Site Review Blog

Money501 is a blog all about  money matters and Personal Finance and is another blog from the 501 Network.  If you have been following our recent reviews you probably have a reasonable idea as to the sort and quality of the info on this site.  This particular site is the latest and at the time of writing only has 4 articles posted.

As there is only 4, I’ll make a quick comment on each of them in turn. Tax Free Retirement - well this is something that we all aspire to! The article covers how your current savings, if done correctly can have huge tax advantages. Info is good, but a little brief. The next one, keeping track of your finances was not what I expected.  I was expecting something about creating a budget and sticking to it.  Everyone knows how hard this and that it really is a waste of time. How many people actually stick to a budget? Now, what the article was about was keeping track of your spending, so you can identify where you might be able to change your habits a little and have more money for other things. This particular strategey sounds like it is much better than creating a budget and not sticking to it.

With a title of Benefits of using Credit Cards I didn’t hold much hope for the next one.  From personal experience, credit cards have kept me in debt for way too long!  I read it with an open mind, and by the end, I must admit that the info was worthwhile. As long as you control the card and don’t let it control you I can see how useful it may be for some people.

The final post is all about income and quality of life.  It is quite good at explaining that you may not need $80K to live very well on - you might be able to get away with earning $30Kand actually be better off! While I would prefer to be earning the former, and not the latter, you do get a good explanation - read it and decide for yourself.

I look forward to seeing more info on this site as it is off to a good start.  As always, when dealing with finances it is always best to read everything and seek professioanl advice.

Visit www.money501.com

The Colorado home helper is a Regional Real Estate portal site that puts buyers and sellers in the Colorado area in touch with each other.  If you are in the market for a home and have started the whole pouring over the newspaper thing and attended a few house viewings you already know a bit of what you are in for!  Yes, the Realator is trying to sell the house as soon as possible so he (or she) can collect their commission and then on with the next sale.  While Web portals for Real estate have been around for a while, they are normally set up for a particular Company.  They are always focussed on selling houses and not much else.

If you are looking for Colorado Homes for sale then starting online is a good option.  By starting with their featured listings you can get an idea as to what is on offer.  The website provides a nice clean interface that will help both Sellers and buyers in the marketplace get what they want.  They even provide info on complimentary services such as finance and other Service Providers.

They have made it easy to browse the properties in several areas and we randomly selected Broomfield Real Estate from the list.  They provide a bit of general information on the area, and then a link to the Listings.  I can tell you, there was a lot of listings!  The search options provided are everything that you would expect - allowing you to sort by price, type and size.  The best part about the search results was the fact that you could see who the agent was for each property.  Now, if you were doing the same search on a site of just one agent, your choices would be much, much smaller!

Visit www.coloradohomehelper.com

Most of us who live in a developed country at some time during our live takes out a loan and goes into debt.  Some people seem to manage it without problems, but the majority have a lot of trouble managing. The Debt Consolidation blog has been going for over a year and has a heap of posts on this subject.  The best place to get financial advice is from an Accountant or Financial planner.  Yes, I have used both of these sort of services! The blog has a lot of general information in it that is reasonably well aligned to the sort of advice you would get from a professional.

Some advice I recently had was to use the equity in my home to borrow enough money to pay off the high-interest credit card debt that I have. The principals are sort of explained in the debt consolidation in a nutshell post.  While it was not exactly what my circumstances are, the overall approach was what my financial advisor reccommended.  So, on the face of it, I found some advice that was closly aligned to what I had been advised.

In this day and age where it seems just so easy to be able to borrow money, getting into debt and getting into trouble financially has never been easier!  Now, we all know the basic way to stay debt-free is to not spend beyond our means, but at times it can get away from you.  Even if you currently don’t have any debt or loans this blog is a reasonable read.  Education is a powerful thing, and knowing about how easy it is to get into debt and spend the rest of your life struggling just might help you make a wise purchasing decision and stay relatively debt-free. 

One of the recent posts about staying out of debt really does highlight the lifestyle choices you have by making smart choices.  By not going into debt that you cannot manage to repay at a young age may mean huge differences for the rest of your life!  If you consider that you don’t need a brand new car while at college and an older one will do - it may not be cool or trendy, but is it worth being cool if you are paying soo much for your car that you have to take out a student loan?  See how easy it is to get into trouble!

Visit  debt-consolidation.strategy-blogs.com

The one key concept of a market based economy is that everyone is out to make a profit.  If you run a business of any size you would already understand the concepts that you offer either goods or a service for less than it costs you. Now, how you actually go about doing this can be a bit of a mystery if you are just staring out in the world of business or even if you are considering starting a business. Profit501 is a website that gives some relavent and general info to help turn your venture into a profitable one.

Getting your business started and making sure that you are running at a profit is not as easy as it sounds.  The article on setting a reasonable fee really does highlight this very well.  By looking at how someone else has failed, you really stand a better chance of success.  Another article really sums up what a business is all about - and that is exploiting price differences.  This article was the only one on the site that was quite short - I was loking for more from it!

Profit501 is part of the 501 network of sites, some of which we have already reviewed over the last few weeks.  The sites are all fairly closely related, but target a different niche.  This one is aimed at running a business and from the current articles looks quite good.

Visit www.profit501.com

Every time that I decide to move house the first thing I do is to go and find out how much I can borrow and how much my current home is worth.  It is always frustrating trying to work out what the best deal is for your loan.  Getting a valuation is the easy step, but finding somewhere to get a mortgage can be quite difficult and time-consuming.  This is where a mortgage broker can help you.

By identifying how much you can borrow it makes the whole process easy.  I just wish that before I got a home loan that I had done more research on the matter and better understood the types of loans such as fixed and variable interest loans.  I have spent a bit of time looking over the home loan articles and from my experience they offer some good practical information that will help you get your own loan sorted out.

The website is well laid out and has a lot of useful articles, up-to-date interest rate information and calculators.  What I liked most was the State and city directory of Mortgage Brokers.  You can browse the Directory by state and then City to find someone close to you.  If you prefer not to do all the hard work, you can use their online form - simply fill it in and they will put you in touch with potential lenders.

Visit www.personalhomeloanmortgages.com

There comes a time in our lives when we realise that we are no longer waiting for the next pay-cheque so we can pay the bills.  We have made some savings and want to them try and see if we can invest these savings for the maximum return.  Most people start with the safety and security of cash in a bank, but the rewards can be less than satisfying.  Here is where people who are willing to look at alternatives can make considerably more than the Interst that a bank is willing to pay. The Stock investing Blog was started back at the beginning of 2004, and is an interesting read.  It follows a little bit of the writers investments and strategies over the last (almost) 3 years.

Investing in the stock market is not without risk, and before anyone leaps in, they should very carefully research the market.  Along with the risks associated, there can be spectacular profits and Losses.  This is where research, experience and professional advice comes into play.  If you are considering investing in the stock market, the best advice you can get it to not rush in without considering that you could potentially lose every single penny you invest.  If you cannot risk your capital, then the Bank may be a better option for you.

With 3 years of information, the Blog is a good read for anyone considering venturing into the Stock market.  You can read on both the success and failures of somoeone else which you could use to assist your own learning.  Never take any information as investment advice from anyone who is not registered to give such advice.

What I liked about this blog is that some of what I get out of it is stuff I have already learnt for myself.  It is much safer to not put all of your investments into the 1 or even similar things.  Diversification is the key to minimising risks in 1 area.  Over the 3 years of the blog the author has also talked a little about his own diversification in the real estate investing blog category.  While it only gives a glimpse, it shows how that diversifying can be rewarding, as it is fairly usual when 1 part of the market is depressed, another part is running hot.  Investing can be a lot of fun or serious business, but doing it gives you a great control over your future.

Visit www.stock-market-idea.com

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Visit getcredit365.com