How Do I Calculate Finance Charges?

By Peter Kenny -

Having some knowledge of how to calculate finance charges is always a good thing. Most lenders, as you know, will do this for you, but it can helpful to be able to check the math yourself. It is important, however, to understand that what is presented here is a basic procedure for calculating finance charges and your lender may be using a more complicated method. There may also be other issues attached with your loan which may affect the charges.

The first thing to understand is that there are two basic parts to a loan. The first issue is called the principal. This is the amount of money that is borrowed. The lender wants to make a profit for his services (lending you the money) and this is called interest. There are many types of interest from simple to variable. This article will examine simple interest calculations.

In simple interest deals, the amount of the interest (expressed as a percentage) does not change over the life of the loan. This is often called flat rate or fixed interest.

The simple interest formula is as follows:

Interest = Principal × Rate × Time

Interest is the total amount of interest paid.

Principal is the amount lent or borrowed.

Rate is the percentage of the principal charged as interest each year.

To do your math, the rate must be expressed as a decimal, so percentages must be divided by 100. For example, if the rate is 18%, then use 18/100 or 0.18 in the formula.

Time is the time in years of the loan.

The simple interest formula is often abbreviated:

I = P R T

Simple interest math problems can be used for borrowing or for lending. The same formulas are used in both cases.

When money is borrowed, the total amount to be paid back equals the principal borrowed plus the interest charge:

Total repayments = principal + interest

Usually the money is paid back in regular installments, either monthly or weekly. To calculate the regular payment amount, you divide the total amount to be repaid by the number of months (or weeks) of the loan.

To convert the loan period, 'T', from years to months, you multiply it by 12. To convert 'T' to weeks, you multiply by 52, since there are 52 weeks in a year.

Here is an example problem to illustrate how this works.

Example:

A single mother purchases a used car by obtaining a simple interest loan. The car costs $1500, and the interest rate that she is being charged on the loan is 12%. The car loan is to be paid back in weekly installments over a period of 2 years. Here is how you answer these questions:

1. What is the amount of interest paid over the 2 years?

2. What is the total amount to be paid back?

3. What is the weekly payment amount?

You were given: principal: 'P' = $1500, interest rate: 'R' = 12% = 0.12, repayment time: 'T' = 2 years.

Step 1: Find the amount of interest paid.

Interest: 'I' = PRT

= 1500 × 0.12 × 2

= $360

Step 2: Find the total amount to be paid back.

Total repayments = principal + interest

= $1500 + $360

= $1860


Step 3: Calculate the weekly payment amount.

Weekly payment amount = total repayments divided by loan period, T, in weeks. In this case, $1860 divided by 104 weeks equals $17.88 per week.

Calculating simple finance charges is easy once you have done some practice with the formulas.

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Peter Kenny is a writer for The Thrifty Scot, please visit us at Unsecured Loans and Bank Charges.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/finance-articles/how-do-i-calculate-finance-charges-218237.html

To Prevent Snoring Try These 3 Simple Tips

By Jon Cielo -

Sleep snoring has been the cause of breakups as well as bad health problems. So you need to take it seriously, it isn't funny, neither for the snorer nor the sleeping partner. To reduce the risk to your health and your relationship you really do need to prevent your snoring. Here you'll discover 3 simple ways to stop snoring at night.

All around the world people struggle trying to cure their snore. On the other hand, some just soldier on unaware that it is a serious problem. But, you know, there's no need to suffer like that. There are many ways to prevent snoring, including home remedies and anti snoring aids. And you don't have to look far to find stop snoring aids that can help. You can get these at the pharmacy or even online.

But there are things you can do even before you go that route. Some simple changes in your routine could help to prevent snoring at night. Here are 3 simple tips to prevent snoring:-

1. Sleep on Your Side

Since snoring is more common in 'back sleepers' it makes sense to try to change to your side. Of course it's hard to do this without help, so you can attach a simple tennis ball to the back of your pajamas to force you onto your side whenever you turn onto your back whilst asleep. You can also buy such aids.


2. No Meals Before Bed

When you have a full stomach the undigested food puts a whole lot of pressure on your diaphragm which helps to restrict your air passageways. This can help to cause snoring. And as it takes several hours to digest food, your last meal should be at least 3 to 3 1/2 hours before bed. The longer the better.

3. No Alcohol Before Bed Either

This is a well-known trigger for snoring as alcohol eventually acts as a depressant. When asleep, under it's influence, your muscles in and around your throat relax even more so that the soft tissue in your airways can move into them, constricting them enough to cause snoring. So, no alcohol within say, 4 hours of going to bed.

There are tons of other things you can do to prevent snoring such as special exercises, herbal remedies, plus, as I said at the start, there are special anti snoring aids like snore pillows, snoring mouthpieces, chin straps, nasal strips, etc. As a last resort of course you have surgery, but this really is just a last resort.


To discover more about how to prevent snoring please now go to www.howtostopsnoringatnight.info and get the facts.
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Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/sleep-articles/to-prevent-snoring-try-these-3-simple-tips-3689981.html

Daily Inspiration - November 18, 2010

By Terry Minion -

"In the measurement world, we set a goal and strive to achieve it. In the universe of possibility, we set the context and let life unfold."

-- B Zander


"There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all."

-- Peter Drucker


"None of our men are "experts." We have most unfortunately found it necessary to get rid of a man as soon as he thinks himself an expert because no one ever considers himself expert if he really knows his job.

A man who knows a job sees so much more to be done than he has done, that he is always pressing forward and never gives up an instant of thought to how good and how efficient he is. Thinking always ahead, thinking always of trying to do more, brings a state of mind in which nothing is impossible.

The moment one gets into the "expert" state of mind, a great number of things become impossible."

-- Henry Ford

Today is the final piece from the talk several days ago. Yesterday I discussed goals and how I've changed my thinking about goals dramatically. Today, I promised to expand on that and how to work with this new type of "goal."

First off, I don't think much of goals any more. I don't think they are motivators and I know that so many people think they are. It's okay to disagree. As I said, I've set hundreds, maybe thousands of goals over the years for myself and teams I've worked with. I've met a lot of goals, even exceeded some, and missed a much larger percentage of them.

Missing the goal is always a downer--and the closer you get to a goal and miss it, the worse that feels. I'll never forget missing a wonderful trip to Japan by missing the sale of two trucks. The goal was 50, and our team hit 48. Of course, 48 was a stupendous achievement considering, but it didn't help much. This is what I mean about goals not helping. The next time they come up, people are less interested, not more interested.

They've gone from a picture on the horizon to an expectation of achievement and a methodology of sorting the herd. I could go on and on with what I've studied and learned and experimented about goals, but suffice to say, I am not longer a fan of typical goals, and especially numeric goals.

One of the world's most celebrated management experts, W. Edwards Deming published his 14 points. It was designed for manufacturing and he was instrumental in helping Japan become a world economic power, but I think they make sense for sales teams, and any business really. In point number 10, he states, "Eliminate slogans, exhortations and targets for the work force." Point number 11 states, "Eliminate numerical quotas."

What you say? Eliminate numerical quotas in manufacturing? Yes. If they can be eliminated there to the benefit of the production, they can easily be eliminated in most other places. Besides, in my own experience, they are not helpful to say it mildly.

So, what to do? I said yesterday that I have now only one goal: to feel good. I am a joy seeker. What brings me joy? A sense of purpose is one, excellence is an other, innovation gets me giddy, laughter softens the sharp edges, effective leadership inspires me, mutual respect is a delight, I am ecstatic with encouragement, excited in enthusiasm, and serving the customer is my mantra.

All of these things are joy creators and all of these things will move the needle whereas numeric goals will not. In fact, numerical quotas are a joke compared to these other qualities, which are business builders. Henry Ford said it well twice: "A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business." and "A business absolutely devoted to service will have only one worry about profits. They will be embarrassingly large."

Deming suggested a few other ways in his points to help this change to success happen: Point number 1: "Create constancy of purpose for the improvement of product and service. and Point number 3: "Cease dependence on mass inspection." and Point number 5: "Improve constantly and forever the system of production and service." and Point number 7: "Institute leadership." and Point number 8: "Drive out fear." along with Point number 9: "Breakdown barriers between staff areas." and the last one I want to mention here: "Remove barriers to pride of workmanship." This last one speaks strongly to feeling good, as do the others.

As people feel good about what they do, where they do it, how they do it, the results of what they do cannot do anything but improve. That, after all, is the whole idea behind goals, isn't it? But, we cannot wait for our bosses, supervisors, spouses or whomever is on the outside of us to get around to learning this, so we do have the power to create all of this ourselves until they finally get it. We need to find ways to feel good ourselves first. The rest will come, or not, and it won't matter for we will have already made it.

Building a Better U - Facebook Etiquette

Are you one of those folks who put people's personal business on their Facebook wall? Do you tag folks in photos when they are looking all tore up? Are the only messages, notes or posts you put on Facebook focussed on promoting yourself and your newest business venture? If any of these descriptions fit you, then you need to listen in as we discuss the do's and don'ts of healthy Facebook interactions.

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Join Craig DeLuz for Building a Better U (BABU) Radio, where he provides advice to help you address the issues and challenges you face in everyday life. Family, Relationships, Business Health... you name it. Call in to our live show at (347) 826-9116 or email us at craig@usmediagroup.net and we will answer your questions live on the show.


Building a Better U - Facebook Etiquette