A budget is one way to consistently manage your money. A budget usually allocates a certain amount of money to each of your expenses such as rent, student loans, car loans, mortgage loans and credit card debt. Learn tips to create an effective budget and what to include in a budget as well as when it’s appropriate to start children on a budget.
Budget Busters: Forgotten Automatic Payments
Technology has made sticking to a budget easier through the use of auto-payments. With auto-payments, it’s possible to arrange to have the money you owe for bills and subscriptions deducted directly from your bank account on a specific date each month. This can help you avoid penalties and interest associated with late payments, and make [...]
Preparing Your Children for Financial Independence
As parents, we want our children to be successful and happy in life, but teaching them financial independence often gets put on the back burner. Many parents wait until their children are graduating from high school or leaving for college to begin talking about money management. Here are three tips to help your children forge [...]
The ABCs of Budgeting for School Fundraisers
First, there’s the school wrapping paper sale. Then Girl Scout cookie sales. Then the big spring gala. They are all worthy causes, of course, but how do you budget for seemingly constant school fundraisers, especially if you have multiple kids in different schools? As shrinking state and federal budgets take their toll on schools, parents [...]
What Kind of Mortgage Can You Afford?
During the housing boom, many homeowners found themselves living beyond their means as easy money skewed expectations of what they could afford. Today, being honest with the realities of the real estate market and mortgage landscape can feel like taking a step backward. So how can homeowners and renters stay within their means and aspire [...]
Red Flags: Signs You May Have a Dud of a Financial Planner
Taking financial advice from someone takes a lot of trust—trust you shouldn’t give someone just because he or she has a business degree. There are plenty of financial planners that don’t make the grade. These red flags will help you decide whether you can trust your planner or whether it’s time to move on to someone else [...]
How to Plan for the Future Financially
When wondering how to plan for the future financially, always remember to spend less than you earn and pay down your debt. Q: My wife and I have been married more than 30 years, but we don’t have any kids. In our adult lifetimes we have owned 11 homes in the United States and United [...]
Buying Furniture at Auction for Your Small Business
For any small business owner, it can be a big decision to expand your office and buy new furniture and equipment—but it doesn’t have to be a big investment. Once you’ve decided you need office furniture—because your business is growing, you’ve recently rented office space, or you’re taking on new employees—it’s time to figure out [...]
Money Management: Creating a Shared Budget with a Partner
When you decide to share your life with someone, there’s a lot to get used to. However, there are few things that upset your life more than the disagreements that can come along with money management. Whether you decide to combine finances or keep things separate, it’s smart to come up with a shared household [...]
Another Recession Ahead? Signs the Economy Is Turning Around
Is there another recession ahead? We're dealing with weak growth, but there are some positive signs the economy is turning around. Not according to Kermit Baker, chief economist for the American Institute of Architects and a senior research fellow with the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard. To the contrary, he believes positive signs [...]
Paying Off Debt Using Life Lessons from the Military
In honor of Military Saves, I thought it would be appropriate to share how I, an Army veteran who had over $32,000 of credit card debt, was able to pay off debt by taking a few lessons from the military and applying them to my finances. Military Saves is a week when the military community [...]