How the current low price of oil can positively effect a family’s finances and savings?

With the price of oil so low, the major companies have cut back dramatically on drilling for new fields; there is quite sufficient oil from existing fields to more than cover demand. That has clearly impacted on rig workers who have historically earned good money without having any long term job security. Their families may find that there is less money to spend in the coming weeks. However the question is what impact the price has made on other areas, including general consumers. Businesses that can transport goods more cheaply than just a few months’ ago obviously benefit enormously but does it make any real difference to the ordinary person?

For those heating their homes with winter approaching it will be nice to actually see utility prices fall, albeit unlikely by the amount the major suppliers are saving. Oil has not been so cheap since 2009, both Brent Crude and US Crude standing at below $50 a barrel.

The cost of fuel at the pumps should fall but the retail cost of fuel is made up of the barrelage costs but some elements that are not affected; company overheads and of course government taxation. In reality any saving will not have much impact on a family’s finances as such but it is certainly better than seeing the cost of gas for the automobile rise and more expensive heating bills.

No Sign of a Rise

Goldmann Sachs recently predicted that the price of oil may not rise in any meaningful way until at least 2030. There are several factors changing all the time with Iran’s oil likely to become more readily available and the US of course producing strongly. No one country looks to be able to dictate anymore.

The result should be stabilization of energy and fuel raw material costs which consumers are certain to welcome. However there are so many elements involved in pricing products of all kinds so it is not the end to inflation.

Household Finances

At least with the economy improving there is a chance that every family can work towards improving their financial situation. Those people in debt are likely to be able to get competitive personal loans to pay off any ‘expensive’ debt they have. The most obvious and the most common debt is credit card balances; at the end of every month a penal rate of interest is added to any balance. Personal loans from just right bad credit lenders are readily available for those in work that can demonstrate their income justifies approval. The whole process from making an online application to getting approval and the money in the bank can take less than a working day.

Interest rates are likely to remain low though Goldmann Sachs are not suggesting that they will remain the same until 2030. Certainly lending rates have come down even for those people with a poor credit score. The upshot is that personal loans can be used to pay off expensive debt as part of an exercise to improve your finances. What no one should do is to get such loans to buy luxuries that they can ill afford. The recession is a recent memory and logically no one should want to return to the time when they could not pay their bills.

Good News

Everyone should be happy that the oil price has come down. Businesses rarely see one of their major expenses actually falling and those running a significant number of vehicles will certainly benefit. Families see cheaper heating as a benefit so there is a saving under the expenses column. That column’s total can reduce further by getting rid of expensive debt such as the credit card illustration above.

There are still some obstacles ahead for most economies and certainly adults with children should be thinking seriously about the future; not just spending all their income each month. The future is their children’s education, building a fund in the event of an emergency and certainly saving in one form or another for retirement. A good start would be to put aside everything that is saved by cheaper prices, even the few dollars a month for gas, and the potentially larger saving on domestic heating now that oil prices are so low.

Top 5 Smart Phone Apps for Business

Smartphone apps for business continue to revolutionize the way business owners manage their company. With the right apps, it’s possible to manage customer relationships, deal with the finances and easily access files, allowing you to keep your business running with ease. When life keeps business owners on the go, smart phone apps make it easier to stay on top of important business tasks. Here’s a look at the top five smart phone apps that will help you run your business on the go.

App #1 – Square
If you need to accept payments on the go, Square is the perfect option. It allows you to use your phone to accept credit card payments. Simply plug in the free credit card reader using the audio jack of your phone and swipe a credit card. The money goes right into your chosen bank account. While the card reader and app are both free, Square takes a small percentage of each sale.

App #2 – Evernote
Another of the best smart phone apps for business is Evernote, a note taking and data capture app that allows you to keep track of different types of information. You can store web clippings, audio files, text notes, photos and handwritten notes using Evernote. The great part is that Evernote syncs all notes using the cloud, so when you add a note on your desktop, you’ll be able to access it on your smartphone. It’s available for BlackBerry, Android, Windows Mobile, Palm and IOS. A free version is available, or you can spring for the premium version if you need better security more storage and other helpful features.

App #3 – Skype
When you need to communicate with employees or clients, Skype offers a great app to add to your smart phone. It gives you free video calling, voicemail, texting, instant messaging and Skype to Skype voice calling. You can have a video conference with your sales team or meet with clients using the video chat. Skype is available for Android, IOS, Blackberry and Symbian operation systems.

App #4 – Desk.com
Offering your customers great support is an important business function, and with Desk.com, you can easily see all your customers in a single place. The app also makes it easy to engage customers across various social media sites and support channels. Alerts are provided in real time so you make sure you deal with customer support issues fast. Pricing varies, depending on your unique business needs. The Desk.com app works for iPhones, Androids and other smart phones that can support HTML5 browsers.

App #5 – Dropbox
Dropbox is one of the best smart phone apps for business because it offers a quality cloud storage storage that makes it easy to share files. Start by adding Dropbox to your desktop and then add files to your Dropbox folder, which will sync automatically with Dropbox’s cloud server. Then, add the Dropbox app to your smart phone and log in. It makes it easy to access all the Dropbox files you’ve added to Dropbox, no matter where you are. Free accounts are available, but if you need additional space, you can choose a paid account. Dropbox is available for Kindle Fire, BlackBerry, Android devices, iPad and iPhone.

Of course, these are only a few of the many smart phone apps available that make it possible to run your business while you’re on the go. Consider using these apps and look for other apps that will improve productivity and keep your business running smoothly, even when you’re not in the office.

As a business owner, one of the most beautiful sounds to you is likely the chime made whenever your cash register opens. Today, that cash register may actually take the form of a cash drawer, and it might be attached to a computer via electronic sales software. This allows you to gather a tremendous amount of data and real-time information about your customers. It can also help to free your time from calculating and performing menial tasks, allowing you instead to spend time devising high-level business expansion strategies. These are just some of the ways that a selling system can help your business.

POS Systems Help Inventory Control

One of the most important ways in which a Point of Sale System can help your business is in the the area of inventory management and control. The core of this system is likely to be a standard issue computer, or even an iPad, running specialized software. The system will also be equipped with a cash drawer, credit card reader, receipt printer and sometimes a barcode scanner.

All of these devices make it possible for your business to make sales and take orders both in person and online. Such a system is also generally quite cost effective and relatively easy to set up. The system will give you an accurate, up-to-the-minute assessment of your inventory. Every time an order is rung up, the inventory is also updated, with those items sold and/or used subtracted from your inventory list that is maintained on the system itself.

Take Orders Online and Offline

A strong POS system can also enable your business to accept orders almost anywhere. This means that you will be able to promote your offerings in person and using online marketing methods such as websites and social media sites. You could even try using a mobile payment app and then your business could be taken on the road in real life. This could allow for the addition of traveling sales representatives.

For orders taken in your retail location, a simple card reader connected to an online processing account is all that you need. For an offline order, the same basic principle applies, only customers enter their own card number into your online payment gateway. In either case, both methods are extremely secure and they result in your payment being deposited directly into your bank account within 24 to 48 hours.

Offers Accuracy and Analysis Functions

Another way in which a strong Point of Sale System will help your business is through the accuracy and analysis functions provided by the software.

Of course, to really get the full benefits of this accuracy, you need to have a barcode scanner attached to the system. Not only does this make getting your inventory counted and included in the system much faster and easier, it is also a lot more accurate than having to type everything in by hand. Plus, you can set up a scanner for each of your checkout units, which speeds up the checkout time for your customers.

As far as analysis is concerned, you can also run a wide variety of different reports. These will be accurate and up-to-the-minute reports, and can include anything from a daily (or even hourly) sales report to the number of XYZ items that are on hand, or any other inventory or sales-related report you could possibly dream up. This is great for managing inventory and even establishing alerts for low levels, so that you know when it’s time to order more. You will then be able to analyze your sales patterns and use this to perfect your business strategy.

Improved Markdown Management

With a sales system it is also much easier to devise, implement and manage different types of sales and discounts. This has typically been a very difficult problem for small and mid-sized businesses. In some cases, you might have been forced to go through sales receipts manually at the end of the day in order to identify how many of those “on sale” items were sold.

Using such a system, however, the sales can be input manually. Then, when an item is scanned at the checkout line, the correct, discounted price appears at the register. Simple. Not to mention that everything in this inventory is accurately tracked and reports can be run just as easily to identify these items.

Bottom Line

A good, strong computerized sales system can give your business a lot of benefits. Some of the best include the ability to more accurately track sales and inventory and automate many of your routine management functions. This can have the ultimate effect of freeing up your time so that you can work on your business rather than in the business.