Contingency Planning & Budgeting
No budget is complete without a plan to deal with the unexpected, which means you need to build up an emergency fund. It may take a little bit of discipline while you’re in savings mode, but the relief you experience from knowing that you have…
Short-Term Budgeting Tips
Getting your household spending under control requires having a spending plan in place — a budget — and most important, following the plan as closely as you can.
How Financial Management Is Crucial for Budgeting Success
Whether you like to admit it or not, money plays a significant part in many of life’s daily activities. When you have systems in place to manage your finances, whether that’s using cash envelopes, recording your spending each time you make a purchase, or using automated software, having a plan makes it easier to monitor your budget — and stick to it. Much of what we do in a given day revolves around finances,” says Jesse Bunse, a financial planner with Triune Financial Partners, LLC in Overland Park, KS. “Whether going to the store or simply getting in the car and going to work, we are making financial decisions. Wise money management helps us to make these decisions with greater ease, thus allowing more time to do all the other activities of our daily lives.”
How to Budget for Emergencies
There isn’t a magic amount that applies to everyone when it comes to how much you should set aside. “I recommend three to six months of living expenses,” advises Baehr. “More if your job or health situation is not stable.” For example, if you work as a freelancer or do primarily contract work, you need a larger emergency fund than if you’re the picture of perfect health and have a stable job at a strong company. Of course, to know how much several months’ worth of living expenses actually is, you need to track your spending.
Tricks to Win the Fight Against Debt
No matter how you acquired the debt, you can’t go back and change the past. But, you can implement a plan to win the debt reduction war and start spending your money the way you want, rather than scraping by to pay off your old creditors. It may be a long fight, but with a plan you can start by winning the small battles that will help you turn the tide and declare your financial freedom.
Why Is Financial Planning Important?
Without a financial plan, it’s hard to know whether you’re sinking or swimming when it comes to your finances. If you aren’t tracking your cash flow, your debt could be growing without you even realizing it. “If you are digging yourself further in the hole every month, nothing else matters,” says Brian Frederick, a certified financial planner practicing in Scottsdale, Arizona. “Having negative cash flow is analogous to having a leaky boat — it’s hard to go forward when you’re busy bailing water to make sure you don’t sink.”
What Do You Learn From Budgeting?
Though the thought of actually making a budget might sound as appealing as having a ball and chain attached to your wallet, it can actually be quite a liberating experience. According to Erin Baehr, a certified financial planner practicing in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, and Chester, New Jersey, “Many people think of budgets as something negative; something constraining or confining. But actually, having a t, or spending plan, will give you freedom.
5 Questions to Ask Before You Prepare a Budget
Sometimes, when people finally decide to take charge of their finances — to stop winging it and prepare a budget — they think of a budget as a restriction, depriving them of the nicer things in life. In reality, it can be liberating to chart a path to financial freedom. Before you start, you need to ask yourself at least five questions.
Budgeting Tips for Single Parents
It’s the first of the month, the rent is due, the car payment is looming — and your son or daughter has just told you that the money for the class trip is due tomorrow. It may not seem possible, but there’s no need to…
7 Ways to Curb Your Spending
If you find that what you spend each month exceeds your household income, it’s definitely time to sit down, analyze what your actual expenditures are and choose expense items to reduce or cut.