.

Student loans can be a valuable investment, but they are also an important obligation that needs to be considered.  In order for you to ensure a successful student loan repayment, you must make sure that you approach borrowing carefully and thoughtfully.