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.
As if understanding all the basics of a mortgage like interest rates, amortization, escrow, and PMI weren’t complex enough, there comes one more product that really convolutes the entire process even further: points.
Like all of the items mentioned above, knowing whether or not to purchase points can have significant long-term implications on how much money you may actually save or lose throughout the life of the mortgage. This post is going to explain how all that works and I’ll even give you a Microsoft Excel worksheet to try it out yourself.
When it comes to debt like credit cards and other high-interest loans, these are no-brainers! Pay them off as soon as possible so you don’t spend the rest of your life paying for the growing interest on them.
Whenever I think about my own debt situation, there are always two major ones that come to mind: My auto loan and my mortgage.
Although they seem similar, these two can be somewhat tricky to compare. Paying one off before the other can have profound implications on the amount of interest you’ll ultimately pay, the number of years you’ll be scheduled to make payments, and a variety of other considerations.
The Decision
Suppose you just received a pretty sizeable amount of money. Congratulations! But now what should you do with it? Here is our decision to make:
1. Do you pay down the principle of your auto loan? – or –
2. Do you pay down the principle of your mortgage?
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
Matt Becker (18)
Mike@WeOnlyDoThis... (8)
John S @ Frugal R... (7)
Martin (7)
Integrator (5)
Michelle (5)
Alexa (4)
Chris @ Stumble F... (4)
Financial Indepen... (4)
Greg@ClubThrifty (4)