It is now cheaper to keep her. Divorce rates hit all time low.

By Mike Mastracci

During these tough economic times many families that struggle to make it on dual incomes cannot afford to go it solo. The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers has recently reported a sharp decline in divorce filings across the United States. Divorce rates have hit an all time low -- it is now cheaper to keep her.

Divorce rates have hit an all time low. It is now cheaper to keep her. During these tough economic times many families that struggle to make it on dual incomes cannot afford to go it solo. The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers has recently reported a sharp decline in divorce filings across the United States.

During these tough economic times many families that struggle to make it on dual incomes cannot afford to go it solo. The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers has recently reported a sharp decline in divorce filings across the United States. Divorce rates have hit an all time low -- it is now cheaper to keep her.

Family law attorneys cite the poor economy as the number one reason that couples are staying together when they would otherwise likely divorce. This makes for a lot of unhappy households but at least a whole lot more children are not caught in the middle of their parents' divorce proceedings

With family law attorney's fees hovering around three hundred dollars per hour in many areas there is simply not enough money to sustain protracted litigation. Maybe some of those folks should invest in marriage counseling and work to improve their respective interpersonal communication skills. It is much cheaper and probably money spent more wisely.

So, while economics may make it cheaper to keep her these days, this economy may help make families stronger in some respects. Couples need to pull together in times of crisis and it appears we are in crisis mode.

Please do not be offended by the "cheaper to keep her" line. It rhymes and I can't think of a male version that is as catchy. If you can, please stop by www.DivorceWithoutDishonor.com and post a comment.

About the Author:

Before hiring that pitbull divoce lawyer or heading to the court house you should visit www.DivorceWithoutDishonor.com where you can find valuable information and resources that can help improve the quality of your life and the lives of your children. Get your free 11 page eBrief on Collaborative Family Law Solutions and Divorce Tips

Getting Deals On Laptop PCs That You Cannot Pass Up

By Chris Channing

Spending tons on a laptop pc is not recommended unless you are saving tons in the first place. Taking hold of your impulsive tendencies may get you a better deal in the long run. You can save a whole lot by waiting for the right moment that you can later use towards rewarding yourself. The savings are even greater when you wait for the holiday seasons when prices plummet.

Dell laptops are a very popular brand of easily customizable notebook pc. You can look online through many retailers to find varying prices on Dell laptops. You can find Dells in almost every retailer outlet nowadays. This can be a double edged sword as you can get the same computer for different prices in different stores.

You do not have to be a rocket scientist to know that spending too much on electronics is crazy. Waiting until the holiday season will grant you access to many different laptop pc deals. Many laptops are set to clearance because stores need to make room for newer laptops in stock.

Many retailers have special rewards programs that earn you points when you make a purchase on their sites or even through their physical locations. You can get a great deal of extras when joining one of these types of programs. You can even get gift cards or coupons to severely reduce the total amount of your order or cart online and offline.

Looking around on auction websites can yield many different findings. If you are quick enough, you can get deals on laptops that may sound surreal. Laptop computing at low cost always equals a great deal. You may find yourself in a bid war, so never spend more than you would at the store for a laptop pc on an auction site. Make sure to take shipping costs into consideration.

Many holiday seasons bring a world of savings to you. You can get great deals around the fall and winter holiday season, especially during the end of fall because a lot of physical locations as well as online sites offer special Black Friday savings. These people will want to take stuff off your hands literally.

Closing Comments

You can get the best deals around when shopping around the holiday seasons. Making sure to make the most out of available coupons and programs can get you some deals that may seem too good to be true.

About the Author:

Learn more on Computer Deals Australia and Dell Computers Australia.

Get Home Loans In South Africa

By Susan Renolds

Move away form all stressfulness and mishaps that most homeowners go through when buying a home by learning options and fees for home loans.

First-time buyer home loans: Designed for people who have never financed the purchase of property before, this option allows qualified borrowers to finance more than 100% of the property value. The goal is to make it easier for new buyers to enter the market by wrapping some of the costs of a loan into the loan amount. In addition, there is no deposit requirement for first-time buyer home loans.

Fixed home loans have their own advantages and disadvantages. They have a fixed interest rate, generally for a period of one to two years. Though the fixed loan's interest rate is marginally higher than the current prime lending rate, it proves to be beneficial by protecting the home owners from the rising interest rates. On the other side, if the interest rates decline, the rate and payment will not be adjusted.

Variable home loans: This type of loan begins with one interest rate, agreed upon between you and your lender. Then, if the prime interest rate increases or decreases, the interest rate on your loan will adjust accordingly. Obviously, this option is best in a declining interest rate environment.

Capped home loans: Buyers will only be able to receive the benefits of both the variable and fixed home loans, who meet the required qualification. Use this option caps to negotiate rate for a fixed period of time. you can also take advantage of decreasing interest rates which also safeguards you against raising interest rates. confirm if you can avail this option from your bank.

You should also take into consideration the costs of getting a home loan when you enter the market. Most buyers are not familiar with these costs and are often surprised to see how much they add up.

A minimum deposit amount should be paid to the lender if you are not a first-time buyer to apply for a home loan. The deposit amount is generally 20%, but it can also vary depending on the value of the property for which you are applying a home loan.

Dictated by the Law Society, transfer and registration fees go to the attorneys registering property and the mortgage bond on that property. More expensive properties earn higher fees, also known as conveyancing fees.

Deeds Office levies and fees: It is the responsibility of the deeds office to register ownership and other rights associated with immovable property. The Department of Land Affairs oversees the responsibilities of this government office.

Rates and taxes: Before property can be transferred to your name, the rates due on the property must be paid in full for the financial year. As a buyer you will be responsible for a pro rated amount for the part of the year you will occupy the property. You will also be charged for a rates clearance fee certificate.

Be sure to calculate your moving costs, water, electrical and other household costs as you budget for your installments. And don't forget the costs of property and life insurance that also add to the overall costs of owning a home.

About the Author:

Tom Martens is the marketing director for Homeloans-southafrica.co.za. South Arica's leading Home-loans portal

Be Sure To Get The Best Debt Consolidation

By Bob Hobson

"To be or not to be" may have been the question is Shakespears day but today the more relevant question for millions is "to consolidate or not to consolidate". Many people have insurmountable mounds of bills and loan payments, with little prospect of ever seeing an end to their debt absent some drastic change in the situation. A consolidation of debt and loans can be one of the few realistic options available.

If being over your head in debt is the situation you find yourself in haste is not your friend. It is important that you clearly understand what you are taking on by consolidating your debt.

And although it is quite simple really, and takes only a little bit of your time to find out how to consolidate debt, and about the firms that will consolidate debt, some people give in to the pressures surrounding them and make one bad decision after another regarding their debt problems.

It is at this poing that you need to stop, take a deep breath, sit back and look at your problems head on. If you have gotten to the point where you are considering consolidate your debt, then you need take a good hard look at what you are facing.

Debt consolidation can help consolidate all your bills into one and reduce monthly payments. This can offer help to those who have too many monthly credit card bills to pay, or who cannot afford their current payments.

Once you have carefully researched the specifics, you will find that you will do well to consolidate debt and loan problems.

So, make sure that you don't finally end up with a higher interest loan from the debt consolidation companies than you need, and make sure that you don't get a secured loan from them to cover your unsecured loans.

You should always find out about all your available options before making a crucial decision. Especially when it comes to getting out of debts and if you are not sure if you should consolidate it or not.

About the Author:

If you are looking forfree debt help you will discover it at LivingOutOfDebt.com. Before you consolidate loans or credit card debt it is important to get reliable information about your options, so visit today.

Interest Rate Cut - Good or Bad for customers

By Chris Clare

As the credit crisis deepens and more people are feeling the real impact as credit becomes more difficult to obtain, the focus on interest rates has never been greater. 12 months ago, only those connected to the financial services industry were aware of LIBOR and its importance in the marketplace. Today LIBOR is discussed in living rooms and pubs throughout the country with many of these discussions fueled by news reports on television.

As a nation, we are now all aware that LIBOR, or the London Inter Bank Offered Rate, is the rate at which banks borrow from one another, and is therefore a benchmark for how the lending markets worldwide should react.

The British Banking Association (BBA) takes the inter-bank borrowing rates from 16 contributor panel banks and looks at the middle eight of these rates (discarding the top and bottom four) and uses these to calculate an average, which then becomes that day's BBA LIBOR rate.

Over the last twelve months the difference between the LIBOR rate and the Bank of England base rate has been substantial and it has also been acknowledged that the period of this variation is also longer than ever before. There has recently been a drop in the rate with a 1.065 percentage reduction on Friday 7th November giving a rate of 4.496% (its lowest point since April 2004), reflecting a slashing of the interest rate by 1.5% to 3% by the Bank of England. The pressure has been put on the financial institutions to pass this on to the general public, not only by the government, but also by the media. With this in mind, many of the leading banks are following the Bank of England's lead.

In clamoring for reductions to be passed on there are a number of factors that appear to have not been taken in to consideration;

Now, as I have said, the drop in the interest rate would seem to be welcome news for all concerned. But it pays to look at this from the banks point of view. If they pass on the rate drop and it applies to someone who is in payment arrears then this could be detrimental for both the customer and the bank. For example say you have a customer who has monthly payments of 350 and is in arrears of 300 would not necessarily be perceived as a risk. Now say the rate is passed on and his monthly payment drops to 280. This means that the customer is more than one month in arrears. This creates a domino effect because with each passing month the debt is not being cleared and more is being owed. It soon gets to the stage where this will be seen as a bad debt and put in the hands of solicitors for collection. Not a good position to be in.

Banks who wish to lend to other banks at the LIBOR rate will be looking at the performance of the borrowing bank's mortgage book. This will inevitably have slipped with the decrease in rates, and will of course only slip further as more cuts happen in the future. As a result, banks will become more unwilling to lend out as the possible risk of lending increases, which will in turn be detrimental to the LIBOR rate.

This is however not the only form of funding. Banks fund loans and mortgages from retail deposits and the income derived from their existing loan book. Those banks that have continued to trade in recent months have managed to do so essentially on the back of retail funding, and the drive for investment business has been as aggressive as it was for mortgage business in recent years.

The drop in rates will mean that the income derived from borrowers will plummet, although banks will continue to grapple for investment business. Therefore the bank's profits will droop and their recovery will be made slower. As the banks fight for investment, the rates drop even below the LIBOR rate, meaning that the only way for banks to get liquid funds is through retail business. In that respect, LIBOR must then drop far enough to be attractive to banks in comparison with the cost of getting in retail business.

To summarise, there is little doubt that the government's actions have boosted confidence levels and created a positive impact on the money market. However there is still a long way to go, and many more challenges to overcome, and the cash injection and reduction in interest rates, although remedial, will still have a few nasty side effects. The irony is, as this article is written, LIBOR has gone back up to 5.65%, so who knows what to expect!

About the Author:

Advice on mortgages from specialist Independent Mortgage Advisors help information and free to use mortgage calculators come to Mortgage Route

?Foreclosure Auctions: A Bargain Hunter's Dream

By Michael Geoffrey

Buying a home at a foreclosure auction could be perfect for you if you are interested in purchasing a home for the lowest price possible. The courts will determine the price of foreclosure homes, which is most commonly below the market valued price of the home. If the lending agency that forecloses on the home requests that they do so, the court can use three different appraisals to determine the value of foreclosed property. These appraisals can be appealed by the lender, however.

For several weeks before the foreclosure auction is held, advertisements will be published. Remember that in the majority of states the house must sell for at least two thirds of the appraised value it was given. You should also keep in mind that there are not usually a lot of people trying to find inexpensive homes at foreclosure auctions.

Foreclosure auctions tend to be very simple events and the only people in attendance are often the lender who started the foreclosure process and one or two people who are thinking about buying the property. A foreclosure auction where lots of people attend and more than two or three separate bids are made would be a rare occurrence.

Getting Ready to Purchase a Foreclosure Home

The person who wins the bid on a foreclosure home is expected to present 10% of the price that was bid when the auction is over with. That payment can be made by cash, money order, or a certified cashier's check.

Personal checks as well as credit cards are not usually accepted at these auctions. If the winning bidder is unable to produce the required down payment, foreclosure auctions will usually resell the house right then.

Winning bidders are responsible for obtaining mortgage loans for the balance of the foreclosure auctions' price within an established time limit, normally 30 days, and if unable to find appropriate funding, will lose not only their right to buy the house, but also the 10 percent deposit they put down on the house. Most people to buy a house through foreclosure auctions will have their financing in place before placing a bid.

If a home is auctioned a second time due to the winner's inability to secure funding, if it sells for less than the first auction, the first auction winner may be responsible for the difference, as well as losing their 10 percent deposit. It is important to remember that sales through foreclosure auctions are final and the winning bid is considered a contract, promising to make the purchase.

About the Author:

Know how credit card reduction services can affect your credit score? There are some things you need to know before using these debt reduction services. Get the inside scoop on what you need to know on the Debt Smackdown website

Qualifying for a Reverse Mortgage

By Leon J. Thorson

There is no reason that hard working citizens should have to put their bills before their health care. No one should have to choose groceries or prescription, and yet that is a situation many of our seniors find themselves in. It doesn't have to be this way.

Many seniors have started to tap into the equity they have built throughout the course of their life. Many seniors have decided to take out a reverse mortgage. You may be thinking you don't qualify or that it is a complex process. Rest assured, it is a process that will have you breathing a sigh of relief and it is far easier to qualify than most people think.

The requirements are:

Age 62 or older

You must be a homeowner.

You must have equity in your home.

Once you qualify, know that you are still responsible for your home. You must still maintain the residence. You also need to make sure you continue with your homeowners insurance and pay your property taxes.

Though a reverse mortgage has amazing benefits for those who qualify, it is not for everyone. A reverse mortgage is not for those who have properties in disrepair, as they are inspected to meet certain government and regulatory standards. A reverse mortgage is also not for those individuals hoping to sell or refinance their property in the next few years.

About the Author:

A MN Reverse Mortgage could possibly be a fiscal life saver for either you or someone you care about. To learn more about if a Reverse Mortgage in MN is a good option for you call Mike Kraus at (763) 355-8540.