December 12, 2009
Filed under: Debt Control — Jean @ 5:06 am
| Helpful Hints on How to Avoid the Debt of the Holiday Season |
With mass consumerism does the holiday season fill your heart with joy or do you go into a panic attack just thinking about the damage that it will do to your budget? If the holiday season has become something that you dread, it’s time to take control and put things into perspective. and the pressure to spend during this time of year, it can be incredibly easy to throw caution to the wind and rack up a huge credit card bill that will come back to haunt you in the new year.
Your purpose this year is to approach the holiday season with your good sense intact. Here are some helpful hints on how to avoid the debt of the holiday season and enjoy a stress-free holiday. Prepare a plan in advance of the holiday season Take that old Boy Scout adage to heart when it comes to preparing yourself for the holiday season: be prepared. When the first strains of Christmas Carols come into earshot, grab a pen and sheet of paper and get ready to make a plan. You can try planning early, but it can be easy to forget about your fail-proof holiday season budgeting plan if you draft it in July. Around Thanksgiving, take a good hard look at your current financial template and figure out how much you can afford to spend on gifts, food, entertainment, travel and other seasonal expenses without going into the red. Make a list of everyone you plan on giving a gift to, including co-workers, the mail carrier, etc.
Prioritize: who do you anticipate you will be spending more on? Write everyone’s name on a sheet of paper and put a figure next to their name. Add up all the numbers to make sure that your total figure is not beyond your budget. Stick, stick, stick to your budget You can make as many lists as you want but they won’t mean much if you don’t stick to a budget. It can be very tempting to overspend, especially if you happen to come upon the “perfect” gift for your wife, husband, girlfriend, boss, best friend, etc. No matter how perfect the gift may be, don’t buy it unless you can afford it. You won’t be doing your friends, family members and other loved ones any favors by getting into debt. Taking your budget plan to the store as you shop is an easy way to remind yourself not to overspend. Cross off names from your list after buying the corresponding gift or present. If you are buying many gifts, it can be very easy to overspend simply by buying too many presents and losing track of what you have purchased already.
Chances are that you are not the only one in your family or circle of friends who overspends during the holiday season. If you are serious about spending within your means, discuss openly your concerns with friends and family members on holiday spending. Let them know that you will be setting a cap on your holiday setting, and that your friends and family members may want to consider reciprocating. If possible, get your family to agree on a spending cap. This will help ensure a financially healthy and low-stress holiday season for all your loved ones. Make your own gifts A lot of people appreciate the warmth and unique beauty of handmade gifts. If you are lucky enough to have friends and family members who favor handmade items over store bought presents, the holiday season can not only be a great time to save money but a wonderful opportunity to let your talents shine. Are you an expert syrup maker? Do you love to make candles or soaps in your spare time? These can make wonderful and low-cost presents.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS
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December 1, 2009
Filed under: Debt Control — Jean @ 10:57 pm
You may have noticed that your habits and interests have changed as you’ve gotten older. More than likely, you exercise and participate in physical activities at a slower pace than when you were in your youth. Even the foods you enjoy today may be rather different than 30 or 40 years ago. These changes in lifestyle can make a dramatic change in the type of expenditures that appear in your current budget.
Shop differently. If you shop at grocery stores in which you aren’t normally seen at, like bulk food stores and low-cost groceries, you can often buy the same brand-name products you’re used to only at reduced costs. This type of cautious shopping is a great way to save money on your grocery bill.
You can easily cut down on your snacks by shopping more inexpensively. If you are used to spending $5.00 a day on a muffin from the corner store, shop for pre-packaged muffins at a low-cost grocery store and bring one of those to work with you each day. This is a way that can save you a ton on your grocery food bill. You can do this with snack foods very easily. Simply purchase inexpensive snacks at your grocery store when you do the shopping. Bring these snacks with you when you are likely to snack.
If you raised kids, the expenditures in your budget are probably significantly different today than when your children lived with you. Then, you probably looked for “family” discount packages for vacations and entertainment events. You probably purchased milk in a gallon container and kept a large supply of laundry and cleaning products. You probably cooked large meals with leftovers for one, maybe two, days.
Your medicine cabinet probably had lots of bandages and alcohol for those times when the kids scrapped their knees, as well as vitamins and cold tablets to keep them healthy and protected from viruses transmitted by their classmates.
When purchasing goods with short shelf lives or expiration dates, such as milk, cheese and other dairy products, avoid getting the “jumbo” or “family-sized” container for your scaled down family of just you and your spouse. Generally, dry goods can last a long time, and you may be inclined to purchase the large bag or box of rice, cereal, and flour. However, if it takes you a very long time to consume the product once the container has been opened, that product can lose its freshness and original properties. For example, homemade cookies made with old, exposed baking powder will not rise as much as when the powder was fresh.
If you are retired or no longer working, you may have noticed that your heating and cooling bills are higher now that you are in the home over more hours per day. Therefore, you may want to acclimate yourself to slightly lower temperature settings on your house thermometer. If you have a timer system on your thermometer, you might adjust the time settings as well. In fact, if your equipment is more than 15 or 20 years old, you may want to consider upgrading or replacing it with a more energy-efficient furnace and air conditioning system. Sadly, the rate of prescriptions continues to rise. So, remember to include the cost of your medication, medical services and long-term care, when modifying your budget, also.
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November 10, 2009
Filed under: Debt Control — Jean @ 12:42 am
Your Emergency Fund and Ways to Fund It.
An emergency fund is necessary for obvious reasons. Unexpected circumstances include job loss, car breakdown, sick kid, and natural disaster. You can build an emergency account using one or more of the following principles: If you invest in your company’s 401K or other pension plan you may be able to take out money later with little to no penalty in some cases. Depending upon the retirement plan you participate in, provisions are often made for emergencies. Certain life insurance plans and other insurance policies make provision for an additional benefit. That often is a dividend paid back to you via company earnings. Add money to this fund as often as possible.
If you are not comfortable yet with putting away more than a few percent then start out with that. Even a dollar a paycheck is better than none at all. The recommended amount would be $25 to $50 per paycheck or more. That would provide you with over $1000 at the end of the year. Cut down on items you do not need at least temporarily. For instance, if you are not much of a TV watcher anyway why do you need cable? Likewise, if you are not online much you can get rid of your Internet service. Find a cheaper phone plan. This is one area where anyone could probably stand to save money. There really are cheaper plans out there, with the same great calling services. Use at least a portion of your tax return. That will help boost your emergency fund savings goal. If you already have an emergency fund do not brag about. Less people will hit you up for money and you will feel less obligated to give in to their pleading requests. (Besides, if your friends are your friends now they will be your friends whether you give them money or not.) Try to make it a little more difficult to get access to your emergency funds than your regular funds. For instance, you might consider starting your second fund account at a back opposite to the side of town where you live.
Change the size of your emergency fund according to changes in life. For instance, you will most likely need more of a stash built up if you have a family and children. Cut down on luxuries such as coffee, soda, and other expensive drinks. Either that or purchase them in bulk instead of the two-dollar bottles you normally buy. Put your money away in a higher-yielding type of savings account such as a CD or mutual fund. However, try to have that fund as close to you as possible in case you unfortunately need it. Get a temporary part time job. You could also market your skills and hobbies on the side. Besides, you never know when you can make your part time employment or part-time hobby into a full career.
An additional benefit of course is that you will have the funds you need in case of certain types of unforeseen circumstances. Even the smallest amount of emergency fund you set up can provide you with a greater peace of mind. Everyone wants to know that they can take care of themselves or their family. In addition to having a cash fund, one of the types of insurance that is recommended is homeowner’s (or renter’s), health, and car insurances. An adequate life insurance plan is also ideal so certain expenses are paid for after you pass away. If you seem overwhelmed when you read this, just take the process of saving for a rainy day one step at a time.
Think about what you can do for yourself versus what you cannot do.
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October 22, 2009
Filed under: Debt Control — Jean @ 8:20 pm
Debt can be overwhelming, Making money on the Web can be exciting.
Debt can be so overwhelming that there seems no way out, we think of it first thing as we wake and last thing at night before we sleep and as the problem is so big we don’t know where to start so we do nothing. What I found is that if I just look at one area at a time and start to make changes after a while those small steps become big changes.
I took a look at the web and decided I could start a online web business and so can you.
So this blog is about small step that leads to getting back control of your finances and being able to sleep without all the worry that debt can bring you.
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