A list of a hundred money saving ideas would not be hard to compile. There are certainly ways to save money on everything from peanut butter to car repairs. But there are also a few more universal ideas that are most important if you want to habitually save on the things you buy. Here are six of them.

1. Start Big

There is a time and place to start looking for ways to buy a cheaper pair of socks or a less expensive manicure. But if you have any large expenditures coming up, start by looking for ways to save money on those. An extra hour finding a great car for $2,000 less saves more than many years of coupon clipping can. Big expenses that are regular are even more important, which leads us to our next idea:

2. Look At Regular Expenditures

The more regular an expenditure is, the more potential there is for savings. Start big here too, looking at your utility bills, driving expenses and perhaps even the rent or mortgage payment. There may be ways to save on all of them. But don’t forget the small stuff if it is regular enough. An every-day three-dollar cup of coffee replaced with a one-dollar one saves you over $500 each year.

3. Look To Eliminate

Do you have things that you really don’t need or use? If they require any ongoing costs, it is probably time to get rid of them. You may not owe anything on an unused motorcycle or snowmobile, but you still have to license them each year and pay insurance. Do you read the magazines you have subscriptions to? If not, cancel them. The great thing about eliminating these kinds of expenses is that nothing is lost, and you have more money for the things you really can use.

4. Don’t Add Unnecessary Expenses

It is easy to buy things without considering the future costs they impose on you. Something as simple as buying a fish tank and a few fish can add up to more ongoing costs than you might realize. You will need fish food, cleaning supplies, occasional replacement of parts and more. This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t get anything that will have costs, but be sure you know what they are and have decided that they are worth it for you.

5. Track Your Expenditures

It’s a relatively simple exercise to write down every dollar and penny you spend each day for a month or two, and it will show you a lot. Many people probably avoid doing this because they are afraid to see the truth in black and white. Do it anyhow, and see how much actually goes to your habits and bills and meals and more. You might discover that what you think you value isn’t reflected in how you spend your money, and so decide to make some money saving changes.

6. Spend Consciously

This last of these money saving ideas may be the most important. It is also easier to do once you have actually tracked your spending for a while. Consciously think about each thing you spend money on for a month or so, until it becomes a habit to ask yourself questions like, “How important is this to me?” and “Is it worth what I will spend on it?” and “What alternatives do I have?”

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Many of us are facing challenging times due to the recession. A recession is a decline in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for two or more consecutive quarters. It usually is associated with high unemployment, slow consumer spending, and a depressed stock market. But you can keep your head above water with these five tips:

1. Think past frustration, fear and/ or anger and get educated about possibilities. Your greatest worry in the unknown. Focus on what you can do and figure out when you should do it. Make it something you do regularly. For example, at the end of every quarter, I review my brokerage statement. It gives me peace of mind throughout the rest of the year, that I am on track for my financial goals.

2. Time to look at all the options. Rarely is a situation so black and white that workable options don’t exist. Shop around for the best investment that you can afford and understand and works well for what you want to accomplish.

3. Review risk tolerance and plan for the next phase of your investments. Can market opportunities overshadow risk for you? This will avoid the shock of a failed investment. Know the risk and make sure that you can stomach losing money. If not, then stay away.

4. Sit tight. Now is not the time to make risky career moves. Keep your job by staying in tune with the needs of the company and be flexible. Reconnect with past business colleagues and keep up your networking.

5. Focus on you and your family’s goals and plan your investment strategies to meet those objectives.

The key to success is a clear understanding of your needs, knowing what to expect, and being prepared. You need to where you stand and what you can do now and into the future. A strategy conversation is an opportunity to understand your concerns and help you move forward from where you are to where you want to be even during a recession. Get one now to insure your financial success.

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Many a time, you may face a problem of immediate cash requirement in the mid of the month. At this time, this can’t be possible for you to gather sufficient cash to fulfill such needs because your payday may be still vary far. So, to meet such urgent financial requirements, lenders in UK are facilitating you with payday cash loans.

These are a kind of unsecured loans for which you need not put up any collateral security with the lender. This automatically reduces your procedural formalities and makes the process faster. Even the lenders facilitate you with flexible terms of the loans. They provide you the loans of an amount between 100 to 1500 pounds which is generally sufficient enough to meet your urgent needs.

Just by qualifying to the following conditions, you can go for a payday cash loan very smoothly:
• Your age should be 18 years or more.
• You should be a permanent citizen of UK for the last one year.
• You should have a steady source of income which is sufficient to repay the loan amount.
• There should be a valid checking account in your name with any reputed bank.

However, this doesn’t mean that you can’t apply for such loans if you are a victim of bad credit history. Despite of your bad credit records like CCjs, insolvency, arrears, defaults, IVA, etc. the lenders are ensuring the benefits of such loans.

Normally, people should apply for such loans only when there is an unavoidable need for cash. The reason behind this is the higher rates of interest for these loans. Moreover, a person should apply for a genuine and lower loan amount which can be repaid as soon as possible.

These days, online modes of getting such cash loans have reduced the problems of the borrowers to much extent. They can generate cash even within less than 24hours by applying for online loans. This has made it possible for you to actualize your urgent cash requirements easily.

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Your same day requirements can arise uncertainly. You may need urgent money for which even a single day delay can’t be accepted. To resolve0 these very problems of financial requirements which arise all of a sudden same day payday loans have proven to be a stroke of luck for the UK citizens. The lenders are providing such loans on very relaxed terms and one can access these loans as quickly as he can move on to its simple procedure.

Such loans are easily available by the way of online mode. One has to fill up an online application form in which he may be asked to mention few personal details viz. Name, father’s name, residential address, source of income, etc. Once you submit all such details, your lender will sanction you the loan amount which generally varies from £100 to £1000. Thus, no paper work is needed for such loans making the process much hasty.

Even a layman can understand the terms of same day payday loans easily, but it is always advisable that a detailed study should be carried out so as to avoid any wrong decision. This is due to the fact that a number of online lenders are available online with varied terms and conditions. Moreover, the interest rates are also very high in some cases. So, to avoid all such situations one should look for the one which suits your requirements at the best making your loan available to you quickly.

There is no requirement of any collateral security for such advances. So, these are the short term loans of unsecured nature, the repayment period of which ranges between 14-31 days. There is no doubt on the benefits of these loans but few basic conditions has to be satisfied for getting it sanctioned like your age should be at least 18 years and you should be a citizen of UK for last one year. Many lenders demand a regular source of income in your hands so that you can repay the loan timely. You must have a permanent bank account in your own name.

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Elmira Savings Bank, FSB with $463.0 million in total assets, is insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and is a federally chartered bank with five offices in Chemung County, NY, three offices and a loan center in Tompkins County, NY, one office in Steuben County, NY, and one office in Cayuga County, NY.

First Citizens National Bank, headquartered in Mansfield, PA, has offices in Blossburg, Ulysses, Genesee, Sayre, Wellsboro, Troy, Canton, Gillett, Millerton, LeRaysville, Towanda, and Wellsville, NY, as well as two in-store offices located in the Mansfield Wal-Mart and Wellsboro Weis Market. First Citizens National Bank, a nationally chartered bank with $617.8 million in total assets, offers a full line of banking and investment services.

Source: Elmira Savings Bank, FSB; First Citizens National Bank

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“The costs of replacing talented and effective employees far outstrip the expense of retaining and developing new employees,” said David Lacey, Vice President of Human Resource Business Development at VIST Insurance. “Recruiting and training new employees acts as a drag on earnings from three to six months until the new employee is performing at the expected level or better. However, retained and highly motivated employees contribute to the company at a higher, more consistent and sustained level of performance.”

According to industry studies, it is estimated that it takes roughly six months for a new professional hire to be trained and performing at or above the level of a prior employee. The timeframe does drop to three months for C-level positions because more is expected from those hired for positions at the executive level. Both timeframes take into account learning a new position’s responsibilities, the structure and the culture of the department and organization, as well as meeting clients and positioning a company’s products/services in relation to its peer competitors.

“For example, over the course of a year, if a small company loses three long-time employees, each making $50,000 in cash compensation, it will cost the company a minimum of $75,000 to prepare the new hires to be effective and productive. Even if they are replaced at the same salary, it will take an estimated six months for the new employees to be up to speed and as productive as the prior employees. Also, the company will incur the additional expense of advertising the positions, recruiting fees, and training,” said Lacey. “Quite often these expenses are sizable and can equal the $75,000 referred to earlier. For a fraction of that amount, the company could’ve had an Employee Retention and Development Program in place and seen most of that $75,000 added to the bottom line as an increment to NOP (Net Operating Profit).”

Lacey is quick to add that retention is not simply a pressing issue for a small or mid-sized business or a particular industry. “I’ve seen recruiting data where it costs an IT company an average of $34,000 to replace one lost professional and where a clothing store had a decline of over $100,000 in revenue when a sales representative with an excellent and loyal customer base left and joined a competitor. So retention costs aren’t limited to just one industry.” For every company in today’s market, retention is the most important priority for their talent development.

Investment in employee retention can also have a direct impact on the bottom line in terms of revenue generation and earnings growth. Companies with high retention rates expect their “stars” and “go to” professionals/managers to drive achievement of these two financial performance measures among others.

Employees who feel valued and appreciated by management are more engaged in the success of the company and tend to perform at higher levels than disengaged employees who are simply going through the motions or, worse, actively working against the company’s stated business interests and priorities.

According to a survey by ISR, a Chicago firm that studied employee engagement at seventy-one companies worldwide, there is a direct correlation between engaged employees and company performance. The study’s findings conclude:

– 52% difference in one-year performance improvement in operating income between companies with highly engaged employees compared to companies with low engagement.

– 13% improvement in net income growth over a one-year period at companies with high employee engagement.

– 28% improvement in EPS (Earnings Per Share) growth in companies with high employee engagement.

“Without an engaged workforce, a company is merely going through the motions instead of being a top performer,” said Lacey. “It’s a challenge to persuade a company and its management to retain and engage their employees, and then become a top performer in its business sector. “That challenge must be embraced and acted on. However, economies like the uncertain one we’re experiencing today demand that change to survive and to grow in the future.”

VIST Financial (formerly Leesport Financial Corp.) is diversified financial services company with corporate headquarters in Wyomissing, PA, and regional headquarters in Blue Bell, PA, offering banking, insurance, investments, and wealth management services throughout Berks, Southern Schuylkill, Montgomery, Delaware, and Philadelphia Counties.

This release may contain forward-looking statements with respect to the Company’s beliefs, plans, objectives, goals, expectations, anticipations, estimates, and intentions that are subject to significant risks and uncertainties, and are subject to change based on various factors, some of which are beyond the Company’s control. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the Company.

Source: VIST Insurance

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The tender offers were made through Telefonica’s indirectly wholly owned subsidiary, Inversiones Telefonica Internacional Holding Limitada (“Purchaser,” and together with Telefonica, the “Bidders”). The Bidders made a tender offer in Chile for Shares of the Company and a concurrent tender offer in the United States for Shares held by U.S. holders and for ADSs. Each ADS represents four Series A Shares of the Company. The Chilean and U.S. offers, each of which commenced on September 17, 2008, expired at 11:00 p.m., New York City Time, on October 30, 2008 and at 12:00 midnight, New York City Time, on October 31, 2008, respectively.

Based on preliminary information, a total of 344,838,735 Shares have been tendered pursuant to the tender offer in Chile and a total of 37,875,741 ADSs (including 203,152 ADSs subject to guarantees of delivery) have been tendered pursuant to the tender offer in the United States, which, together with the Shares tendered pursuant to the tender offer in Chile, represent an aggregate of 496,341,699 Shares.

All Shares and ADSs tendered in the tender offers will be accepted for payment on November 4, 2008, pursuant to Chilean practice.

Prior to the completion of the tender offers, Telefonica and its affiliates owned 44.9% (429,733,011 of the outstanding Shares of the Company), directly or in the form of ADSs. Upon purchase of the Shares and ADSs (including ADSs subject to guarantees of delivery) pursuant to the tender offers, Telefonica and its affiliates’ ownership in the Company will increase to 926,074,710 Shares (including those represented by ADSs) or approximately 96.75% of the total outstanding Shares, which will leave 31,082,375 Shares (including those represented by 2,996,139 ADSs) held by parties other than Telefonica and its affiliates.

A Schedule TO/13E-3 and a Schedule 14d-9, each as amended, have been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and are publicly available on the SEC website (www.sec.gov). Shareholders are encouraged to read these documents for important and more detailed information regarding the U.S. Offer.

Source: Telefonica, S.A.

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OXFORD, Miss., Oct. 21 /PRNewswire/ — BancorpSouth, one of the southeast region’s largest banks, will use FNC(R) technology to ensure regulatory compliance while streamlining its multi-channel appraisal process for their retail and home equity channels.

Mortgage technology company FNC, Inc., creator of Collateral Headquarters(TM) (CHQ) — a workflow solution designed specifically for regional and community mortgage lenders — signed the Tupelo, Miss.-based bank on Sept. 15.

With an eight-state footprint, BancorpSouth, Inc. (NYSE:BXS) , is a bank holding company operating approximately 300 banking and mortgage locations throughout the Southeast. BancorpSouth provides a comprehensive line of banking, brokerage, insurance, investment, mortgage, trust, and payment services products to consumers, businesses and institutions.

“Collateral Headquarters will allow BancorpSouth to centralize and streamline the ordering of valuation services. CHQ converts paper documents to data to allow them to run each appraisal through a rule set to make sure it complies with pertinent regulations,” explains Jeffrey Little, FNC sales executive. “Compliance is a big deal for lenders. Our systems help to eliminate regulatory risk.”

Built into CHQ, the GAAR(R) (Generally Accepted Appraisal Rules(TM)) Compliance, Risk, and External Rule Series automatically reviews appraisals and instantly flags any violations that may be indicators of fraud or non- Compliance. CHQ and GAAR work in tandem to document the entire loan process, ensure appraiser independence and compliance to USPAP standards, and highlight indicators of appraisal or appraiser violations.

Additionally, Collateral Headquarters will automate many of the bank’s historically manual processes, including ordering appraisals and the subsequent tracking, receipt, analysis, and reporting processes related to those appraisals. FNC systems will allow the bank to process more appraisals, more accurately, saving time and money.

BancorpSouth Bank is pleased to announce the recent agreement with FNC to facilitate our residential appraisal needs,” said Chris Brigham, BancorpSouth’s chief appraiser. “FNC’s unprecedented experience and technology will continue to allow BancorpSouth to provide the level of service our customers have grown to know and expect from us. We look forward to this unique partnership between two Mississippi based companies.”

About FNC, Inc.

FNC pioneered real estate collateral information technology. Since 1999, FNC has offered solutions that automate appraisal ordering, tracking, documentation and review for lender compliance with OCC, OTS, Federal Reserve, FDIC, and other regulations. FNC’s lender clients have realized reduced costs and more efficient loan processing. With its collateral management platforms and collateral-focused data and analytics, FNC provides advanced insight into the property backing a loan from origination to capital markets. No one understands real estate collateral better than FNC. Visit FNC online at http://www.fncinc.com/ .

About BancorpSouth

BancorpSouth is a $13.4 billion-asset bank holding company. The company operates approximately 300 banking and mortgage locations in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas. In addition to providing traditional banking services, credit cards, mortgages, trust and fiduciary services, the company provides investment services through its subsidiary BancorpSouth Investment Services, Inc. and insurance services through its subsidiary BancorpSouth Insurance Services, Inc. BancorpSouth’s common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the trading symbol BXS.

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“We are extremely pleased to be ranked highest in customer satisfaction by J.D. Power and Associates for our exceptional customer service,” said Sterling Edmunds, Jr., president and CEO, SunTrust Mortgage, Inc. “We work very hard to earn our customers’ trust, and nothing is more important to us than hearing that our customers believe we are doing a good job in meeting and exceeding their expectations. This recognition validates our long-standing focus on building customer relationships and our passion to help customers be successful homeowners through responsible lending.”

According to J.D. Power and Associates, in such an uncertain environment, it becomes especially important for lenders to re-establish trust with customers through the loan officer relationship.

This year’s results mark the second time SunTrust Mortgage was ranked highest in overall customer satisfaction in J.D. Power and Associates’ Primary Mortgage Origination Studies, now in its fourth year. SunTrust Mortgage was first included in J.D. Power and Associates mortgage studies in 2002, and customers have continued to rate the company above the industry average every year since then.

As of June 30, 2008, SunTrust Mortgage has originated/purchased more than $21.1 billion in mortgage loans for customers across the United States.

SunTrust Mortgage, Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of SunTrust Bank, one of the nation’s largest banking institutions, serving a broad range of consumer, commercial, corporate, and institutional clients. As of June 30, 2008, SunTrust Banks, Inc. (NYSE:STI) had total assets of $177.4 billion and total deposits of $119.8 billion. Headquartered in Richmond, VA, SunTrust Mortgage originates loans through 205 locations in SunTrust markets and adjacent states, maintains correspondent and broker relationships in 49 states, and services mortgage loans in 50 states and the District of Columbia. SunTrust Mortgage’s internet address is www.suntrustmortgage.com .

Source: SunTrust Mortgage, Inc.

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