Here are 5 ideas to better manage your personal finance.
Build a savings account Your money is something that you work very hard for. If you want to build a savings account for yourself, and for your family, you can do it ? but perhaps a little slower than you might like. You can get started by saving all the change you get from shopping at the grocery store, from the gas station and from anywhere else you might go. Putting all this change into a container, you can then fill the container, day by day. As the container is full, roll the coins and deposit this money into your new savings account. You might be surprised, but in just two weeks it is possible you saved twenty dollars, or even one hundred dollars. Your savings account will grow, and you will be managing your money at the same time!
Paying bills on time Paying your bills on time is going to be a something you need to make a habit for your entire life. Your credit report, your credit rating and your personal credit worthiness is going to depend on how often you are on time when paying your bills. Paying your bills on time is important for a solid financial future. As you pay bills on time, you are less likely to pay higher interest rates, you are not going to pay late fees, and you will build a good credit rating at the same time. To pay your bills on time, all the time, use a system that will have all your bills put into a pile in the same place. Put the bills that are due first on the top of the pile. Put the bills that are due at the end of the month in the bottom of the pile. Look at the pile every day, or at very least every other day. When you have the money, pay the bill on the top of the pile and work your way through all the bills for the month, and then you can start on the bills for next month!
Building good credit To build good credit you want to pay your bills on time, and avoid paying those higher interest rates. If you have good credit, you want to keep it. What some people do not realize is that you can hurt your credit if you are moving often. Moving every month, moving every year, and moving more than needed it going to lower your credit score. If you live in the same house, the same apartment for over five years this is going to help your credit. Avoid moving when possible. Get a copy of your credit report; review the addresses that are listed for you. Remove addresses that are not applicable to where you have lived in the past.
Use coupons and save money If you are not using coupons now, you should be. With the price of everything going up, and up, you need to learn to make your money ?go further?. To make your money last longer, and to get more for your money seek out coupons for the goods and services that you always purchase. The secret to using coupons is this: don't use, clip or keep coupons for items that you don't usually use in your home. Coupons are enticing to get you to try other items, and sometimes can cost you even more money. Clip coupons from the Sunday paper, from the Internet online coupon sites, and look for coupons on the products you already purchase. This is going to give you the best savings possible, stretching out the money you have, and that you want to make last much longer for your household budget.
Money management involves working for a living Money management is a budgetary thing, meaning you need to know how much money you have, and how much money you can spend. If you are spending more money than you are earning, you are most likely relying on your credit cards just way too much. If you are relying on your credit cards, your payments are going up and you will never pay off those credit cards. Money management involves your earning money, and spending the money you earn, and not more than that. If you need more money in your home budget, you can do a few things: get a new job with better pay, ask for a raise, get a second job, or build a business of your own. Relying on others for handouts, making minimums payments on credit cards you can't afford, and living beyond your means is only going to come back to cause you trouble later in life.
Problem #1. Spending Without Knowing Your Limits
As in business, you will not last long financially if you spend without regard to your income. Knowing your spending limits is not hard to do. Just find the answers to these 4 easy questions:
Question #1. What is my take-home income per pay? (that is your total income less taxes)
Question #2. What do I need to spend to live?
Question #3. What is the difference after taking spending from income?
Question #4. Can I save enough for my future from the answer in Question #3?
There are many tools to help you gain answers to these questions. You can find many on the Internet. Helpful Hint: Find one that helps you set your savings targets, checks your ability to meet the targets and then shows your progress towards your goals.
Problem #2. Spending Without Setting Savings Targets
It's OK to spend to the limits of your income but that does not provide you with any buffer for urgent purchases, or protect you from a financial emergency. Urgent purchases could be renewing a broken fridge or stove, calling a plumber to fix a broken pipe or having to spend for major car repairs. Financial emergencies could be temporary loss of income or hospitalization of a family member. How would you survive financially in any of these situations?
You can begin to save today, it's easy. What if you went without your bought lunch each day at work? That saves you $1,000 per year on $5/day. What if you reduced your Starbuck's coffee by 1 each working day? That's another $1,000 per year on $5/day. Just those two amounts alone can mean a holiday for you, the beginnings of a savings plan, or an emergency buffer.
If you set a target of 10% of your take-home pay each payday that would be a good start. If you think creatively, you are sure to come up with ways to achieve this. Think of the peace of mind that would bring.
Problem #3. Spending Without Knowing How to Save
There are many easy ways for you to save money that allow you the freedom to spend when you see something you really want. Some of these are:
1. Don't buy on impulse. Ask yourself 2 or 3 times "Do I really NEED this?" before you buy. If you cannot answer with a resounding "YES " let it go.
2. Don't buy things JUST because they are on sale. Only buy things you need. If you do need them wait a few weeks the price may fall even further.
3. Don't buy the latest fashion items at the height of the season. Just wait a while. The prices usually reduce.
4. Don't compare yourself with others and what they have. They may have purchased making the same finance mistakes as you.
5. Set yourself a savings target. Put this money aside each payday BEFORE spending any of your pay.
Problem #4. Spending Without Feeling Satisfied
Spending can leave you feeling pretty shallow and unrewarded when you purchase on a whim or fancy when you really know you cannot afford the item. What's more you may not even use it. What a waste!
To really FEEL GOOD ABOUT SHOPPING and spending you need to know these 4 things:
1. My budget allows me the freedom to purchase this item
2. I have the cash put away already for this purchase (even though I will use my credit card for the transaction).
3. This purchase is something that I really want and will use.
4. I have purchased this item at the best possible price, saving as much as I can.
Problem #5. Spending Without Caring About Your Future
Unless you are planning for your future and financial security, you cannot be really happy. There are always worries lurking in your mind about how you would survive in a financial emergency if you have no savings. It can be very rewarding to see how quickly your savings multiply over time with only a small investment each payday.
Did you know that by saving just $5 every day this would grow into $1,867 in 12 months at 5% interest and then it grows into a whopping $10,343 in 5 years? Isn't your future worth investing in?
Why not start to overcome your personal finance problems today? Looking back you'll be so glad you did!
If you click on the links below you will be taken to a great budget solution. It helps you set your savings targets, checks your ability to meet the targets and then shows your progress towards your goals.
Both Joseph Then & Bruce Hokin are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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