Now more than ever it pays to be savvy when it comes to getting the credit you need to run your life. Luckily, you don’t have to be an expert to stay on the money. These simple steps could help you find financial success.

Do know what you owe…

In the current climate, you need to know exactly where you are before making plans – and what you really owe could come as a wake-up call. Instead of wading through files and old bills, you can find your credit accounts, from credit and store cards to loans, mortgages and even mobile phone accounts, listed in your credit report, along with your repayment record. You can see your Experian credit report for free with a 30-day trial of CreditExpert, the online credit monitoring and ID fraud protection service.

…and don’t stick your head in the sand

Therst thing you can do is nothing. Interest could be mounting up on borrowing you’ve forgotten, so you could end up owing even more in the long run.

Do keep up with your repayments…

It can be tempting to skip the occasional repayment if you’re having a tough month but you could rack up penalties and interest – and it will be recorded on your credit report for at least three years, where lenders will see it when you make a new application.

…and don’t be afraid to talk to your lenders

If you’re having financial problems it’s in their interest, as well as yours, to come up with a sensible solution.  Together, you may be able to agree a new schedule of affordable payments, although this may mean that it will take longer to clear what you owe.

Do your research…

When you need a card, loan or credit account of any kind, research what’s on offer – visit personal finance and price comparison sites to see what’s out there and what matches your circumstances. You’ll stand a better chance if you ask for an appropriate and affordable deal.

…and don’t take a scattergun approach

There’s no point in firing off lots of applications in the hope that one of them will succeed. Not only could you get turned down, but you could damage your credit rating in the process. Each application will trigger a search by the lender and these leave a record on your credit report. If other prospective lenders see a lot of these, they could fear you’re overstretched, out of financial control or even suspect a fraud.

Do shred before you bin…

ID fraud is one of the UK’s fastest-growing crimes, so make sure thieves can’t get hold of personal or sensitive information from your rubbish and use it to borrow money in your name or max out your accounts.

…and don’t put too much in the recycling

You may think you’re doing your bit for the environment but you could also be offering a free gift to a thief. Remove the address or account information from all letters and documents before you put them in the box – even an old catalogue could put your ID at risk if a bin raider picks it up.

Do check your credit report regularly…

Lenders look at your credit report every time you apply to them and when they’re setting interest rates and other conditions, so it pays to be sure that all the information it contains is up to date and accurately reflects your situation. You’ll also be able to spot suspicious applications or transactions that could indicate attempted ID fraud.

…and don’t assume everything’s okay

If you haven’t received any payment demands or red bills, don’t assume you have a good credit rating. A simple clerical error or misunderstanding could damage your credit status, so make regular checks on your credit report part of your financial routine. A credit monitoring like CreditExpert can help – members receive an email or text alert every time there is a significant change, like a late payment recorded by a lender or a large change to a credit account balance.

Do put a shine on your credit history…

If you can demonstrate that you are a responsible borrower with a stable lifestyle, you have a better chance of getting the deals you want. You can improve your credit status by taking simple steps – for example, ask lenders to correct any errors in your credit report, close unused accounts and register to vote at your current address.

…and don’t assume the past is over and gone

If you’ve been bankrupt, taken out an IVA or had court judgments against you for debt, the evidence remains on your credit report for at least six years and even a missed repayment can be seen by lenders for at least three years. If special circumstances, such as illness, an accident, redundancy or divorce, were behind any past problems, you can add a note of explanation that lenders may take into account when deciding whether to make you an offer.

Do ask for help

If you’re having problems, get free, professional advice. Try Citizens Advice at adviceguide.org.uk, National Debtline at nationaldebtline.co.uk or the Consumer Credit Counselling Service at cccs.co.uk. As well as offering advice on how to manage and reduce your debts, these organisations have the legal right to negotiate with creditors on your behalf.

…and don’t be tempted by offers that are too good to be true

“There is no magic spell that will allow you to walk away from money troubles without any consequences and only you can sort out your credit status, so be wary of miracle cures for your financial ailments. They almost always cost you money you can’t “

In Australia, you can start recovering fairly quickly from the trauma and stress of the days and weeks and months, and sometimes years of worry leading up to the time of actually making the decision to go bankrupt, and doing it.

Declaring yourself bankrupt, never let a creditor send you bankrupt, is a very big step, one of the biggest that you’re likely to take in your lifetime.

It can be a very lonely step too, because you are not likely to have confided in too many of your family and friends about your actual financial position in the time leading up to making the decision, the bankruptcy step.

Fortunately, having made the decision, it doesn’t take long for the formalities to be completed. Without having to go to court, you can actually become bankrupt and out of debt in about a week.

Most bankruptcies in Australia are not business related either.

The majority of people who declare themselves bankrupt are just ordinary people who, due to some unforeseen happening, now find that the wheels have fallen off and so they can’t pay their debts off at the rate and in the time frame expected demanded, of them.

Most are in a job, and most have looked at the so called alternatives on offer, like Debt Agreement Proposals, and have realized that these are not the answer that they are promoted to be.

After researching bankruptcy, and it sometimes takes a bit of courage to take that step, people facing bankruptcy are often surprised to find that there is life after bankruptcy.

Most didn’t know for example that as a bankrupt, in Australia the minimum amount of their weekly salary or wage that they can keep, in other words it can’t be touched by a creditor or their bankruptcy trustee, is $771 75 per week as at 1st April 2008.

That’s called the theshold Amount. This amount gets adjusted each March and September.

The minimum $758.80 is also net, after tax and after paying child support, if that is applicable. In other words, it’s the bankrupt’s weekly spending money.

That’s also assuming that the bankrupt has no dependants. If there are dependants then the amount is more, there’s a sliding scale. For example, with one dependant the minimum amount of net wage that that a bankrupt can earn and keep is $910.67 cents per week (net don’t forget), and with four dependants it is $1,034.15 (net) per week.

The Australian Government intends that a bankrupt does have the chance to recover, and to have a reasonable amount of retainable income on which to decently live, and to be able to start to recover from whatever went wrong to cause the bankruptcy.

If a bankrupt earns more than the net theshold Amount applicable to them, taking into account the number of dependants that they have, then during the three years of the bankruptcy the bankruptcy trustee can only require the bankrupt to contribute 50% of the net weekly wage that goes over the theshold Amount, to their bankruptcy.

These theshold Amounts and the 50% of the excess requirement only applies for the three year term of the bankruptcy. After that the now ex bankrupt can keep all of their income.

If during the 3 years of their bankruptcy, a bankrupt saves and then buys an asset like a speedboat for example, then the bankruptcy trustee can claim and sell the speedboat because it’s no longer their income that they haven’t yet spent, nor is it the sort of asset that a bankrupt can own in that time.

The bankruptcy trustee cannot claim any savings that the bankrupt generates out of this income, provided the amounts stay in the account that the salary or wage went into on day 1.

Bankrupts need not fear that they will lose many, if any, of their personal possessions either.

As a bankrupt you can retain tools of trade with a second hand value of up to $3,150.

You can keep a vehicle that a dealer would pay you no more than $6,300 if you wanted to sell it to him for cash. If it’s secured by a Bill of Sale, then you can keep it as far as the bankruptcy trustee is concerned, if piece of equity in the car is no more than $6,300.

For income threshold purposes, you can claim a person as a dependant provided their separate net income is no more than $2,834.

So you see, bankruptcy really does allow ordinary people to get out of debt, to get back on their feet, and so be able to get on with their lives.

The forex market operates in a similar way. The forex is simply a place where the currency (money) of one country is exchanged for another.
The main goal in forex trading is also to buy low and sell high. There are simply a few differences between the rules of the stock market and the rules of the forex.
However, I really did lose my entire first forex trading account. Totally. I blew it to bits, and it took me 12 months to achieve sane, profitable trading.
Nowadays, I trade for a living. I’m no Fairy God Trader, but I have been around the block, and I hope that I can help you become the trader that you know you can become.
1. Lack of Planning. This is simply an inability on your part to write a detailed trading plan. If you don’t have a trading plan, then you should stop trading now and write one.
It can be as easy as writing out your current trading strategy, systems, and money management principles (if you are currently trading successfully), and as difficult as starting from scratch (if you’re not).
2. Poor Execution. When you don’t have a trading plan, then you are likely to make bad trades. You’re going to trade on the basis of a spur-of-the-moment decision.
You’re going to trade because you don’t want to miss out. You are going to make trades here and there, possibly lots of trades — and you’ll have no set reason why you did any of it.
3. Escalation and Loss. Bad trades lead to losses. What’s more — many times, when you’ve got a bad trade going, you’re possibly tempted to add to the trade. When you do that, you only escalate the damage.
Some traders believe that when you “average down” a trade, that you don’t need it to turn around as much in order for you to break even or get a small profit. Obviously, this also amplifies the possible loss.
4. Emotion. Last of all, your emotions get the best of you. When you’ve lost again, and you realize that it’s because you didn’t know what you were doing, you get emotional.
And then you jump back into a state of mind that says that you can get the money back, if you only take another trade, and you just double the amount you trade next time.
The journey to the road of successful trading will make you confront your deepest fears. Your armor on this journey will be confidence, knowledge and believing that you can achieve your dreams.
Never, never equate your success or failure in the markets with who you are as a person!

The Forex market is vital to the general prosperity of the free world economy. Why? Some $1.5 trillion dollars worth of international currencies are bought and sold every single trading day.
It is by far the largest traded market in the world. This volume of trade is equivalent to over six months of trading in the New York Stock Exchange, which has an average daily volume of $10 billion dollars.
Even though the major focus in this country in reference to investing has always been and still is the stock and equity markets, the Forex market is 150 times larger than the New York Stock Exchange.
Frankly speaking, I was thinking about an article I read some time ago that 90% of traders who ever trade lose their account and that 10% actually go bankrupt. If the first number doesn’t scare you then the second definitely should.
Why is it then that there is such a large number of traders failing? It is not because they are stupid; in fact most traders have an above average IQ and are above average in most categories such as education and income. So why do they fail?
Lack of trading education!
By education I don’t just mean learning how RSI works or drawing lines on a chart. I mean thoroughly educating yourself in all aspects of your chosen profession. Educating yourself on the correct psychological approach to the market! Educating yourself in the correct risk management techniques relative to your account size. Educating yourself in the correct entry and exit methods for the trading style that suits you.
This, my friend, is where I hope to be of some help. I don’t have all the answers nor do I profess to be some kind of guru but I will do my best to point you in the right direction.
Common Misconceptions Of New Traders
1) They think they can trade consistently with an 80% accuracy.
2) They think they can turn $1000 into $100,000 in six months.
3) They think they can predict turning points in their given markets to within minutes.
4) They think they can buy a system that is 100% accurate.
5) They think they will quit their jobs and make a living full time after a few months of trading.
What’s the reason that so many new traders believe that trading is an easy way to make big profits? Propaganda!
We are continually bombarded in magazines, emails and the general media with claims of making astronomical amounts, just by applying the vendor’s latest method or system.
Don’t get me wrong, there is good stuff out there but the vast majority is not worth the price you pay. So, be careful.