Basic tips to getting your finances in order:
1. Know what you make. Sounds easy, right? Well unfortunately some people (maybe they are paid differently each pay period, or on commission) don't know EXACTLY what they make. Try to find out EXACTLY what you bring home. You can't have a perfect budget if you don't know the answer.
2. Know your expenses. How much to the CENT is every single bill??
3. Start a budget. Use numbers 1 and 2 to create an incoming column and an outgoing column. Write down EVERY bill. Don't skip any! Included gasoline, sonic drinks, movie rentals, entertainment money--EVERYTHING!
4. Don't panic. There are ways to fix it if it's not balancing!
5. Make a zero budget. Google some info on Dave Ramsey. He can explain it in detail. I can just say this very simply... GIVE EVERY DOLLAR A PLACE TO GO! That means if you bring home 2,000 each month and your expenses are 1,500 then on paper you have to find a place for that extra 500... even if its to send it to your savings account, or put some in your christmas fund, or new tire fund. Every dollar has a name... and if it doesn't--assign it one!
6. Pay your bills on time. You save money and save stress.
7. Keep up with the "randoms" as I call it. Trash bills that come only every quarter, insurance premiums that come once a year, things like that. TAXES! This one gets a lot of people each year. Start setting aside money for those. Even if it's only $10 each month.
8. Use the debt snowball. Start with the low balance. Pay the minimums on everything EXCEPT this lowest balance. Put everything extra you can towards it until its paid off. Then snowball down to the highest ones.
9. Work as a team. I had to learn this one the hard way. I wanted to keep my independence and handle MY stuff MYSELF. but the day we decided to be a team my life got easier.
10. Set aside money for fun! If you don't, you will end up quitting and get right back into debt!
11. Look for ways to scale back. Cancel the primo cable subscription, lower your minutes on cell phone plan, quit eating out as much!
12. At the same time... look for ways to INCREASE your income. Sell some stuff, get a part time job, list items on EBAY. look for ways to increase your income!
13. Stick with it! don't give up!
14. blog about it. :) Okay so that's probably not a qualifing statement for "Finances 101" but just like with anything, you need accountability. Having a place to write about your journey towards financial freedom keeps you accountable. And you can make money blogging.
15. Organize it! Keep a binder, notebook, drawer, etc. Some place that is designtated SOLELY for finances. That way things don't get lost, bills don't go unpaid... it just keeps you on top of your GAME!
16. Make goals for the future. This won't be a fun process, but it can be less painful if you have GOALS in mind.
17. Be excited about it!
18. Consolidate student loans, car loans, home loans, credit cards... anything you can! Get it into ONE place so that you have ONE payment to keep up with!
19. Use bill pay. But don't PAY FOR IT! That is ridiculous. Most banks will offer it for free, or at least free for so long. Don't pay for things that you can do yourself. Bill pay is NICE and HANDY to have, but if it costs you money to spend YOUR money on YOUR bills... well, am I the only one that sees something wrong with that picture?
20. Call your credit card companies and ask to have your interest lowered. Beg them, in fact. The lower the interest the sooner you can pay it off.
21. Trade down. If you have 3 people in your family then you PROBABLY don't HAVE to have a huge gas gussler of a car. (I'm not knocking them, but if it's not a necessity, then during this time you should get rid of it)
21. Refinance your car. Didn't know you could do that until recently. Do it! save money! And that extra money can go towards paying down debt!
Just some handy tips! I hope they help!!
Showing posts with label living debt free. Show all posts
Showing posts with label living debt free. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Simple ways to simplify your life
Occasionally I find myself looking around and feeling overwhelmed by stuff! Do you ever feel this way? There are times that i'm cleaning house and think to myself how QUICK this would take if we had less stuff. And I am already TRYING to live on less. I want a simple life. I am ok with a simple life. But some things tend to make me crazy!
PLASTIC BAGS. This weekend I finally went through and did some purging. I was tired of these plastic bags attacking me when I opened the cabinet. This is nuts. No one needs THIS many plastic sacks.
My SPAM folder. I have no clue how I get so much spam. Fortunately it all goes to SPAM but I get this tight feeling in my chest when I see that I have 219 messages in my spam box. SO, I took the time to go through and click "unsubscribe" at the bottom of EACH email. I have no clue why I am unsubscribing to something I never subscribed to, but at last it seemed true... and I took the time to handle that.
PAPER. I have no clue how there are ANY trees left in the world because I feel like they are ALL in my house. Between my school and Ava's school, and bills and junk mail... it seems that paper is everywhere! I am working on getting THAT organized.
My stock pile room. Somehow I have lost the organization that I once had in that room. I would go to the store and buy something and then come home and see I already had it. That makes me nuts. I tended to that.
These are just some recent examples but we ALL have things in our lives that would be much more simpler if they were tended to. Here are a few ways to simplify your life:
1. clean out your car every night! I am so guilty ofNOT doing this. And then every morning I sigh and try to find the bottom of the clutter so I can grab the ONE notebook I need for class. By spending 3 minutes after getting home and cleaning out your car this can make your mornings seem SIMPLER. And isn't this something we would ALL enjoy?
2. Clean out your inbox. If you have read it and don't need it... delete it. Or move it to a folder. Don't keep your email a mess. Because when you DO need that ONE email, it will be easier to find and will cut our stress.
3. Dump the plastic. Keeping more than 10 bags is probably overkill. Dump them. Recycle them. Do something besides keeping them piling up in your house!
4. Put stuff in the SAME spot. This has eliminated stresses for me. I NOW put my keys and sunglasses in the same spot every day. This has saved many a mornings running around like crazy searching for keys.
5. If you don't use it-dump it! Pretty simple.
6. (Some will call this overkill but...) Keep a list of what you HAVE in your closet. Make one. Try it. This will eliminate shopping when you need nothing and this will make mornings easier. When you see a list of what you have it just HELPS.
7. See #6 and do this for anything and everything.
8. Do the laundry RIGHT after the dryer dings. Don't let it pile up. This will only cause stress and LOTS of work at once.
9. Plan meals. Plan your day. Plan plan PLAN! Doing this doesn't mean you can't change the plan. It does not mean that you aren't fun or spontaneous (Even though some people will think this). It just keeps you organized and therefore simplifies things.
Sure wish I had a #10 but at the moment I do not. :)
What do you do to simplify your life? What should we add to this list?
comment or email me at cararoxanne02@aol.com
PLASTIC BAGS. This weekend I finally went through and did some purging. I was tired of these plastic bags attacking me when I opened the cabinet. This is nuts. No one needs THIS many plastic sacks.
My SPAM folder. I have no clue how I get so much spam. Fortunately it all goes to SPAM but I get this tight feeling in my chest when I see that I have 219 messages in my spam box. SO, I took the time to go through and click "unsubscribe" at the bottom of EACH email. I have no clue why I am unsubscribing to something I never subscribed to, but at last it seemed true... and I took the time to handle that.
PAPER. I have no clue how there are ANY trees left in the world because I feel like they are ALL in my house. Between my school and Ava's school, and bills and junk mail... it seems that paper is everywhere! I am working on getting THAT organized.
My stock pile room. Somehow I have lost the organization that I once had in that room. I would go to the store and buy something and then come home and see I already had it. That makes me nuts. I tended to that.
These are just some recent examples but we ALL have things in our lives that would be much more simpler if they were tended to. Here are a few ways to simplify your life:
1. clean out your car every night! I am so guilty of
2. Clean out your inbox. If you have read it and don't need it... delete it. Or move it to a folder. Don't keep your email a mess. Because when you DO need that ONE email, it will be easier to find and will cut our stress.
3. Dump the plastic. Keeping more than 10 bags is probably overkill. Dump them. Recycle them. Do something besides keeping them piling up in your house!
4. Put stuff in the SAME spot. This has eliminated stresses for me. I NOW put my keys and sunglasses in the same spot every day. This has saved many a mornings running around like crazy searching for keys.
5. If you don't use it-dump it! Pretty simple.
6. (Some will call this overkill but...) Keep a list of what you HAVE in your closet. Make one. Try it. This will eliminate shopping when you need nothing and this will make mornings easier. When you see a list of what you have it just HELPS.
7. See #6 and do this for anything and everything.
8. Do the laundry RIGHT after the dryer dings. Don't let it pile up. This will only cause stress and LOTS of work at once.
9. Plan meals. Plan your day. Plan plan PLAN! Doing this doesn't mean you can't change the plan. It does not mean that you aren't fun or spontaneous (Even though some people will think this). It just keeps you organized and therefore simplifies things.
Sure wish I had a #10 but at the moment I do not. :)
What do you do to simplify your life? What should we add to this list?
comment or email me at cararoxanne02@aol.com
Friday, March 23, 2012
Dave Ramsey steps....in case you need reminding!
Get a full outline HERE.
Baby Steps:
1. Save up $1000.00 for your emergency fund.
2. Debt snowball!
3. 3-6 months worth of bills in savings
4. invest 15% of household income into IRA and other pre-tax retirement accounts
5. College funding for children
6. Pay off home early!
7. Build wealth and GIVE!
Okay so these are the baby steps that Dave Ramsey tells us to use. He is so wise. If you look at his plan it TOTALLY makes sense. And the best part is that you aren't trying to do 7 things at once. So many (from talking with people, financial tv shows, radio shows, etc) people are trying to pay off debt, save money, invest in their accounts, etc, ALL at the same time! Dave Ramsey takes the load off. By following his steps, you will SEE just how easy it can be.
Me personally... I will set aside money to help my daughter through school. BUT, I am not paying for all of her school. I believe in working hard, getting scholarships, getting a job, and being there to help and support your kids without doing it all. That's my philosophy--i am not downing ANYONE elses. that's just me. So I don't have to save up TONS for college. I know in my heart the amount I would like to provide her with when she graduates high school, and that is that. I don't own a home. ONE day I plan to do that again, but that is in my ten year plan. I know the kind of house I want and I am willing to wait for it and save for it.
I am currently on babystep #3. I have 3 months saved worth of bills, but I would feel much more comfortable if I had all 6 months saved. This economy is scary, and I feel much more at ease with money put aside. I have NO debt, and I have an emergency fund. YAY!
So my goal is for the next 3 months to SAVE SAVE SAVE so that I can obtain the goal of 6 months worth of bills in savings. THEN, I plan to open a separate account to essentially start over with my savings. I am not going to touch my 6 months worth of bills until I HAVE to, and if I never do--then fabulous! But IF I do, I want other money waiting on me.
The goal for 2012 is this... SAVE. Save it all--save as much as you can.
What about your? What step are you on? What progress have you made??
Baby Steps:
1. Save up $1000.00 for your emergency fund.
2. Debt snowball!
3. 3-6 months worth of bills in savings
4. invest 15% of household income into IRA and other pre-tax retirement accounts
5. College funding for children
6. Pay off home early!
7. Build wealth and GIVE!
Okay so these are the baby steps that Dave Ramsey tells us to use. He is so wise. If you look at his plan it TOTALLY makes sense. And the best part is that you aren't trying to do 7 things at once. So many (from talking with people, financial tv shows, radio shows, etc) people are trying to pay off debt, save money, invest in their accounts, etc, ALL at the same time! Dave Ramsey takes the load off. By following his steps, you will SEE just how easy it can be.
Me personally... I will set aside money to help my daughter through school. BUT, I am not paying for all of her school. I believe in working hard, getting scholarships, getting a job, and being there to help and support your kids without doing it all. That's my philosophy--i am not downing ANYONE elses. that's just me. So I don't have to save up TONS for college. I know in my heart the amount I would like to provide her with when she graduates high school, and that is that. I don't own a home. ONE day I plan to do that again, but that is in my ten year plan. I know the kind of house I want and I am willing to wait for it and save for it.
I am currently on babystep #3. I have 3 months saved worth of bills, but I would feel much more comfortable if I had all 6 months saved. This economy is scary, and I feel much more at ease with money put aside. I have NO debt, and I have an emergency fund. YAY!
So my goal is for the next 3 months to SAVE SAVE SAVE so that I can obtain the goal of 6 months worth of bills in savings. THEN, I plan to open a separate account to essentially start over with my savings. I am not going to touch my 6 months worth of bills until I HAVE to, and if I never do--then fabulous! But IF I do, I want other money waiting on me.
The goal for 2012 is this... SAVE. Save it all--save as much as you can.
What about your? What step are you on? What progress have you made??
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