businessthoughtsbymimmi

[businessthoughtsbymimmi]

How I was able to afford my dream home.

Growing up my dad would say “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail”. Having that in the back of my head, when I thought about my future, really helped me be organized with my money. I was 13 years old when I got my first job, and that is also when I started to save money. I had a picture on my wall of my dream house.

Other girls my age were more concerned about who they were going to marry but I wanted a house. 😊

My dad let me open a bank account and taught me about the importance of saving money. He also showed me how interest worked and how much money I would have after 5 years, 10 years, and 20 years. I was amazed and it really encouraged me to save. I was determined to save for a down payment of my very own house. I had a goal that when I was 23 I would have enough money for a down payment of $30 000 if I would make semiannual payments of about $1,300 (at 3% interest compounded).

As I grew older and started learning more about how mortgages work. I realized that I needed to make sure that my monthly mortgage payments did not exceed my monthly gross income. I did not want to buy a too expensive house and not have enough money to pay the mortgage. Since mortgage is not the only financial obligation, I needed to make sure I understood what I could afford with the income I had. I would not qualify for a loan if my income were too small.

I ended up buying my first very own house when I was 25. I know this might seem young, but it was my dream, and I could afford it. I had a good job, I made sure that I shopped around for the best house for me and the best mortgage I could find and just went for it. I feel that I did not fail to plan which led me to be able to fulfill my dream. I believe in saving money. I believe in teaching our kids to start early when it comes to saving money. I believe in planning.

[businessthoughtsbymimmi]

Who likes Pie!?…charts

There are many kinds of charts that you can use to show percentages. The most common one is the Pie chart. I believe this chart is probably everyone’s favorite. The pie chart is something teachers have been using for a long time in school. I remember seeing the “food plate” chart many times growing up. The pie chart gives a great picture of how the percentages are divided up. It’s very simple and easy to understand.

So, because this chart is so easy to understand, many businesses use it to present their percentage figures. This Pie Chart is very basic but there are many different kinds of Pie Charts that you can use. Here are a few examples:

The Pie Chart is not used when you want to show the comparison of many categories. So, when a business wants to show more categories, they often use bar charts instead. Here are 3 examples of Bar Charts.

Line Charts are also used for more than one variable and are good tools for comparing two or more trends over the same period. Here are some examples of Line Charts:

As you can see from the examples the pie chart is limited in what it can show. If you are going to show and present simple data the Pie Chart is very effective. It will give the viewer an immediate understanding of the information of the data that you are presenting. The Pie Chart is very good if you want to make a point by giving a good picture of how much percentage something is or how little percentage something is. People can be very impressionable and presenting certain pictures could sway people’s believes in one way or another. With that being said, you need to be careful when using the Pie Chart and make sure you show the correct data. Misusing the Pie Chart could give extremely wrong data to people which could be harmful and lead to bad roomers.

When you have more categories, that you want to show when you are going to present something, you should be using a bar or line chart instead of a Pie chart. By using a bar chart, you will be able to show more information about what you are presenting and it gives a more in-depth picture of the subject. The Bar charts will give you the ability to compare different data by showing different values of two or more subjects.

Charts are great to use when making a presentation. Often when talking numbers it can be hard to just sit and listen to someone presenting and at the same time try to make sense of it in your head. If you have a chart while explaining your numbers it will make it 100 times easier for the listener to make sense of your data. So use charts! but use the right one 😉

[businessthoughtsbymimmi]

Opening a checking account?

Choosing which bank to open your first bank account with can be very daunting. There are so many to choose from! All of them have their own offers, some are very similar and some sound too good to be true (which often if they do, it’s probably because they are). It’s important to do a lot of research and dig deep to understand which one will benefit you the most. Some banks can be better for families, some better for businesses and some better for singles. When you research there are a few things that are important to investigate when choosing your bank. Some of those things are: Monthly service charge, Interest paid, Accounts Minimum, Debit and ATM charges, Overdraft/fraud protection, international transactions, and Online Service. Most things, that has to do with banking now a days, does not require you to ever have to go to a physical location, so, do not feel like you need to pick a bank that is close to where you live.

If you are opening a bank account for the first time as a young adult, I would suggest Capital One. They are the 8th largest bank in the United States and rank 97th on the fortune 500 companies to work for. Capital One offers good interest that will encourage you to want to save money. If you can get money back from just having it in the bank, it’s a huge plus! Capital One also offers a bank account that is free of fees and doesn’t require a minimum balance which is great for someone that is just starting up. But hey, just because I would recommend it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t do your own research. Maybe you will find something even better!

Most payments are done with a bank card or cash, but there will be times when you are going to need to write a check. In Sweden, where I come from, no one uses checks anymore. It was very interesting when I had to write a check for the first time. It happened when I was going to enroll my child in school. I thought they took cash, but they said they only took checks. My husband had put some checks in my purse just in case I needed some. I was going to ask him to show me how to do it, I think he just assumed that I knew, but I totally forgot. So, I had to ask the person at the office how to do it, it was so embarrassing. Of course, I told her I was from Sweden and that we do not write checks there. She understood, but I am pretty sure she though it was funny. So, my suggestion would be, have someone teach you how to write a check, just in case you need it.