Thoughts on hidden personal debt
As experienced money management specialists, we find that many people in debt tend to hide the extent of their debt problems from other members of their family. There are many reasons why people feel they need to stick their heads in the sand when it comes to personal debt and the impact that it has on their nearest and dearest. Sometimes it comes from a need to protect loved ones from the stress and worry of the debt, for others it’s due to a feeling of shame at having found themselves in a situation where their debt is spiralling out of control.
A recent survey has reinforced this for us by showing that a third of people in the UK chose to hide the true extent of the debt from family members and that this level of hidden debt totalled a staggering £55billion. Although this sort of debt is referred to a ‘personal debt’, it is far from personal especially for those who jointly own a home that has been secured against the debt. This situation potentially outs the family home at risk.
A prime example of this involved an elderly gentleman who, after finding out his wife had secretly run up over £50,000 worth of debt on several credit cards and store cards, had to mortgage the family home in order to clear the debt. This sort of situation raises quite a few questions regarding the credit card companies and why, when there is a level of debt involved which is secured against a jointly owned property, are the other homeowners not made aware of the this debt.
We always suggest to clients that in situations of debt, the best course of action is to face up to the problem. There may be an easier solution to the debt issue if the situation is addressed sooner rather than later. It may be that a debt consolidation or debt management plan is an option, certainly a much better option than having to remortgage the family home or even having to face losing it.
If you do have debt problems it is important that you speak to your lenders as soon as possible and seek advice or talk to a specialist debt management company as soon as possible. Hiding your debt away doesn’t make it go away.
Different Chiropractic Marketing Ideas for Your Business
Do you know that there are very simple and inexpensive ways to promote your chiropractic business? In these days of poor economic climate, it is easy to blame the weather about when a business goes in for a downturn. While the economic situation does play an integral part in your practices profitability, it does not have to cripple your business entirely. Some survived despite the bad economy. However, this entails more creativity in promoting business. This means employing simple methods that would let potential clients that you are in business. Surprisingly, promoting your business starts with your old and current patients.
Implementing simple marketing techniques can help you boost the volume of your patients and your business profit. For example, your office can provide a good place to increase the awareness of your patients about chiropractic. Take advantage of the bulletin board. One of the ideas for chiro marketing is to post useful information that will broaden the understanding of your patients about the practice. Referral programs are also good tools to increase the number of potential patients. You can reward your current patient whenever they are able to refer to clients by giving them some sort of gift certificates or treatments at half the price.
Keeping in touch with patients is another good chiropractic marketing idea. This can be done through emails and newsletters. Newsletters are a good way of letting your active and inactive patients that you are interested in their health. Emails, on the other hand, are an inexpensive way to send old and current clients health tips and information about health optimization. You may include a subtle message suggesting your patients to forward the information to their families and friends. Remember to send newsletters and emails not too often but periodically. Make sure the newsletters and emails always contain fresh contents.
Get the Home You Want with a Bridging Loan
Do you want to purchase a new property and plan to fund this purchase by selling your old property? You need to remember that the sale and purchase of property hardly ever coincide with each other.
If you find yourself in the situation where you want to buy a new property but dont have the finances to do so then you can use a bridging loan.
A bridging loan is a short-term loan and does carry a higher rate of interest than most other loans, you will be able to find competitive rates if you are willing to shop around. You will be required to provide the lender with some form of collateral; most people will use the property they are selling. Most lenders will borrow between £25,000 and £500,000 but how much you receive will depend on the value of your collateral. The usual time frame for bridging loans is 1 week to 2 years.
You can apply for a bridging loan if you are an individual, company, or self employed.
The best place to apply for a bridging loan is online. This enables you to compare all the different companies rates, and choose the best one for you or your company.
Some Stars Are Not Really There
Some of the stars you can see in the sky may have disappeared centuries ago. The nearest star is called Proxima Centauri and it is in the southern hemisphere. It is about 42 billion kilometres (26 billion miles) away. Such a distance is almost impossible to imagine. Light from the nearest star takes more than 4.25 years to reach us, with light travelling at 299,000 kilometres (186,000 miles) a second. We say that the star is 4.25 light years away. This means that when you look at the star without using any type of glasses frames, you are seeing it as it was 4.25 years ago, when the light left it. The nearest star in the northern hemisphere, Sirius, is eight light years away. Even the light from the Sun takes eight minutes to reach Earth. The light from some of the stars that can be seen through powerful telescopes has been travelling for thousands of millions of years. Probably some of those stars have already ceased to exist.
When you look at the night sky some stars appear much brighter than others. This is often because they are larger and hotter stars. However some stars, such as Sirius, only appear bright because they are so close. Stars also appear to form patterns in the sky. Ancient astronomers knew some of these groups and gave them names, such as Orion’s Belt and Gemini, the twins. By learning the shapes of the constellations you will be able to find your way about the map of the sky at night. Astronomers still use the ancient names when discussing distant stars and galaxies. The Greek astronomer Ptolemy knew of about 48 constellations in the 2nd century AD and we have named about 40 more since then. One of the best-known in the northern hemisphere is the Plough, also known as the Big Dipper or the Great Bear (Ursa Major). Two of its stars point in a direct line towards the Pole Star.
