The Breakdown of An Average Student Budget [Infographic]

Planning your next student budget isn't really rocket science. However, it's not quite an easy task too. It's important to consider your room and board, tuition fees, transportation and if you'll need to do some part-time work.

Despite these figures being in the United States, what matters is that it also tackles the same issue of educational budgeting in the United Kingdom.

Currency Manipulation the Biggest Issue in G20 Meeting

A US official attending the G20 Summit of Finance Chiefs in Istanbul warned that some countries are manipulating their currencies to gain a competitive edge. 

According to the US official, they have seen signs that there is currency manipulation happening. He said it was not an abstract possibility but a “real element of the current reality.”

A group of US Lawmakers are expected to unveil legislation on Tuesday aimed to halt the exchange rate manipulation against their trading partners. The legislation will treat currency undervaluation as foreign government subsidies. It would also allow US companies to seek compensatory duties for imported goods.

Senators are urging legislation to crack down currency manipulation completely. They are citing a Peterson Institute study that argues US workers are the ones to pay the price for currency interventions by foreign governments

Meanwhile, US automakers, the United Auto Workers and the AFL-CIO made the issue a top priority. They are expected to lobby against the Obama administration to include currency provisions and they hope to influence legislation to negotiate a free trade deal to get a vote from congress.

Source

Three Ways To Ensure Your Business Funding Doesn’t Go To Waste

You have investors counting on you to make the business succeed. You have enough business experience to know that your business could work. However, regardless how passionate you are about your funding, you might have some flaws perceiving your accumulated experience. Here are three ways to ensure you don’t waste your business funding.

1.    Success Based on Pattern

Most proprietors anticipate success based on historical perception of patterns. This is a false argument. Businesses that use these pattern-based ideas about their businesses anticipate success as if it was scheduled. The reality is that markets move differently as every business is unique.

2.    Best Practices

Best practices are great as starting tools for business methods. But if you couldn’t adapt these best practices and old formulas to boost your business, you’ll find yourself in some serious trouble. The best way to resolve business issues is to ask directly the opinion of complainants, i.e. your customers.

3.    You Aren’t The Target Consumer

Remember, you are providing the service. It doesn’t mean that the customer identity you’ve pegged, which could be based from yourself, is agreeable with the real consumers who would use your products or services. You are providing the service, you are shaping it and it is the business’ responsibility to provide a solution for the consumers, not about the problems you as the proprietor are complaining about as a consumer.

Is Crowdfunding Becoming More Expensive?

For many entrepreneurs and aspiring business owners, crowdfunding by posting their projects in Indiegogo.com or Kickstarter.com had allowed their dream products and services to flourish online. Thousands of campaigns, both silly and truly beneficial, were completed through the help of backers.

The crowdfunding market is now maturing as a stable, income-generating and profit-based platform. This might be why it is becoming more expensive.

1.    The Example

In a close-knit community, a person could write a business or product plan in a sketchbook, notebook or a napkin. Then, they can post the concept online and share it with others, who could then provide feedback or call on potential contributors to help with the design. Today, many entrepreneurs are spending thousands of dollars and their time to create the perfect example, such as a product prototype or a service test case.

2.    Video Production

Gone are the days where you just need your webcam to show people your plan and how you created your prototype. With thousands of campaigns to compete with, you’ll need a video and an idea that stands out. A professionally-produced video campaign for your crowdfunding project could go from £1000 to even £8,000 in worst-case scenarios. Yikes!

3.    Public Relations

Marketing and public relations also help create more noise for your project. You could actually have some marketing professionals plan and create your internet marketing plan for you for a packaged deal of £420 on average. A celebrity tweet to their followers could cost double or triple this amount. However, this is all about the noise right?

So, is crowdfunding becoming more expensive? I still believe so.

Three Ways Businesses Could Make The Most Out Of Black Friday Sales

Big businesses could often overshadow online retailers and small businesses during Black Friday despite huge drops in prices due to the lack of presence in different fields. However, these small businesses have edges that large businesses do not. Here are three ways they could make the most out of yearly Black Fridays.

1.    Reliable Customer Service

Customers would love it if their packages are sent and are guaranteed arrival. Small businesses could temporarily create a tie-up with a courier service, which may include an added fee for prioritisation. However, think of it as an investment for the many profits and conversions you could create from the venture.

2.    Targeted PPC Campaigns

A well-targeted PPC campaign could be expensive but effective. Creating customised PPC campaigns require expensive keywords even if they run in niche categories. However, you could target people depending on other factors, such as social climate, environmental or weather conditions and other keywords, to increase your business presence.

            3.  Create Your Own Effective Customer List

If you have an existing mailing list, encourage them to improve their reach by inviting people to shop with them. Using group vouchers encourages such behaviour. Timed deals during Black Fridays, with increasing discounts for groups, are a great way to increase your market presence as well.

The ISA Vs. Your Pensions, Which Should You Get?

I’ve been thinking a lot about how a higher-rate taxpayer like me often gets the short-end of the stick. I’ve been investing on Cash Isas to ensure my pensions would go to my children and wife without much trouble, but then again I am faced with the dilemma after the UK government has decided to abolish the death tax overall.

Death tax is when the government gets a large cut over our pensions, a very big problem because we want our inheritors to actually get the entire pension benefits for themselves. The abolition of the death tax is a relief because it guarantees a 25% tax-free lump sum without any reductions to the pensions upon death.

Now that I’ve invested in a Cash Isa, I would consider having a pension now because now, I could withdraw before I reach 55 years old without any reductions. For Cash Isas, I would be getting tax free savings below £15,000. For pensions, I get everything tax free too.

It’s pretty hard to decide, but whichever works for me is the pensions because I can wait until I’m 55. For my Isa, as long as the Inheritance Tax does not interfere with the amount I save, I would definitely stay with it.