Work Less and Travel More

For any number of reasons people, and perhaps yourself, believe international travel is expensive. This is a common misconception. Never forget, travel can be as cheap or as expensive as you want to make it. The cheaper you make it the longer you can stay away. Cheap doesn’t have to mean nasty and constantly skimping on things, another misconception.Pause for a moment and conjure up images in your mind of where in the world would you rather be right now. Then think to yourself what is stopping you from going there. At this point most people will say money, money is stopping me, not having enough, bills to pay, etc. What is really stopping you is you. Your decisions or your excuses.Excuses are the primary reason none of us achieve what we are capable of.Sure you can’t just up and go right now because of money, bills and commitments you may have but if you start planning now, re adjusting your priorities, habits, spending now and make a commitment to yourself, your dreams can and will become reality. Just set a date say twelve months from now and draw up a simple plan that will guide you financially and that will help you to remain focused upon your goal. Planning and sticking to the plan is the key. So many people don’t do this, then they wonder why or make excuses as why they failed. Without sticking to a plan you will lose your way, your focus will slip as will your savings and your dream to travel will remain exactly that.The following is a quick outline of some travel tips on how you may structure your plan.Take control of your spending – Sounds obvious enough, but how? Work out exactly how much you spend on everything, rent, bills, food, insurances etc. Hopefully it is less than you earn for the remainder you must put aside for your trip.Now that you know where all your money is going (sometimes this can be a shock) it’s time to see where you can make some spending adjustments that won’t impact too much on your life style. In other words stop buying crap you don’t really need to get by like new cloths, DVDs, computer games, TV’s or whatever. Remember the more you save now, the more you will have for travelling which means you can stay away longer or live it up more when on the road.You must make your upcoming travels your priority. Until you do, you won’t save enough, you won’t make the necessary adjustments to your spending, and you won’t make it to the airport. Make it a priority, because like I said your travels will open your eyes and change your life.Set a date and stick to it – Again obvious enough but many people make their goals a moving target then wonder why they don’t reach them. Fix a date that will be appropriate to your financial situation and then stick to it. Write it down and stick it on your fridge or something. This way you see it every day and in turn helps to keep you motivated and focused.Don’t leave it to the last minute to book your flight. The longer you leave it the more expensive it will get. If you can, book at least six to eight months out from your set date of departure.Make a list of things you must do before departure – By this I mean financial cut backs you can make, bills that will need to be paid up and maybe even closed depending on how long you intend to travel. Mail redirects, notify bank of your travel plans, copy your travel documents etc (these things are covered later)Make a list of things to buy/pack – Obvious this one I know though a good packing list will prevent you from loading yourself up with stuff you don’t need or maybe only use once. The lighter you travel the easier it will be. Revise this packing list so as you can cut back to the bare essentials. Think of the part of the world you are visiting and then pack accordingly. Common sense should tell you what to pack and what not to.Begin planning your trip – Write out a list of places/countries you must see, must do experiences and how much time roughly to spend at each. A short term traveller will likely plan out the entire trip to the day and pre book. A long term backpacker will not need to be so exact with their travel plans as time is not such an issue and their travels will generally evolve as they go.Stay focused – Read up about your destination. Not only does this give you some vital information it will also help keep you focused and excited about your upcoming adventure and do not leave buying all your travel gear till the last minute. Not only could you forget something, though you should not if you made a list, actually seeing your new travel gear building up gets you pumped up for hitting the road, which in turn helps keep you focused and on target.The hardest part is often making the decision to jet off on a long overseas adventure, the second hardest part is keeping your resolve, sticking to the plan, being strict on yourself with your spending, doing the extra overtime (if available) for the extra holiday money and possibly as it was for me, throwing in a well paid job that I actually did not mind doing. But guess what… it was worth it. That seven months of travel changed my life and to top it off within a week of my return home to Australia I got my old job back and so I started saving all over again.Most decisions have their risks attached to them. They seem daunting to begin with and they feed your doubts, though never let the concerns of money stop you from either going or worry about not having much, if any cash left after when you get back for it is your travels that lay before you, here and now that matter and who knows what opportunities await you both on your travels and beyond all thanks to taking a risk and embarking on an awesome holiday.Remember, the biggest risk in life is not taking a risk.The following would have to be one of my favourite travel related quotes:A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step – ConfuciusI look forward to sharing more travel tips with you in future articles

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Need Auto Insurance? Find Out How Here

It is mandatory for all new car owners to get auto insurance. The Road Traffic Act stipulates that all motorists should be insured against liability and it declares driving a car without a minimum level of insurance is illegal. The violation can attract severe civil and criminal penalties. This can be easily avoided by securing a proper auto insurance cover for your vehicle as per your state’s demands. It is quite a simple process.Nowadays, there is so much dependence on vehicles that the best thing to do is to follow all stipulated guidelines religiously. Getting the right auto insurance cover is one of them.What Is Auto Insurance All About?Auto Insurance simply means a contract or an agreement between an auto owner and an insurance company. Under this contract, premium is paid to the insurer and in return he pays for any car related losses as detailed in the policy.Key Legal RequirementsIn order to get an insurance cover for your vehicle, you would need to fulfill the following requirements. It’s advisable to find out the requirements in your respective state since these may vary. However, these are the broad requirements for auto insurance.Firstly, you should be in possession of a valid driver’s license before you go in for registration or insuring your car. For your license you would need to approach your local DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles). This is the primary requirement.You will also need to have an auto title. It is a legal certificate of ownership that confirms that you own the car. Most of the paperwork is already done when you purchase a gar from a dealer. Licensed dealers are needed to transfer the title of the car in your name. The title will list the owner’s name, address, make of the car, model and year of the car and the date of sale. This should be retained by you.Next, you need to get your car registered. You can apply for registration at the local DMV. The requirements may vary from state to state. In order to register your vehicle, you will require a valid driving license, signed certificate of title for the car, address of residence and proof of your insurance.The law also stipulates that that a vehicle more than three years old should have a valid MOT certificate. It is not possible to tax a vehicle without MOT and certificate of insurance and driving without them is an offence.It is also vital to keep the insurance company informed in case of any vehicle modifications and fixed penalties. Failing to do so is an offense and may affect any claim that you make.You are also legally obliged to take the basic level of auto insurance that will cover you against third party claims. Since the legal requirements for auto insurance vary from state to state, you will need to clarify the level of cover that you require while taking auto insurance. Only insuring the legal minimum isn’t necessarily the best choice to make.As a proof of your auto insurance, the company issues you the following documents – A Certificate of insurance which will also be required for buying your road tax; A cover note that will act as a temporary policy and certificate until your new insurance policy has been set up; and Policy documents which gives a detail of all that you are covered for. Read the documents carefully to understand your rights and obligations under the policy.Insurance companies have set up claim help lines and accident emergency recovery hotlines for ensuring a smoother process. In case of any ambiguity in terms of insurance or legal requirements, get your doubts cleared by talking to the company.

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Car Accident Settlements – How to Negotiate More Money With the Auto Insurance Adjuster

To get more money from your car accident settlements, you need to understand how to negotiate with an auto claims adjuster.Negotiating with an auto claims adjuster is tough. If you are unprepared, then you can end up losing thousands of dollars in your car accident claims.To begin you need to know…Who is the Car Insurance Adjuster?
The auto claims adjuster is the person who will evaluate what your auto accident settlement is actually worth.The auto insurance adjuster will:Collect and review the facts of your auto accident.
Check if you are covered under an auto insurance policy.
Investigate who was at fault for the accident.
Negotiate with you about your final settlement.
Write a check for your settlement. However, the main goal of the car insurance adjuster is to settle your accident claim quickly and cheaply. This is why the insurance company hires them and this is how it rates their performance. An insurance adjuster, who takes too long to close auto accident claims or is unable to get low car insurance settlement, is not going to make their claims supervisor happy.When you are negotiating your car insurance settlement, the two most important things you should focus on are…1. Never Rush to Finish Your Auto Insurance Settlements
The auto insurance adjuster will try to pressure you to settle your auto accident claim quickly. This is because the longer an auto settlement takes, the more money an insurance company risks of losing.You should never settle your car accident claims quickly. Even though you may want a quick accident settlement, to get your money faster and avoid the headache of dealing with the insurance companies, you will only hurt yourself in the long run.Getting a quick auto insurance settlement will not help you, if you don’t take the time to get accurate car repair estimates. A quick settlement will not help you, if your car accident injuries are not properly diagnosed and treated.These things will end up costing you a lot more money in the long run. Settling the claims quickly helps the insurance company, not you. So take your time analyzing your accident claims, speaking with doctors, getting multiple car repair estimates, and fully recovering before closing your auto insurance settlements.2. Never Accept the First Car Accident Settlement Offer
It is a common practice amongst auto claims adjusters, to give you their lowest settlement offer first. Remember, the claims adjuster’s job is to save the insurance company money, not you.The low settlement offer helps the auto claims adjuster see how desperate you are to settle. If you take the first offer, you will have missed out on a lot more money from your auto accident settlements. This is because the auto claims adjuster always has more money to negotiate with. The auto claims adjuster is given a settlement range to work with. This settlements range, depends on the how experienced the auto insurance adjuster is.For example, a relatively inexperienced adjuster may be given a range of $5,000 to $10,000. While a more experience adjuster may have $10,000-$25,000 to close a claim with.You most likely won’t know the car accident settlement range of your adjuster, but you should never accept the first offer.These are some of the most common negotiating tactics, used by the auto insurance adjuster, to lower your car accident settlements.

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