get my finances in order

I filed back taxes. We’ll see if they agree with my assessment. Feels really good to not have that hanging over my head.

I gotta just go ahead and write the damn checks, and not put them off til next months – when then you gotta pay double!

currently working 60 hrs/ wk and barely making enough to pay just the necessities. i love where i live, but wages are extremely low.
1) pay all monthly bills and stick to budget
2) pay off car
3) pay IRS!!!
4) pay past debts
5) save!!!!
6) don’t get in this position again!!!

Lately, my life has been consumed with working. The good thing about that is that I’ve paid off my line of credit. The bad thing about that is that I stopped having a life. Somehow, it doesn’t seem like a fair trade off.

Here I am almost done grad school and I’m looking at about $130,000 in student loans!!!! Just the thought makes me sick to me stomach. I was wondering if anyone could help me out with some advice? This burden keeps me up at night, I have anxiety and high stress, all because I wanted to go to school and receive an education. I’m not disputing my choice in education, but I’m just trying to get on track with my life and my future. Thanks!!!

Happy with my bank outta of the blue upgraded my bank account for me; so I have a debit card now… which is a huge improvement

Also had a financial review with the bank and have opened a savings account and plan to top up my ISA with regular contributions which is fab

I’ve started seeing exactly what I’m spending my money on which is quite illuminating
Once I’ve done that properly I’m gonna get my “cushions” sorted and then start thwacking my debts

One happy bunny :D

1. Actually opening the mail.
2. Looking at my checking account online and writing down allllll the checks I have not written down in my checkbook
3. Subtracting said checks from the balance in my checkbook (remember subtraction?) so I will know how much I have.
4. Paying the bills as they come in, not stacking them somewhere unopened.

Despite my haphazard habits, I have not bounced a check or failed to pay a bill at least semi-on-time. But the former bank teller in me recoils at such laxity in financial matters. Must do better.

March 11th, 2008 in Featured, Money

32 Hacks for Sticking to Your Budget

In January, we asked you for your tips about living within your means and keeping to your budget, with the chance to win a db clay wallet. You gave us 144 responses in total – some of which had excellent advice.

Here’s our round-up of the best tips and tricks for budgeting:

1. Don’t spend more money than you have.

2. Stick to your grocery lists – compile them based on an itemized overview of your household needs and never stray too far from it.

3. In a similar vein, never go grocery shopping hungry!

4. Keep your receipts, or write your own – at the end of each day, list your expenditures. At the end of the month, group those expenditures to create a simple overview of where you’re spending too much or even too little.

5. Pack a brown bag lunch each day. Save hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars each year.

6. Develop a distaste for Starbucks.

7. Talk yourself out of purchases. Ask yourself, do I need this? Think of various ways you can avoid a purchase that seems necessary through innovative MacGyvering.

8. You don’t need the $100 shirt from the pricey store when there’s a $10 equivalent at the thrift store. You don’t need a room-sized plasma TV when your old CRT still works.

9. Remind yourself frequently of your financial goals, especially when you’re at the mall: paying off a big debt, retiring early, the Macbook Air. Remind yourself that by living frugally, you’re at least in some small way helping the environment.

10. Use cash. Take money out of your account and use real cash from a real wallet to pay for your daily expenses. When you run out of bills, you run out of money to spend.

11. Use credit. Run your finances on credit cards so that you don’t lose big money over the course of the year in spare change spent on coke and McDonalds. Always repay within 48 hours.

12. Never watch commercials. Get a PVR.

13. Sleep on your purchases. Give yourself a night to consider and rationalize before buying a new toy, and if you rationally decide you need it, you can go back and get it. Mac users may need to take longer – much longer.

14. Review your budget and spreadsheets regularly. Keep your financial situation constantly fresh in your mind. This helps to curb your desire to spend, spend, spend, ensures you know how much you actually have to spend if you need to, and motivates you to pay off debt and save more.

15. Use spreadsheets instead of expensive apps like Quicken – use Google Docs for spreadsheets and you can even save on overpriced office software.

16. Use every last scrap of every last thing you purchase. Don’t waste anything. Don’t leave taps running, don’t throw out the quarter of a plate of dinner you didn’t eat.
cash.jpg

17. Become a power Nazi. Switch off lights and appliances at every opportunity, and tweak your computer’s power settings to give you the optimum balance between power savings and practicality.

18. Think about money philosophically – consider your spending behavior as a reflection of who you are. If you would not like to be defined by your purchases of cigarettes, hard liquor and pork rinds, reconsider and make better purchases that reflect the person you’d like to be.

19. Respect money like you do your family heirloom; that which you respect, can’t be hastily thrown away. It’s not about how much you make, but how much you save.

20. Exercise in the great outdoors, or use your own body weight – forget expensive gym memberships and personal trainers.

21. Diligently organize rebates and send them in on time, every time.

22. Do extensive research before all purchases, especially impulse purchases. Find the best price online or off, even if it’s “almost new” from eBay.

23. Do extensive research not only on price, but on durability and quality; buying everything from Crazy Clark’s is a bad decision as far as your long term savings go.

24. Don’t fall for the vicious technology upgrade cycle. Your laptop is still fine until there’s something actually wrong with it; performance is all in the software you run. Do you need to be running Vista or Leopard or the latest version of Photoshop? For most people, probably not. Wishing for more drains what you have.

25. If you come under your budget, save the excess. There is no legal obligation to spend it!

26. Pay yourself first. Take 10 or so off the top of your income and save it before you even start paying bills.%

27. Base your meals on cheap, but nutritious, food sources instead of fresh produce that goes off quickly all the time. They might be a better food source, but if you want to pinch pennies go to grains, lentils, legumes and beans.

28. Preventing an impulse purchase with this motivation hack: simply think about how many hours it took you to earn that amount.

29. When keeping track of credit card purchases, put them into your checkbook as soon as the transaction occurs. That way the checkbook will always have as much money as you actually have, letting you freely pay off your credit card when the time comes.

30. Don’t keep credit cards in your wallet, or near any of your computers with an Internet connection.

31. Water is cheap (for the time being) and can easily replace most other beverages, such as soda – just not coffee.

32. Borrow books from your library, don’t purchase them. This puts an imperative on you to actually read your books (how often do the ones your purchase just sit on the bookshelf?) and saves huge amounts of money if you read a decent amount.

Seven Spending Sins: Fast Track to Financial Torment

Written on 5/16/2008 by M. Taylor of Gregory Pennington, a UK based Debt Management Specialist.

Seven’s a good number for lists – enough to be comprehensive, but not too big to remember. We’re surrounded by significant sevens: seven days in the week, seven continents, seven colors in the rainbow, seven wonders of the world, seven dwarfs…

It’s a significant number in money too, and not just for accountants. However many bad habits you have, each is likely to stem from one of just Seven Spending Sins.

Sins of the wallet

The (original) Seven Deadly Sins focused on spiritual matters, but our Seven Spending Sins are more about material consequences. Avoid them and you’ll be better off in this world; if you end up being a better person as well, think of it as an added bonus.

1. Greed

Do you really need it?

While not the sole culprit behind our financial troubles, greed certainly accounts for more than its fair share. Think back to your last five financial mistakes and you’ll probably find (be honest) at least three that are down to greed.

Did you really need that big holiday / fancy stereo / new outfit? How much would you have in the bank by now if your house wasn’t full of CDs you never listen to, clothes you never wear, %{color:red}%books you’ve never read…?

Whether struggling through a financial crisis or just looking for ways to stretch your pay packet, {color:red}you’ll reach your goals much faster if you stop before every purchase and ask yourself: Is this a ‘need’ or a ‘want’?

2. Impatience

Do you need it now?

If you’re buying on credit, you’re throwing money away. Unless it’s interest free, any kind of ‘buy now pay later’ deal means you’re paying more than the product’s worth – probably a lot more.

Anyway, even interest-free debt is still debt. It means you’re committing yourself to living on a lower disposable income for the next X months / years. Maybe you can afford it today, but what about tomorrow? If you lost your job, could that expense be all it takes to push you over the edge?

(Plus, if you’re looking at a high-tech purchase – plasma TV, computer, cell phone, etc. – it’s almost guaranteed to be cheaper if you wait a few months.)

3. Pride

Perhaps the most ‘male’ of all the sins.

Let’s divide it into two categories:
‘Keeping up with the Joneses’ syndrome.

Does your male ego insist on having the loudest stereo, the biggest TV, the fastest car? If the guy next door buys a louder / bigger / faster one, does your wounded pride keep you awake at night?

Don’t be fooled. How do you know he’s not deep in debt (or living on beans on toast) to pay for it all? If you’re driving a smaller car but sleeping soundly and eating gourmet meals, maybe you should take some pride in that.

‘Never ask for directions’ syndrome.

It’s a classic ‘guy’ joke – as a gender, we’re incapable of asking for help. For women everywhere, it’s a source of great amusement. They know we’re always on the internet checking out advice, tips and commentaries (like this article), so who do we think we’re fooling?

So if you’re wondering (for example) which credit card, bank account or debt management plan is best, just admit you don’t know. Either go back to school and spend two years studying economics or talk to a financial adviser. The best deal for the guy next door isn’t necessarily best for you – it all depends on your lifestyle and financial circumstances, so talk to someone who knows what questions to ask.

4. Laziness

Take the time; put in the effort.

If you’re one of those guys who spends 3 months choosing a stereo and 30 minutes choosing a mortgage, be prepared to pay through the teeth. Mortgages, car loans, hire purchase deals… they’re serious decisions, and they deserve some serious thought.

Do the research, check out your options, ask the questions, and read the small print! If there’s anything you’re not sure about, get a second opinion.

And never underestimate the importance of 1%. A 6% deal isn’t 1% more expensive than 5% – it’s 20% more expensive. Let’s say you spend the next 25 years paying off a $200,000 mortgage:

• At 5%, it could cost around $1,200 a month, and around $150,000 interest in total
• At 6%, it could cost around $1,300 a month, and around $185,000 interest in total

Ask yourself: if someone offered you $35,000 to spend a week doing some research, what would you say?

5. Misplaced respect
Careful who you listen to.

Possibly the flip side to ‘never ask for directions’ syndrome: when we admit someone knows more than us, we’re tempted to trust them on everything from debt to real estate.

Your smart buddy might know a lot about computers, but does he understand loans like a professional debt adviser? Your friends and family mean well, but they’re not going to understand the pros and cons of your various financial options – or the recent news, or the upcoming industry changes. And they certainly won’t be able to build up a complete picture of your personal circumstances, so they can work out which financial service does what you want.

And while we’re on the subject, don’t ask your bank manager for stock tips. Tax advisers, accountants, bank managers, stockbrokers, etc. might all be ‘in finance’, but there’s a world of difference between them. (Why else would all those different jobs exist?) If you want specialist advice, talk to a specialist.

6. Gullibility
Be a man!

Blame the advertisers if you wish, but learning to stand up to peer pressure is a major part of growing up. If you buy everything the TV and magazines tell you to, you’re certainly enhancing someone’s lifestyle, but probably not yours…

Anyway, never mind what they think – what do you think? If the shirt looks good on you today, it’ll look good next month too, even if that color / style / brand is “like so out this week”.

Some girls might be impressed when you flash the cash, but if you’re living beyond your means, the party has to end sooner or later. If your girlfriend sees you as an ATM – and if you’re OK with that (!?) – what’s she going to do when it all catches up and you spend the next 10 years living on a shoestring?

7. Miscalculation

Do the math.

Miscalculation comes last in the list as it’s not really a character flaw – just a question of short-sightedness…

How many people spend $5 on the lottery every week and complain they can’t afford a savings account? They’re wasting $260 a year on a long shot. What would happen if they spent 10 years putting that money into a bank account with 6% interest?

• They wouldn’t have that 0.00001% chance of winning big bucks.
• They’d have a 100% chance of ‘winning’ around $1,000 in interest – on top of the $2,600 they’d saved.

Basically, when you’re looking at any financial deal, you need to figure out the stakes and the odds. Focus on just one of the two and you won’t be thinking straight.

A quick test

Look at this sentence: “Extra insurance on a rental car will cost $10 but might save you $10,000.”

Which words jump out at you?

1. ‘will’ and ‘might’, or
2. ‘$10’ and $10,000’?

What does your answer tell you about yourself?

how to get just about anything you want