Antenna

Gorgeous stainless steel casing that gives iPhone an elegant look also serves as the antenna. Besides, external antenna, along with giving it an ultra-thin look, was supposed to enhance the phone’s signal strength, as mentioned by Steve Jobs.

And he is absolutely right. The new antenna’s connectivity has been significantly improved, only if you don’t hold the phone with your left hand.

When your palm touches the antenna, your skin brings minute gap between two antennas, causes it to loose its connectivity. This glitch was taken so seriously that Consumer Reports simply refused to recommend this phone until the antenna problem was fixed.

Most users don’t really have any trouble keeping the gap between their left palm and the phone, and are surprisingly thrilled with its connectivity strength. However, many people residing in low-network area, and the ones who cannot mind the gap, are constantly complaining about its poor reception. If you are searching for an inexpensive method to fix the problem, you can use a duct tape or a rubber band to keep the two antennas connected.

Immediately after a damning review by Consumer Report, Steve Jobs promised to provide free iPhone cases to all iPhone 4 buyers, and refund to those who have bought cases already.

The ‘Surprise’ Element

In response to its connectivity problem, Apple said it’s a major software glitch, which has been persistent since the original iPhone. For more than 3 years now, iPhones have been displaying 2 additional bars than it actually should.

When this issue was addressed in public, Apple decided to admit their mistake openly and said they were surprised to know about the reception problem, and they formula they had adopted to calculate signal bars was completely wrong.

Proximity Hang-Up

Dropped calls have always been an issue with iPhones. Initially, it was AT&T. Later, it was due to death grip. And now, it’s your cheek. But this shouldn’t happen.

Almost every smart phone is equipped with proximity sensor that senses if your ear comes closer to the phone while answering the call. Even iPhone has such sensor that keeps you from accidentally touching the ‘hold’, ‘end’, or ‘mute’ button.

However, many users have been complaining about poor functioning of the sensor that, accidentally, causes users to dial number while still on call, or simply drop the call. More than 2,000 complaints have been posted on online forum credit by Apple on its website.

In response, Apple said it’s working to solve the issue, and will come up with a software update very soon.

White iPhone

White gadgets were considered obsolete until recently when white iPhone were suddenly unavailable due to major glitches. Due to less production, the demand has risen, and now everyone wants it.

When the new iPhone was launched in June, only black instruments were available. It weren’t available even a month later. In response, Apple said ‘producing white phones is far more challenging than expected’. However, they said it would be available after second half of July.

Yellow Dots

Fortunately, this problem dried up on its own. Initially, when iPhone 4 was launched, many yellow bars and spots appeared on the screen frequently. However, as soon as customers reported this problem, it simply faded away, without sending the phone for fixing the glitch.

Experts believe it wasn’t magic. It was simply the glue that was used to attach the body to the screen. This happened because Apple manufactured and shipped the phone very quickly, without letting the glue dry away.

If you decide to buy iPhone 4, be ready to face these problems, or some other ones that may just come up.

As per Moody’s Investors Service research, Ireland government’s bonds rating dropped from Aa2 from Aa1. This drop in rating suggests weakening economy and rising debt, which is certainly a concern for the country.

The financial strength of Irish government dropped significantly, but gradually, which is considered to be the primary reason of this fall in rating.

The financial sector took a hit early in 2008, and it’s been worsening since then. Besides, tax revenue of the country dropped considerably, which was a major contributor to government funds. The debt to equity ratio had dropped to 64% last year, and it’s falling since then.

Europe, since early 2008, has not been able to improvise the financial stability of the continent, even long after other parts of the world started recovering. And the situation has been worse for countries of PIIGS (Portugal, Italy, Spain, Greece, and Ireland) in the past few months.

Meanwhile, talks between IMF and Hungary didn’t reap any positive outcome. Negotiators discussed the economy and possible improvements with Hungarian authorities. However, a wide spectrum of issues still remains open, and the negotiating team would return back to Washington soon.

This IMF mission, headed by Christoph Rosenberg, intended to discuss further on the terms related to $25 billion aid accepted by Hungary in 2008.

After the discussion, IMF believes Hungary is still far behind its target of keeping the deficit level below 3% of its GDP, and the country will have to take serious actions to boost consumer spending.

Certified Financial Planner

Job of a CFP is very similar to a family doctor. However, instead of physical problems, a CFP diagnoses and eliminates your financial problems. Being a certified professional, this guy will help you get you finances back on track, by providing you necessary tools and advices.

CFP is an expert, similar to a doctor, lawyer, and accountant, who specializes in a particular area. People come to them to seek professional advice, owing to the vast experience and expertise in the field.

They help you achieve your financial goals, which include designing your investment portfolio, planning retirement investment, debt repayment strategy, and so on. Hence, consulting a Certified Financial Planner is kind of a one stop shop for all your financial requirements.

This is like any other professional job. Why is it better then other jobs?

There are several reasons why CFP is preferred over other jobs. Here are some of them:

You Earn Good Money

CFP’s, all over the world, are paid pretty well. Most of them are depended solely on commission, i.e. they have to sell their product or service to earn money. Some CFPs, however, are hired by corporate bodies or other clients on salary. Many are even hybrid, where part of their income is fixed, and part comes from selling financial products. So, a good Certified Financial Planner can easily earn $100,000 per year. However, average salary would be somewhere around $70,000.

This Job is in Demand

Jobs that requires specialized are always in demand globally. With the increase in financial institutions, demand for CFPs will rise further, and it will continue to be a hot choice for at least another decade. So, you certainly wouldn’t lose your job for another 10 years, if you plan to become a financial planner.

Flexible Schedule

If you are a Certified Financial Planner, you don’t have a fixed schedule, or many deadlines to adhere to. You will have to work according to your client’s needs. This means you may sometimes work out their plans over a dinner together, or sometimes even early morning before office hours. If you feel like discussing work with your clients over a round of golf, do it. You can also take a mini vacation every month, without any hindrances from your employer or clients. However, before you reach this level of freedom, you will have to work hard for few initial years.

You Actually Help People

Financial problem is one of the biggest problems faced by people in the US. By taking up CFP as your career, you actually help those people while earning money. You feel good when you help someone get out of debt, or plan retirement portfolio, or children’s education fund.

What Are The Requirements To Become a Certified Financial Planner?

Different places have different requirements. However, a common way to become a CFP is complete you bachelor’s degree in accounting or finance, and take up Certified Financial Planning course after graduation.

Besides, having other additional skills would be an added advantage. A CFP should:

• Love talking to people
• Not be afraid to put forth his ideas and suggestions
• Have social abilities
• Have tremendous love for finance and investments
• Be very logical and rational

Being a Certified Financial Planner is not too difficult, but it’s simply a waste if you don’t love personal finance.

However, when I gave it a serious thought, I realized there are several disadvantages of having TV dinner and ready-made meals, let’s have a look at few of them.

1. You Become Lazy

I would rather prefer becoming lazy by eating out at a restaurant than gulping down ready-made, tasteless food. By bringing this food home, you are doing no good to your body. First, it doesn’t have any nutrients, and is tasteless. Second, you don’t move your body.

Instead, you can cook something at home today, and freeze the remaining food, which can go on for days. This way you don’t spend money, you eat healthy food, and you stay fit.

2. You Spend More Money

If you purchase ready-made food, you obviously have to spend money each week. Alright, may be it just costs you $0.99 or $1.99. But you must not get fooled by the size of the box; the size of food inside is really tiny. Now you may also argue that it costs you something to cook food at home. It certainly does, but you will get good value of your money and good food, if you cook it at home.

Cooking home may seem to be an expensive idea because you have to bring raw materials, utensils, and so on. But once you are done with arranging these initial things, you will cook food for cheap, really cheap.

3. You Don’t Know What’s Inside Them

We simply look at the box and take it home. We don’t know what’s inside it, how is it going to taste, or if there is really anything inside. Yes, you can read it on the container, but most of the time, I don’t really understand how of what’s written there. Those ingredients sounds like some harmful chemicals you should have anywhere near your food, and certainly not inside it.

I would obviously want to know what’s in my dinner today, and what my family about to eat is. However, if I cook at home, I don’t have to bother about these things. It’s pure. Besides, I get better at cooking.

One can come up with several other disadvantages of eating TV dinner and ready-made food, but I guess these are enough to quit eating such food. The day I realized this, I stopping buying readymade food, and switched to home-made food. And I know I have made the right choice.

However, there are certain advantages of staying at home and taking care of your children. If you are planning to do so, but are worried about your financial loss, you need to consider the following points:

Save Money on Child Care

This is one of the biggest financial benefit you can have of staying at home and taking care of your children yourself. Instead of hiring someone, you can do things better, and save around $250 – $300 every week.

Save Money on Taxes

If one of you quits your job and has no income, you obviously don’t have to pay income tax. For instance, if you were making $30,000 each year, it puts you in 28% tax bracket with over $20,000. This means you will have to pay around $8,100 every year, which is around $156 each week.

Save Money on Food Expenses

When you are at work, you go out to eat with your co-workers more than often. Let’s say you eat out around two times a week, and have $10 pop each time. It will cost you around $20 each week, that is $80 – $100 ($100 if u eat something additional) every month.

Save Money on Automobile

If you commute by car every day to your workplace, you spend roughly one and half gallon each day, and you have to get oil changed every three months. Besides, you have to spend money on repairs and regular maintenance. These costs can sum up to around $5 every day, or $25 each week. By staying home and taking care of your children, you can save around $100 a month on automobile.

Save Money on Work Expense

There are several hidden expenses we incur while we are at work. I call them hidden because we don’t really consider them as expenses. It just happens. We sometimes pay for coffee fund. Sometimes, we are expected to contribute money for a gift purchase. Although this may vary from person to person, I can say the average expenses are $10 every week.

Save Money on Habits

A smoker usually smokes more when he is at work. Similarly, we drink more coffee each morning and evening at our workplace. Staying at home can save you around $25 each week.

Save Money By Adopting Frugality

If you are at home, you will discover many ways to save money. However, this cannot be done if you are at your workplace. Besides, you can teach your kids to be frugal as well. The services that you paid for earlier, can then be done by you at home.

So, it really isn’t a bad idea to quit your job and take care of your child at home. You save around $500 to $500 each week, which is around $24,000 each year. I guess the decision of staying home is a fair idea.

Reduce Packaged Items in Your Cart

Even if you want to buy packaged items, buy in bulk. Packaging on small items generally costs much more than packaging on big items.

Another way to reduce your cost is by shopping in stores that don’t focus much on packaged products. For instance, at many markets, you are asked to bring your own bag. There are any groceries stores as well that offers you this option. The only investment you need to put is reusable bags, and few containers at home.

Lastly, you can save money by buying ingredients, and cooking at home. Cooked food, or frozen food would always cost you more than loose ingredients.

One more thing I would like to add here, is being a conscious shopper. It’s very easy to ignore the price and buy packaged food, simply because you don’t want to take extra pains. Besides, you will have to pay attention on what could be costlier, check the prices of the counterparts.

A Bigger Impact

Apart from saving some money, you will also help in keeping the environment clean and healthy, by not buying packaged products. Do not purchase anything with package that can be bought without package as well. You will be surprised at the amount you would be able to save every month simply by doing this.

It may not always be possible for you to buy things without packaging, but at least making at effort could make a big difference.

Strengthen Your Emergency Fund

Dont fret if you dont have an emergency fund. You have a great opportunity to start with $1,000. if you already have it, add this amount to your fund. The best part about emergency fund is they can be used any time, any where during emergencies. You don’t have to liquidate it like other investments. Hence, having such a fund should be your priority.

Consult a Financial Planner

You can skip this step if your finances are in place. However, if you have accumulated enormous debt, and don’t know how to repay them, consult a financial consultant, who can help you get out of such situation. Often, we don’t visit a consultant because their hourly charges are around $200. But when you have $1,000, don’t bother about the fee.

Invest in Top Fund

Hire a portfolio manager and invest your money in top performing mutual funds. One of the best products you can invest in is a non-managed low cost mutual fund. There are many other funds you can invest in, which can provide you high returns as well as tax-breaks.

Home Appliances

If you have a computer at home that needs upgradation, spend few hundred bucks on it. You can spend the remaining amount on replacing existing, worn out items into more energy-efficient gadgets. Instead of using a simple bulb, you can replace them with CFL bulbs.

Help People

if you have enough money, you can spend this $1,000 to help people who are deprived of things that you are enjoying today. If you don’t want to give it all as charity, you can finance a business project on Kiva, plant some trees, or buy sheep for farmers. If you give it as charity, you can expect a good tax deduction in this financial year.

Join a Fitness Club

However, do not pay for the entire year if you are not sure about your commitment. But investing in your health is better than investing in stocks, bonds, or mutual funds. Find a good gym with all necessary equipments, join it, and visit regularly. You will be pleased with your decision once you notice changes in your body fitness.

Retirement Fund

If you have thought about your retirement fund yet, start planning it today. The earlier you start, the more benefits your will receive in future. Open an IRA account or invest regularly in your employer 401k plan. Any amount invested today will only help you to have a better life tomorrow.

Repay Your Credit Card Debt

This should have been on the top of the list. If you are still reading, and if you have debts to repay, put the entire amount toward repayment. This will also help you save additional dollars as you wouldn’t have to pay interest.

Sharpen Your Skills

You can use this $1,000 to learn new skills. Take up a crash course in computers, or learn to play a musical instrument. There is so much to learn, if you are ready to spend some time and money. You can also have financial magazine subscriptions that can help you make better investment or debt repayment decisions.

Invest For Your Kids

If you have kids, invest in their names, for their better future. You can have their portfolio designed, with investments in low risk products.

There are probably many other things you can do with unpredicted $1,000. However, spending it carelessly wouldn’t be a wise idea.

Creditor’s Calls? There wouldn’t be anybody calling us up except for friends, family, and co-workers.

We would never have known how it feels to be frustrated to due lack of money. Nor we would have taken extra pain to pay our monthly expenses, or just to afford another car.

The world, however, is far from being perfect. We have distressing situations everywhere, and we have to take the pains to survive in this world. Or we have the option to make ‘our own’ world perfect.

If you think there are problems with your finances, take charge of your spending, investing, and earning, and strive to make it perfect. Making your world miserable, or perfecting it, is up to you. You don’t have to wait until you reach a situation where only few options are available to you.

So what do you do to make your financial world perfect?

Alright, here is a part that we all hate the most. You need to think. And analyze.

Why do you get into debt, in the first place?

Why do you buy things that you cannot afford?

Why do you need to swipe your plastic card, when you know you the statement can give you a heart attack?

What makes you shop, if it means making your world imperfect with your own hands?

If you are still reading, and not refusing to think about it, I wonder if you have any answer to any of the above questions.

However, you need to think hard and face the ugly truth today. Because if you don’t do it today, do you think you will do it tomorrow? I don’t think so. And you will never be able to get your finances back on track.

Think about this: if you are always busy or struggling to pay for things that you bought yesterday, many of them are now worn out or are scrap. How do you think you will, then, manage to think about things that you need tomorrow?

You get this urge to swipe your credit card and get things instantly simply because you aren’t paying real money. It’s like getting things for free, temporarily. You feel quite contented when you owe things you purchase on credit. However, this pleasant feeling disappears as soon as you get your credit card statement, and you realize you have to pay big. Yet you do the same thing next month, and for another month, and it goes on.

Every month you have the opportunity to stare at the statement and promise you would never do it again. But you take a simple route (though painful later) of owing more debt.

Research says people spend less when they deal in cash compared to credit cards. If you want to really see how impatient you are with money, and how it feels when spend money on useless things, the next time you go shopping, don’t carry your credit card. Deal in CASH. I am sure it would be painful.

Studies also reveal that people spend according to their mood and personality traits. When you are happy, you spend more. If you have a low self esteem, you buy things that can make you feel better. Though it may help you get pleasure temporarily, it wouldn’t help you make your world perfect.

Remember, having money (or lack of it) cannot change WHO YOU ARE. Your traits and worth as person cannot be changed by having more money, or splurging. Of course there are people who think so. But you can refuse to accept it and break all psychological barriers, or you can keep suffering like others.

As of now, you may feel low because you don’t have much money. But as you relieve yourself from all the false beliefs about money, and think about it only as a tool, you would grow gradually. Have a positive attitude toward life, and let not anyone or anything affect you as a person.

You are what you are. Having or not having things cannot change anything.

Believe this and you will be free from most of your worries.

If you are under debt, and if you seek debt consolidation or other such programs, you are not curing the root cause. You will accumulate debt again. It’s like wearing strong perfume to conceal your body odor. Take a bath instead.

If you want to improve your financial condition, work on your psychology first. Only then you would be able to free yourself from worries about creditor’s calls.

It would have been a piece of cake if the question would have been ‘tell me about some money saving tips’ or ‘ways to save money each month’. But when she asked ’single best advice’, I had to think for a while (and she also was bit surprised with it). However, not according to her expectations, I came up with a very simple, ordinary advice.

Although I knew that was a good one, it was certainly not the best one I could think of. So, for the next few hours I mulled over the same question, and I came up with two answers.

Earn More, Spend Less

This is certainly important, and you simply cannot save money breaching this rule. Before you create your monthly budget – if you do it at all – make sure you have this in mind. However, this is not something that you can use. An advice would be something that would show you how to spend less. So, I came up with another one.

Do Not Splurge Money to Impress Others

This is certainly an important advice. When you notice any consumer especially college students, most of the spending is done to please others. They buy new gadgets, new clothes, and new pair of shoes simply to impress their friends and neighbors. Once again, however, it was something that I cannot term as money saving ‘tip’. It was simply a state of mind, or a general consumer attitude, which one should avoid.

So what is it? What is the one thing (best thing) that can save you money. This morning, while reading a personal finance book, I realized, it’s books, at least for me. I spend around $90 each month on books, which is $1000 every year. I guess that’s a pretty decent amount. However, I cannot survive without books. Instead, I can opt to have membership at any of the local libraries.

So, yes, for me it’s cutting down on reading books. I would need some of your comments on this topic. “What’s the single best advice for readers to save money?”

Habit 1: Working For Money

Don’t expect money to come to you, even if you have bought all the lottery tickets. To earn money you need to work. If you don’t have an intention to earn money from your work, you will end up working for charity. Work hard, earn more, be proud to be rich.

Habit 2: Spend It

The more you spend the more you want to spend. Hence, you work more and earn more to spend more. That’s life. You cannot sit idle and watch TV. There are many things you can do with money: buy new pair of shoes and clothes, go out with your family, buy a gift for your loved ones often, go on a vacation, and so on.

Habit 3: Don’t Borrow

If you borrow money to spend, you wouldn’t have the urge to earn it. You know it’s readily available when you need it. Besides, if you are late in repaying it, you pay more (with various penalties and fees). Why do you want to spend money on something that’s not worth it. Spend in cash, utilize every penny you have.

Habit 4: Save & Invest Money

Alright, spending will certainly want to you to earn more. However, if you don’t save, you will have to borrow some amount. Besides, saving is the only way to grow your money. You can deposit some amount every month in your savings account, and find suitable product to invest in. Only keeping money in your account can also help you earn some interest every month. There are several other products like stocks, bonds, mutual funds, real estate, certificate of deposits, and so on.

These habits are good, and can help you make rich. But it certainly doesn’t guarantee anything. Having the right attitude is what makes the difference.