Mortgage LowDown - News, Tips and Resources

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If only I had read this very useful list of 43 Must-Know Tips (and Resources) for Every First-time Home Buyer when my husband and I where searching for our first home. There is much to be said for being prepared and having an understanding of what you are venturing into.

It seems many of us just expect the realtor to tell us what we should and should not do. People will take more time into finding the right digital camera that only costs a few hundreds dollars but when it comes to buying a home that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars we are not nearly as in control. Why is this?

It could be that we are overwhelmed with the realtor and mortgage jargon that it is easier to take the back seat and let those with the ‘knowledge’ plan how we are going to live the next 30 years??? Let’s stop having a passive control of our finances and step into the drivers seat.

There is no excuse for not being educated these days. The Internet net has a wealth of information that we can access instantly. MortgageLowDown.com.com is one of those free resources that will educate you on all things related to home buying. As mention before the information available in the 43 Must-Know Tips (and Resources) for Every First-time Home Buyer would have been very helpful to us before we bought our first home. The first 3 tips in the section titled ‘Plan of Action’ would have been extremely helpful. I have listed the first three tips below. I’ll give an ‘amen’ to number one.

1. First things first – You need a budget if you ever hope to save for that home you want to own

The media, along with the illusion of abundance created by our credit cards have led to a culture where impulsive spending has become the norm. We don’t think twice about picking up that fancy outfit or those cool shades. And of course we have to have those latest CDs and DVDs. And we end up losing out on the opportunity to save for things that are really important – such as saving for that home we want to own.

2. Educate Yourself – Knowledge is Power

Use resources such as the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) first time home buyer programs. “These programs are designed to help first time home buyers weigh the benefits of renting vs. buying. The programs teach first time home buyers about the different mortgage programs that are available, the value of a home inspection, and what to expect at closing, including calculating your closing costs.”

3. Know Your Rights

As a home buyer, and as a mortgage borrower, you have certain rights – don’t let anyone intimidate you into believing otherwise. “You have the RIGHT to know the reason if your loan was turned down.” Read the complete list.

You hear me stress a lot on this site about ‘taking control and change the way you handle your money’ well for all you potential homebuyers remember this means you too. Don’t let your self be strapped to a mortgage your couldn’t afford because you didn’t plan ahead. A place to start - Mortgage LowDown - offering useful home buying and mortgage news . Just be sure you educate yourself before buying your next home.

March 28, 2007 | Filed Under Home Buying, Paying The Bills- Sponsored Ads | 2 Comments 

What Does Good Content Do For Your Blog?

What does good content really do for your blog? I will try not to make this post a ‘bragging’ post but I feel it’s important that readers understand what I have learned over the past year about blog content.

When I first started blogging I was motivated by making money. Our family was at a finanical low and I really needed to find a way to help. So when I was introduced to paid blogging it was a true blessing. But I have to say my blogging was not something to be desired. Ocassionally I would have a good post but for the most part it I was just not writing for readers.

The first blogs I started didn’t really have readers and I wasn’t surprised by it. When PayPerPost started talking about segmentation and ratings I got a bit worried. It also motivated me to create better blogs with good content. I started my new blogs by thinking about what my interests were.

The idea for Time To Budget came about because my husband and I are ’slaves to debt’ and I want to express my frustrations, share my advice, tell the world about Dave Ramsey (he is awesomes) and give people a place to find ways to make money online (making money is a huge part of getting out of debt).

My Horse Approved blog was a great way for me to share my passion  for horses with others. The horse community is a little behind when it comes to blogging so it’s been fun to get all us horse lover’s together.

So what does this all have to do with content? When I created blogs about topics that I had an interest in then good content easily followed. This is not to say that I am a literary genious genius (see what I mean) or that I should win awards for my writing abilities . However, most people can see that I have a passion for what I write about. I am also comforted by the fact that the actual information is more important than my writing abilities.

A passion for a topic is of course is not the only way to attract readers. A topic that interests many has a much better chance. Being broke, finding hope, and making money are topics that seem to attract readers. Time To Budget is 3 months old and I have done very little advertise but people seem to find this blog anyway. I believe this is because I try to offer good content that interests many. Good content doesn’t have to change with sponsored blogging either.

A few bloggers have featured Time To Budget (MartyBlogs was too kind) on their blog and I never had to ask or begged. This blog has been added to blogrolls without asking as well. I do realize that this is not totally unheard of but I have to say I never got one person contacting me about my others blogs that didn’t have good content.

If you think about it, what blogs do you include in your posts? Most of us write about blogs that we enjoy reading or have found useful information from.  So I think you get the idea. Good content is good for your blog.

March 27, 2007 | Filed Under Blogging Tips | Leave a Comment 

Blogging Handicaps

What is a Blogging Handicap? Well, it’s a term I just made up (I think) to describe all of the things that prevent me from being able to blog more. It’s not like I want to spend all of my day blogging but I just wish I had more time. Especially since I really need to earn more money to help provide for my family andget us out of debt.

So what are my Blogging Handicaps?

1. I have dial-up Internet. It’s takes my 2 or 3 times longer to do things on the net than people with highspeed. I ocassionally get to use highspeed but not on a daily basis.

2. I am a stay-at-home mom so much of my day is doing things for my family. Those husband out their that think your wives don’t work need to wake up - housework, caring for the kids, driving the kids - is work. I love my kids and house so don’t think I am complaining.

3. On top of my daily household chores and caring for children I also homeschool my children. This is a choice I made and I am happy with the decision but it is time consuming.

4. I think too much. I am not sure this is a handicap but sometimes it feels like it. If I got paid for how much time I thought about blogging I would be rich.

5. I have limited amount of money to invest in my blogging efforts. By that I mean if I had the money I would probably buy Adwords or use paid blogging to increase traffic and pagerank. Since I don’t have extra money to do this I have to build my blogs the slow way. Oh well, at least I can do it for almost free - the Internet is great that way.

 

So these are five of my biggest blogging handicaps. Some may not view these as handicaps but they are to me. These are things in my life that keep me from working. I am however not going to let these handicaps keep me from ‘winning the race’ toward financial freedom.

Post your top blogging handicaps on your blog and link back to this post and I will feature your post on Time To Budget. I am interest to see what other bloggers feel are handicaps. Some of you may have actual physical handicaps and emotional handicaps. Whether you have physical, emotional or time restraints let’s here about it.  

March 26, 2007 | Filed Under Just Whatever | Leave a Comment 

How Much Money Have I Earned From PayPerPost?

budget moneyWhen I was first introduced to PayPerPost I couldn’t believe someone was going to pay me to blog about my opinion. Back then offers were as low as $2.50. At that time I was happy to get any money and $2.50 was good for me. Now that I have been blogging for a while I know my time is worth a lot more than $2.50 so even if they had offers like that still I wouldn’t take them.

There has been a lot of controversy regarding paid blogging. When PayPerPost first started they didn’t require bloggers to disclose that they were getting paid to blog. It is now a requirement to disclose on the posts and/or have a disclosure policy visibly on the blog. The decision to require disclosure seems to have been a good choice because since then there are better offers to choose from.

In my opinion paid blogging is here to stay and those that have a problem with it will (probably) eventually come around. Since I started with PPP (July of 2006) I have earned a total of $2,180. I would have made more but I had taken some time off from the paid blogging scene to focus on building better blogs. The top earner at PPP is Colleen (PPP Poster Girl) and she is up to $8,517. The income potential is much higher for those that have higher pagerank and traffic.

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PayPerPost implemented segmentation a few months ago which basically means that bloggers can only take offers that fit certain requirements the advertiser want. Since segmentation there have been higher offers for those with higher pagerank. But the average offer is about $8-$10. Right now with a pagerank of at least 3 you could make $20 - $30 a day with one blog.

Most of my earning from PayPerPost as well as the other paid blogging companies I have been working with have gone to bills. My hope is to get a good schedule set for myself so I can once again take offers once a day. Right now I average about one or two offers a week. Of course I only take offers that interest me and that I can some how fit into the topic of this blog and others.

March 25, 2007 | Filed Under Making More Money, Paying The Bills- Sponsored Ads | 2 Comments 

Pro-Blogging Dreams

At what point is someone a pro-blogger? I have been wondering about this lately. I don’t think I have pro-blogging status right now but what point will it change? Is pro status a certain amount of money earned or is it the ability to live off of the income? And how does that work with a stay-at-home/work-at-home mom? Do I have to be making enough for my husband to quit his job?

So far I have made over $3,000 (US) blogging since I started in July of last year. Not a huge amount but more than the average blogger has earned. Could pro-blogging status be an individuals earning goal? Because if I made $10,000 a year blogging I would be happy.

Maybe I should just start calling myself a pro-blogger and people will start believing it :).

March 24, 2007 | Filed Under Just Whatever | 2 Comments 

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