Articles by Ajeet Khurana

1) Fuelling Aspirations With Loans, But Without the Headache
A student's first brush with the world of loans is when (s)he applies for higher education. In most cases, higher education degrees cost the earth. And there are only so many full scholarships to go around. A lot of students who secure partial scholarships still find themselves worrying about how they will pay the high tuition fees. This is apart from accommodation and the other miscellaneous expenses that... » read more

2) Credit Card Rewards Win Customers
Life without credit cards is hard to imagine these days. You may go anywhere -- a bookshop, a restaurant, a travel agent -- but the same question shall be asked: "Payment by cash or card?" Most people today have a credit card or two occupying pride of place in their wallets. The sheer convenience that a credit card provides must be underlined. The development of this little piece of plastic has done away... » read more

3) The Joys and Woes of Fixed Rate Loans
When it comes to personal finance, investing in a house is a big thing. When it comes to long term home loans, people generally prefer the fixed rate version. Why do customers prefer the fixed rate deal to a deal where the interest rate might change? It is because the former offers a lot more security. However, borrowers who are looking for affordable loans should remember that the fixed rate that they... » read more

4) Scrutinizing Your Student Loan
The availability of loans has made life a whole lot easier for all of us. The expansion in the world of personal finance has added a great deal of ease to our lives. Loans are no longer limited to home and car loans. We can now gain access to a wide array of a variety of expenses that we would otherwise have difficulties in repaying. Thus, weddings can be as lavish as we like. Nowadays there are... » read more

5) Personal Loans and the Youth Brigade
Loans are fast becoming a way of life. People from every class and background can now avail of one kind of loan or another. Moreover, it is not just the older members of society who can avail of loans these days. Nowadays, the younger generations can also apply. Thus, rising numbers of teenaged people and young adults are resorting to loans for a variety of reasons. The ease with which loans can be... » read more

6) Arrays of Bank Accounts
Our bank accounts are our lifeline. They help us save money. They provide a sense of safety and security. We do not need to fear that we will end up losing all our savings in a single day. In addition to both these factors, bank accounts also allow us to earn interest on our savings. So we are faced with a number of advantages. It helps to be familiar with the whole banking process. After all, we will... » read more

7) Sniffing Out Discounted Mortgages
Mortgages are usually the answer to our need to buy a house. These days, there are many kinds of mortgages for us to choose from. Most commonly, we have a choice between fixed rate mortgages and adjustable rate mortgages. The former type of mortgage charges a fixed rate of interest that shall not change at all for the entire period of the loan. The latter, as the name suggests, charges an interest rate... » read more

8) Metamorphosing Into an Expert
We all wish we could be experts at something. I think it would be amazing to have people run to you as and when they have a problem. Then, you can sit down wisely, ponder over their problems, and pick an answer out of thin air. Well, it may not be all that simple to become an expert. It requires years of study, and years of experience. Six months working in a garage will not make you the mechanic messiah. » read more

9) Mortgages From the Past and the Present
This is truly the age and era of mortgages. If you want to buy a house, it is likely that you will be overflowing with deals from all kinds of finance companies and loan providers as they try to lure you. Each loan provider will advertise to you, the best possible loans that they have on offer. If you are on the lookout for cheap mortgages, just relax. Most loan providers have an array of loans and... » read more

10) Credit for a Stable Home Owner
If you have been lucky enough to become a homeowner, you will discover that getting loans is much more facile. You might ask: "Why should I be looking for loans?" Why? Well, there are so many larger investments that you might need to make: education, travel, renovations, weddings, and so on and so forth. Now, if you are a homeowner, you would be looking for secured loans, which lenders obviously favor... » read more

11) Funding Renovations With Loans
It really isn't enough to just buy a home. One has to make it livable as well. Sure, you may postpone the renovations to a later time. However, no matter how much you delay the renovations and home improvement plans, you will have to see to it sometime. So what are the things that will be on your priority list? Painting is one. Nobody wants to live in a home where the walls are chipping. Another is... » read more

12) Securing That Fixed Rate Mortgage
Go into the job of house buying as an amateur and you will emerge with a great deal of finance knowledge. Thanks to the fact that a large number of of us are unable to afford a house all on our own, we have to do the rounds of the various loan providers. Discovering great loans and mortgages from the millions that crowd our mailboxes is not all that easy. You have to keep a lookout all the time. And you... » read more

13) As the Tenant Turns Homeowner
Rented houses are the only places that we can call home till we finally save up enough money to buy a home of our own. Not that there is any great problem in residing in a rented apartment. But there is always that niggling feeling that this is not our own home; that it belongs to somebody else. You cannot make any long term modifications in the house. Making major renovations will probably not be allowed.... » read more

14) Dissecting Credit Card Offers
I am not the most trusting person when it comes to ads that shout out "Zero Percent Interest" or "Flat Fifty Percent Off". At those times I find myself plagued by a single thought: "Where is the catch?" There usually is a catch. The question is: Does the catch overpower the benefits? That is the question that I ask myself just before I apply for a new credit card or enter a sale. I usually find that the... » read more

15) Insuring Third Party Cars
In my opinion, car insurance is extremely important My own car is very close to my heart because I spent a large part of my income when trying to buy it. So I have made a conscious decision to get the very best in insurance for my car. One never knows when an accident might take place and the vehicle may have to be repaired. However, despite my interest in cars, I used to think that motor insurance was... » read more

16) Hold That Piece of Plastic Close to Your Heart
In the world of today, most of us depend on our good old credit cards to take care of the debts that we incur. No matter how many zeroes appear against the bill amount, we know that our piece of plastic will look after it. Hand it over to the sales person, a swipe here, a sign there, and the payment is made. Easy, simple, and instant. They are our shopping buddies any and every time. We can rely on them... » read more

17) A Credit Card for the Honeymoon Couple
It really is very easy to recognize newly married couples. Even the ones that do not walk around like Siamese twins have a twinkle in their eyes and a glow on their faces that reveals them to us. Of course, once the honeymoon period is over, the issues of daily life have to be taken care of. Long hours at the office. Coming home to wash dirty utensils or cooking. Taking care of the monthly bills. Marriage... » read more

18) Viewing Money Lenders in a New Light
Whenever I think of money lenders, the first name that comes to my mind is that of Shylock, the Jewish money lender in Shakespeare's popular drama, The Merchant of Venice. Shakespeare's money lender characterized the old stereotype prevalent at the time that money lenders were unfeeling and cruel people, emerging at the most inopportune times like leeches to drain off the money of the unfortunate borrowers. » read more

19) Tiding Over Mid-Month Crises
What do you do if you need to get some urgent repair work done in the middle of the month, but find that you are flat broke? Do you decide to let your faucet drip? Do you choose to let the non-starting engine of your car lie as it is? Do you decide to postpone all further expenses to the next month? Or have you no other choice but to look for ways and means of taking care of these unforeseen expenses... » read more

20) Moving to International Shores
The world no longer consists of insulated nations. The rapid developments in telecommunications have given a great deal of encouragement this movement. The entire world is slowly turning into a common market, with the Internet playing quite a big role in this development. The expansion in e-commerce is an example of how people from Canada can just as easily sell goods to those in Australia as they might to... » read more

21) Graphically Speaking a Thousand Words
We all know the old truism that a picture speaks a thousand words. Why should we let all those words get wasted if there is a better way? When I was younger, I would often find myself wishing that somebody would turn all those lines of words in my books into pictures. My teachers would often come to class with charts which would deal with the longest chapters in a concise way. These were quite simple to... » read more

22) Going Dream House Hunting
The minute I realized that I could finally afford to buy my own home, it was time to rejoice. After what seemed like decades of hard work and saving up, it was finally time to go house shopping. I know of people who look just about everywhere till they finalize the house that they are going to buy. For me, it was far simpler. We looked at a total of three houses before making a decision. Of course,... » read more

23) Perplexed by the Multiplicity of Mortgages
A friend of mine had been living in a council house for years. The concept seemed a neat one. A local council built these houses and became responsible for their maintenance. However, with real estate becoming such a great area for investment, the concept was destined to become dated. Today, the stress is very much on owning a home. So even if a person is living in a council house, he can avail of what is... » read more

24) Buzzing With Loans
There are a variety of loans that are available to the seeker of personal loans in the world today. If you want to buy that snazzy new hybrid car, you can avail of an auto loan. If you want to invest in your dream house, you can call up the broker to get a great mortgage. If you are paying too many loans at present, you could consider looking at debt consolidation options. If that mortgage seems to be too... » read more

25) The ABCs of House Purchasing
It really would be wonderful if we could purchase new homes by simply flashing our credit cards or signing a cheque. But then, as the old saying goes, if wishes were horses, beggars would ride. Most of us are ill equipped to deal with the skyrocketing prices of the world of real estate. If any of us wants to invest in a new house, we have to avail of mortgage loans of some kind. So, as soon as we see... » read more

26) Decoding Financial Gobbledygook
Thank heavens for the multiplicity of websites on loans of all kinds. They have made life so much easier for all those lesser mortals who find it so tough to understand (so-called) simple concepts like redemption penalties, collateral, secured homeowner loans, unsecured loans, and so on. I no longer have to look to friends in the finance field to advise me on what loans to take and what not to. The... » read more

27) Taking the Stigma Out of Indebtedness
It is no longer possible to escape from the tight grip that the loan providers of the market have placed over us. Everybody you know is either in the process of repaying loans or currently looking around for both secured loans and unsecured loans to find the cheapest on offer. If you have to make a big investment, and you try consulting a trusted friend and advisor, the advice that you will invariably get... » read more

28) Be in Vogue by Taking Loans
This is most certainly the era of loans. Everybody wants to be a debtor. After all, getting a loan is one of the easiest legal ways of getting that dream house, that speedy car, and that ideal music system. Everyone is interested in buying through installments. Paying in a lump sum is simply a thing of the past. And finding cheap loans to finance these dreams of ours is the reality of the present. The... » read more

29) Making Assets Finance Costs
These days, it is not at all difficult to apply for and get a loan to finance your housing needs. Home loans are full and plenty. You can choose from a wide variety of home loans. If you are a homeowner you could try out some secured homeowner loans. Alternatively, home equity loans are also a good bet. But first of all, before you even set out on your search for that perfect loan, make sure you have... » read more

30) Pay Back Time for That Mortgage
It is wonderful to finally move into a new home that you have scrimped and saved to buy. After years of living in rented houses, with messy apartment mates, it must feel very liberating to actually have a house that you can call your own. But most of us still cannot call that lovely cottage, or that snazzy apartment really "our own" till we manage to pay off that huge mortgage that we had to take. Only... » read more

31) Rolling in Plastic Money
Ever wondered how plastic could have so much power? Walk in with a square piece of plastic and speed off with a new pair of wheels. That is the power of plastic. Credit cards are far greater than money today. They are compact, easy to carry, difficult to make off with, and extremely convenient. And it is fun to go get a credit card as well; if you like looking around for the best deals that is. The net... » read more

32) Go Cruising With Auto Loans
Buying a first car is a huge, big deal. You want that car to be perfect. It should look great. It should move well. And it should fit your budget. Well, gone are the days when you had to scrimp and save so that you could buy that perfect first car. With every loan provider in the world trying to convince you how easy it is to buy a car, getting finance for a car is no longer a big deal. Walk over to your... » read more

33) Putting Loans Under Scrutiny
Whenever anyone I know proclaims that they are planning to take a loan, I strongly urge them to compare loans. You would imagine that most people would like to shop around for loans before they finally shortlist the one that meets their fundamental requirements. However, at least with me, that does not seem to be the case. I don't know about you. Most of the people I come across are content to pick out one... » read more

34) Movie Magic for Poker Players
One of my earliest memories of a poker game is from the 1965 movie, Cincinnati Kid. The movie follows a young poker player (played by Steve McQueen) as he pits himself against the top poker player of the time. The movie (heeded by many as one of the greatest poker movies ever) gave rise to my lifelong interest in the game. In more recent times I was pleased to watch the Matt Damon movie,... » read more

35) Encountering Scintillating Web Hosting Deals
With the Internet business booming more and more with everyone who wants to be someone is seeking to gain both repute and money through the Internet. As a result, everybody is now busy investing. No, this investment is not in real estate, but in cyber estate... in domain names. Everyone seeking a place on the World Wide Web, will sooner or later decide to buy a website address, and watch that piece of... » read more

36) President Searching With a Fine Tooth Comb
With the race for the President's post heating up, the question on everybody's mind is "Who will be the next President of the United States?" And this is not merely a question that remains limited to the minds of its citizens. The size of the United States of America, in terms of both geography and economy, as well as the power it wields over the international affairs, makes its Presidential elections a... » read more

37) Reminding Others to Remember Well
There was a time when all the remembering that had to be done, was our own responsibility. But then came the day and age of big corporations with thousands of employees, and you were made a manager. As if it was not enough that you had to keep in mind a hundred and one things, now you have to remind other people as well? And what do you do if your own memory decides to fail you? Being an absent-minded... » read more

38) Teeing off at Tournaments With Golf Travel Bags
"Fore", "par for the course", "a hole in one", "golf travel bags", and "Tiger Woods" -- familiar terms associated with the familiar sport of golf. We all know the rules: grip a golf club with both your hands, swing the club hard, hit the golf ball such that it whooshes through the air and falls into the hole beside the flag. Sounds quite simple, does it not? Of course, you certainly don't need me to... » read more

39) Avoid Conference Calls That Waste Everybody's Time
It is quite easy to have a conference call go awry. All it needs is a lack of adequate planning. Sure, Conference calls are easy to make, involve less physical effort (through traveling), and save time. However, on the flip side, a conference call that is badly managed will surely be a disaster. Just as in a regular meeting, everybody has to be informed, and everybody must come on time. If you thought... » read more

40) Conference Calls Control Time and Space Not Minds
I always associate corporate culture with suits and ties in high summer, and with unending business meetings. I always picture these meetings being held in an air-conditioned conference room with a long rectangular table where the delegates are seated, some attentive, others bored, yet others thinking about the lunch hour. One person or two people at a time stand up to give a presentation, complete with... » read more