Learning to track one’s personal finances is an important process, no matter how much money is involved. If you think you do not make enough money to consider organizing your finances better, think again! Good personal finance skills are perhaps most important when your budgets are tight and you need to get the most out of every penny.
Sometimes it can feel like you’ve dug yourself a hole too deep, just remember that you can always find a way out of debt or bad credit. Start by not going out so much and reduce the amount you spend on leisure activities a week, then pay your bills on time. Your goal is to repair your credit and the only way you can begin to do that is to be responsible.
To find out where your money is going record all of your spending. For at least a month, write down every single time you spend money, and what you are spending the money on. After you have done this for the month, review your spending habits and make changes as necessary.
Get a high yield savings account. Your rainy day funds or emergency savings should be stored in a savings account with the highest interest rate you can find. Do not use CD’s or other term savings which would penalize you for taking your money out early. These accounts need to be liquid in case you need to use them for emergencies.
Holding a garage or yard sale can help one clear out some old items, as well as earning some extra cash. One could ask neighbors if they can sell their items for a small percentage of the sale cost. Get creative with the ideas for your yard sale.
Be cautious when loaning money to your children or grandchildren and consider offering the money as a gift instead. Before you loan any money to a family member, you should think about the consequences if the money is never repaid. Remember, loans between family members often cause a lot of arguments.
File important financial documents where you can find them quickly when needed. This includes loan and mortgage documents, tax returns, insurance policies, and bank statements. It is stressful enough to suddenly need one of these documents without the added anxiety of not knowing where to find it. To be extra safe, keep copies of essential papers in another location, such as a safe deposit box.
Erasing your financial debt is the first step you must take when you want to improve your credit rating. To do so, cutbacks must be made. This will allow you to pay off loans and credit accounts. Things you can do which will help your situation are eating at home and cutting back on spending money during the weekends. Packing your lunch can save you big bucks. If you want to get out of debt, you’ll need to reduce the amount you spend.
One of the things that you can do with your money is to invest in a CD, or certificate of deposit. This investment will give you the choice of how much you want to invest with the time frame you desire, allowing you to take advantage of higher interest rates to boost your income.
Make sure you have some emergency savings squirreled away. If you don’t and a major expense pops up like car repairs or medical bills, all these bills could end up on your credit card. This can put you even further in debt. It’s better to have a few months money built up to cushion these emergencies.
Find out if you will get a discount for making your payments automatically. Many times if you mail your payment you will be charged as much as $5.00 per month. You may find that there is a nice discount for you if you set up an automatic payment through your checking account or credit card.
If you have consistently made your credit card payments on time for at least one whole year, you may have some leverage to negotiate more favorable terms, like a lowered interest rate or even a higher credit limit. Of course, only go for the second option if you have a real need to do so and can responsibly pay the added amount every month.
Signing up for direct deposits eliminates the hassle of making a special trip to the bank every payday. It also helps you to avoid lost or stolen paychecks and will reduce impulse purchases that are made between the time your check is cashed and the time that it is deposited into your account.
These are just a few of the steps you can take to improve your personal finance skills. Trying some of them out will probably save you money – and once you see results, you will want to find out more. Keep researching money management and see just how well you can handle your personal finances.
