Budgeting 101: How to Pay Off Old Debt
Whatever the source of your old debt — old student loans, past due credit cards or something else — it can feel like a millstone hanging around your neck, especially if debt collectors are hassling you. However, don’t let the fear or uncertainty get the best of you. According to Eric Roberge, a certified financial planner in Boston who works with young professionals across the country, “The fear typically comes from the lack of knowledge of available options. Once all the options are laid out, you can then choose the best option for your situation.”
How to Budget for a Large Event
Whether it’s a wedding, a family reunion or your church’s Easter festival, big events cost money. You don’t want to base your decision on price alone, though, according to Katie Wilgus of Gather Event Planning. It’s important, for instance, that your vendors can deliver the level of quality and fit the type of event that you have in mind.
5 Common Budgeting Mistakes to Avoid
Budget Accurate budgeting starts by identifying every category of expense, no matter how small the annual expenditure on the item might be. Underestimating your expenses means that, at the end of the month, you’ll have less money than projected in your budget, and you won’t…
How to Establish a Realistic Budget
Include All Expenses Your budget should account for all the money that you spend, not just the big categories or the ones that you have on a consistent basis. Danny Payne, a certified financial planner practicing in Southern California says that, “miscellaneous expenses, such as…
5 Reasons Bill Paying Software Helps Your Budget
Utility bills, cell phone bills, medical bills, credit card bills — the bills just keep on coming, and getting them paid and off your desk is a never-ending battle. The threat of late fees and friendly reminder calls from your creditors adds some time stress to the monthly bill-paying hassle, and it might often occur to you that “there has to be a better way.” In fact, bill-paying software has been around since the 1990s to automate the process. It also makes budgeting easier and saves on those troublesome fees and expenses.
Financial Planning 101: Essential Tips for Beginners
Financial planning is unique to each person because everyone has different priorities in life. While some may gain enjoyment for seeing how much wealth they can attain, many people aren’t focused on making the list of wealthiest individuals: after all, the person who dies with the most toys is still dead.
Tips for Creating a Moving Budget
The much-dreaded moving day looms on your calendar. You know what it means: pulling together an entire household of stuff, an exhausting day or two getting it from point A to point B, and setting it all down — hopefully undamaged — in the brand-new…
Teaching Your Teen How to Budget
Whether you give your children an allowance, make them do chores for what they get, or have them earn their spending money from paying jobs, kids need to know how to budget what they have. Instilling good financial skills while your kids are still relatively…
Small Ways to Save Big Money
Often, the biggest budget-busters aren’t things like your mortgage. They’re the smaller expenditures that add up at month’s end, and required expenses such as insurance premiums that seem carved in stone. Both can usually be reduced if you’re determined to save a lot of money,…
Reasons to Keep a Rainy Day Fund
As much as we may try to predict the future, life always comes up with a way to throw us a curveball. Although you might not know what form your next unanticipated expense is going to take, rest assured that it’s going to come at…