Your Money Tapes – Tips on Budgeting

Written by Gary Foreman

The Dollar Stretcher Blog

I’ve often heard it said that the longest distance is between the human head and the human heart. What is meant is that there are many things that we know intellectually. We understand them and have no doubt that they’re true. But, we still have trouble acting on them. In other words, our heart doesn’t know the same truth.

How many of us suffer the same thing in our financial affairs? We know we should budget or begin saving for retirement. But we can’t seem to do it. Intellectually we know what we should be doing. But we just can’t get going on it. Our heart isn’t in the program.

One way to identify when our minds and hearts aren’t in sync is to notice what financial decisions make us uncomfortable. What financial activities make our palms sweat? Our hearts beat faster? Make our stomach quesy? When we feel uneasy about a financial event that’s a clue that it’s an area that we need to examine.

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Retirement Saving Tips – Personal Finance Basics

How do you envision your retirement? Would you like to spend your time relaxing on a remote beach in a tropical paradise? Perhaps traveling throughout Europe with your life partner is another goal. How about working at McDonalds? Sadly the last option is what most American’s end up doing with their golden years. There is a way to actually make your dreams a reality. In this article I will discuss a few personal finance basics and tips for your retirement savings.

START EARLY:

For the most part we all have similar dreams but each of has a unique approach to how we hope to achieve them. The best way to realize your goals is to start early. The earlier the better. It’s never too late to start planning for your retirement. Compounding interest is a very powerful aid when it comes to financial planning. For those who start saving for their retirement in the 20’s can create a large nest egg with relative ease as long as regular contributions are made.

SAVING VEHICLES:

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It’s no secret that having children can be one of the most exciting, daring, enjoyable and frustrating things any adult will ever do. It’s also a pretty well known fact that kids are very, very expensive. With the cost of diapers summer camp, football, dance class, clothes food and college (just to name a few), your standard of living will change. Below are a few tips to help you learn about your kids and how to manage money.

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Have you ever spent way more money than anticipated on a date trying to make a positive first impression or re-kindle an old flame? Here’s three ideas I use when I try to be responsible and manage my money while planning romantic outings without appearing cheap.

Hiking and a Picnic – When we were dating, I thought my wife would be impressed with an expensive meal and a show. Then, along the way I learned to manage my money and tried a cheap dating idea. I Read the rest of this entry

In the previous post, I wrote about the importance of having an emergency fund. Today, we’ll go over a few of the quick tips I give my consulting clients when I teach them personal finance basics regarding starting their emergency fund.

I’ll discuss budgeting, goal setting, and automating your emergency fund.

Budgeting – The first step in starting your emergency fund is to have a well planned out budget that not only gives you an idea of where you are financially, but lets you know how much money you’ll be allocating towards your budget. Budgeting is one of the first lessons in personal finance basics, and when you do a good one, you’ll find areas you can cut back so that you can put it towards your emergency fund or other financial goals. You can search google for budget tools, or look at the resource link to our budget spreadsheet.

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The single greatest way to reduce transportation costs.

We all need to drive. Well, most of us do. I know that in order to get to work I need a vehicle. This does not mean I need a luxury sports car or a big SUV. My ego doesn’t need to be enlarged nor does my bank account need to be reduced. There is a difference between buying a car for travel and buying a car for status. Your finances can be impacted a great deal depending on why you bought your vehicle.

I will save you the time of reading the entire article to find out the single greatest way to reduce your transportation costs, so here it is: Downsize. I know you may be a little disappointed to hear that this is the big tip but I like simple, and simple usually saves you money. Consider the following example:

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Quick Phone / Internet / Cable Saving Tips

Are You Sure This Is The Best Deal? – In general, when I’m spending some time to work through my budget and making sure I’m doing my best to manage my money, I make a little time to go over my phone bill. It includes Internet and cell phones (I’ve completely cut out cable). Do not be afraid to get on the phone with your phone company. Check with your provider for promotions. Ask your provider if they have any new plans that could save you money on long distance, or basic service packages. Don’t be afraid to shop around and let your provider know about any deals their competitor is offering you. Because we made this call, we saved 10% a month just by bundling our three services. That’s $20 a month. Here are three quick tips.

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Don’t Let Your Electric Bill Zap Your Budget

In the previous post on household saving tips I wrote about conserving water. This post will focus on your electric bill. We’ll go over some personal finance basics regarding on of your larger utility bills. Hydro bills are especially high in the summer, with air conditioners raging. If you’re in the north and have baseboard heaters, you’ll find that hydro bills skyrocket in the winter as well. Here’s three tips to help reduce your hydro bill.

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