Posts Tagged ‘amount of money’
Saturday, March 13th, 2010
Create a budget.
Personal budget planning is absolutely crucial if you want to build personal wealth and overcome things like the credit crunch and the current problems that the economy is experiencing. The word “Budget” is one that worries a lot of people because it often seems more like a hassle and a chore than anything else, but there are a lot of easy things that you can do in order to create a personal budget planning process that is beneficial to you and your entire family and household. Here are a set of basic steps that will help you build a personal budget that is going to work well for you and your household as a whole
- Begin the personal budget planning process by collecting at least three months worth of bills, expense statements and receipts.
Look at your bank statements, cash transactions and any receipts that you have saved. Look through your credit card statements as well. What did you purchase? What bills did you pay? Were there any fees that you paid? Are there any habits in your monthly bank statements that are worth noting? Are you spending basically the same amount of money every month? Are there expenses that are the same or similar every month? Answering these questions will give you a good foundation for your personal budget planning.
- Now that you have a firm handle on your expenses, the next step is to gather documents relating to your income.
If you are on salary, put together your paychecks and make sure that you are getting the same amount every month. Otherwise you should gather between three and six months of income statements to get an average amount that you earn in a single month.
- Now that you have a good idea of both your expenses and your incomes, the next thing to do is to compare them to see how much money is left.
This may seem like a frightening step, but it is important if you want to know how much discretionary income you have every single month.
- Now that you know how much money exists at the end of the month on average, you can start looking at what expenses can be eliminated or reduced.
Review your expenses carefully to find out how you can leverage additional income on a monthly basis, because this extra money can be used to reduce debts and begin to save money for the future.
Now that your basic budget is outlined, you can begin to work on prioritizing your debts by reviewing interest rates and listing your debts beginning with the highest interest rate and working down. Once your budget and discretionary income have been outlined you can begin to plan for your financial future by outlining both short term and long term goals in your personal financial life. The last step is simply to exercise patience and to stay the course for as long as you can. Personal budget planning is not going to become a habit as quickly as over night, but it will eventually become a habit if you practice it regularly.
Photo Credits: 1
Originally posted 2008-11-13 05:58:04. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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How to Build a Zero-based Budget A zero based budget is a budget where every dollar you earn is assigned to a category in your budget. Your income minus your expenses equals zero – zero based budget. The idea sounds very simple, and it is, but the real value in creating and following a zero-based budget...... -
Supplementary Solutions for Debt Repayment There are a number of other things that you can do in order to improve your current money situation at the same time as you are working on the debt repayment solutions that we touched on in the previous three articles of this series. While you will be seeing results...... -
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Weekend Personal Finance Links (Catching Up Edition) After the last week in Aruba, I'm exhausted. It's funny how vacation just seems to make you more tired. Maybe it wasn't the vacation, but rather the trip from Aruba through Atlanta to Florida to see my friend get married. Except that I got a call from her 3 hours...... - Basic But Effective Monthly Budgeting Worksheet I got this basic worksheet from TRowePrice and decided to pass it along to those of you looking for a simple yet effective budgeting plan to start down your road of financial responsibility! Just fill in the blanks and see where you stand. Here goes: 1. TOTAL MONTHLY INCOME After......
Tags: amount of money, bank statements, cash transactions, credit card statements, credit crunch, discretionary income, economy, expense statements, good foundation, hassle, household, income statements, incomes, least three months, paychecks, personal budget, personal wealth, receipts, salary, six months
Posted in Personal Budget Planning, Personal Finance, Smart Money Ideas | No Comments »
Thursday, March 11th, 2010
D.R.I.P.s
In times of uncertain economic future, it is important to look at your investment strategy and tweak it as needed. One of the ways that you can improve your portfolio is to take on small investments with lower risks associated with them. Taking in smaller rewards and returns may seem like a waste, but these smaller ROIs can actually add up fast in the right investment vehicles. Fixed income investments are some of the best small investments that are available to you, like savings accounts and CDs. Another excellent investment vehicle for someone looking for small investments with great rewards is an investment called DRIPs.
DRIPs are a truly cost effective way to raise equity for a company, and they are beneficial for investors as well. The reason why they are beneficial for investors is because they allow for the investment return drawn from dividends to be invested immediately back into the investment for price appreciation and compounding, but without incurring any brokerage fees. Additionally, there is no waiting for the investor to accumulate enough cash for a full share of the stock, which is another excellent advantage making these some of the best small investments that you can make.
DRIPs have numerous advantages associated with them, but they’re not perfect. They do allow investors to take advantage of dollar cost averaging for cost effectively investing the dividend income that is being paid out by the company. Not only will the investor receive a guarantee for the return on the dividend yield, but they will also earn whatever has been appreciated by the stock during the time that they own it. Another advantage is the fact that you do not need an exorbitant amount of money to begin. You can participate in such a program without more than a single share of stock, but it would be wise to consult your broker or the company’s investor section of their website to get more details on this.
DRIPs also allow you to grow your investment capital in a cost effective way by purchasing more company shares rather than simply spending money or having it sit idly in another account. Most company-offered DRIP investment programs have no fees for transactions, brokerage fees or account-keeping fees so 100% of your returns are being invested back in.
Some of the disadvantages of DRIPs include the administrative hassle associated with the cost basis of all the different small stock purchases, maintaining records of these purchases, and the fact that you do not get to choose the timing for when the stock is purchased. Most DRIPs have specific schedules that they are meant to follow, so there’s a little bit of uncertainty built in to this particular investment vehicle.
Still, if you are looking for one of the best small investments that you can make, these DRIPs are a good way to go if you can find a suitable program to buy into. They are worth checking out if you are trying to build your investment portfolio and are looking for something new, and profitable for that matter.
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Originally posted 2008-11-11 05:57:21. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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Gates No Longer Richest and Why You Can't Keep All Your Eggs in One Basket Forbes reported earlier in the month that Bill Gates is no longer the richest man in the world. That honor now goes to Warren Buffett. That's right Bill, you're no longer #1!! In your face! Haha...can you see me catching up to you?!? Are you scared? Somehow I don't think...... -
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Tags: amount of money, brokerage fees, dividend income, dividend yield, dividends, fixed income investments, investment return, investment strategy, investment vehicle, investment vehicles, investor section, investors, price appreciation, rewards, rois, savings accounts, stock
Posted in Investments, Money, Personal Finance | No Comments »
Saturday, March 6th, 2010
#4 Pace Yourself
Below are eight tips for college students about money and finances.
1. Track your Expenses
If you track your spending for a few weeks, you will be better able to figure out where your money is going. Are you spending an exorbitant amount of money on Starbucks? You may want to cut back. Most college students do not realize where their money is going until they really take the time to pay attention to their receipts at the end of the week.
2. Formulate a Plan
The best way to manage your finances over the course of a semester is simply to sit down and really take the time to map out a budget. List all of your sources of income, tracking potential income and actual income earned. Then list all of your expenses, including tuition, books, groceries, and so on. When you have a plan formulated, you can better track money coming in and going out.
3. Make Room for Good Time Money
You need to make plans to have a little bit of personal spending money for entertainment purposes, eating out or other special purchases, otherwise you can easily throw your entire budget plan out of whack. Make some room for entertainment money and just vow to stay within your budget from month to month.
4. Pace Yourself
If you spend too much money at the beginning of the semester you will run out of money before the end. Give yourself a weekly spending limit based on how much income you have, and stick to it so you don’t end up tapped out by the end of the semester.
5. Go Easy on Credit
Credit cards are nice, and useful, but only for some purchases and not all. One quick way to spend way beyond your means is to use credit in the wrong ways. Use your credit cards sparingly if you have them, otherwise you may end up hooked on charging things, which is a great way to rack up unavoidable, unnecessary debt.
6. Set a Personal Credit Line
Just because your credit card has a limit of $2,000, that does not mean you have to spend that much. Only spend what you can actually pay back. If you only have $500 to attribute to paying back a credit card, only spend that much on the card and you will be fine.
7. Be Realistic
You can do what you want to do, but you cannot necessarily do everything that you want to do. Make some choices and be prepared to make some sacrifices because doing things and buying things is going to make a dent in your wallet, but some expenses can be easier on the wallet than others and provide just as much return on investment.
8. Plan Ahead for Emergencies
If you bust your entire budget this week on something you want to do, make sure to make up for it next week. If you constantly spend your entire budget frivolously, you can end up unprepared for emergencies like auto maintenance costs, course materials, health costs and so on.
Photo Credits: 1
Originally posted 2008-11-06 05:11:31. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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Basics of Budgeting 2 Tracking Your Expenses Now that you are familiar with how much income money you have coming into your home, it has become time for you to pay attention to the expenses that you have on a monthly basis. You should begin with the regular payments and the fixed payments that......
Tags: amount of money, budget plan, college students, credit card, credit credit cards, entertainment purposes, good time, groceries, little bit, much money, pace, personal credit line, receipts, spending money, starbucks, time money, vow
Posted in College Student Finances, Credit, Emergency Fund, Managing Money Wisely, Money, Personal Budget Planning, Personal Finance, Smart Money Ideas | No Comments »
Sunday, February 28th, 2010
Is online banking for you?
Online banking has become incredibly popular and it is very useful. For those that rely on online banking, there is an accepted risk that goes with exposing your financial information online, but before you jump in, it is a good idea to do a little checking to make sure that your online bank is indeed safe for your to use. Don’t wait to find out until your accounts are cleared out. By running your online bank through this checklist, you should be able to decide whether or not their online portal is what you should be using.
First, it is necessary to make sure that your log in page and your account page are hidden behind a secure certificate. These are known as SSL certificates and they provide encryption that will block hackers from attaching your funds by getting your log in information. In addition to this precaution, if you are using an online bank it is very important to run your own firewall and antivirus protection software.
A good hacker can place a keylogging program on your computer, and you’ll be practically giving them your log in information without even realizing it. Keep all of your passwords off of your computer and store them in a safe place. Make note of your log in urls as well to ensure that if something does happen, you can quickly take care of the issue.
It is also a good idea to read through the terms of service and privacy policy for any online banking site. These agreements contain very important information and even though they are about as interesting as dried toast, you need to take the time to carefully read it to see how they will be handling and securing your data. If you don’t understand anything, don’t be afraid to ask the bank for clarification.
You should also take the time to test out an online account before you transfer a large amount of money into it. Give it a few weeks to see how the dust settles and whether or not you will feel safe putting your money in that institution. By depositing only a small amount of money at first, you are minimizing your overall risk and getting a better idea of how the bank operates day to day.
If at any time you question the security of your online bank account, report it immediately. Most banks do offer fraud protection now, but in many cases, you’ll be the one that catches it. Always review your statements carefully to see if any unauthorized access has been gained.
By taking a few simple steps early on you can easily set up an online bank account that will be useful and easy to understand. Never rush in with an online bank and take the time to run them through the better business bureau before you proceed. The time you spend on due diligence now will definitely come in handy should anything go wrong.
Photo Credits: 1
Originally posted 2008-10-30 04:55:35. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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Tags: amount of money, antivirus, clarification, encryption, financial information, firewall, hacker, hackers, important information, online bank account, Online Banking, passwords, precaution, privacy policy, protection software, risk, safe place, securing your data, ssl certificates, urls
Posted in Money, Online Banking, Personal Finance | No Comments »
Saturday, February 20th, 2010
Have an emergency fund.
If you are concerned about the state of your finances, your job or if you would just like to have a safety net that will be there to catch you if something goes wrong, an emergency fund is a very powerful tool to have in your financial arsenal. Emergency funds can be used for just about anything and these are the proverbial “rainy day” funds that can help you stay afloat when the worst happens. Since we can’t control everything in life, it’s always nice to know that you do have other options to keep you financially solvent.
Setting up an emergency fund is actually quite easy and although it can take a few months to get to the point where you won’t have to worry, you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that you’re saving ahead for your future. This makes it a lot easier to keep going and keep working on building up that emergency fund.
The average emergency fund should contain at least enough money to pay your expenses for three months. Ideally, it should be for six months to a year, but the key is to get started and worry about the actual amount later. Once you have your emergency account set up, adding to it is the easiest part.
So, you’ll need to sit down and calculate how much money you make a month, and how much you are spending. Use one month as your basis for the average amount of money you would need and you can go from there. The main use for an emergency fund is typically to cover you if you end up losing your job, so use this as your template for building up your emergency fund.
Once you have a better idea of how much needs to go into your emergency fund, it’s time to get started on where you will be keeping it. While burying it in the back yard is out of the question, it is important to keep your emergency fund in a place where it can be quickly accessed. A savings account with a debit card or checks that you can write is ideal in this situation since you’ll be able to quickly withdraw your funds if necessary and you won’t have to wait for business hours if you are in the midst of an emergency.
Your emergency fund should not be tied to your regular checking account or any other account. This can help cut down on the temptation to spend your rainy day money while it is still quite sunny out. Remember, whenever you are tempted to dip into that account, what could happen if you lost your job today. Would you have enough money to pay all of your bills, and keep your house and car? This is very good motivation if you are having a difficult time keeping your hands out of the till. Work towards a bigger goal with your emergency fund and don’t forget to keep adding to it to make it grow further.
Photo Credits: 1
Originally posted 2008-10-23 08:47:00. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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Tags: amount of money, back yard, business hours, checks, debit card, emergency account, emergency fund, emergency funds, enough money, how much money, losing your job, rainy day, safety net, satisfaction, savings account, six months, three months
Posted in Emergency Fund, Money, Personal Finance, Smart Money Ideas | No Comments »
Sunday, January 3rd, 2010
Add budgeting to your personal finance repertoire.
The key to your financial success in life is your own personal money management skills. Your personal money management practices make up your own personal method of reaching both your goals and your dreams. No one likes the idea of personal budget planning, but you will never know if you are getting the most out of your money if you do not implement some techniques for personal budget planning into your life. Everyone wants to keep up on their bills, pay off loans and credit cards, and stay ahead of debt. Successful asset and debt management is an excellent source of pride as well as good credit.
Whether we use credit or not, all of us want to have a good credit score and credit report. So unless you have an unlimited amount of money that you can simply spend in any way that you wish, you are going to need to formulate some semblance of a personal budget in order to get your bills paid and in order to manage your assets as well. Personal budget planning can seem difficult, but should not be an overwhelming process by any means.
Creating a household budget begins by figuring out what all of your monthly and yearly bills are. Then you are going to want to add in any retirement funding, savings goals and spending money so that you have a clear cut picture of how much you need to spend, because what doesn’t matter is how much money you make – what does matter is how you spend the money that you make. By implementing personal budget planning techniques into your daily life, you can get a feel for how what you make relates to what you spend, and how cutting down expenditures in certain areas of your life can actually help you save a significant amount of money.
When you fail to follow personal budget planning, your debt may overcome your income, meaning that you would be unable to make payments on time. If you make payments late or make no payments at all, you will put yourself in serious mounting debt with no way out. You cannot simply spend money as you wish and hope that there is enough left over at the end of the month with which to tackle the bills. You absolutely must implement techniques for personal budget planning if you want to manage your finances right.
Personal budget planning is actually quite easy when you consider how many resources are out there for it. Most people use budgeting software on their computers to prepare a household budget. If you do not have any fancy software, another opportunity is simply to use excel to track money in and money out. When you have a clear cut picture of where your money is going, that is when you can truly begin to implement smart money saving strategies to get your finances on track.
Photo Credits: 1
Originally posted 2009-01-05 05:52:54. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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The Personal Finance Hour, Episode 20: Spending Smart with Greg Karp On this week’s installment of The Personal Finance Hour, Jim and I spent the hour talking with nationally-syndicated financial columnist Greg Karp. Greg is the author of The 1-2-3 Money Plan, which I reviewed last week. We had a wide-ranging conversation about spending smart. Spending Smart One of Karp’s mottos...... - Review: The Teen's Guide to Personal Finance: Basic concepts in personal finance that every teen should know. Time is a resource that many teenagers don't realize is their greatest resource for finacial independence. "The Teen's Guide to Personal Finance" is a tome that will provide teenagers with important financial lessons, in a manner which will pull their interest and convey itself effectively in its intended task. The......
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Tags: amount of money, assets, creating a household budget, Credit Cards, credit report, credit score, debt management, expenditures, financial success, management practices, money management skills, personal budget, personal method, personal money management, planning techniques, pride, retirement, savings goals, semblance, spending money
Posted in Managing Money Wisely, Money, Personal Budget Planning, Personal Finance | No Comments »
Monday, December 21st, 2009
B is for Bond.
These are questions most people ask when they consider buying savings bonds. Yes, your investment in savings bonds is one of the most safe investments you can make. You’re purchasing the bond and giving the government cash, which they pay you interest back on at a later date. It’s rather like the government borrowing a small amount of money from you, and paying interest on the loan.
Savings bonds are issued by the United States government.
They’re non-transferable, which simply means they must be sold by the government. You can buy savings bonds in a variety of denominations, with $50 and $100 savings bonds being quite popular amounts. You pay less than face value for the bond, and it begins earning interest so that when it matures, usually in several years, the bond is worth the face value. Most bonds will continue to earn interest for years after maturity, so by the time you cash in a bond it can be worth much more than its face value. Some bonds will continue to accumulate interesting for up to 30 years, so if you wish you can leave your investment long-term and still continue to earn profits.
Because savings bonds are registered securities, they’re replaceable.
If they’re damaged, stolen or lost, there is a record of your ownership of the bond so you don’t lose your money. And the amount of a savings bond can never go down, so the money you invest in a bond cannot be lost. Savings bonds are also fairly fluid—the money isn’t locked away so that you can’t get to it in the case of an emergency. But if you cash in a bond early, you won’t see the full return as it won’t be worth its face value yet. And bonds cashed before 5 years are also subject to an interest penalty. But for some, that risk is worth knowing that they can withdraw cash from their investment at any time.
When you purchase savings bonds, you do have to pay Federal Income Tax on the interest they earn.
But you can ease this burden on yourself—a wise choice if you have multiple high-value bonds—by paying the tax on this interest yearly. Or you can opt to wait until the bond is cashed in and pay this tax in one lump sum. You’ll only pay federal tax on bonds, not state or local tax, and if you use the bonds toward education, taxes are sometimes waived.
The two types of bonds you can purchase today are Series EE bonds or Series I bonds.
For Series EE bonds (also called Patriot Bonds) you’ll pay half the face value and it will draw interest every month for 30 years. Series I bonds also accrue monthly interest for 30 years, but you pay full face value for the bond and the interest rate varies with the current inflation indexes.
Photo Credits: 1
Originally posted 2008-12-23 05:49:16. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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Tags: amount of money, denominations, face value, federal income tax, government cash, interest on the loan, interest penalty, Investments, maturity, profits, risk, savings bond, savings bonds, united states government, wise choice
Posted in Bonds, Personal Finance, Taxes | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, December 15th, 2009
Know your facts.
Most people recognize that stocks are an excellent investment, but purchasing stocks can be a confusing process. This is especially true if you have little experience in investing, or no experience at all. You can turn the stock buying process into a good investment even as a beginner, and all that it takes to make this happen is to take your time and find the perfect combination of stocks to improve your portfolio and greatly improve your profits in the process.
* Read the History!
Choosing the right stocks means sitting down and exploring your options long before you make an actual investment. Read the history of each company and their stock, and also get to know the bare basics of the stock market before you make an investment. Most people mistakenly are led to believe that the stock market is purely a short term investment market offering high yields. This is not the reality however, as stocks actually perform better on a longer term basis than on a shorter one. When you are planning on making an investment in the stock market, you should plan to leave that investment alone for at least a year, or as many as five years if not longer.
* Know how much to invest!
The amount that you decide to invest into a particular stock is a decision that needs to be made carefully. Stocks are not a completely safe investment, so the amount that you choose to invest should be disposable income, or income that you do not depend on for important purchases like bill paying or groceries. Making stocks into a good investment is done by choosing a healthy amount of money to invest, that will not impact your ability to pay bills but that also will be large enough to earn you a good profit. An excellent initial investment amount for the stock market is generally around a thousand dollars.
* Know who to work with!
It is important that you understand the pros and the cons associated with hiring a stock broker when investing in the stock market. You are going to want to do some basic research before you commit to a particular broker, because there are fraudulent brokers out there that need to be avoided. Conduct a search online or in your local area to find a broker that you trust and feel comfortable working with. It is usually preferable to choose someone on a local level so that you can visit them for face to face advice, speak over the phone and speak online as well when necessary.
* Know how to make your investment work!
Making stocks into a good investment means that you need to avoid panicking if they should happen to fall below a certain amount of money per share. The stock market naturally fluctuates, but you need to retain your stock for as long as you possibly can before you decide to sell it. More often than not the market will go back up, so if you cash out too early you may end up losing money.
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Originally posted 2008-12-17 05:22:51. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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Tags: amount of money, disposable income, groceries, initial investment, investing in the stock market, investment market, perfect combination, profits, short term investment, stock broker, Stocks, term basis, thousand dollars
Posted in Investments, Personal Finance, Stock Market, Stocks | No Comments »
Sunday, December 13th, 2009
Study and Save Money
If you are a college student, then your primary focus is probably set on your studies and trying to maintain your education so that you will be benefited in the future. Unfortunately, one of the things that you may not be putting enough consideration into is how you are handling your money. Even more unfortunately is the fact that failing to manage your finances now can put you in a pretty deep financial hole by the time you are graduating from college. For this reason above all else it is absolutely vital that you take control of your finances now so that you can have a bright financial future when you are through with your education. Here are some tips for college student budgets and how you can avoid college financial disasters.
1 – Only use credit cards in absolute emergencies.
Once you obtain a credit card, it can seem all too easy to begin racking up some debt, but this is a terrible way to start out, and may completely destroy your credit long before you graduate. Remember that the money that you spend on credit cards will eventually need to be repaid, and if you are not financially stable enough for this, you can put yourself into some serious debt with little effort. It is better to have a credit card that is intended only for emergencies rather than using it to purchase a new pair of shoes or to buy groceries if you can help it.
2 – Pay your credit card balance off every single month.
If you have a credit card, it has an interest rate, and if you want to avoid this interest, you absolutely have to pay your credit card balance off before each month is through. If you pay your balance off every single month, then you will avoid credit card debt and save a substantial amount of money that would normally have to go to interest rates and finance charges.
3 – Pay your bills off on time, every time.
Now is the most ideal time for you to begin building your credit history, and one of the best ways to do this is to always pay your bills off on time. If you are not able to pay your bills off on time, it can become quite expensive to deal with late fees and cut off charges. Many companies are more than willing to overwhelm you with late fees, shut off charges, renewal charges and deposits if you do not pay on time, and interest rates may also rise if you are late, costing you even more money in the long run.
4 – Start putting money away now.
Many college students never really grasp how important it is to save money. If you start saving money now, while you are still in school, you can reap a large number of benefits when you are older. Get into the habit of saving now, and you will begin to earn money from the money that you put away. When emergencies come up in the future, you will be better prepared which will save you time, money and hassle in the process.
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Originally posted 2008-12-15 05:36:10. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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Tags: amount of money, credit card balance, credit card debt, Credit Cards, credit history, education, emergencies, finance charges, financial disasters, financial future, financial hole, groceries, interest rate, Interest Rates, new pair of shoes, pair of shoes, student budgets
Posted in College Student Finances, Credit Cards, Loanio, Money, Personal Budget Planning, Personal Finance | 1 Comment »
