Holidays come with a price and you probably have plenty of employees struggling this month to pay all the bills from the “Christmas Shopping Season”. We at ESI offer comprehensive financial counseling to our members but if you don’t have this type of benefit, check out some of the links below to offer resources to troubled employees. Or review them for yourself if you spent beyond your budget. When we are thinking about how to make ends meet we are not thinking about our work.
www.nfcc.org
This Web site of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling helps users find a nonprofit credit counselor in the user’s area. It also offers how-to advice, such as a how to request a copy of your credit report, and a budget calculator that compares your monthly spending to others.
www.practicalmoneyskills.com/english/index.php
Geared toward teens but useful for adults, this site by Visa teaches the basics of money management in an engaging way.
www.cardweb.com
www.creditcards.com
www.bankrate.com
All things credit card oriented. Cardweb.com is where to go for third-party information about the credit-card industry, as well as news and commentary for consumers about individual cards and card issuers. CreditCards.com is sponsored by credit-card companies, and is loaded with offers broken down by rates, special offers and special needs. Bankrate.com is a major clearinghouse for consumer finance information. It includes credit-card basics and calculators that let consumers determine their credit and budget, and tally how long it will take to pay off debts.
www.dinkytown.net
This amazing site offers calculators on any aspect of your financial life you want to know about, and some you may not want to know about. Various functions tell your net worth and estimate how much you need to save to retire without having to start a lemonade stand at age 75.
www.fueleconomy.gov
At this U.S. Department of Energy site you can search for the cheapest gas prices by city, and compare automobiles’ gas mileage, greenhouse gas emissions, and pollution and safety ratings. The site also includes tips on how to get the best gas mileage out of your vehicle and information on hybrid and alternative fuel vehicles.
www.zillow.com
Want to check on the estimated value of your home, and also peek at the values in the neighborhood? Go to Zillow and plug in your address and watch the magic happen. You get a satellite or line drawing view of the neighborhood with accompanying prices based on records from sales, physical characteristics of the homes and so on. You can use the My Zestimator tool to add information, such as about remodeling, that will refine the estimate. You also can request information on comparable homes, which could come in handy in doing research if you are considering appealing your tax assessment.
www.interest.com
Check this simple yet thorough source for information on mortgages, home equity loans and lines of credit. Calculate what you can afford to borrow, or look at what you gain or lose using an adjustable-rate loan vs. a fixed-rate loan. The site also explains financial terms.
http://cflbulbs.com
This is an easy switch most of us never think of. Compact fluorescent bulbs promise a seven-year lifespan and lowered electric costs. Cflbulbs.com also contends: “If every household in the U.S. replaced just one incandescent light bulb with an energy-efficient compact fluorescent light bulb, it would eliminate the equivalent of the emissions created by one million cars. And that’s only one bulb per household! Most homes have 15-30 bulbs.”
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