Tag Archive for budget

Learn How to Manage Money Better – Like a Large Company CFO

March 25, 2013 / / 20 comments

how to manage money betterWhy do we struggle when it comes to handling our money?  Some of us live check to check and barely save nothing.  Others of us do okay.  But then we never take full advantage of what’s out there to make the best financial choices.  What is it about our methods that make us so deficient at knowing how to manage money better?

Ironically, the answer you’re looking for might just be behind those large retail giants where we spend the most amount of money each month.  While some people may scuff at the likes of Walmart or Apple with their anti-consumerism attitudes, I ask you to take a second look.  Beyond the products they sell to us, what is about them that would cause us to stop and focus on them?

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Category: Savings & Budgeting / Tags: ,

How to Reverse Lifestyle Inflation

March 6, 2013 / / 38 comments

lifestyle inflationThe following post is a contribution from Tony at We Only Do This Once.  Tony is a trombone player who has performed with major symphony orchestra, on Broadway in NYC, and in recordings and movie soundtracks.  He blogs about simplifying your life through downsizing and becoming financially fit.

One of the best and worst things that ever happened to me was that I had a five year stretch of massive raises in income. During this time, I chose to not live off of my old income, and instead buy a ton of stuff.

A year and a half ago, I found myself with debt up to my eyeballs (about $120,000 including my car loans, student loans, and credit card debt), and I decided that enough was enough. I am only a few short months from paying it all off, and I will never go back!

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Category: Philosophy & Motivation / Tags: ,

When It Might Be Time for a Debt Management Plan

January 6, 2013 / / No comments

debt management planThe following post was provided by guest contributor Chris Illingworth. If you are interested in being a guest contributor for My Money Design, please feel free to contact me.

I don’t know what it is, but people get themselves into debt for all kinds of reasons. You can fill in the blank with the reason why. Sometimes, life gets in the way and people get off track.

No matter what the excuse is, one thing is for sure: You always have to pay it back! And this is where most people struggle. For some, the idea of being debt free seems more like an impossible dream. But you should remember: As long as you’re earning income, you’ve got options.

 

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Category: Credit / Tags: , , ,

My Alternative Emergency Fund Strategy and How It Works

August 20, 2012 / / 44 comments

Lately there have been a number of great posts and strong opinions about having an emergency fund, and I wanted to weigh in with my own opinion and experiences. I have had a long a standing love-hate relationship with emergency funds. Sure, you need them for critical situations! But my problem (and I think this is where a lot of people struggle) is how to save up enough. Depending on which advice you subscribe to, the recommendations can be anything from 3 to 12 months of your gross monthly income. If you’re a typical American household making $60,000 per year, that’s anywhere from $15,000 to $60,000 that we need to have in the bank! Ouch!  Is it any wonder we fail at this?

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Category: Savings & Budgeting / Tags: , , , ,

Budgeting for the Summer

May 25, 2012 / / 17 comments

The ‘arrival’ of summer means that the days are longer and the nights are warmer – so there’s more time to be out and about. For a lot of us, this also means that there’s more time for us to be out spending money.

If you’ve got kids climbing the walls, demanding something to do, you can be even more tempted to splash out on an expensive day at a theme park or a shiny new toy to keep them occupied.

So how can you budget for the summer? Here are a few little tips.

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Category: Savings & Budgeting / Tags: , , ,

Which is Better – Term or Permanent Life Insurance? – Part 2

March 28, 2012 / / 24 comments

Permanent Life InsuranceIn Part 1, we reviewed the fundamental differences between Term and Permanent Life Insurance. Basically Term is cheaper but it expires and gets more expensive as time goes on. Permanent life is way more expensive, but it lasts forever and has the potential to build up cash value.

We concluded with me learning a fact about life insurance that made me question my Variable policy. I’ll explain below what exactly that was and how it caused me to request two new quotes so I could crunch the numbers to determine whether the Term or Variable Life Insurance policy was truly the better deal.

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Category: Insurance & Planning / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Which is Better – Term or Permanent Life Insurance? – Part 1

March 26, 2012 / / 15 comments

Some of you may wonder “What in the world does life insurance got to do with my personal finances?”

The truth is that it plays a more significant role in your money than you think for 2 reasons:

1) Life Insurance is about taking care of those you leave behind. Do you have a spouse? Children? Dependents? If something were to happen to you, who would take of the bills? Pay the mortgage so they can stay in their house? Pay for your kids’ college? Life insurance is part of your safety net for protecting those you love.

2) Choose poorly and you can significantly over-pay! There are thousands of life insurance products available, and the costs can vary dramatically. If you learn about what the differences are, then you can select the most economic option for your situation and not drain your budget. Note: I made this mistake, so read on to learn how to avoid this situation.

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Category: Insurance & Planning / Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Another Expense Reduced – Refinancing Your Auto Loan

March 16, 2012 / / 7 comments

It wasn’t one week after we closed on our mortgage refinance that my wife and I got our next “big break” on our expenses.

As I’ve spoken about before, part of my annual budget is to pick a handful of expenses each year and see what I can do to reduce them. Sometimes this takes a fair amount of work and research as was the case with the mortgage refinance. But ironically, this next one came from an unlikely source: Junk mail.

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Category: Savings & Budgeting / Tags: , , , ,

Year-End Financial Checklist

December 14, 2011 / / No comments

The end is near! The end of the year that is … And with that, December is a good time to get you finances in order and get ready to settle with the tax man. Here are some tips to get yourself ready for another year:

Set Your Budget for Next Year: Remember, a budget is simple:

• Money In – Money Out > 0 = Success.

The best way to do this is to create a table with 12 columns; one for each month. Start by listing your income towards the top. Then list all your bills and expenses. This strategy is usually a little more effective than just doing one generic monthly budget because it captures expenses that don’t occur every month or are seasonal (like Christmas expenses). This also lets you see how you’re doing throughout the entire year and if you will run into any problem areas.

Contribute: Before you file your income taxes, you’ll want to make sure you’ve maxed out your tax-deferred investments. This would include:

• IRA’s

• 529 College Savings Plans

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Category: Insurance & Planning / Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
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