Spending Less 101 » Investing

Ways To Save Money And Manage Personal Finances

John — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 21:15:44 +0000

In today’s declining economy, financial problems are becoming increasingly common. Every time you go to the grocery store, the price of at least one thing you buy has gone up in price since last week. Almost daily the price of gas increases. So what can you do when you are continually forced to spend more and more, but your income stays the same? How can you take control of your personal finances, save money and get ahead? First, you must be aware of where your money is going. Many people don’t realize this and without knowing it are spending what adds up to be a significant amount each month on little things. If you don’t normally ask for a receipt, start doing it now. Write down everything you are spending. Include cups of coffee, magazines, sodas, snacks and money spent eating out. Don’t omit anything. If you don’t know exactly where your money is going, you can’t make any affective changes, save money or take control of your finances. Second, make a budget. Put all of your expenses into one of three categories: needs, fun money and savings. Everything you need to have obviously goes in the needs category. Be honest! Only put it here if you really need it. This includes things like rent or house payments, gas, childcare (for when you are at work, not at a movie) and food. From your fun money come things you enjoy having but can live without, like gifts, eating out, cable t.v. and toys for your kids. Finally, there is your savings. Maybe you aren’t saving anything yet or aren’t saving enough. 65% of all people living in the United States aren’t saving enough for retirement. Maybe you have a lot of credit card debt and can’t think about retirement until you’ve paid that off. Don’t despair! Keep reading to find out how you can pay off your debt, save money and take control of your personal finances. Third, you have to be willing to make changes for your own good and the good of your family. Look closely at where your money is going and see what you can cut back on. Do you buy a $3 cup of coffee each morning? This adds up to $60 a month. Make your own. Start taking your lunch to work. Don’t buy the most expensive gifts. This article covers very briefly the basics of balancing your money. For details visit my blog by clicking here because there is so much more information vital for balancing your money, controlling your personal finances and becoming financially secure than I am able to put in this article. It describes in depth each of the three categories: needs, fun money and savings, as well as the percentages of how much you should be spending on each category. It tells you exactly how to get out of debt, no matter how much you have, and how to best plan your retirement. My blog also offers a variety of ways to save money.

Gina Clark writes on financial issues. Click here to learn additional ways to save money and manage your personal finances.

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Digest for 09/01/08

admin — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 09:22:52 +0000

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Wait!!! Don’t invest if you can’t pay your bills…

John — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 07:36:45 +0000

Before you consider investing money in any market, you really should take a good look at your current situation. Investing in the future is a good thing, but clearing up bad situations that are going on now, such as credit cards on which you are behind in the payments, is more important.

Get your credit report. I blogged about how you can do that for free. It is important to know what is on your report, and to clear up any negative or incorrect items as soon as possible. If you’ve set aside $25,000 to invest, but you have $25,000 worth of bad credit, you are better off cleaning up the credit first!

Look at what you are paying out each month, and get rid of expenses that are unnecessary. High interest credit cards, high interest unsecured loans, and services you are paying for but do not use are good examples. Pay them off and get rid of them. If you can, exchange the high interest credit card for one with lower interest and refinance high interest loans with loans that are lower interest. You may have to use some of your investment funds to take care of these matters, but in the long run, you will see that this is the wisest course of action.

Get yourself into good financial shape. You can then enhance your financial situation with sound investments.

Also, don’t invest if your bank balance is always low or if you are struggling to pay your monthly bills. Your investment dollars will be better spent to rectify adverse financial issues that affect you each day.

While you are in the process of clearing up your present financial situation, make it a point to educate yourself about the various types of investments.

This way, when you are in a financially sound situation, you will be armed with the knowledge that you need to make equally sound investments in your future.

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Do your good deed for the day…

John — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 01:43:34 +0000

Add this blog to your Technorati favorites. You’ll not only be doing me a favor, you will be doing this blog a favor. If more people visit the blog, more income will come from the blog ads (sorry about that). If there is more income, I can afford to invest in more stuff for the site and I can hire another writer. I can’t do it all.

View technorati.com

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Free Financial Calculators

John — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 04:32:24 +0000

Some things are hard to figure out without a calculator. Ever try to figure out mortgage amortization in your head? What about how much money you will need when you retire? Even if you were able to get this calculated out on paper, it would take from now until you retire to figure out how much money you are going to need when you retire.

Don’t reinvent the wheel. There is an easier way. You are not the first one to have the need to calculate these things. Others have come before you. In fact, some of the others that came before you decided to make the job a little easier by creating a calculator for that specific task.

I found a list of 100 financial calculators over on businesscreditcards.com. They include the few listed below:

Checkbook Balancer: Keep your personal budget balanced with this quick and easy calculator.
Home Budget Analysis: Keeping track of where your money goes can be hard as it often goes out as fast as it comes in. Use this budget analysis tool to get a handle on your spending.
Life Expectancy: Get an idea of how much you’ll need to plan for with this life expectancy calculator. Based on your health and lifestyle it will give you an estimate of your life expectancy.
Net Worth: Determine your net value and how it can change with this calculator.
Should my spouse work?: For many couples, especially those with children, the decision for one spouse to stay at home can be a hard one. See if your spouse can afford to stay home or should go to work with this calculator.
Social Security Benefits: Get an estimate of your potential social security benefits with this calculator.
Roth IRA Calculator: See how investing in an Roth IRA compares with taxable investments.
Retirement Planner: Keep your retirement plan on track with this easy-to-use calculator.
Retirement Income: How much will you have to live on when you retire? Use this calculator to figure out what your retirement savings will provide you with.
457 Savings Calculator: Use this calculator to figure out if a 457 savings plan can help you create a better retirement.
Cost of Living Calculator: Compare the cost of living between different cities in the United States.
Earning Potential: This calculator can help you estimate how much you can expect to earn over the course of your lifetime and what you can do to make the most of that money.
Human Life Calculator: Use this calculator to determine how much life insurance you should be carrying.

You can find the rest at businesscreditcards.com. Keep in mind that if you have a problem, you are probably not the first to have that problem. You can rest assured that someone else has solved that problem before.

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Criminal Goes Green, Saves Money On Gas

John — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 18:58:19 +0000

Even criminals are trying to save money these days. Check out this Drive-By Shooting story from 620wtmj.com in Milwaukee.

Milwaukee Police Investigate Bike-By Shooting
By Jon Byman
Story Created: May 30, 2008
Story Updated: May 30, 2008

Milwaukee Police are investigating a case in which a suspect claims he was shot while sitting on his porch. The man claims someone fired the shots while riding by his home on a bicycle. It happened in the 2700 block of north 34th a little after 9 on Thursday night. The victim is expected to recover. Police say they have had contact with the victim in the past.

Not to make light of someone’s misfortue, but I guess EVERYONE is being affected by gas prices these days.

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29 FREE eBooks

John — Sun, 18 May 2008 06:25:57 +0000

This post has been 10 days in the making. It’s been a long, hard road, but here it is; 29 free eBooks.

Enjoy:

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What can your friends tell you about saving money? (Part 2)

John — Wed, 07 May 2008 05:19:39 +0000

This is part 2 of the information my friends passed along.

My next door neighbor passed on the following information:

1 recycle…

cans=$

plastic keeps global oil cost/usage down

paper keeps packing costs from china down (china is the largest purchaser of recycled paper and cardboard, it is the US largest export to them)

most metals are worth some monetary value

2 go green(er)…

lower the thermostat, open windows and shades, ride your bike, car pool, drive slower, limit water usage, compact florescent bulbs

Use large appliances after 10 pm eg. dishwasher, dryer, washing machine, pool pumps and cleaners…all will help your bottom line ( electricity is almost a third cheaper between 10 pm and 6 am! )

CB has a suggestion on a triple play (combining three money-saving approaches):

I watch ads buying only what is on sale that I have coupons for and then combine those saving with what rebates are offered..Walgreens is really good for this..A lot of the time I end up getting items completely free on top of the already coupons savings!

AD has this suggestion, however, I am unclear on the calculations:

cost savings and environmentally friendly….

I have been doing this for about the last 8 months (prior to the media hype) and have noticed a savings.
Drink water, Drink, Water, Drink water… this seems to be pounded into our heads, It is good for you.. well I developed about a $20.00 a week bottled water habit. As habits go I guess it could be worse .

When I moved into my new house last June my landlord left me a Brita pitcher as a present…. This is great!!! It cut my bottles water habit in third but there were still all those time when I was out and grabbed a bottle. I now keep a drinking cup at work to fill up from the water cooler. I also found a cup that you can put in the freezer and the outside stays really cold all day.. I keep this one in my car.
I did have to make an initial investment in the cups and about every 3 months I have to buy a new filter.

Water $20.00/week X 52 = $1040.00
2 re-usable cups 7.00
4 filters 7.00 = 28.00 total 33.00
TOTAL SAVINGS IN A YEAR= $100.00 plus no move plastic bottle to run to the recycle bin

That’s it. Lots of great information. Add your tips in the comments section and we can all help each other.

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Spending Less 101 » Investing

Ways To Save Money And Manage Personal Finances

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Digest for 09/01/08

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Do your good deed for the day…

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Free Financial Calculators

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Criminal Goes Green, Saves Money On Gas

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What can your friends tell you about saving money? (Part 2)

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