Personal Finance and Budgeting

Nearly everyone can benefit from a budget. Creating a budget is really about keeping tabs on your money and knowing what your limitations are when it comes to expenditures. Whether you're trying to climb out of debt or deciding how to enjoy a surplus, a budget puts you in control.

The first thing that any good financial expert will advise you to do when setting out on the path to savings is to make a budget. An accurate budget will allow you to identify all of your necessary expenses, which in turn will give you the ability to calculate exactly how much you can afford to set aside for savings. While every person's budget will inevitably be different, there are some basic guidelines that everyone should follow when setting up their budget. Here are some simple steps for setting up your budget:

The heart of any good financial plan is a comprehensive, thorough and accurate budget. Not only can it help you keep track of where your money goes each month, it can also help let you know how much money you can afford to set aside for a rainy day. You don't have to be an accountant in order to put together a successful budget. All you need is a little time and a desire to be responsible with your finances. But the most important thing to remember is that your budget won't work unless you stick to it. So get your calculator out and start budgeting!

The Time Frame:

Before you start your budget, you will need to decide on the time frame that you will use. Is yours going to be a monthly budget, a quarterly budget or a yearly budget? The most popular time frame is usually monthly (due to the fact that most bills come once a month), so that is what we'll use for this exercise.

1. Since some expenses only come around once a year (such as holiday spending, tuition payments, etc.) a yearly budget can sometimes better reflect your overall expenses.
2. If you choose a monthly plan, pick one day each month (Sundays are often good) to go over your finances, pay your bills, and adjust your budget according to any changes in spending or income.

Make a budget: Making a budget is a great way to keep track of your finances and calculate exactly how much money you are making and spending each month. An accurate budget will allow you to identify all of your necessary expenses, which in turn will give you the ability to calculate exactly how much you can afford to spend every month so that you can live a debt free live. Spend less, and save more. Creating a budget is an important first step to building sound money management skills. It is an estimate of income and expenses over a period of time. Sit down and make an account of all your income and expenses. First, list all your income. Next, list each of your fixed expenses, the ones that don’t differ from month to month. Those may include your rent or mortgage payment, your auto loan payment, and your utilities if you’re on a budget plan to pay for them. Next, add in necessary expenses and payments on bills that vary from month to month. Finally, list all your daily and regular expenses for entertainment, transportation ECT. Your goal is to develop a budget that lets you meet all of your monthly fixed expenses, and figure out where you can cut expenses to start paying down your credit card debt and other debt.

Calculate Your Income

• The first thing that you'll need to do when coming up with your budget is to figure out exactly how much income you have coming in. This should include your monthly salary (after taxes) and any supplemental income you may have coming in (from additional jobs, investments or other income sources). If you are in a salaried position, simply divide your yearly income by 12.

1. If any of your income sources vary widely from month to month (such as income from freelance work, commissions or bonuses), try to figure out a monthly average by calculating how much you made last year from these sources and dividing by 12.
2. Other income sources (besides your work salary) can include Social Security or pension payments, child support, unemployment checks and investments.
3. You may need to look over the previous year's tax records in order to calculate your after tax income.

Cut all your non-essential expenses: Non-essential expenses include most of the things we don't need, and most often includes many items where we waste money the most. It includes spending on clothing, books, movies, magazines, video games, dining out, gifts, snacks, candy, shoes, etc.

Use software or a worksheet. More and more people are turning to personal finance software to help them create a budget. Here are some top software picks to consider. If you prefer not to use software, create a worksheet (on your computer or the old-fashioned way) that lets you outline your income and expenses and paint a full picture of your monthly finances. Here's a worksheet you can adapt for your budget.





Calculate your net income: Your net income is what you have left over after all the bills are paid. You want this to be a positive number so you can put it toward your debt.

Get your documentation together. Creating a budget lets you know how much monthly income and expenses you have, and so your budget is only as complete as the information it contains. Take the time to find pay stubs, bank statements, utility bills, auto and renter’s insurance bills, and any other documentation that can help you determine your income and expenses.

Enter your income and expenses. Refer to the documentation you gathered and enter your monthly income into your budget. To determine the amount of your monthly expenses, make a list of what you spend your money on each month and compare it to recent credit card bills and receipts. If you use software to create your budget, it will guide you through this step.

Here is where things get interesting. Now that you've calculated how much money you have coming in each month, you'll need to figure out exactly how much you spend during the same period. While some expenses remain constant and are easy to figure out (Rent, Car Insurance, Car Payments, Phone & Cable Bills), others are not so easy to pin down. Expenses such as utilities, gas, food and entertainment may change from month to month, so the best way to figure them into your budget is to come up with a monthly average for each one. Over a three month period, keep a record of how much you spend on each of these things and then figure out, on average, how much you're spending each month. Add up all of these things to come up with a monthly total of your expenses. Use this handy spending worksheet to keep track of your expenses.

1. Break your expense report down into different categories (Housing, Food, Insurance, Utilities, Entertainment, etc.) so that you have a better picture of where your money is going each month.
2. Make sure to calculate in any interest that you may be paying as a result of finance plans, credit cards or loans. If you don't, you'll have an inaccurate budget.
3. Take special note of any non-essential spending that you may be doing (Entertainment, Travel, Gifts) so that you can identify where you may want to make cuts in your spending.
   
   
   
   Make a list of creditors: with name, address, phone number, credit card number, expiration date, and security code. Pull out all current statements and make a list. Write down the balance owed, interest rate, current minimum payments. Find out if the interest rates are fixed or variable, it will be worth the effort as those variable rates will need closer monitoring. Communication is one of your best tools to help you through difficult financial times. Your creditors would
   really prefer NOT to take stronger measures to collect the money that you owe them. After all, it costs them more money to refer your debt out to a collection agency. As soon as you know that you’re having trouble making ends meet, call your creditors and explain the situation. In most cases, they’ll be happy to work out a modified payment plan that will make it easier for you to meet monthly expenses. It may mean extending the period of your loan, or renegotiating the terms of a loan
   agreement, but in the short run, it will take the heat off and in the long run, it will save your credit rating.

Adjust your expenses, if necessary. Total your income and expenses -- hopefully, you'll find that your income is higher. If so, decide what to do with your extra income, whether it's putting more money into savings or paying off a credit card. If your expenses are higher, decide which expenses you can lower, if not eliminate. For example, you might cancel some magazine subscriptions or limit the number of times you visit restaurants or go to the movies.

Review Your Budget Each Month

Once you've completed the steps outlined above, you've successfully created your budget. However, your work isn't quite done. Revisit your budget each month to see if you've stayed on track or if you need to make further adjustments. If your financial picture changes significantly -- for example, you get a pay raise or you get laid off –- you'll need to update your budget to reflect your new circumstances.

Calculate the Surplus

• Now that you've figured out your monthly Income and Expenses, you can start to determine how much you have left over for savings. Simply subtract your monthly expenses from your monthly income to find out how much surplus money you have coming in each month. Fill in the figures on this budgeting worksheet to calculate the surplus. While you don't need to put aside this exact amount for saving each month, this figure can help give you a rough idea of how much you can afford to save.
1. If your monthly expenses turn out to be larger than your income, then it may be a good time to figure out ways to reduce your expenses and keep your spending more in line with your income.
2. While many financial experts suggest that your expenses should work out to 60% of your total income, the reality is that for most families and individuals, this is not the case. Try to make this a goal, but don't stress out if you can't reach it right away.
3. Just because you have a surplus, doesn't mean it's time to rush out and buy the newest iPod. Figuring out your surplus income is the perfect opportunity to initiate a good savings plan. For more information, see Mahalo's guide to How to Save Money.

Keep Good Records

• While writing out your budget on piece of scrap paper once every year or so may seem like the easiest way to go, it is wiser to keep a continuing record of your expenses, income and savings somewhere that is permanent and can be easily updated. While software programs such as Quicken, Microsoft Money and online money management services such as Mint.com can make it easy for you to manage your personal finances on the computer, something as simple as a personal ledger or notebook can be just as effective for keeping tabs of your budget.
1. Pick a time each month to organize your finances, write down of record of your income and expenses for the month, and update your budget.
2. While you don't need to keep receipts for every single purchase you make, try to at least keep ones from purchases over $20.
3. Keeping good records will allow you to adjust your budget over time to better reflect your financial situation. In general, the more accurate your budget becomes, the easier it will be to manage your money.

Simple Budgeting Rules:

1. Spend less than you earn

2. Make the money you have work for you

3. Be prepared for the unexpected

Debt plaques many people. By constructing your budget in detail, you will be able to see what your money is accomplishing. Learn how to track your expenses and income and watch your savings grow!

How to make an effective and realistic personal budget

Your personal budget works as a tool to help you allocate your income between your present day to day expenses, loan obligations and savings for use in future. Rightly adjusted personal budgets help you keep on track financially and offer stability when unforeseen expenses or loss of income take place. By keeping some fundamental guidelines in your mind, you can formulate an easy to understand personal budget that helps achieve your financial objectives. Given below are some of those guidelines:

Objectives and priorities

Prior to devising a personal budget, make a list of your objectives and priorities. Include savings, college education, retirement and holiday trips. While making your personal budget, you must remain concentrated on your financial objectives to help you distribute your money.

Fixed income

You must design your budget on the basis of your fixed income only. You mustn’t incorporate funds like lawsuit settlement, tax rebates or undecided child support payments in your personal budget. You can use windfall profits to pay off your debts sooner or buy coveted but needless items.

Flexibility

You must prepare your budget with flexibility. A savings account must be included at all times that can be used for budgetary adjustments. For instance, the budget should enable you to raise your housing payment if your insurance premiums or taxes go up. Similarly, you must understand where to distribute extra funds when you get a pay hike.

Proportions

As stated by Richard Jenkins on MSN money, you must restrict all your fixed expenditures to 60% of your income. Fixed expenditures must incorporate your taxes, bills, housing expenses, insurance, donations, groceries and clothing. Ten percent of your earnings should be directed towards your retirement savings, 10% towards an emergency fund for unforeseen expenses, 10% towards a savings plan (long-term) and 10% towards a fund for leisure and other expenses.

Monitoring your budget

Once your budget is done, monitor all your expenses to follow your budget sincerely. Monitor even minor expenses such as coffee jaunts, snacks bills and iced tea bills. Minor expenses can accumulate soon and can make you lose control over your finances. Modify your budget based on monitoring of your expenses. If you regularly have to spend a higher amount than you planned in a particular area, carry out modifications so that you don’t exhaust your funds for your fixed expenses.

Few Entertaining and Sarcastic Finance Cartoons

Funny Finance Cartoons and Caricatures

To be Contd....

How you should set your financial targets?

How you should set you financial targets?
Financial Targets must be Practical and Feasible. Plan your financial goals around your income and life situation for an sensible personal financial plan. For example, a full-time waiter should not expect to purchase an costly, luxury car.
Your Monetary Targets must be Specific in Measurable Terms. Know exactly what you expect to spend, try to create a plan that is better designed to achieve them.
Maintain a Financial Time Frame. A time span helps you measure your own progress toward your personal financial plan goals accurately. Coordinate your short-term and long-term goals wisely.
Financial Goals Should Indicate Clear and smart action. Your financial goals are the very basis for undertaking the various financial activities that you are going to execute. Instead of saying, “save money,” you should plan exactly how you will save that money, whether it be through reducing your spending habits, working longer hours, or picking up another part-time job.
Tip: When developing and managing your financial goals, make sure they are SENSIBLE SMART and WISE (accurate ,specific, measurable, action-oriented, realistic, and timely). Follow to develop your goals and you will surely be on your way to a better money-management system and personal financial plan and ultimately become prosperous.

Personal Finance For Dummies

People in the richest countries face so many troubles with managing their wealth. Well 2 main factors are responsible for this 1>Bad planning and weak money management habits in spending and using credit cards. The other is the extensive use of advertising, selling, and product availability. If you want to achieve a successful personal financial plan, you must start by identifying your clear-cut financial goals.
Things that you got to keep in mind
Right Timing. Plan and think hard and design your short-term and long-term financial goals.
Financial Target . Consumable-product are items that get used up relatively quickly. For example purchases of food, clothing, and entertainment. Durable-product are just the opposite; these are purchased infrequently and more much expensively, for example appliances, vehicles, and furniture. Differentiation between the two may help you develop and organize a much more practical personal financial plan.
Condition of Life. A 60 year old would spend money differently as compared to 20 years old . Money-spending habits differ according to age, income, household size, and personal thinking and attitude so you should have financial goals accordingly.
Age Financial targets that you Should be having
25-35 years
Financial targets that you Should be having :Focus on creating an emergency fund, Save for a down payment, Buy or get a good life insurance, Make necessary arrangement for your retirement planning.
35-55 years
Financial targets that you Should be having :Build wealth by paying off your mortgage and Gradually strengthen your savings and investments.
50-65 years
Financial targets that you Should be having :focus on providing an adequate retirement fund as more disposable income is usually available

Get a Smart Investment Plan

Investing is like a battle—you are never sure if you’re going to win or not, but you should still fight. Whenever you fight a battle, you’ll need a clear plan of action. Hence , if you’re investing, you’re going to have an smart investment plan.
Your investment plan should make various types of investments with the goal of meeting your financial requirements within a certain period of time. Each investment type have unique individual investments for you to choose from. For instance, a grocery store sells food, but those food items consists of fruit, vegetables, meat, dairy products, and many more. The stock market is similar, it contains many types of stocks that you can buy or sell, and all of those individual stocks contain a variety of companies for you to invest in.
All of these may look and sound very confusing if you haven’t done the right kind of research. This is because there are so many different and lucrative investment types and individual investments for you to choose from. This is why you must come up with a very smart creative and unique strategy that will actually work for you, which will be blended with your risk level and investing type.
If you’re newbie, you should discuss with your financial planner before you make any investments. He or she will help you create your smart investment plan that will help you stay within your risk level in addition to achieving your financial target.
You should never invest anything without first having clear cut strategies and goals. You actually need to have a target and then reach for that target! Nobody ever gives their money to anyone without knowing what it’s going to be used for or when they’ll get it back. This is why it’s very important for you to have and develop a target and a strategy if you want to reach your goals successfully.

Smart Saving and Investing

Many new investors think that they need to invest their entire savings. This isn’t true. To figure out how much money you should invest, you need to first decide what all you want to buy and what you can actually afford. You also need to know what your financial goals are and act accordingly.
Let’s figure out how much of your money you can invest right now. Do you have any savings that you can use? If yes, then good! Just remember that you won’t be wanting to cut yourself short as you put up your money for investment. What were you originally saving for?
It’s important that you keep at least 4 months or so of your living expenses in an accessible savings account. Don’t invest that money! Don’t invest any of the money that you’ll be requiring and using in the immediate future.
You need to determine accurately just how much you should keep of your savings and how much that you can use for investing. Unless you have extra funding from other sources, such as inheritance money, your extra savings will most likely be all that you have currently to invest.
Then, you’ll have to determine how much more money you can add with your investments in the future. If you’re nicely employed and will go on receiving an steady income, then you can take a portion of that to help fulfill your investment goal. You should discuss with your financial planner who is qualified and have them to help you set up a budget. They can also aid you with determining what portion of your future income can be used for investing.
With the help of a good financial planner, you should be protected from investing any more than you should be.
For many investment types, an initial investment of a certain amount will be needed. As long as you’ve done your market research properly, you’ll find an investment that will be good enough. So in this case, you’ll probably already know what the initial investment should be.
If you don’t have enough money for initial investment, then you might have to look around at other kinds of investments. Don’t you ever borrow any money unwisely for investing.

Ways to improve your personal finance by being more economical...continued

Just thought of splitting it up into two posts.....Contd....

14> Ok now ways To Save Money In The Home :Make economic use of Light Bulbs ,Telephone ,shower, Water in your

toilet basin. Repair leaking taps .Switch off appliances when not in use.

15>Pay all your bills on time avoid late fees.

16>Some times try Second Hand Clothes.

17> Never take your Kids Shopping - "Mum can I just get that...", "Mum, I really need that...", "Dad, I'm

so hungry!"..damn!!

18> Start your own vegetable garden and save some money, it is also incredibly healthy for you.

19>Always bargain while shopping. Remember there is nothing called fixed price.

20>Consolidate and pay off debt as soon as possible.

21>Be careful about the ATM withdrawal fees charged by your bank.

22>Borrow books from the library instead of buying those overpriced stuff.

23>Check The Tyre Pressure of your car- If your car tyres are low, you car is actually struggling a lot

more when traveling. As a direct result you are wasting a lot of fuel or money.

24>Avoid buying a new car repair and maintain the old one.

25>don’t go to movie theatres ...watch free movies online.

26> Go To The Beach(in your vacation) - One of the most wonderfully entertaining places in the world is

absolutely free.

27>Check Price check before buying anything costly. Do your market research and read product reviews before

buying anything costly.

28>Disconnect land line if possible ..only if it's redundant.

29>Plan vacations ahead of time.. be economical.. you know what I mean.

30>Always try to avoid credit cards with annual fee.

31>keep distance from lavish, high-roller friends.. it really helps to save a lot of money.

Ways to improve your personal finance by being more economical.

Here are some cool ways to beat recession and enjoy good financial health….I hope this article would be of

great help to my readers. Just simply follow these steps and feel the difference.

1>Start cooking at home and gradually cook more until you find a balance between saving money and getting

stressed out.

2>Get better at reusing your stuff.

3>Cut your food costs.

4>Try to dress and look sharp with less cash I guess you know what I mean.

5>Start working for yourself -be self-employed try to have other source of income.

6> Trim your cell phone costs-use internet ..use VOIP or email. Lower your international phone bills.

8>Make a list before going shopping avoid impulsive buying.

9>Humans (Especially women) have a hard time resisting the temptation to purchase extras while shopping.

Without a list you will buy items that you simply do not need. In short Stop purchasing frivolous, impulse

items.

10>If you have a lot of credit card debt at much high rates, type debt consolidation in Google and refer

to relevant sites for financial help and consultancy.

11>See expiration dates on perishable goods. Don’t waste money ...got it? I honestly value my health more than

money and would rather avoid buying such items. If you buy bad food stuff and fall sick doctors will take

away all your money.

12>try to find cheaper insurance rates.

13>Try to buy generic products whenever possible. Avoid branded stuff there is really not much difference.

Improving your financial Health!

Improving your financial Health!

These days you can loose your job anytime, there is no job security whatsoever. You may get fired or laid off if your boss finds your work technique to be out of date or whatsoever.

So get ready for the worst,if required train yourself with the right kind of knowledge and technique or even start your part-time job or small business . Develop your part-time work and skill and increase your source of extra income slowly but surely. Now after few months if your part-time job income becomes more than your full-time job income, then you can devote more time to your part time job and make it a full time commitment or simply quit your full-time job and use your full time to develop this part-time job the choice is all yours you got to choose wisely.

One way to start your extra income is by being an affiliate. An affiliate is someone who sells other people’s product online and earns the commission.You can do this job from home at your leisure.

There are quite a few things that you got to keep in mind when you are planning to be a an affiliate.

You should develop a successful and smart business plan for your affiliate business website.Choose a niche or market and the right merchant.look for profitable keywords and then compose content for your website.Make your professional-looking website or outsource this job.Try to get targeted visitors to your website,remember your website is your window to your business so you got to promote your window and get more people interested in your product that you are trying to sell.Always create high-converting landing page or squeeze page that may convert visitors into potential customers. Build and keep a good relationship with your subscribers they may be your client in near future, Sell to your subscribers

Before you choose your niche you got to do a bit of market research. You got to know.. How to find hot and hungry market and how to uncovers profitable markets ? Which product you can sell ?how to determine the true competition of the market, so you know what you're up against before you even begin. ?

* How to do smart keyword research ?

In short you got to slip effortlessly into the mind of your potential customer, extract their emotional hot buttons, and turn their every desire into money.

Create a high converting landing page in your website to get subscriber name and email address and grow your subscriber list ,. With this email list, you can start to build a trust relationship between you and your customers. With this trust relationship, you can sell to your subscribers and your subscribers will buy from you and become your customers in the long run.

To do anything grand and successful online, you have to plan in advance. Else you will fall flat on your face and will surely fail. To be a successful , you should have a good planning, you should be able to create your own website and fill it with the apt content. Additionally, you should be able to test your selected niche within a reasonable short time, using the proper methods.

How To Improve Your Personal Finance instantly-Follow the smart way

How To Improve Your Personal Finance instantly-Follow the smart way

1. You Should Know your present financial position well.

Well before you plan to save for any of those financial activity, like your children's education, retirement or buy that dream home, you should understand where you stand . You may take the pain of getting a smart financial planner for yourself if you do not know how to design a customized financial plan. If you do know it then you can save considerable amount of money.

2. Do Save money regularly and make it a habit.

Habit of saving is a wise virtue. You really never know when you need that extra amount of money when unexpected mishaps comes your way like job loss or a loved one falls suddenly sick which demands a lot of expensive medical attention . So it is safe to save money and it is a must for you to keep 3-6 months of your current salary separately for emergency situations.

3. You should Control your expenditure.

Even if you are rich , you must control your flow of cash. The basic rule is what comes into your hand needs to be more than what goes out of your hand. You need to know what is giving you income and what is causing you to spend.

4. If possible reduce your daily expenses

You should identify those expenses that are not a necessity and remove them smartly. For an instance paying for your weekly magazine subscriptions which you really do not read is a sheer waste of money. When you have successfully figured out all these items that are not worth your money, you can nicely cut down your regular expenses by 25-30%. It is always recommended to only have one credit card so that you can better track your daily expenses.

5. Make sure you keep track of your debts

Your debt incurrence should never exceed your total income. Gambling and vices can lead you into serious debt. Poor and dumb money management skills can also result in debt even if you are rich or have inherited million dollars from your relative.

6. Try to be frugal but never be stingy

Only buy goods that give you good value for your money. It is always wise when you know when to smartly buy something of high quality and pay a premium versus when to buy something less branded but still serves similar purpose as a branded material. If you always choose cheap items that item could sometime fail in a short time making you buy another one, this will eventually lead you into greater expenses than you did not anticipate. You will also be called stingy, who is not willing to spend the money when it is necessary.

7. Get Financial education or information

There are loads of free financial information when you surf the internet. You can also attend seminars, read books, read newspapers and listen to audio tapes for more financial news and knowledge.

8. Always be good and generous

When you are truly generous, some how everyone know this and reward you back many times over. When you give away something selflessly, there is a natural tendency for the other person (the receiver) to give you back.

How to stop Over-spending

How to stop Over-spending

Sometimes do you feel that you have spent more cash than you should have?
Well! there are numerous reasons why we spend more than we should. Averting the reality about your financial condition or keeping up an fake image. Millions of people do not like to fall behind their friends or their neighbors. That's why keeping up with them in terms of financial condition is one of the biggest downfalls of those who spend too much.
Honestly not being able to realize that you're broke is avoidance of the reality and until you encounter the problem you will just go right ahead and go on overspending.
While the frugal and sane people wait for money to come in, some spend wealth that is on the way. By the time the money arrives, it's normally utilized to pay for debt. Instant gratification is the evil culprit here .
Maintaining or following a particular kind of lifestyle even if in the face of a grave financial problem is another vital reason for overspending. When you are out of cash your lifestyle can be very seriously threatened. Getting out of this cycle quickly won't be easy if over-spending is your way of proving your self-worth.
Are you sick and tired of having to borrow money again and again just to support yourself and your family? Follow these useful tips to put a halt to overspending:
Honesty is the Best Policy
As the good old saying goes "Honesty is the best policy". Just stop hiding from creditors and slacking off from paying credit card bills by being completely honest with yourself. Honestly admitting that you are going through a tough financial problem is the first step.
Ask For Help
Binge buying is really a very hard-to-cure disease and letting someone you can rely to hide your credit cards from you would be of great help.
Have a Plan: Prioritize
Start Paying off utility bills first so that you can keep your bills from mounting up. Please prioritize what is required to be paid urgently and then call your creditors to make a good payment arrangement.
Store Screening
Start going to places that sell basic necessities only. Try to avoid malls and other expensive places that may make you buy things you do not actually need.
Learn Proper Money Management
Use proper budgeting or smart money management tools to help you reduce unwise over-expenditures.
Always try to get the Cheaper Alternative
Normally most generic products that you see in the market are as good as the expensive ones so if you are buying groceries, think of what difference it makes if you buy those expensive bottled water or the cheaper simple ones. If you've thought that one out sensibly, well the right answer to this is 'it doesn't make any difference at all.
Look Back and think again
Look at all the things you have unwisely purchased in the past. Give it a brief time to sink in and whether you really like it or not, you will very soon realize that most of the expensive things that you have bought are just stored away somewhere - a shame really but hey, it will surely knock some sense into you. Many of the items you bought out of impulse are generally worthless and does not really serve any practical purpose.
Do a Daily Dose of Reality Check
Sit with a pen and paper ..keep track of all your expenses . do necessary calculations ,hey do you remember your basic accounting? In high school ?If you are in to spending more than you are earning then you are surely on your way to bankruptcy. Stop your binge overspending habits and start doing some serious budgeting. Note down everything you spend on so that you can meticulously review your expenditures at the end of the day.

People who earned Money in Recession

Being a financial advisor, I come across a lot of people with a variety of financial issues. I met many people who got into deep debt in the recession period. Most of them were able to get out of debt after some time. But there were few people, who not only got out of debt, but also remain out of it as well as earned millions during recession period.

Most of my clients come to me with same issues of getting out of debt and most of the time I give them a simple suggestion but at the same time tough to follow. When we talk about finance, you’ll find two types of people with two types of spending habits. First one are those people who not only earn their income but also borrow money from market or banks and spend both which gets them into heavy debt. And the other category is of those people who not only save money from their income but also earn and save money that comes from different investment which not only help them to stay out of debt but also make them wealthier than others.

So my simple and at the same time tough suggestion to follow is to stop spending money beyond your means. Try to get out of debt as soon as possible for you. In case you are too much heavy debt, then find an extra source of income and be sure that this income is not coming from any type of investment. When you are out of debt, first thing try to remain out of it and also save money which you were saving earlier for your debt payments. Then after some savings from your income, invest your money for a higher rate of return.

Few days back, I read an article in a newspaper where a Teacher didn’t spent his money beyond his means and invested most of his savings. In this way, he was able to accumulate $900 million in his account. So there is nothing impossible in this world. Even anyone of you can create this magic. So if you want to be millionaire, start saving now.

Pros and Cons of Online Banking

Now every bank has started giving facility of online banking to their customers which is not only helping the customers regarding transaction process but also help banks in maintaining the records of their customers. Online banking is a facility provided by banks with the help of which people can access their account and do all types of transactions through a secured website created by Banks. To get this facility, people have to go to their bank and have to fill up a form after which they get a customer ID and a password with the help of which they can access their account.

The foremost facility provided by online banking to the people is that they can do any transaction process without visiting their bank. Online banking helps people in paying their each and every bill online and also transferring funds from one account to others. Some banks provide their customers the facility of scheduling all bill payments of month at once after which customers don’t need to remember bill payment dates and their bill payment get deducted every month from the account on the date chosen by customer. Banks also provide some additional features in online banking like latest stock market information, loan applications and various offers provided by bank.

On the other hand there are some risky factors and inconveniences that a customer must know. Customer should always access their account through a secured connection otherwise there is a strong possibility of identity theft. In case online bill payment, customer must know that the recipient is also capable of processing e-payments. Customer should always keep a hard copy of bank statement because in case of any technical error, it will be the only proof. There is also a possibility when the website is down and you are doing some online transaction. So for that case, always keep the bank phone number when you are not able to access your account.

Online banking is a great facility provided by banks to us but we also need to remember the problems and inconveniences associated with it so that we can perform our work easily.

Buying a Laptop - Don’t forget Budget

I know that my blog is completely on finance and it has nothing to do with technical subjects or gadgets. But few days back, I bought my new laptop with the help of my brother. He knows pretty much about all these gadgets, at least more than me. So when I bought the laptop, then I thought that I must share my knowledge and experience with all my readers.

I have a desktop PC but since I have to travel a lot, I need something which can carry my all office work. I was not in favor of buying Laptop but my brother convinced me that buying laptop will bring a heavy change in my work as well as it’ll help in more ways than what I required. My brother helped me a lot regarding configuration of laptop. I needed a small screen laptop because I don’t want to carry a big laptop all the time with me. Also, I travel a lot so I need a laptop with long lasting battery. I needed a laptop which comes with wireless internet because I have to use internet a lot for office work as well as for blogging. Then there were some other configuration factors like hard disk space, RAM, sound card, graphics card and many other things which my brother decided.

Then, we searched on internet about laptops of all good brands to find quality laptop of our requirement with great offer. We didn’t get a particular website where we can compare every brand of laptops to find which one is better. So we went through website of each brand and note down the details of laptop of our requirement and then we compared all the details. These things helped me a lot to know more about laptops. Then we looked for any discount or other accessories offered by the company. And then, at last we bought a good laptop with all the features I needed as well as at comparatively very cheap price. So as a financial advisor I always say that whatever you buy, never cross your budget limits.

Improve Your Credit Score

Credit score is important for everyone who has any account and uses credit card. You should always keep in mind that your credit score follows you just like your social security number. It plays an important role whenever you are going to get any mortgage, car loan or even when you are applying for any job. So if a person knows the method of checking credit, then it becomes very easy to improve the credit score. Following are some methods to improve the credit score following which can really help you out:

• First and most important thing is to review your credit report. Correct the errors if you find any in your credit report. You can always get a free copy of it from any free credit report site.
• You should always remember to pay you bill on time. This step will help you in long run to improve you credit score.
• Try to avoid too many credit cards which can lead you into heavy credit card debt.
• Transferring balances from one account to another can change the ratio of total credit card balances to total available credit lines. But you should also keep in mind that transferring of balances should not affect the credit score.
• You can also go for other new credit accounts but use it wisely.
• Try to use your credit card less and always pay them off at the end of month. It is good for your credit score if you keep space between the balance you carry and your total credit limits.
• It is advisable if you don’t close your old and paid off accounts because closing these old accounts can short your credit report as well as make them of less credit value.
• You should always avoid bankruptcy because it affects hard on the credit score.

If you follow these steps then you’ll sure improve your credit score and never get into any credit card debt trap.