Top 30 All-Time Personal Finance Posts (Part 3)

21. Why You Should Keep Your Credit Cards

Are you thinking of cancelling your credit cards for good? Before you do, consider the following:


22. 7 More Effective Ways to Save Money

What are the children asking from Santa Claus this year? Here are the answers:

A job for their mom or dad. Money for the heating bill. Food or a place to live. Maybe gloves or boots.

Time is so bad that children don’t ask for things for themselves. It boils down to the fact that we really need to save for a rainy day. Here are more ways to save effectively:

23.  How Many Bank Accounts do You Need to Manage Your Personal Finance? 

One of the aims of personal finance is to control your spending according to your budget. It is also part of your financial plan to save sufficiently.  An effective way to achieve your goals in these two areas is to maintain three separate bank accounts.

24. Malaysia’s Credit Rating and Ringgit Foreign Exchange Rates

According to Standard & Poor, the long-term local-currency rating for Malaysia was cut to A from A+, with a stable outlook, while the foreign-currency rating was affirmed at A-. The downgrade has impacted negatively the exchange rate against other major currencies. 

A weak Ringgit stimulates expert but discourages import. It will cost you more when your children are studying abroad or when you purchase items online at Amazon.    

25.  Can You Choose Wisely Between Savings and Debt Settlement?

You are in debt and you also want to save for a rainy day. What do you do? If your income is comfortable enough to cover savings and settling debt, it is good to do both at the same time -reduce your debt and build up your nest egg. What if your fund is limited and you have to make a choice? I would suggest you pay off your debt first. The reasons are not hard to find:

26. Tortoise’s Way of Making Money

You must have heard about the story of the race between a hare and a tortoise and eventually the tortoise won the race slowly but steadily. Similarly, you can’t get rich quickly in investment. Making money is for the long-haul:

27. 10 Tips to Avoid a Default on a Car Loan and Bankruptcy

According to a news item in The Star, there were more than 500 bankruptcy cases every month due to failure of people to service loans for their hire-purchase of motor vehicles during the past five months this year. How can you prevent such a thing from happening to you? 

28. Wisely Selecting a Savings Account

In mid-November, Charles wrote a fantastic post addressing how to decide between paying down debt or saving. His bottom line: your debt interest rate will always be higher than your savings account APY, so pay down your debt.

But, what if your debt is under control? Below I highlight some key metrics to analyze when selecting a savings account, in addition to showcasing some of the best savings accounts on the market! 

29. What an Emergency Fund Can do for Your Car Loans and Credit Card Debts

Your current earning may be good enough for you to qualify for a car loan or get your credit cards. However, it is not good enough when you are unemployed. You need an emergency fund.    

30.  Effective Ways to Avoid Credit Card Debt

The most important thing about credit cards is your mindset. When you have a credit card, what is in your mind? Are you going to entertain yourself and your friends with the card or to buy things you want on credit? Stop thinking about the word credit and treat your credit card like cash. Take advantage of your credit card for the following purposes only: