Check out the following financial tips for the 2nd week of June 2011

Tip no 1 - Diversify or die

Diversifying your investment portfolio may help you lower down risks associated with investment. You should make risky as well as comparatively secured investments so as to diversify your risky investments. In other words, you need to mix different types of investments in your portfolio. This means there should be investments that will yield higher returns and possess relatively lesser risk than any other investments in the portfolio. So, in most cases, there will always be something going up even if all others are going down. Thus, you also get a sense of financial and emotional security. Moreover, usually the long term investments are relatively better than the comparatively shorter ones.

Tip no 2 - Don't always accept the initial settlement offer

When you make a settlement offer to creditors, in most cases, they don’t accept it. Similarly, you should also not accept the settlement offer proposed by them. You, the debtor, can negotiate upon a better settlement deal if you maintain patience and don’t hurry to negotiate on a payoff amount. Even if you need to hurry in order to add positive information to your credit reports to obtain a loan with suitable terms, it is advisable that you don’t show your eagerness to settle the debts fast. Doing so, you may not get the best deal. You need to convince your creditors and/or collection agencies that you’d have to file a bankruptcy if they don’t agree on a reduced payoff amount.

Tip no 3 - Use coupons for shopping grocery items

Using coupons for shopping grocery items can help you save a considerable amount of money. You can get discounts by using coupons while shopping for your monthly grocery items. You can find such coupons online or go through your local newspapers for the purpose. A lot of newspapers sell advertising spaces to retailers as well as manufacturers offering such coupons. You can simply clip these coupons categorically so that you can produce the required one easily, when needed. The manufacturers also put the printable coupons on their websites from where you can take print outs to use them. Apart from these, you can also sign up for the merchants’ mailing list or newsletters for such special offers.

Tip no 4 - Seek your lender's help if you have difficulty making your mortgage payments

If you’re facing difficulty in making your monthly mortgage payments, then you can get help from your lender. You can explain your financial situation to your lender so that the terms and conditions on your mortgage loans get modified and thus, help you make the altered monthly payments and remain current on your home loan. In mortgage loan modification, the interest rate on your home loan may get modified so that it becomes easier for you to make the required monthly payments and in turn, avoid foreclosure on your home.

Tip no 5 - Check your credit reports from time to time in order to maintain good credit

In order to maintain good credit, it is advisable that you check your credit reports from 3 major credit bureaus namely, Experian, TransUnion and Equifax, at regular intervals. Doing so, you’ll have a clear idea regarding your credit standing and whether or not there are any inaccurate negative items in your credit reports. If required, you can dispute the negative items and add positive information to your reports, which in turn will help you improve your scores by several points, and you can qualify for loans at suitable terms and conditions in future.