Tag Archives: personal finances

Who Says You Can’t Make a Snowball in the Spring?

Eliminating Debt

While the weather can be as predictable as the Powerball, one thing that you can always count on through the seasons is your ability to snowball anytime you want. However, before you start creating snowmen out of ice shavings, let’s first cover what a snowball is. Typically in financial terms, snowballing is an action in which you structure your debt payment to decrease the overall time and cost associated with any accounts payable you have.

Here’s how it works: To begin a snowball, you first need to know what debt(s) you have on the table. By creating a list of your known debts, and also checking your credit report for any unknown ones as well, you can ensure you have all your bases covered. Then, using that information, prioritize your debts by amount from smallest to largest. Once you have them organized you can begin to set-up or continue minimum payments across all installments.

For the next step, you’ll want to look through your current spending and earning to see if there are ways you can allocate additional funds each month to pay off your debt. Whether it’s an extra $50 or an extra $500, every penny matters!

These additional funds can then be assigned to the debt you indicated having the lowest amount. Each month you’ll have a little extra money to help pay off that expense even sooner. Once the balance reaches zero, the snowball officially begins! Now that you have eliminated one payment, you can utilize all the funds that were going towards that expenditure and push them towards the debt with the next lowest amount.

Continue to do this process until each unwanted debt is paid off. Debts such as your mortgage are a great thing to pay off early, but may not be necessary to include in your debt snowball. Our helpful mortgage lenders can always assist in restructuring your payments if you are truly passionate about eliminating all debt.

If you’re ready to get started, we have some great money savings tips to help you find those extra dollars!

  • Switch to a Discount Grocer: You could reduce your monthly grocery bill by up to half when you shop at a bulk or discount grocer instead of a brand-oriented chain.
  • Bring Your Coffee and Lunch: Both of these items could be costing you more than you think! The typical American lunch runs approximately $12.00 and an average latte could cost you $3.50 a day. By bringing both food and beverages from home you can drastically decrease your monthly expenditure for dining.
  • Take Advantage of Apps: New technology based tools like Mint, Honey, and RetailMeNot, offer continuous and unique ways to save and manage your personal finances. By taking advantage you can not only save on unexpected items but better visualize your budget through tracked spending categories.

At Heartland Bank we are excited to help you succeed on your journey toward financial success. If you’d like to set-up automatic payments, or monthly transfers, our Online Banking can help! Visit our website to get started today.

Best Part Time Jobs for Students

Student Savings

College is a time period in which you begin to choose your path in life. With decisions ranging from effort in class, extracurricular participation, and money management style, you will find yourself gaining more and more responsibilities each and every day. Continue to build your college experience with a part-time career to help you better manage your money, and support some fun on the weekends!

  1. Dental Receptionist: With one of the best hourly wages for college students, this part-time job will help you learn the basics of scheduling and time management while allowing you to maintain flexible hours throughout the school year.
  1. Library Assistant: On campus jobs are a great way to reduce transportation costs. Snagging a job at your university library can help you with your classes too! After being trained on all the offerings the library has available, you can have primary access to all the additional resources and study materials – not to mention great pay!
  1.    Restaurant Staff: Offering flexible hours, and potentially reduced food costs, this is a popular and reliable option for students. Especially useful for those looking to become restaurant managers or chefs, this employment can serve as a great stepping stone to future opportunities.
  1.    Tutor: Not only as a community service, but also as a career, this valuable job enables students to continue learning outside of their classes, and get paid doing so. By continually explaining processes and concepts to others, you can increase your knowledge on the subjects as well!
  1.    Bank Teller: Filled with customer interaction, number crunching, and accountability, this position will help teach you all about money management, and the responsibility of being accurate. Not only does this position offer a good wage and flexible hours, but it also boasts an added opportunity to network with impactful members of your community.
  1. Bartender: Favored by many students, a position at your favorite college bar can provide flexible hours, socialization, and nightly tips to add to your pay. Remember to choose a bar with high traffic flow, to ensure a steady source of tips, and an increased potential to move up the rankings.
  1. Fitness Instructor: Getting paid to workout, almost sounds too good to be true! For those select few who have fantastic charisma and a killer routine, this is the perfect employment for you! With many students and community members searching for exciting new workouts, most college campuses are searching for students to fill rotating fitness class roles. Pick and choose the classes you want to teach, and have some fun!
  1. Social Media Manager: Now that social media is practically a mandatory part of any business, the need to manage those accounts is climbing faster than ever. Put your online skills to use, and see which local businesses could use your help. This innovative career can be completed from your room, or the storefront, so working for multiple entities could be a great opportunity!

If you’re ready to start searching for your next job, try browsing your college careers page! With campus wide services, there are always opportunities to find employment. At Heartland Bank, we encourage students to learn about how to save and spend their money responsibly, using a monthly budget. If you’re curious on how to set one up for your personal finances, stop in today!

 

4 Ways New Homeowners Can Save on Their Taxes

Taxes

Becoming a homeowner is an exciting and trying time in your life. Once all the papers are signed, and the keys turned over, it all seems worth it. That is until a pipe bursts, lightning knocks out a tree, or your dog decides to burst through the screen door. Not all hope is lost however. In return for your endless work, and commitment to a never ending to-do list, the U.S. Government has provided four tax-based ways to reward you for your new home ownership. See how to take advantage of these four tax breaks, and make the most of your home purchase:

  • Early IRA Withdrawal: For many new homeowners, securing the initial down payment can be the first hurdle in their real estate journey. If you’re a first-time home buyer and have an IRA, or Roth IRA, the IRS will allow you to withdraw up to $10,000, penalty-free, to aide in the cost of your new dwelling!
  • Valuable Deductions: Between your mortgage interest, mortgage insurance, and real estate taxes, your home deductions could make a big dent in your taxable income. When preparing your taxes as a new homeowner, be sure to bring any mortgage documents, and escrow account information, to your tax professional to gain the full benefit of the deductions.
  • Renewable-Energy Tax Credit: Did you upgrade your home appliances to more efficient and environmentally-friendly options? Did you install a geothermal system in your home? If so, this helpful tax credit may be able to take a portion of that improvement cost out of your deductible income!
  • Tax-Free Profit on Sale: When you go to sell your home, the IRS allows you to avoid the capital gains tax on the profits you generate from the sale. This means that if your home’s value goes up $35,000 in the two or more years you live there, you are then able to retain the additional $35,000 your home is sold for without having to pay any taxes on those funds. One other major stipulation of this benefit is that in order to avoid the capital gains tax, you must purchase a new home as your primary residence within the next two years.

With these key homeowner tax breaks, the next thing to put on your to-do list is to make a plan for those tax refunds! If you have questions on how to best budget for your new home, don’t hesitate to stop in. We’d love to talk taxes, financing, or other improvement ideas you have for your home!

Low-Cost New Business Ideas

New Business

Creating a new business is an exciting journey filled with a constant flow of ups and downs. When deciding which industry to invest your time and money, consider these cost-effective options, courtesy of Heartland Bank:

Virtual Assistant: Needing a basic set-up of only a desk, computer, and phone, this affordable opportunity allows you to work from home, and establish your own hours. Start slow with one or two clients, and work your way up to a full-time schedule.

Medical Reporter: Quick typing skills and a high accuracy is all you need in this quick start-up. Speak with area hospitals and gain contracts for their on-location reporting. The higher your words per minute, the better!

Pet Groomer: Keeping dogs squeaky clean may sound like a lot of fun, but it can be tough work! With minimal startup costs, you can start your own service straight from home. By focusing your business on smaller dog breeds, you can minimize your cost, and maximize the number of clients you can maintain!

Freelance Writer or Photographer: Put your skills to use in this nomadic and highly flexible field. With an increasingly high amount of online publications, many magazines are searching for additional content and imagery to accompany them. Search the web for opportunities, and begin to build your digital content portfolio.

Event Planner: If arranging holiday parties and birthday celebrations sounds like fun to you, this could be your ideal career! Get started planning events for families and friends, and begin building your network of clients at each function. Once people start to see what you can do, you can begin to build your client list, and slowly fill your calendar with events and your pocketbook with revenue.

Wherever your passions take you, Heartland Bank will help you arrive safely! With our trusted business financing, we can help you and your budget stay on track. Stop by today to speak with one of our commercial lenders, and discover how to create your ideal cash flow.

The DO’s and DON’TS of Debit and Credit Cards

Payment Options

This week we are excited to dive into the Do’s and Don’ts of Credit and Debit cards! Offering two very similar, but uniquely different services for your financial needs, these cards can help you to reign in your finances and grow your credit score when used properly. Learn all about these tips and tricks courtesy of Heartland Bank.

Debit Card: A card issued by the bank, that is tied directly to a checking or savings account, which allows money to be electronically transferred from one bank account to another when making a purchase.

DO

  1. Use for daily transactions. It’s always great to have a paper trail reminding you of your purchases.
  2. Use for repeated expenses such as gas, groceries, and other costs you can plan for.
  3. Balance your check book. Sometimes charges such as gas or dining can take several days to run through so be sure to keep track of your spending by balancing your checkbook weekly.

DON’T

  1. Use your debit card online unless you absolutely have to. Having your credit card information stolen is one thing, having your bank information stolen is another.
  2. Spend more than you have in your account. Overdraft fees are no fun for anyone!
  3. Postdate transactions if funds are not readily available in your account.

Credit Card: A small plastic card that is offered by the bank or other financial institution, allowing the card owner to purchase goods and services on credit.

DO

  1. Use for online expenses through secured vendors. Many discounts may be offered online only and can save you and your family a bundle.
  2. Pay your bill in full each and every month. Make to avoid hefty interest rates and other timely fees by not extending your balance over the next month.
  3. Utilize points to help you earn while you spend. These points are great for supplementing costs of family trips or other extra activities.

DON’T

  1. Spend more than you have allocated for the month. Paying more for interest and other fees is money wasted.
  2. Open too many credit card accounts. Keep one or two cards that you use and payoff each month to help boost your score.
  3. Max out your balance, even if you pay if off each month this can potentially damage your credit score and serve as a red flag to potential lenders.

Get started on your finances today with a secure credit or debit card from Heartland Bank! We’ll help you understand the ups and downs of each and find the best solution for you and your needs.

3 Steps to a Successful Retirement

Retirement

A successful retirement plan involves extensive planning and lots of patience. Once accomplished however, you gain the benefit of watching your finances work for you! The average age of retirement is climbing. Currently averaging at age 62, reports speculate that the average retirement age may increase to 75 for recent graduates facing mountains of student debt. As in any successful game plan, the key is to have an effective and feasible strategy, here’s how to begin.

Start Saving Now

Even if it’s just a little at a time, saving 6% of your earnings annually can begin to set you up for a lofty retirement. Did you know if you save even 10% of your annual income you could save $1,555,000 and retire at age 70? (Based off of median salary of $45,478 and $35,051 in student loan debt.) Dig a little deeper and see what savings potential you have!

Hop on that 401k ASAP

Tucking away pre-tax money is like being asked if you want a puppy as a child, the answer is always yes! By using this valuable system you are able to put a percentage of your annual salary away without having to pay taxes on it that year. Generally employers may match a percentage of your contribution, so if you put 6% of a $45,000 salary ($2,700) into a 401(k), and your company contributes 3% additionally ($1,350), you would yield a yearly contribution of $4050 towards your retirement! Another perk of utilizing a 401(k) is the change in your taxable income. The amount that you invest in your 401(k) is deducted from your taxable income reducing the final amount you pay on your yearly income tax. (Example: $45,000 – $4050 = $40,950)

Grow a Diverse Portfolio

Ensuring your finances’ diversity is a large component to a successful retirement. The saying “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket,” is the epitome of investing. By creating an investment plan that entails stocks, bonds, equities and more you are able to gain the benefits and financial buffers that each individual product provides. Additionally this allows you optimize your savings, ensuring the gain and profit generated from each asset goes towards to your growing retirement fund.

Use these simple tips from Heartland Bank to help bolster your retirement nest egg! Stop in or give us a call at (515) 352-3181 to learn more today!