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Before I decided to implement a budget, my finances were in a horrible mess. I owed money to various credit cards and had no idea what the balances were or even what the minimum payments were. I skipped payments and fell behind on almost every bill I had except for rent. I had a vague idea about how much money I was bringing in monthly and I had no plan for the following week let alone the future.Having a budget keeps you on track with everything financial and allows you to work out a plan for your money. You can plan for groceries next week or a vacation you want to take next year ...... See More
In my opinion, a budget is the cornerstone to achieving all your financial goals. I know it can sometimes come across as a dirty word that no one wants to think about, but trust me; it is the key to your financial survival. Whether you are living paycheck to paycheck on a very low income or you have extra money left over after all the bills are paid, you need a budget. But where do you start? Forget past blunders and failed attempts to set up a budget. Discard them just like last year’s resolutions that have fallen to the way side. Budgeting is a path to freedom that will ...... See More
We’ve all heard of the 12 Days of Christmas right? But who here needs all those animals and people taking over their homes during an already busy and stressful season. I’m here to give you 12 solid ideas on how to cut your holiday spending and make Christmas a little easier on the pocketbook.1. Set a spending capHaving a budget for the holiday season and sticking to it is really the best advice I can give you. How many times have you gone over the budget while buying gifts for friends and family? How many times have you gone shopping with no set limit? Setting a limit to the ...... See More
Having three young children of my own I know how expensive it can get to buy groceries and clothes. My little ones are only 11 years old and younger, but I can already see the grocery bills going up and the clothing expenses starting to climb. It didn’t take my wife and I long to start to figure out and take advantage of sale cycles and discounts wherever we could. Here are 14 different ways to save a little money while shopping for groceries and other household products.Pay attention to sale cyclesKnowing when things go on sale seems to be a divine skill to some people. They j ...... See More
My job is to teach budgeting on almost a daily basis. I believe the power of budgeting and rely on it to succeed. It’s a powerful tool and it can help you out of debt, save for a rainy day, or push you toward meeting any number of financial goals. It’s not magic, and requires a lot of effort and planning, but a successful budget can help anyone dealing with financial woes and money shortfalls. Talk to anyone who recently started a budget and they’ll tell you how effective it is and how much better their lives are for starting one. It can’t fix everything unfortunately.At t ...... See More
Living paycheque to paycheque can cause a great deal of unnecessary stress in your life. Having to constantly worry about unexpected expenses and costly surprises can add undue stress to a relationship, cause you to lose sleep, or even lead to overspending to compensate for the depressed feeling. I’m sure that if you talk to anyone living this way they will have nothing good to say about the situation. A better choice is to live without the feeling of uncertainty and fear over financial matters. This is not an easy thing to do however.The best time to stop living paycheque to paych ...... See More
If you have ever vowed to eliminate your credit card debt or felt like you were in over your head with your finances, you have likely considered getting a consolidation loan. The idea is sound; pay off all the little outstanding debts that are collecting interest each month with one large loan that will have a substantially lower interest rate. It is true that doing this will likely make it easier to eliminate the little debts, but consolidation loans come with their own financial pitfalls. Because of these potential traps, consumers should be wary about signing up for a debt consolidation ...... See More
Years ago, before I had met my wife and following a budget became something important to me, I was standing at a check out after my purchases had been tallied up and felt my stomach jump into my throat. The cashier told me the purchases came to $447.97 and asked how I would like to pay. I remember thinking to myself, “$450?! What on Earth did I buy that came up to $450?!!?” I had a mini heart attack and a brief moment where I struggled with making this huge purchase. There was no way I was going to return some of my purchases. That would be way too embarrassing. I had gone too far with ...... See More