Personal Finance Information

Budgeting is Bothersome

It doesn?t take much for you to get behind on monthly bills, but it sure takes some time to catch up. The comparison in my mind is to weight gain. A one-week vacation can easily pack on 5 to 7 pounds. Losing that weight however, can take a good month of cardio. That?s no fun, and neither is trying to find the extra cash to pay last month?s credit card payment.

Learning the Basics of Handling Money

With prices increasing all the time, saving money can be harder and harder to do. Here are some solutions for saving a little so that you can still meet your needs and still find ways to trim off a little for the future.

What Are We Teaching our 2005 Graduates about Money?

Now that we are in the month of June I can?t help but wonder if we have prepared our new graduates for the responsibility of managing and budgeting their money.

Saving Money - The Magic 20 Percent

Saving money is not easy and is made more difficult if you have a short-term outlook regarding your personal finances. If, like many people, you are living from one pay cheque to the next, it is difficult to put some money aside for a rainy day or for a summer holiday. But what if you were to change your financial outlook into a medium to long-term one? You might believe that you cannot afford to think ahead and make plans, but in most cases you would be wrong. Most people should be able to save some money and with some effort, maybe even as much as 20 percent of their salary each month. Income AnalysisFirst of all it is important to have a handle on where your income is going. Unless, we are on an extremely tight budget or are very money conscious for other reasons, many of us have never really sat down and considered what our money is being spent on ? we just know that by the end of the month, it has all gone! You will know if you are consistently spending your money on unnecessary purchases, for example. Having this knowledge equips you with the control to change things a little or a lot.Saving Money MentalityMany people have never been taught to save and as children, immediately spent the money they received without any forethought. You often hear people say, ?Life is short, if you want something buy it now?, but thankfully for most of us life is not really so short and along the way we will have to deal with both opportunities and challenges. Having some money saved will help you make the most of the opportunities and ride the challenges. Savings ? Seeing the Big PictureIf you could save 20 percent of your salary each month, imagine what that would mean in real financial terms. For example, if you earn 2000 dollars per month and you saved 20 percent or 400 dollars out of every pay cheque, after 12 months you will have saved 4800 dollars! Regularly saving this amount of money would give you the financial freedom to take advantage of more of life?s opportunities. You could plan the special holiday you have always wanted to go on, buy the car that you have been dreaming about for years, or help put a child through college. When it comes to life?s challenges, having a lump sum put away could help you pay for private medical care or deal with an expensive plumbing problem in the home, all without having to turn to the bank for a loan and getting into debt. How Can it Be Done? As we have already seen, knowing exactly where your money is going is the starting point. Next, start thinking about the big things you could achieve with some money in the bank. Some people compensate themselves for not having what they really want, by making many frequent small purchases and getting a temporary ?feel good? sensation afterwards. Rather than satisfying yourself with small purchases, such as new clothes and CDs every week or always buying the latest mobile phone, think about how much more satisfying it would be to save up and buy or do something special, which you previously thought was out of your reach, but is achievable with a little effort.

Chex Systems ? Why Every American Needs To Guard His Checking Account With His Life

Most Americans have been brought up to be concerned about a good personal credit rating, because of the role a positive rating can play in your long term plans; purchasing a home, buying a car, getting a business loan, etc. They have also been made to understand that the premier organizations that pretty much hold the key to their financial futures are Equifax, TransUnion and Experian.

Affording a Home

Can you really afford a house? If so, how much house can you afford? To determine this answer will take serious financial planning, and the best time to start is at least six months before buying the home.

Developing a budget? Watch out for Those Budget-Bursting Gremlins

If you?ve developed a household budget to get your spending back in line or to just reduce stress, good for you! Creating and sticking to a budget isn't easy by all means. But it represents the best way by far to manage your finances so you can relax and worry about other things.

How You Feel Affects How You Shop & How Much You Spend

Have you ever stopped to think about how your "mood" affects the way you shop, not to mention the amount you spend? Think about it.

Bank On It: Places to Hide and Invest Money

Today I passed a thermometer at a bank that read 110 degrees, but I am not telling you that to show you how hot it was. I am telling you that because this bank really needs to fix their thermometer. According to their thermometer, it was also 110 degrees in December. There are a lot of people, places and things that can be more accurate with the weather, and as I've never said (but have always wanted to), "Whatever I trust with the weather is what I also trust with my money." Here are some examples:

The World is Not Enough - Calling for a More Ethical Approach to Personal Finance

At a time when the entire world?s attention is focused on the problems of world debt, with the Live 8 concerts, the G8 summit in Scotland, the Make Poverty History Campaign (MPH) and the various anti-poverty marches, it seems that everyone wants the world?s governments to behave more ethically towards the manner in which international finance is conducted. This is obviously a laudable attitude to take, and has gained immense momentum with such a groundswell of public opinion that even the UK Chancellor, Gordon Brown, has stated he is planning to participate in the Make Poverty History demonstration in Edinburgh during the G8 summit.

Budgeting Your Way to Financial Freedom

Financial freedom cannot be achieved without budgeting. Budgeting involves tracking your sources of income and more importantly tracking your expenses. It is novel tool for controlling your expenses and making you aware of how you spend your money. At the outset, budgeting may seem to be onerous and boring, particularly for those of us who hate numbers. But once you realize the benefits emanating from it, you will find it an interesting exercise. Even businesses, whether small or large, use budgeting as a tool to achieve their financial goals. It is, in fact, an integral part of managing an organization.

How to Save Money in a Grocery Store

Now there are ways to save money in the grocery store, and they may or may not take much effort on your part to learn some great ways to save money. Your greater savings can often be found in the perishable departments of a grocery store. The perishable departments are the bakery, meat, and produce departments. Looking at the grocery ads can also be of great assistance. Also, believe it or not something as simple as writing down a list can help you save money. I?ll show you a few techniques that will help you save money.

Roth IRA Contributions - IRS Rules

Confused about whether you can contribute to a Roth IRA? Try using these simple rules:

How To Free-Up 10% to 15% of Your Income

Would you be interested in freeing up 10% to 15% of your current income? Just imagine what you could do with this money. You could pay down your debts, increase your savings, or work toward that next important purchase that you have in mind. Wouldn?t it be exciting to actually have money left over at the end of the month?

Introduction to Australian Superannuation

Australians, in general, constitute some of the worst savers inthe world. Current estimates suggest that, on average, Australianssave just 4% of their income. This is less than half of the 11%estimate for Australians in the late 1970s.

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