Budgeting
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Debt consolidation businesses do not always carry with them the feeling of legitimacy. Because of this many people in debt, especially those that consider themselves followers of the Christian faith, turn to Christian debt consolidation businesses or not-for-profits. Being under the umbrella of their faith gives them peace of mind when trusting someone to get them out of debt. Obviously, there are those that can use Christianity as a front in order to gain your business. So be careful and do your homework on the business/not-for-profit so you can trust that you are getting genuine advice on consolidating your debt.
If this is a path you are interested in persuing you should talk to your local church and ask them if they know of any reputable businesses that can help you get from under your debt problems. This way you can have real peace of mind that those helping you are not trying to take advantage of you and your faith.
Written by Nagel on May 6th, 2007 with no comments.
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Loss leaders is an item sold at or near cost for the store, that they put out to lure you in.They want you to do the rest of your grocery shopping while you’re there. So you need to be disciplined and not be sucked into the loss leader trap.
Milk is a popular loss leader item and that is why you find it in the back of the store. The grocery store wants you to walk as far as possible to come in for the loss leader item and then buy some more groceries while you are there. Many of the items my wife and I buy when we are at the supermarket are loss leaders. We will stock up on as much of it as the store will allow and then buy the necessary grocery items to get us through the week. Coupons, loss leaders and the like save my wife a lot of money on groceries.
Read the ads carefully, to make sure there are no requirements attached to the loss leader.
Written by Nagel on April 11th, 2007 with no comments.
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We all know how expensive personal finance software can be. For those of us on a budget, open source personal finance software is a viable option that you should examine. Some popular options available are GnuCash, Grisbi and KMyMoney.
GnuCash is a well-known open source personal finance/accounting package. It can track everything with your personal or business finances: bank accounts, income, expenses, and stocks. It is a very sophisticated personal finance software package with features that will provide real benefits for you. KMyMoney is easy to use for all users.
It is similar to MS-Money and Quicken including a lot of bells-and-whistles that can enhance your detail and efficiency of use. Grisbi is another open source personal finance software package that runs on Linux as well as MS Windows. It possess many of the functionality of other personal finance software options.
Why pay when you can access excellent options for free!
Written by Nagel on April 6th, 2007 with no comments.
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One the true pleasures in my life is traveling, especially outside the U.S. I am still young and I hope to do all of my foreign travel before I am old. This is simply because I do not think I will be able to handle the long flights and walking that is par-for-the-course when traveling to places like Europe. I am holding most of my U.S. travel for those older years when foreign travel might be out of the question (though I hope it never is).
Anyway, I have always prided my ability to find vacation values so I can go on trips for much less than many others would pay.
Travel packages can be attractive. These often include flight, hotel and transportation. If you search enough you can find combo vacation package deals that will save a lot of dough. However, most of the time I have to buy plane tickets, hotel, etc. separately to get the value I need.
Most of my travel is done off-season. Most say that might take the fun out of travel, but I enjoy Europe in February or early March. First, there are less tourists wherever you go and that means no lines, or at least much shorter ones. Plus it is easier to blend into the culture if you are not there in the high season. This time is also advantageous because prices for flight, hotels and more are discounted because it is the off-season.
Check into any group you belong to, any credit card you have or points cards that might offer some sort of discount you can take advantage of.
Fortunately, I have some friends in Europe and have had the chance to stay with them on many occasions. obviously, this is kind and generous of them and saves me a lot of money. However, the best parts are being close with your friends all the time and blending in with the culture and avoiding tourist traps. I feel like I have a real idea of what is a typical day in many places I have visited because of these friendships I have.
Vacation values rely on a lot of factors, but if you are willing to spend some time searching and doing homework you can find the deals to save you more money than you might think possible.
Written by Nagel on March 18th, 2007 with no comments.
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Bouncing checks? You are not alone. Now you know you need to be careful when paying with a checking account. However, ignoring your overdrawn checking account will only lead to further problems. One one-time bank fee left unpaid can swell into a charge you can no longer afford. You do not want to left this gone without addressing because it will only get worse. Your overdrawn checking account morphs into a closed checking account then an 800 credit score or even a 720 credit score become sub-prime credit. That is not what you want because it will be more difficult to get credit and you will receive a higher interest rate on the money you borrow.
Tips to avoid an overdrawn checking account:
- Enter every transaction into your checkbook register, even direct debits. Be detailed with dates, checks, debit card purchases, deposits, automatic or preauthorized withdrawals or deposits and ATM withdrawals. Keep a running total of the balance of available funds–if you lose track call your bank’s 800# to find out your standing.
- Make sure there is always at least a couple hundred dollars for an account buffer. Your checking account gets low: you are still ok.
- Protect your account by signing up for overdraft protection either from a savings account.
- ATMs are not a cash machine in the sense of making money, though many treat them that way. Don’t withdraw money you do not have!
Written by Nagel on March 11th, 2007 with no comments.
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Many people want to learn more on personal finance and investing, but do not know where to start. Websites like this one and other personal finance sites are great tools. I also wanted to let you know of other resources available to get you up-to-speed on a wide variety of financial topics.
I would recommend watching Mad Money for investing. He is one of the few who will go step-by-step to help you invest smarter. This can buttress a general investing education you can get from doing some homework. Obviously, there are loads of investing books so look around and see what others have to say about it.
These are from from the only options available. You can easily go to Kiplinger, Money, Smartmoney, Yahoo! Finance, Google Finance, etc. These are all informative and can hold your hand until you get the hang of certain topics you might not have mastered yet.
These are great personal finance education websites to start. Ask around and get people’s opinions on what sources to use. I would recommend using as many reliable sources as possible. It is not easy, but we all want to do better with our money.
Written by Nagel on March 4th, 2007 with no comments.
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We have discussed previously the importance of keeping a budget. This way you know how much money is coming in and how much is going out and where it is going. This is essential to understanding your financial situation and doing what is best for you and your family now and in the future.
With all the changes that have happened in the past year or so (marriage, buying a house and changing jobs) there are aspects of the budget that are going to change because of salary; because of less debt we have; because our need to get more money in our retirement accounts, etc. So we evaluated our budget categories and changed some future allocations to keep up with our changes.
So if you have a budget look over it and make the necessary updates. if you do not have a family budget (or individual budget) you should take some time out to create a spreadsheet to crunch your numbers to guide your financial ship into smoother seas than if you were blindly going along with no navigation.
MyMoney has some budgeting tips.
ConsumerCommentary has some tips too.
Written by Nagel on January 9th, 2007 with 3 comments.
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There was another report out recently that spelled the troubles of Americans when it comes to saving money. The U.S. had an average –0.5% saving rate last year—the lowest of any major economic nation in the world. The average household has over $7,000 in credit card debt. How is this sustainable?
It is not. Attitudes and culture must change in America to change it from spend spend spend to save for your future and a rainy day. Spending money on things you cannot afford is much more fun than contributing to your savings account. These problems are magnified when you look at the housing market. Manuy of the people already in debt were getting interest-only loans on their home or dangerous ARMs. Things for the average American will be getting worse very soon and the divide between the Haves and the Have Nots will expand further.
Written by mike on September 15th, 2006 with no comments.
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For several months we have discussed budgets. There is no time like the present for examining how your budget is coming.
- What have you learned so far?
- Have you been able to apply what you learned?
- Have you been able to make cuts in your spending?
- Are you staying within your budget
- Does keeping a budget make you more conscious of the money you spend?
Budgets can create discipline. You know that the end of the month is coming and you will need to explain to your spouse (or yourself) what money went where and why. There are consequences that you will be able to see. If it was a good month you might be able to save, invest, payback debt, etc. more than before. If it was not so good of a month then you will not be able to pay as much down on your credit card as you wanted. Maybe that means you will be paying it back another several months or you have to pay more in interest.
So take some time out and see how your budget is coming and try to see how it is helping you.
Written by mike on August 19th, 2006 with no comments.
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All people and families need to have an emergency fund even if you think you don’t. After you have paid your debt off you need to start an emergency fund in case something happens and you are unable to work for several months. You should not even think of saving for a house until you have at least 6 months worth of living expenses saving in an emergency fund.
Start putting that money in either a high-interest savings account like ING or HSBC. Another good way to put money away for a rainy day is to put it in a money market. Banks and mutual funds both have money market accounts so try Bankrate.com to compare what interest rates are available.
Written by mike on July 21st, 2006 with no comments.
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