Ethan Lark, Author at Diversity News Magazine https://diversitynewsmagazine.com/author/ethan-lark/ Lifestyle Without Limits Thu, 27 Apr 2023 13:29:45 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://diversitynewsmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/favicon.png Ethan Lark, Author at Diversity News Magazine https://diversitynewsmagazine.com/author/ethan-lark/ 32 32 6 Factors To Consider Before Relocating to Texas https://diversitynewsmagazine.com/factors-to-consider-before-relocating-to-texas/ https://diversitynewsmagazine.com/factors-to-consider-before-relocating-to-texas/#respond Fri, 03 Sep 2021 15:27:37 +0000 https://diversitynewsmagazine.com/?p=5279 When it comes to Texas, everything is much bigger and better. At least that’s what everyone who has never been to Texas thinks. Cowboys, guns, tumbleweed, boots, and barbeque grills are a few things that may come to your mind if you consider relocating to a place like Texas. However, many things about Texas will [...]

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When it comes to Texas, everything is much bigger and better. At least that’s what everyone who has never been to Texas thinks. Cowboys, guns, tumbleweed, boots, and barbeque grills are a few things that may come to your mind if you consider relocating to a place like Texas. However, many things about Texas will surprise you, from being the second largest state in the U.S to being home to many Fortune 500 companies. That’s right, many things will surprise you about this lively state, and that is why you should know and consider some of the following essential factors before moving to Texas.

1. Expect a very warm drive

The first thing that comes to mind after cowboys when you hear the word Texas is heat. Many may even go as far as calling it the gateway to hell because it is one of the hottest states in the United States. The temperature can shoot up as high as 100 degrees that you can probably have a good BBQ in this weather without the fire. Moreover, if you move to places like Dallas or Prosper, the weather can be extra hot and muggy. That is why before anything else, we recommend that you get climate control prosper self storage units ahead of your relocation. By the time you’ve finished moving into your new house, the blazing heat may have harmed your fragile and expensive possessions. So, even though you won’t mind the sticky and humid weather, think about the safety of your stuff.

2. Nature will be all around you

The drive to Texas from many states is full of tons of magnificent natural sights. For a nature and outdoor activity enthusiast, Texas is a dream come true if you relocate to it anytime soon. From the Death Valley and Enchanted Rock State Park to historic locations like Texas’ Dinosaur Valley State Park, Texas is full of character and natural beauty. Texas has some of the best state and public park systems in the country, primarily due to its unique horizontal growth pattern in urban centers’ expansion. It means that you will have many opportunities to enjoy year-round activities like hiking, trekking, biking, bird watching, and even kayaking in the lakes. You can hit the beach, camp in breathtaking state parks, or enjoy the scenery.

3. Prepare to tackle heavy traffic

If you hate traffic, then you’d want to think twice before moving to Texas. Although traffic is nearly always heavy in most regions of the country, you may experience booming traffic here that is not to your liking. You will mostly encounter this problem if your work and home are miles apart. Moreover, because the cities are far apart, it is advised that you bring a personal car with you. On the bright side, this state is home to the most extensive light-rail system in the U.S despite a lack of public transportation. You can always opt to skip the traffic and commute through public transportation. Also, there are many areas in Texas where you can go about on foot and avoid traffic altogether.

4. Pay fewer taxes

Apart from BBQs and cowboy boots, Texas is famous for living standards because taxes are lower here. The sales tax isn’t higher, and it is one of the few states where the residents don’t pay state income tax. Not only this, but Texas is also a haven for business owners as the state offers various incentives for businesses and does not collect corporate tax. It means that Texas offers a unique opportunity in terms of savings, boosting trade, and keeping the bulk of your earnings to yourself. Texas is funded partly by royalties and taxes on the oil and gas industry. At the same time, the average per-capita local and state tax is also meager compared to other states. So, if you trade nice weather to lower taxes, we’d say it is not a bad deal.

5. A better job and the housing market

Texas is stereotyped a lot when it comes to the standard of living and the job market. On the other hand, Texas is home to more than 50 Fortune 500 companies, with Austin being the state’s potential “Silicon Hills.” Not only the job market but the Texas housing market is pretty affordable as well. With low taxes and better job opportunities, it is relatively easy to afford property in taxes. Data show that property prices in the state have grown by 6.7 percent in the last year and are anticipated to rise much more. If your main concern for moving is to look for better job opportunities and an affordable housing market, then you’ve chosen a good state.

6. A haven for foodies

If there is one thing we can’t forget to mention about Texas, it would be the food. There is more to Texas’s cuisine than just grilled meat and BBQs. It is a haven for foodies that houses many award-winning restaurants and exclusively high-end fine dining. Texas is a melting pot of culinary comforts with dishes that satisfy everyone from meat lovers to vegetarians. Not only is Texas famous for its food, but it also created the first frozen margarita machine. It got subsequently converted into a soft-serve ice cream machine. No matter where you relocate to Texas, you will always find smoked sausages and beef at every turn with an endless variety of TexMex dishes.

Conclusion

Texas is the land of opportunities and a fresh start for many. Anyone who thinks relocating to Texas is a step down should know that the only down step to this place is the scorching heat. Aside from that, if you don’t mind the heat, Texas has a lot to offer, from excellent cuisine and many natural parks to cheap taxes and a thriving employment market. Therefore, consider the weather, the condition of your neighborhood, nearby amenities, and the cost of living before relocating to Texas.

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Financing Options If Your Business Has Bad Credit https://diversitynewsmagazine.com/financing-options-if-your-business-has-bad-credit/ https://diversitynewsmagazine.com/financing-options-if-your-business-has-bad-credit/#respond Wed, 05 Feb 2020 13:37:32 +0000 https://diversitynewsmagazine.com/?p=1399 As a general practice, banks and other traditional lending institutions do not extend loans to people or business entities with bad credit. This is because these institutions have clearly defined policies for loan approvals and disbursements. They also have compressive SOPs or standard operating procedures. The officials working in these organizations follow these SOPs to [...]

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As a general practice, banks and other traditional lending institutions do not extend loans to people or business entities with bad credit. This is because these institutions have clearly defined policies for loan approvals and disbursements. They also have compressive SOPs or standard operating procedures.

The officials working in these organizations follow these SOPs to the letter. Any kind of deviation is not allowed. When their SOPs state that the institution should not offer loans to prospective borrowers with bad credit, they will never approve such a loan under any circumstance.

The above scenario essentially means that if you have bad credit and you still want to obtain a loan, you will have to look at venues other than traditional lending that are willing to extend bad credit small business loans.

What is Bad Credit?

It is not possible to pin down an exact figure that would demonstrate the bad credit of an entity because the cutoff is not similar for every lender. However, it can be safely stated that any score of less than 620 is generally regarded as a bad credit score.

Reasons for Bad Credit

There are many reasons that either individually or collectively result in bad credit for a person or an entity. If you are late in making payments to your creditors or you have serious cash flow problems, or even if you have a negative public opinion, all these things would damage your credit score.

The more negative elements on the credit report, the lower its score will become. The business will needlessly suffer due to the bad credit when it will be unable to meet its financial obligations.

Financing options if you have Bad Credit

If you have bad credit it does not mean that you will not be able to obtain financing from any source. However, if you are opting for a loan, you should be aware that you will be required to pay a higher rate of interest because the lender will also like to be paid for the risk he is taking by lending you money despite your unfavorable score. The increased rate will eventually increase your borrowing costs.

Friends, Family, and Relatives

This is your first and foremost financing option outside of the conventional lending sphere. But it depends on the amount you need for your business. If it is a reasonable amount, you can ask for loans from your friends, family members and, your acquaintances.

One disadvantage of this kind of loan is that you will need to repay several loans simultaneously. Another drawback is that when money gets involved in any relationship, it becomes impaired. At the end of the day, if you cannot discharge your financial obligations towards your relatives and acquaintances, it will have a very adverse impact on these relations.

Even if you still want to obtain cash from your relatives, you should convince them to invest in the business rather than giving you a loan. Apparently, when a relative invests in your business and it fails, he may be able to obtain a tax write off for the amount he had invested.

In fact, a professional taxation lawyer will be able to impart great advice to both of you in this regard.

Peer-to-Peer Loan

This kind of lending allows several investors to combine their resources towards a single loan. The entire process is carried out through the internet. The prospective investors carry out an analysis of your loan application as well as your business profile and then decide whether or not to approve your loan.

The advantage of such a loan is that despite the presence of several investors, as a borrower, you will have a single loan in your books of accounts. You will also be required to make a single repayment at pre-agreed intervals as agreed earlier.

Another advantage of peer to peer lending is that it has a very swift procedure as compared to traditional lending. This would mean that you will be able to get your hands on the required amount of cash without any delays. You may have to submit a personal guarantee in case of a loan default which will expose your personal finances to risk in case the business fails to take off.

There are many peers to peer lending options available including Lending Club and Street Shares.

Invoice Financing

This is another great option that you can explore when you have bad credit due to which you are unable to secure financing from traditional lenders. In simple words, invoice financing allows you to get cash against the invoices that you have raised on your customers.

The lender would buy these invoices, and advance a percentage of the total invoiced amount to you. He would hold onto the rest of the amount until the time your customers pay the owed amount in full.

The lender will analyze the credit repayment history of your customers in order to determine if it is a safe bet to expect repayment from them in the short run. He will only approve the loan after he is satisfied with the health of the invoices. You will also be required to pay weekly fees to the lender until the time the invoice gets paid. This means that you will not only have to account for a higher rate of interest but also the weekly fees when you opt for invoice financing.

Merchant Cash Advance

If you need cash on an immediate basis, a merchant cash advance is your best bet. The lender would loan you an amount based on the future anticipated sales of the business.

There are two ways of repaying this kind of loan: through the revenue generated through your sales or by allowing automatic bank transfers from your own account to the merchant’s on a periodic basis.

Before agreeing to obtain a merchant cash advance, it is advisable to check the rate of interest being charged for the amount disbursed. Also, ensure not to pay off the loan early from your cash flows because it will not provide you any extra benefits.

Conclusion

Most people wrongly believe that they cannot obtain loans for anywhere if their credit score is not good enough. Such is not the case. There are many options available for obtaining loans despite the bad credit. However, the mechanics of these loans are very different from that of traditional loans. Further, there may be higher interest rates associated with these unconventional loans. As a business owner, you must decide which loan option is best for you that will offer you the best value without becoming a burden on your cash flow.

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Making the Most of Your New Year’s Eve https://diversitynewsmagazine.com/making-the-most-of-your-new-years-eve/ https://diversitynewsmagazine.com/making-the-most-of-your-new-years-eve/#respond Mon, 03 Feb 2020 11:34:33 +0000 https://diversitynewsmagazine.com/?p=1390 The year is finally coming to an end and you wish to make the most of this precious time you have left to leave behind a memory that you never forget. Of course, some people feel stressed since it is so much you can do but the clock is ticking and you are only left [...]

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The year is finally coming to an end and you wish to make the most of this precious time you have left to leave behind a memory that you never forget.

Of course, some people feel stressed since it is so much you can do but the clock is ticking and you are only left with a few days. Ease up as we have come up with some of the best ideas you can try out either you are celebrating your new year’s eve.

You can also plan a trip for New Year’s Eve in Sydney where they have fantastic venues for people to visit and enjoy the things in store for them there. You can also go out with your family and watch a New Year’s parade from up-close. This will be the best moments where you can bond with your loved ones and have a wonderful memory that will last for years to come.

Prepare an Extravagant Meal

If you are someone who wants to make the most of their time enjoying the day at home, it is always a challenging idea to start cooking up an extravagant meal.

You can cook up anything. It can be a recipe you have always wanted to try but we’re putting it off or didn’t think you could do it. You can also make more than one dish. Pick out several dishes you want to try out and buy the ingredients at the store. Then spend your day cooking and experiment with food.

Who knows, you might even end up making up your own type of signature dish for the New Year. You can call up friends to help you out so that you can all later sit down and have a taste of the meals you have enjoyed putting together.

Send Out Complementary Letters

Complimenting people can always brighten up even the grumpiest of moods. Some people might be having a good or bad new year- which is why complimentary letters might be just what they need to cheer them up.

Pour out your feelings and let the people close to you know how grateful you are to have them in your life and how much they mean to you. You can even write nice things to your relatives such as your parents and grandparents who are often the ones most in need of love from their family.

Send these letters out on New Year’s Day. It will leave behind a wonderful memory for years to come when people remember the letter you gave them which made their New Year so heartwarming and special for them.

Dance the Night Away

New Year’s Eve – dancing on this festive occasion is something literally everyone is doing without a second thought. But where can you dance till you can’t?

If you are an indoor person, you can always turn on loud music on the speaker and have a dance-off with family or friends or just yourself if that is what you are comfortable with. If you are an outdoor person who does not shy away from dancing in front of everyone, go out at your local club and dance your heart out.

Dancing can promote less stress and increase feelings of happiness which is just what you should be getting for New Years. So you can dance all night at the bar and take occasional breaks at the bar to grab a drink or two and just have a fun night out.

Go Out With Loved Ones

We are living in times when everybody is too busy to spend some time with their loved ones. New Year is that one time when we get a break and really give our time to others, so, why not make the most of it?

You can go out with your family members or friends on a trip to places that have something special going on during the New Year’s such as bourbon street in New Orleans which is filled with night clubs and New York City where parties are bustling everywhere and there is an exciting countdown display in Times Square.

Clean and Start Afresh

Now before you start skipping the ‘cleaning’ part we are about to mention, just hear us out. This will not be as boring as you may think it will turn out to be.

Cleaning your surroundings is also symbolic of renewing yourself for this year and starting out afresh. It is a time when you have to let go of all the things that you had kept for so long that you no longer need. You can clear out your closet as well.

Donate things to the charity. It will make you feel happy for doing something good and giving things to others on this day always makes people happy. Once you have cleaned everything, it time to go shopping. Treat yourself to brand new things that you wear for this year and you will be ever so close to making a better change in your life this year.

Create a Photo Album

What can be better than having a New Year to reminisce about the past memories and all the things you have experienced during that time.

You can finally take the time out and arrange a photo album to preserve the memories of the past years. Also, You can buy a photo album if you wish but if you are the DIY type, you can always make a photo album yourself, in a way that is unique and special to you.

You can call up others to bring in pictures they have of the previous year as well and have them join you in making the photo album. Everyone will take a trip down memory lane and spend the day away talking about the good old times that are now filled inside your photo album with memories that are precious to you and others around you as well.

Write Your Resolutions

New Year, new resolutions. So get that pen and notepad and get a head start of your New Year resolutions for this year.

Now, this can take a while to fill up as there are so many things you can do but are not sure what they are and how to start. This is where the brainstorming comes in. Call up your loved ones for a party where you can all decide on what everyone wants to pick for their resolutions for the upcoming year.

Let everyone come up with random ideas that they think they should be done for this year such as trying out a new sport, or visiting a place they have never been to, or reading a new book at least once a month, etc.

The list can be anything and it will help you and others realize what you really should be doing this year for yourself and note it down as your resolutions for this New Year.

Conclusion:

New year comes with a new beginning, by following this you can actually have a fun new year every time. From preparing a delicious meal or partying all night, all of it can help you to make the most of your new year’s eve.

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