personal finance

How to Drop Bad Money Habits

February 24, 2016 by arizona

Whether or not we choose to admit it, many of us have bad money habits that leave our budgets feeling neglected and our wallets feeling empty. Regardless of who you are or how old you are, every one has developed some money habits that aren’t so good for us. It’s easy to fall victim to impulse buys and poor budgeting in this age of consumerism but there are some things that you can do to drop many of your bad habits.

[Read: Change Your New Year Money Habits]

In order to help you drop bad money habits you first have to understand what those habits are and how we developed them.

Beware All Impulse Shoppers

We live in an amazing era of technology and mass trade. These luxuries provide everyday citizens with access to merchandise from all around the globe. It is truly awe inspiring how much progress industry has made in such little time.

Sadly, there is a downside to such innovations. Thanks to all the seemingly benign window shopping that we do on a daily basis, many of us fall victim to impulse shopping. Not only can we find impulse buys at recreational shopping centers but we can also find them in our grocery stores. Which is why stores will put the bread right next to the lunch meat.

With so many daily traps, its no wonder why people go borderline broke after the weekend of every paycheck.

In order to initiate your plan to drop bad money habits, you need to be aware of ways to avoid impulse buying.

Here are a few simple guidelines to help you avoid impulse shopping:

Have a 30 minute shopping limit
Don’t shop angry (Ever!)
Follow the list
And, give yourself at least a day to think over big purchases

Mind Your Savings

Having a savings account is a good way to manage your money and keep track of your savings. Many banks will offer a patronage fee for those who have a savings account with them. These could range, depending on the money you have in the account. While account has many benefits, it does require a lot of consideration while planning your budget.

Even those who don’t like dealing with the banks must admit that having their money tucked away gives an added degree of safety; whether it be from themselves or others. Sometimes, we can be our worst enemy when it comes to managing our budget.

With so many ways to spend our money on a daily basis, it’s hard to consider the effect our spending might have on our savings account.

When we’re young, our savings account might not seem like much of a big deal. These types of thoughts can follow us into adulthood, which can result in bad money habits.

In order to drop bad money habits regarding your savings, you must first understand the importance of your savings account.

Saving up your money can have several benefits such as:

A higher patronage rate from banks
Easy access to money for large expenditures
And, an unofficial retirement fund

Saving up money can have many positive influences on your life. But, for those of us who live paycheck to paycheck, building up our savings can seem like a distant fantasy.

Luckily, saving gurus over the years have found simple ways to enable you to save your money such as:

Driving less often
Dining out less
Putting your needs before your wants
And, having long term goals

You May Spend too Much on Housing

While it could be hard to drop bad money habits by resisting the impulse to buy things, this one should make homeowners everywhere feel better about their savings.

For those of us who own a house or are renting an apartment know how expensive housing can be. However, budget gurus know that housing shouldn’t account for more than 28 percent of their gross income.

If you’re looking to drop bad money habits prioritizing too much money into your home can leave little room for budget/ saving improvement.

Here are some simple ways to lower your housing costs:

Turn off the light when you leave a room
Argue your mortgage
Switch to Netflix/Hulu (you can save a lot of money on cable this way)
Do away with landlines (cause how often do you really use it anyway?)
Rent a room

While you may be stuck in your rent or mortgage contract for a seemingly indefinite amount of time, there are some ways to drop bad money habits that accompany owning a living space.

Bleeding Your Wallet Dry With Bank Accounts

You pay the bank for the service of holding your money. It seems simple right? Wrong.

Banks are notorious for doing just about anything they can to get an extra dollar out of you. They hit your account with unreasonable fees and unwarranted penalties without much explanation. This can really pose a challenge for those looking to drop bad money habits.

[Read: 5 Must Have Habits That Will Pave the Way Towards Financial Success]

If you are among the people who find themselves neck deep in overdraft fees and penalties, it may be time to sit down with your bank and negotiate the terms of your account.

Advantages of Small Money Moves

February 18, 2016 by arizona

Money, in small increments, can sometimes make a better impact on our financial standing than larger moves. Usually, this is because smaller moves are less missed but can become more habit-forming when continued. Here are some suggestions of small money moves that can make a successful impact on our finances as they grow into positive habits.

[Read: What Are the Worst States for Saving Money?]

Make Small Money Moves to Savings

Putting a small amount of money in a savings account or contributing to an IRA is a good idea. If you chose this option, set it up as an automatic payment so you won’t be tempted to skip a month here and there. A regular amount being set aside each month will build over time and you will hardly miss it from your main account. Besides, there is no harm in paying yourself first. You worked for the money and need an emergency fund to fall back on. As an example, if you brought home $1200 a week and put $10 in savings and 1% in an IRA, by the end of the year you would have $120 in savings and $624 in that IRA without missing it. Now those two small money moves are simple and reap a decent reward.

You should consider starting a change jar. Every six months take that jar in for deposit (you will probably need to find a coin sorter first.) You will be surprised how much you can save in coins alone. If you like, those crumpled bills in your pockets can have their own jar, too. No take backs, though.

Extra Money towards Payments for Small Money Moves

If anyone has debt that they are trying to get out from under, this is a great way to do just that. A little extra money added to a payment can reduce a debt and the interest at the same time. This works with most creditors. That is why we often hear credit card experts say to pay more than the minimum amount on our credit cards. A creditor cannot charge you interest on the expected balance if you were to pay the minimum, they have to charge interest on the balance you have after you pay the minimum plus the extra you sent with it.

You can apply this to most mortgages, car loans, loans in general, credit cards, and even some monthly bills. A few creditors out there require you to make a full advance payment when using this small money moves a tactic to help yourself get out of debt and make extra payments a habit. The idea is to reduce the principle balance, so check with the company that is holding the loan or mortgage.

Knowing Your Taxes When Using Small Money Moves Tactics

It is important to know your tax bracket in order to use the small money moves tactics effectively with a 401(k) or Traditional IRA. Simply put, when your income surpasses your normal tax range, taxes go up. It is more beneficial to contribute more money to the 401(k) or IRA.

How Projections can Help Small Money Moves

Projections can help small money moves by showing us how small money moves can grow over the course of time. This is a great incentive to boost our morale to start or even keep going when we get into a slump. It can help with showing us different kinds of projections. As an example, there are calculators for retirement, social security, and investments, 401K and savings growth. All of these calculators can help us make decisions making small money moves as well as solidify our determination to continue to stay on our course of action.

How Organization Can Help Small Money Moves

When we know that we are sinking in debt, it is hard to face the reality of just how bad it really is. Once we force ourselves to take stock and organize where we can see exactly where we are, we can then make small money moves to pull ourselves out of that debt. It may not have taken long for us to get there, but with determination, we can remove debt this way.

Making Small Money Moves by Purchasing Second-Hand

Most of us have seen articles or programs about high fashion and getting the same look at a fraction of the price. This is along the same idea. Why pay full price when there is a comparable item out there for less? There is literally thousands that can be saved when we purchase something second-hand. It could be the same brand, just a little worn. Some items have been so well kept that it is hard to tell that they are second-hand. It can be fun just hunting for a comparison to what we originally want, anyways. Making small money moves like this would be a challenge to put the extra we would have spent into savings or another account.

Time to Cancel to Make Small Money Moves

There is something that is unnecessarily being charged to most of our accounts that we no longer have need of, or worse yet, signed up for accidently. Well, now is a good time to cancel that subscription. It is a waste of money that could be used elsewhere, or better yet, be put towards savings. We did not miss it when it came out of our account before, so why not put it where it can do some good. This would be filed under small money moves that wouldn’t affect us.

When Small Money Moves are in Place There is More Time to Relax

When we have implemented small money moves and other techniques to help ourselves save and reduce debt we can turn our attention to other things that are important to us. The ability to relax and enjoy life with our family is much more enjoyable when we know that the strategies we put into place will help us overcome debt and live more comfortably, being financially responsible.

[Read: Useful Shopping Hacks That Will Save You Money]

Every little step we take to make our lives better financially will help us in other areas of our lives. No one likes to stress over his or her financial situation. With these small money moves, we won’t have to. Small money moves will lead to huge rewards when they become the habits we need them to be.

How to Brighten Your Financial Outlook in the New Year

February 6, 2016 by arizona

“New year, new goals”, is what my mother would always say. As the new year rolls around, everyone tries to find areas of their life that need improvement and work on them. Whether it is a new diet, a new budget, or a new something, people often forget about their goals come mid to late February. While some goals may be a bit unreasonable by most standards. This article might not be a key to bench-pressing 200lbs, but it is a helpful source to find new ways to brighten your financial outlook in the new year.

[Read: Change Your New Year Money Habits]

Though it is a favorite to forget, our budgets need to go on a detox every once in a while too. After all the gift-giving holidays have come to a close, many find ourselves in need of a serious budget change. Even if you managed to leave the holidays behind in a pretty good financial situation, there is always room to improve your fiscal habits.

The only sure way to brighten your financial outlook in the new year is by focusing on the future. Long-term goals are important when you’re trying to renovate your habits with money. And this year, instead of just placing a monetary value on your resolution, try practicing smarter money traditions

Here are a few helpful ways to brighten your financial outlook in the new year.

Always Keep an Eye on the Discounts

Couponers seem to have developed a pretty bad reputation through the years from nearly everybody, but they manage to save buckets of money on everyday items. Putting judgmental society aside, couponers seem to have the right idea when it comes to saving money. Discounts are a money-spenders best friends when they’re trying to revamp their spending tactics and brighten their financial outlook.

Your cable company, phone provider, and the electricity company are always having new deals and promotions to ensure quality customer service. Checking up with your providing companies might just save you several dollars a month on necessities.

Fill Your Savings Jar

Though many of us know the importance of building our saving accounts, we rarely ever find ourselves putting money away. While we waste through one paycheck to another, we often forget to supply our rainy day funds and can get caught off guard by any fiscal emergency.

In order to build our savings account and brighten our financial outlook, we first need to make sure our paycheck lasts long enough to make it to our savings account. We can accomplish this by automating the process. Instead of allowing our own dwindling willpower to decide how much money can go into our savings, we can select a certain amount from our checks to register into our savings via direct deposit.

This practice becomes a little more strenuous with those who have hourly wages as the amount per check varies. If you do work for an hourly wage, you can typically select a certain percentage out of your check that will go into your savings account.

Pay Your Bills

Paying your bills on time is probably one of the most important ways to brighten your financial outlook and foster a better relationship with your money. Though we’re all guilty of wasting money on late and overdraft fees at one point or another, we don’t have to continue with the same old habits.

Creating a doable budget can make a world of difference as far as your money is concerned. Many of us can choose to do it grocery style and write down an estimate of our monthly expenses versus our income.

Reorganizing your spending can be a great way to make sure all of your bills are in order and on time.

Max Your 401(k) Contributions

Even though retirement may seem like a great distance away, saving up for it should be ones top priority. With the dwindling social security benefits taking its toll on those living out their retirement, it is important for everyone to plan for the future, no matter how far away it may seem.

Though the idea of storing money away for a long time may seem counterproductive to learning to better manage it, a maxed out 401(k) contribution will secure your financial stability in years to come.

Get Out of Debt

Finding yourself in debt is never fun, but it’s a thing we all must go through in our lives. Everything from home mortgages to credit card bills can leave your wallet and budget with some fatal injuries. Getting out of debt fast is very important in procuring your financial stability.

There’s a nice little theory that can help anyone struggling with any amount of debt. It’s called the “Stack Method” and works pretty much like a pyramid.

Ranks include:

STOP CREATING NEW DEBT (seriously guys)
Order by interest rate
Work towards lowering your interest rates
Create a feasible budget
Reward your progress

[Read: Ways to Stick to Your Budget]

This method is relatively straightforward; however, it’s important to find a way to make it work for you so you can brighten your financial outlook.

How to Improve Your Financial Health in 2016

January 22, 2016 by arizona

Mind and body they are always being ushered into health, on television, on the internet, in our emails and anywhere else you can think of, but what about your financial health, how do you keep your finances in good health and good strength, there are many ways in which do do this and there is no one special way, just like physical health, you have to find what works for you and go with it. Some are into lifting weights and others are into keeping their hearts healthy, and not muscle mass. You have to ask yourself, what financial sculpting to I want to do.

[Read: The Way Towards Financial Success]

Factors to Consider

Your Age
Your Work
Your Long Term Goals
Your short Term Goals

Just as fitness fits into your lifestyle, so too does your financial fitness, you have to take into consideration your age, your job, your long and short term goals. If you are young and starting out, you may be able to be more aggressive, as there is more time to repair a mistake, or if you are looking to buy a house and settle down because your job is long term and permanent. Of maybe you are getting a late start at financial health, no problem, it is never to late. Lets look at some specific techniques.

BUILDING EMERGENCY SAVINGS

This is a very important step in your financial health, whether old or young, unexpected emergencies will come up, and the problem is that you just never know when, but they will come up. After you have created a solid household budget, and you have found places to trim the excess, you need to take that money and set is aside, in a hard to access place. Your goal should be six months of your income replacement. Take your budget, and multiply it by six, and there you are, your minimum target emergencies fund. But don’t stop there, keep going, if you are able, because the more you have, the better safety net.

PAY ON TIME

Part of your financial health is your credit score, it is like your blood pressure, you cannot really see it all the time, but it is an important number, and good financial health will keep this number high. Makig payments on time is the easiest way to maintain your score, and increase it, after you pay down debt, you have to make all those payments before their due date, the track record of your payments will be with you for a long time if you pay late, just like those Twinkies will be in with you for a long time in your physical well being.

PREVENT THEFT

One of the most damaging things that can happen to you is to have your identity stolen or compromised, lets face it, the thief could care less about your live, and they are going to work hard and fast at destroying your life and hard work. Putting a solid theft procedure in place is key. You can have a service monitor your credit, and red flag any bizarre issues, and shut it down, thus stopping the theft all together. Another less remembered but equally important thing to do is to eliminate your monthly paper trail, you should destroy all your papers as soon as you can, and if possible scan them into a hard drive, and store that in a locked safe, thereby having access to them electronic image in case there is an issue down the road, and with the capacity of storage these days, you may never have to get rid of anything.

CONSTANTLY REVIEW

Everyone makes mistakes, and most are oversights or unintended, but you have to look closely at all your monthly statements to make sure that you, your creditor, or a third party did not make some mistake on your statements. It is easy to overlook this step and just look at the payment amount and due date and be done, but if there are mistakes that arise this could impact your balances, or your future credit, so be diligent.

[Read: How to Make Your Financial Future Secure for Good]

CONCLUSION

So, as you can see there are many things to take into consideration and many ways to keep your financial health in order, just as your physical being, you must take the time to map out a plan of action and determine what you want to achieve. It is an ever evolving process, therefore, from time to time you should reassess your plan and adjust accordingly. But keep in mid the factors mentioned above and follow the four points and you will be on your way to a strong financial well being. When you look to financial health do not forget physical health, a strong mind and body will carry over into a great outlook on life and a desire to improve throughout.

Here are some Helpful Tips to Avoid Overspending on Last Minute Holiday Shopping

January 11, 2016 by arizona

Last minute holiday shopping can cause an overwhelming amount of stress on a person as they spend the last days before Christmas scrambling to find the perfect gift. So many of us procrastinate shopping for a variety of reasons; regardless of our reasons, last minute gift shopping can be very expensive and time consuming. All the hype to find the perfect gift can drain us of any remaining money and Christmas cheer. Luckily, there are many quick and easy ways to avoid overspending on last minute holiday shopping.

[Read: How to Figure Your Debt Reduction]

Avoid the Temptation:

Before shopping for anything, it is always important to have a list. Even if it is just a mental jot-down of ambiguous items, a list will help monitor how you are spending your money. That being said, online window-shopping is every budgets’ worse nightmare. Even going through your email can lead to very expensive overhauls with things that were not even on your shopping list. Cautious shoppers will know to never click “display image” as it often entails a sticky fiscal situation afterwards. And, most shoppers of the Christmas season will often unsubscribe and stray from auction and bidding sites due to how overwhelmingly easy it is to go overboard. While it’s tempting, the trick to avoid overspending on last minute holiday shopping is to say “no”.

Keep your Inbox in Check:

As we venture closer to Christmas, many online sites tend to oversell their items to the weary shopper. As if in-store signs and TV promotions weren’t enough to get our attention for the “best Christmas deals”, stores also make sure to flood our inboxes with “online only” sales. The overwhelming number of emails advertising the best prices can cause even the most frugal Christmas shopper to overreach their budget. To avoid overspending on last-minute holiday shopping, there are several amazing services such as Sanebox. Sanebox, Unroll.Me, and other such tools, are all resources that will prioritize your mail and assist with unsubscribing to sites that clutter your inbox. For more important emails, Unroll.Me will allow you to save them in a daily roll-up and will allow you to choose when they are sent to your inbox. Having a clean inbox can help avoid overspending by limiting the amount of unnecessary ads.

Here’s a small list of a few great tools to help avoid overspending on last-minute holiday shopping:

Sanebox
Unroll.Me
Mailbox
The Email Game
Unsubscriber

Make a List:

Not even Santa gets gifts before making a list, so why should you? Making a list is one of the smartest ways to avoid overspending on last-minute holiday shopping. With all the amazing stuff you see online it gets hard to figure out when you’re shopping for yourself and when you’re shopping for someone else. As difficult as gift giving can be, there are ways to make it easy on every shopper. The simplest way to make a list is by doing it “grocery list” style. It’s easy! There’s no special formatting; just write down your gift ideas as if you were writing down food to get at the store. However, for those of you out there looking for an easier way to keep up with the cost, there are sources such as the Master Gift List

that actually has space for you to add up your costs. Other, more high tech, include “Gift Professor” along with more Christmas gift apps, that can be downloaded right to your phone so you do not have to worry about losing a paper list.

Empty your Cookie Jar:

Sadly, I don’t mean that you should steal Santa’s cookies. Actually, clearing the cookies from your browser is one of the smartest ways to prevent impulse buys and to avoid overspending on last-minute holiday shopping. It seems as while we are searching through sites for our cousin’s perfect Christmas gift, the previous pages follow us through the internet. Expensive purses that we talked ourselves out of buying just a few moments ago seem to haunt us from page to page until we finally break down and whip out the credit card. Ads sponsored by previous sites are horrible for your budget as it offers more ways to spend money in less clicks. In order to save your bank account from starvation, clear your cookies as often as possible. Trust me, your budget will thank you as you manage to avoid overspending on last-minute holiday shopping.

[Read: A Balance of Saving and Spending]

Smooth Sailing to Checkout:

Checking out can be one of the most exciting things to do after spending hours searching through the internet to find gifts for every individual on our list. However, check out is also one of the bigger nerve-wracking things about shopping online. With warnings from the newsroom about the very real danger of identity theft occurring to online shoppers, it can leave a person very apprehensive to purchasing the items that they looked so long for. Luckily, like with most things, there are ways to protect yourself from identity theft while making the check out experience even easier. Apps such as Google Wallet and Apple Pay are easy and secure ways to pay for your items.

Change Your New Year Money Habits

January 9, 2016 by arizona

Every twelve months we are here again, the crossroads of what we did last year, and what we want to do and accomplish this year, and it would seem that most of us will be here again, financially next year asking the same questions and failing at the same resolutions. The reason most fail is not the desire to succeed; they lack the information and tools necessary to succeed. Following some or all of these tips will allow you to make other resolutions next year, like finally getting to the gym! But that is a whole other article!!

[Read: Ways to Stick to Your Budget]

Factors to Consider

Earnings
Spending
Savings
Long Term Goals

BUDGETING

This seems to be driven hard into use at every turn, by everyone who has an opinion, and in this regard, they are right, you need to have and stick to a realistic budget, if you do not have a budget you have absolutely no idea what you are spending your money on and how much you have going out, all that you know is that you are out of money at the end of the month and you need more of it to do it all over again the next month. A good solid budget will reign in those unknown and unwarranted expenses that are causing you to fail at your long term plans and make your resolutions fail.

There are ways to reduce your spending and one tip is to get rid of some luxuries that you do not need, such as cable or satellite television. Lets face it, you do not need to watch that much television do you, and 90% of the channels you do not even watch, think about it. This is one example.

SAVE SOME MONEY

Only once you have created and maintained a solid realistic budget and cut out all the unnecessary expenses can you begin to save money, there are a few things that you need to consider here, such as an emergency fund, long term plans such as children and big purchases and some money for yourself, because if all you do is work and save and not enjoy some of life’s fun stuff, what fun would that be?

One way to save money is to be a better shopper, gain in savings when you buy smart. Bulk warehouses are a great place to get staples that you use and need daily, and when you look at the unit prices in comparison to the “convenient” stores around the corner you will see that your savings will add up over time despite the larger outlay of money in the initial purchase. Also, cut out on frivolous purchases, if you drink coffee, for example, make it at home and take it with you, that will save you tons of money.

SAVE FOR THE LONG TERM

What is all this for, for the future of course. If you have a long term goal, such as early retirement, a home purchase, world travel. All of these need immidiate planning for the long term goal. You must identify what it is that you want to accomplish and what you want to do. You may not know for sure, but chances are you have an idea of what you want to do, for example buy a house, start a family. Or work, rent, and travel at every chance you can get. These are all admirable and achievable goals if you plan accordingly and set out those goals. But you must too plan for the unknown, such as a loss of work, illness or injury that could derail your best laid out plans, you may need to plan for long term health care and health insurance so be sure to add that into your plans when thinking about the future and where you want to be.

GET RID OF DEBT

Lastly, you will want to get rid of your debt, or as much debt as you can, as quick as you can, this can be achieved too by a well thought out budget that you will stick to, good future goals and plans and a thrifty way of life. You will never be completely debt free, and understanding that is a crucial point in being happy and content. Just keep moving towards the lower point of debt.

[Read: 5 Must Have Habits That Will Pave the Way Towards Financial Success]

In Conclusion

Seems like a lot to cover and a lot to do, but really in small chunks you can get your New Years finances in order and create good habits that will stick out through the year. Regaining or starting anew with your finances is not a hard task, just a persistent one that can be achieved if you know the fine points and follow them in a consistent and thoughtful manner.

Ways to Stick to Your Budget

December 20, 2015 by arizona

One of the hardest things that adults face is the ability to stick to your budget. After all, it should be easy so many people do not expect for this to be such a struggle. However, more and more people find that after they make their budget, they still are not meeting their financial goals. Chances are this is due to not really sticking to the budget that they have set out. Why is this? It is very hard to stick to the strict financial goals you have after budgeting, once you have certain financial habits in place. After all, it takes a while to stop certain habits, and financial habits are some of the hardest to break and change. That is why it is important to stick to your budget, and there are several great tips to help you just do that.

[Read: Great Ways to Save Money during the Holidays]

Ways to Ensure You Make your Budget a Habit

There are several methods that you can use in order to stick to your budget, below are some of those that people have found successful for them.

Start with a visualization board. This board is meant to be a way for you to visualize why you want to ensure your budget stays intact. For example, some people put pictures of their dream home that they hope to have once their budget is under control. Whatever your goals, you want to visually represent this on this board.
Share your goals with other publicly, like with social media. This way you are going to be less likely to fall back from the goals that you have put into place. If you know that others are interested in what you are doing, you are going to give your best. Plus, this could help you to find others who share the same goals, and you can become a team of support for one another.
Just because you want to stick to your budget does not mean that you cannot an indulgence every now and then. It is good to let loose every now and then, so that you do not feel as though there is nothing to your life other than a budget. The key is to make these indulgences spaced evenly throughout the year, rather than overindulging and completely ruining your budget goals.
Keep track of the success that you are having as this can encourage you to keep doing what you are doing. Plus, it will allow you to see those moments that you should celebrate with an indulgence for the hard work that you have put forth.

A budget is a great thing to have, but if you do not stick to your budget, then it seems that you wasted your time making this budget.

Making a Budget that you Can Stick to

These tips are great for those who have already established their budget, but if you are at the stage of developing your budget, be sure that you are doing this in a way that is going to ensure that you can stick to it. Here are a few tips to help with just that:

Always ensure that your financial goals are doable, do not make goals that you know you are never going to achieve, as this is just going to make you get discouraged and you are not going to stick to your budget.
Make small goals that lead to your main goals so that you can see more progress.
Always ensure that you are putting your debt and other bills in your budget to ensure that you are not falling behind in any part of your financial portfolio.
Ask for help from a financial advisor if you feel that your budget is not what it should be.
If debt is a huge issue with your budget, think about ways that you can deal with the debt that you have such as debt consolidation or the like
Be sure that you are making a budget with your significant other, if you two share expenses, as those who bring in the income and are a part of the household need to be on board with the new budget.
There are always going to be slips when it comes to making a budget, and if you have these slips, consider these to be mistakes to learn from
Adjust your budget if needed if you find that you simply cannot stick to this for whatever reason in this way you are not becoming deterred with this process

[Read: 3 Solid Ways to Ensure Your Financial Security]

Budgeting is something that everyone does. However, sticking to a budget is harder than what most people realize. You can stick to your budget with these tips and with realizing that there are times that you cannot help but to slip from this budget. However, with these tips, you are going to find that sticking to a budget can be made easier.

How to Pay Off Lingering Debt

December 9, 2015 by arizona

Sometimes it can seem that there’s no end to the payments and bills coming through your door. You might feel as if you’re amassing new debts all the time without knowing how to pay them all off. However, with a simple budget and a good plan for the future you’ll soon see that it is possible to pay off lingering debt.

[Read: 10 Financial Fees You Should Never Pay]

Planning for the present and the future

The first step towards managing your finances and paying off lingering debt is to draw up a budget based on your monthly income and expenses. Use a tool such as Mint or just a basic Excel spreadsheet to lay everything down in a layout that works for you. Keep it simple so that you can clearly see any areas where you can reduce your spending.

Control the money coming in

When you first draw up your budget there will probably only be one or two kinds of income. That is, your basic salary and the salary of anyone else in your household. Although it is best to keep this figure as a baseline there are plenty of other sources of income that you may not have considered, such as:

Work bonuses. A lot of us get yearly bonuses, often based on performance or time spent at the company. Avoid the temptation to splurge and use up all of your bonus on a luxury item or getaway and instead use it to contribute towards paying off lingering debt.
Sell unwanted items. Scour your house for old unwanted gifts and household items that you just don’t need any more. Not only will this make you feel good about your house, you’ll also be helping someone who wants to buy second-hand as well as adding those all-important dollars to the bank account.
Take on more work. No one should have to work themselves into the ground, but doing an extra shift every now and then can help boost your bank balance. Tell yourself exactly what you’ll be paying off with that extra money and it’ll all seem worth it. Also, there are jobs that you can do from home – ideal if you only work part time or if one person in the family stays at home instead of going out to work. These can be flexible enough to allow you to work around your existing commitments, and you might be able to learn some new skills at the same time.
Rent out a spare room. If you’ve got the space, renting out a room can provide a steady source of income. Depending on your own lifestyle and location, you might consider doing this for just a few weeks of the year for a quick cash injection.

Once you’ve seen the money rise in your account and you’ve started paying off lingering debt you can give yourself little rewards now and then. Set yourself a goal, such as paying off $5000 of your credit card debt, then treat yourself when you get there!

Control the money going out

There are certain tactics that you should consider when paying off lingering debt. Firstly, order your debts by interest rate and start off by paying off the one with the highest rate. This will stop it from spiralling into a more worrying figure. Also, make sure that you pay off more than just the bare minimum on your credit cards. This is the only way that you’ll make any dent in your debt. You will probably want to contribute more of your budget towards some debts than others.

When it comes to credit cards, it pays to be a savvy shopper. Firstly, try to halt all spending so that you can pay off your lingering debt without making it even bigger. Secondly, look at the cards that you currently have and shop around to see if you can switch to a card that offers a zero-interest balance transfer. Make sure that you check out the fine details, though – the zero-interest only lasts for a short period of time before reverting to a normal rate, so try to get everything paid off in this short time period. The last thing to do with regards to credit and store cards is to alter your own spending habits. Look through your bank statements and see where you’re spending the most money. You may find that there are lots of little amounts going out here and there, such as for coffees or snacks. Cut back on these small amounts and you’ll be surprised how much you save in the long run – every cent counts towards paying off lingering debt. Another handy tip is to delete your card details from online stores. It’s often the convenience of a quick check-out that lures us into parting with our cash.

[Read: Knowing When to Pay off Debt]

Small changes and a better understanding of our money contributes to us leading a better, more controlled financial life.

10 Of the Most Useful Shopping Hacks That Will Save You Money

November 11, 2015 by arizona

Isn’t it time that you saved money while shopping? No matter whether your goal is to pay off your debt, save money for a home or retirement, or take your ideal vacation, we would all like to keep more of our earnings.

While it can be hard to adjust your money habits, there are other ways to reign in savings while you shop.

[Read: Great Tips on How You Can Save Money on a Wedding]

Read on for some shopping hacks that will save you money.

1. Ask About Discounts

This shopping hack will save you money with no additional work. All you have to do is ask the manager if a better price is available. This can even work at the supermarket. If you notice a discounted product, ask about deals for bundles if you typically tend to buy in bulk. You can easily end up saving a lot of money this way.

2. Price Matches

Take advantage of the price match guarantees that many retailers offer. There are even price comparison apps that will help save you time, such as ShopSavvy and RadLaser. These apps can help you find the best price possible. If you shop at a store that offers price matching, all you have to do is show them the advertised lower price and viola – you have saved money without having to alter your shopping habits.

3. Get connected

This may be the easiest shopping hack that will save you money of all. Who isn’t on some form of social media these days? Connecting with your go-to brands via social media helps you stay current with their sales and promotions. Make sure to sign up for emails, as many companies offer exclusive coupons for subscribers only.

4. Get thrifty

Secondhand shops have helped me buy many products. As long as you are careful, the benefits of this shopping hack that will save you money outweigh the risks. I have used online secondhand shops to purchase dining sets, games, electronics, and more. Facebook “garage sale” groups, Craigslist, and Ebay are popular places to purchase gently used items online. In addition, upscale consignment shops are gaining popularity.

5. Time your shopping

Remember this important shopping hack that will save you money: shopping during low periods can score discounts on almost anything you can dream of.
Here are a few ways to help find best times to shop for specific goods:

Markdowns are often applied in the morning at grocery stores. Get there early.
Don’t get sucked in by holiday sales. If it seems too good to be legitimate, walk away. Often times, prices are marked up during the holidays to make the discount seem bigger than it actually is. Check the prices against pre-sale advertisements to make sure you are getting the best deal.
Patience, patience, patience. If you can wait until after the season ends to purchase a non-necessity, your wallet will thank you.

6. Clearance rack shopping

Growing up, my parents always made a beeline for the clearance rack first. Now I understand why. They already knew about this shopping hack that will save you money, and boy did it pay off in spades. While exceptions were occasionally made for necessities, they saved thousands throughout the years by sticking to clearance racks for clothes, home goods, and more.

7. Coupons

This shopping hack that will save you money is my favorite of all. If your coupon has expired, don’t just throw it away. Many times, stores will still accept them or exchange it for one that has not yet expired. If the clerk says they cannot do that, let them know you are prepared to walk away from buying the item. Often times, this is enough to get them to give you the discount.

8. Gentle threats

Have you recently called your insurance company or cable provider to ask for a discount lately? Taking the time to do this every quarter can save you tons of money. When you try this shopping hack that will save you money, make sure you remember to communicate gently so the representative is willing to offer assistance. You may wish to start with a compliment and by reminding the company of your loyalty to them. This small act can pay off in dividends.

9. Cash is king

This is best when purchasing a high-priced item like home goods. Offering to pay in cash lets the sales representative know you are serious. This is especially true with smaller companies, as they often are hit harder by credit card processing fees.

[Read: When Coupons Trick You into Spending More Money]

10. Generic brands are equivalent

Generic items are often equivalent to their brand name alternatives. This is especially true with medications, so long as the active ingredients are the same for each. You can save up to $1.50 per item this way.

Even if you only use a few of these hacks, it is possible to save more than you ever imagined possible.

Ideas For Saving Money During The Holiday Season

November 9, 2015 by arizona

The time between Halloween and New Year is often dreaded by many, and this is mostly due to cost. The average American usually ends the year several hundred dollars in credit card debt. But the holidays can still be a great time for everyone without overindulging. Here are some tips to make sure you are at least financially healthy after New Years.

[Read: Great Ways to Save Money during the Holidays]

Think about everyone who you need to give a gift to and estimate a price limit, even if you have no particular gift in mind. This process should be done as early into the holiday season, before Thanksgiving if possible. Add up your total (remember to include the periphery expenses such as wrapping paper and postage) and see if this fits into your budget. If this total is more than you can afford there are several options open to you –

Set lower gift amounts for each person/specific people
Cut people from your list (this doesn’t need to be as heartless as it sounds, for example can you arrange Secret Santa for certain groups of people)
Make other arrangements (for example grandparents often would much rather spent time with you than receive anything physical)

Set Spending Limits before Going Shopping

Don’t be tempted to buy more luxurious items than needed while out shopping. This is hard at the best of times, but is especially hard around the festive season. If you find it difficult to stick to spending limits while at the mall try to do the bulk of your shopping online as this is great for –

Comparing prices
Doesn’t have the added expense of travel etc.
Often extra voucher discounts are available

Watch out for delivery times and costs (finding free delivery is not too much of a chore), and beware of ‘gift wrap’ options, as these can be unexpectedly pricey.

Remember your long term Financial Goals

The excitement of the festive season can cloud your judgment to the longer term, but keep your financial goals in mind. Your children’s future education is so much more important than the perfect gift right now. Write down your goals, this is a clique but writing things down do make them seem more real and achievable. Displaying them somewhere where you can see them everyday can help too, such as on the fridge or mirror.

Don’t Stop Saving

Don’t stop you’re regular saving routine just because of the holidays, try to budget around it. If saving is a problem for you, try to make a greater saving commitment your New Year’s resolution. Possibly also think about how to save for next year, say with a special bank account that you put a certain percentage every month in to budget easily for next year’s spending.

Get Creative

The holiday season can be a time to really get creative; hand-made gifts are often more cherished by those who received them than anything pricey. But even if you are not of the artistic persuasion, there are many ways to give a creative spending boost to the holiday season. For example, think outside the box with where you usually shop and see if what you’re looking for is cheaper elsewhere, especially online. Perfume is often a great gift, but prices can vary widely for the same brand and scent. Also think about some of these options –

Photo gifts – personal and inexpensive
Food gifts – fun to make and always well received
Personalised cheques – make a Christmas chequebook full of free things you’ll loved ones will enjoy; such as babysitting, massages or hugs.

Try this roundup for many more creative ways to save money during the holiday season.

[Read: Five of the Top Money Saving Mistakes People Make]

Borrow Wisely

If you need to borrow over the festive season, do it wisely. Get credit card with a 0% rate (but watch out for when the 0% ends as the usual rates are often higher), or find a credit card with a cash back reward. In fact, even if you don’t need to borrow using a credit card with a reward scheme can pay dividends if you use it for all your holiday purchases.

Be Truly Thankful

Remember what the holidays are really for, whatever you believe in. Gratitude does wonders for your physical as well as mental health; it lowers blood pressure and can reduce anxiety among many other things. Talk to your family and friends about what they would really want as a gift, the majority of the answers will probably surprise you, leading to a much more serene and economical holiday season. The holidays don’t have to be expensive to be enjoyable; relaxing and being with family and friends is completely free.