A simple system to plan and project your monthly expenses to keep yourself out of the red. Little computing knowledge required - designed to be easily compared with your bank statement on a regular basis. Great for the self-employed as well.
How in the world could I have allowed my household finances get to this point? If this is a question you are now asking yourself, then you are financially miserable in your marriage. You have allowed yourself to become so financially dependent on someone else's money that you can no longer pay your bills, believing that he always would, things do have an uncanny way of changing. If the marriage is already in trouble the added burden of finances isn't going to help and the bills aren't going away without being paid.
A good marriage is hard enough to hold onto without finances getting in the way. Finances play a very important part in a marriage and responsibility of them has to done by one of you. If one or even both of you work, at least meet each other half way with money management because if you don't you will eventually run into financial despair. The tension will start then the arguments and fights over who spent what on what and why will be next.
Money may be the "Root Of All Evil" but the bottom line is still you need it to Survive.
Bills need to be paid and paid on time on a regular basis. When this fails or someone stops making an attempt to pay or stops paying altogether Look Out, it just Hit The Fan. Whatever the cause, yelling, name calling or finger pointing will not solve the situation. Financial stress can be overwhelming, it has been known to cause in my case, serious health problems from the worry. You will become a bundle of nerves, unable to eat or sleep from that worry. Financial worry can cause turmoil, tension, heartaches and unhappiness leading you to live in a miserable marriage.
Mostly all problems can be worked out, finances can be too, if you both work at it, cut spending and try budgeting then saving, working together may save you from financial misery in your marriage.
Melanie Meyers gives tips on Marital finances in an Unhappy Marriage in her ebook and on her blog at http://www.blog.miserableunhappywives.com
Why is it that the word "Budget" seems to create such fear in so many people? It's as if using one will take all the fun out of life because it's some sort of draconian money management scheme that ties up all your money. Fortunately setting up a personal budget is not that complicated and if done correctly it can free up money to the point that it looks like you are getting a raise.
If you've thought about making a household budget but have reservations or just haven't taken the plunge there is no better time then now. The first thing to do is understand that it isn't all that complicated. All a budget is is a listing of expenses and income. It really is that simple. You don't need the latest book, spreadsheet, or budgeting software to get started all you need is a notebook and pencil.
Once you have you pencil and paper ready go back through all your bills for the past three months. It is also helpful to have your checkbook register handy because on your sheet of paper you are going to write down by expense how much you spent. Add up each expense and then divide by 3, which is the amount of months you have gone back. This will give you a monthly average for each expense. Add up all the expenses and write this down at the bottom of the page.
Now on a separate piece of paper write down all your monthly income. Include income from regular jobs, part time jobs, investment income, or any other income you might have coming in each month. Add that up and write it down at the bottom of the page.
Now's the time when most people look at the income and the expenses and a huge gasp of disbelief leaves their lips because they are spending more money then they are making. If this is you look at that number closely and then use that budget of what you have been spending to create a budget for the next month of what you will be spending. This is what a personal budget is, a spending plan that tells your money what to do and where to go.
Look back over your expenses and start finding things you've been spending money on that just doesn't make sense. How often do you eat out? Trips to Starbucks? This is the time to stop the bleeding and recoup all that money that just seems to disappear every month because you don't want to wake up one day and wonder why you don't have any money for the future.
Here's the crux of the budgeting process. You have a snapshot of where your money has been going based on the expenses you have written down. Now instead of looking at the past let's translate these expenses to the upcoming month. If you write down all your expenses for the upcoming month and allocate funds for these upcoming expenses you have won half the battle. This ensures that your bills are paid and every dollar you will have coming in has already been told what to do before the month even begins.
One last word about setting up a personal budget. Be patient, the first couple of months you do it it will not work out quite as you had planned. It will take some tweaking to get the process down but by the third month you should start to get the hang of it and before long you will have control of your financial future.
If you seriously want to take back control of your money you need to build a Personal Budget. To learn more about creating a budget please visit the website Household Budgets by clicking here.
My parents were depression babies. That means they had to make due without many of the conveniences that we all have today. My father and his two brothers shared a single bed. This may sound strange and certainly subject to fights and bruises in the middle of the night, but it wasn't uncommon in those days. They and my grandparents all lived in a one bedroom apartment in New York City. My mother had similar circumstances.
Like any good parents, my parents wanted to shelter their kids (me and my siblings) from having to worry about finances. So they told us very little. But you don't get a good feel for what comes in and what goes out with respect to money. It's difficult within those parameters for kids to feel like there are any constraints at all. We would just ask for money and sometimes they would give it to us and other times they did not. It's when they did not when we got grumpy.
But we were down about the monetary rejection because we were always under the impression that my parents had a fair amount of money. This actually wasn't true until later in my parent's lives. My father landed some decent jobs and he started doing really well. I was already in college by then and almost ready to start out on my own. So it should come as no surprise that when I first started out, I didn't really give much thought to spending. I did a lot of it. I never really had to worry about money because my parents sheltered me (and my siblings) from the finances.
Having the entire family involved in the finances serves several purposes. First, it gets them to see the actual inflows and outflows. When your kids ask you for things, you can site the family finances and they cannot argue with you. They will see it for themselves. Second, they will learn that there are constraints and when they set out on their own, they will already be of the mindset that incoming money is not unlimited. Third, they will be better suited to teach their children as well because they were taught by you.
Your entire family should be included when discussing family finances. It affects them as it does you. It gives them a lifetime education that has the potential to be passed on from generation to generation. Plus, everyone in the family will feel involved.
James is a writer for the web and blogs.
Please note: I have removed the link that was here due to the FTC's new and sketchy guidelines about what constitutes an endorsement. I apologize if you are reading this and it left you a bit puzzled. But there are too many unknowns in these new guidelines to take a chance.
The onset of the global credit crunch across the UK last year, combined with the after effects of a series of interest rate rises, and rising living costs all contributed towards the difficulties that many households have had to face over recent months. For many the strain on household finances has become increasingly pronounced, and industry officials have expressed concern that many people may be pushed into insolvency as a result of these financial strains.
If you find that your budget is being overstretched each month and you want to try and ease the strain on your household finances there are a number of steps that you can take, which could help to improve your financial situation. This includes:
1. Consolidate your debts. If you have a range of higher interest debt such as credit cards, store cards, and high interest loans, you could save a small fortune by paying off these debts with one lower rate consolidation loan, which can ease financial management as well as reduce your monthly outgoings.
2. Look for cheaper services. The cost of certain household expenses, such as energy bills, have risen over recent weeks, and you could find that taking the time to compare prices and switching your providers can save you some money. The difference may not be great but with every bit adding up it is well worth checking what sort of savings you can make.
3. Re-mortgaging: With interest rates having come down twice in the last few months it is possible that you can get a cheaper mortgage deal that will save you money on your monthly repayments if you take the time to compare. Make sure you look out for any hidden costs or arrangement fees though.
4. Get a more appropriate credit card. If you have a number of high interest credit cards it may be worth switching to a 0% balance transfer or low rate balance transfer card in order to save money on interest and reduce your monthly repayments. Make sure you check the transfer fees on 0% cards and the interest rate on life of balance transfer cards.
5. Make cutbacks. Most people will find places where they can make cutbacks when going through their outgoings, and if you can make cutbacks on things such as spending on clothes and entertainment, subscriptions and memberships, and other non-essential costs then this could save you some money each month.
Loans4 provide homeowner loan solutions for homeowners. Please visit www.loans4.co.uk for the latest finance related news.
With the credit crunch still wreaking havoc across the nation's financial markets, and with rising living costs continuing to impact heavily on household finances, it has become increasingly important for consumers to keep an eye on their finances. If you fail to monitor your finances carefully you could find that you are in danger of overstretching yourself, and this could lead to all sorts of serious situations such as missing a loan repayment or worse still being unable to meet your mortgage repayments.
Reviewing your finances on a regular basis is essential in order to try and keep stock of your income and outgoings, and to ensure that you are financially able to keep up with all of your debts, bills, and other payments. At this time of year in particular many bills tend to go up, such as water bills and council tax bills, and it is important to accommodate these rises into your budget so that your monthly budget is not inaccurate.
Another thing that you should keep your eye on is the impact that your debts may be having on your financial situation - anyone with a range of smaller, high interest debts will know that the monthly costs can be crippling and this can make a huge difference to your financial health. One way around this is to get rid of these expensive debts and replace them with one affordable loan, which means that your repayments will be lower and you will have fewer debts to worry about.
You will find that you can keep on top of your finances far more effectively when you take the time to regularly review your income and outgoings, and you will also be able to keep a closer eye on how much you are spending on your smaller debts, thus enabling you to determine whether a consolidation loan could help you to ease your financial situation through reducing your outgoings.
If you do feel that consolidation is the answer to reducing your outgoings you should make sure that you find a suitable and affordable consolidation loan - remember, the whole point of the process is to keep your outgoings down, so the lower the interest rate the more money you will save on your outgoings. The repayment term of the consolidation loan is another important factor, as this will also help to determine how much you will be paying out on a monthly basis.
Once you have consolidated your debts make sure that you continue to review your finances regularly, and avoid the temptation to run up a range of smaller debts such as credit and store cards again.
Loans4 provide homeowner loan solutions for homeowners. Please visit www.loans4.co.uk for the latest finance related news.
Most people will admit to letting their eyes glaze over whenever somebody starts to talk about financial issues. This is because talking about investments and using words like "fiduciary" is only exciting to a select few. With the current economic crisis, however, more people want to learn about finance and how to take control over their household finances and money issues. Here is the good news: your finances don't have to give you a headache!
Admit it: whenever the latest stack of bills arrives in the mail you get a tiny but sharp pain right between your eyes. Are you one of the people who tosses the pile in a corner or drawer of your desk and vows to "get to it later, it's just too much to deal with right now"? It's okay if you are. This is how a lot of people react to their bills. The good news is that getting your finances under control isn't hard.
First you need to get all of your bills together. Would it surprise you to know that most people do not keep track of how much money they spend on bills each month? This one detail is the reason that so many people find that keeping track of their spending is such a struggle!
Once you've gotten all of your bills together, start calling the companies that you owe money to and ask them to change your due date. The goal here is to get all of your bills due on the same day. This will help you with your budgeting and making sure that your bills get paid on time. If your bills are all due at the same time, you have an "end goal" in place-for a certain amount of money to be in the bank and a day to drop everything at the post office.
You should always pay at least ten or fifteen dollars more than the minimum payment on each bill. This is because a considerable amount of your payment is probably going to your interest rate and while you might be paying fifty dollars or more every month, it is entirely possible that only ten of that is going toward the actual balance of your account.
You should also keep track of your spending for a month-don't worry about learning how to cut back today. For a month keep all of your receipts and then add them all up. Look at how much money you are spending on groceries, entertainment, fast food, other things, etc. Once you've got a running tally, look at the ways you can cut down! It is a lot easier to figure out how to save money when you know how you are used to spending it.
Finances aren't difficult-at least, they do not have to be. It is mostly about paying careful attention to how your money leaves your possession. Once you know that, figuring out your finances is easy!
For more information on finances, visit [http://www.Financemicroblogging.com] and http://www.financemicroblog.com
"For better or worse, for richer or poorer" may be a common wedding vow but it's a vow most roommates would be unwilling to take. When people share a household with roommates, they expect each person to pay the rent and any other expenses on time each week or month. It's the most important ingredient that people look for when searching for their perfect roommate.
Whether you live with one roommate in an apartment or share a large house with a group of roommates, your household can gain control over and manage expenses successfully. It starts the minute your household begins conducting interviews and continues right through to the creation of guidelines for handling expenses.
So, how can your household gain control over finances? Here are 10 tips that can help you and your roommates manage expenses more easily.
1. Create A Household Budget
A budget lets your household calculate how much money it needs or can afford to spend each week or month. It lets you know in which areas spending is out of control or not enough money is allocated.
2. Set Up A Record Keeping System and Nominate A Bookkeeper
Creating an accounting system lets your household keep track of the collection and payment of expenses. It lets you calculate how much money was spent each week or month and helps solve any disputes within your household or with billers.
3. Always Give and Ask For Receipts
Collecting and giving receipts lets your bookkeeper create a paper trail that shows when expenses and bills have been paid. These receipts can be used as evidence if there are any disputes.
4. Collecting Expenses
You and your roommates should decide when, where and how expenses should be collected and paid. For example, your household may decide to collect expenses each Friday at 4.00pm in cash and pay each biller on the last Friday of the month. Making a timetable makes it easier to collect payments and harder for money to be misplaced.
5. Make A Plan For Handling Disputes
Implementing a system for dealing with financial disputes can improve communication and reduce tension between roommates. It lets your household solve any financial issues immediately before they become out of hand.
6. Keep A Financial Diary
A diary lets your household's bookkeeper record and keep track of any changes to the payment of bills like rent increases, new billing arrangements and additional expenses. You should also record the payment/reimbursement of security deposits and the details of any disputes over money.
7. Roommate Interviews
When interviewing for new roommates, it's important to find out about each person's history of paying expenses and their attitude towards money. Interviews also let you outline the expenses that will need to be paid each week or month.
8. Check References
Talking to people who have lived with your chosen roommate lets you find out if they have paid their expenses on time each week or month. You can compare these answers with the ones your chosen roommate has given during their interview and decide if they are the right roommate for you.
9. Expenses and New Roommate Households
Before moving in together, roommates should work out how expenses will be paid in their new household. This includes sorting out which expenses will be paid separately and those that will be paid as a group. Talking about finances before moving in lets roommates solve any issues without financial consequences.
10. Household Rules
Any guidelines that have been created for finances should be included in the household rules. It helps remind roommates how important keeping track of finances and paying expenses on time is to the smooth running of your household.
By implementing these 10 simple tips your household can gain control over finances, manage any disputes and pay the bills on time. It's just a matter of putting together a system that works for you and your roommates. Most of all, it lets you leave the vow of "for better or worse, for richer or poorer" to one of most important days of your life, your wedding day.
Good Luck and Happy Roommate Living!
Enid Steiner is a Director of Flatwithme.com.au, an Australian online roommate service. Flatwithme.com.au lets people find their perfect roommate and provides helpful share accommodation resources including calculators, questionnaires and articles.
If your personal finances are a mess don't feel bad because you are not alone. The vast majority of Americans have little idea where their money goes each month other then to pay bills with little left over for savings or investment. Living paycheck to paycheck is the best reason you can have for creating a household budget because it will show exactly what your money is doing.
Bringing your personal finances back in line is about taking back control of your money and telling it what to do and where to go. The only way you can take back control is to see where it is going and as painful as adding up all your expenses on a budget may be it is a necessary part of any strong financial plan.
Most people and businesses that are successful have one thing in common. They keep track of where their money is going and what it is doing. Their money works for them, not for some creditor that charges outrageous interest rates on top of minimum monthly payments that do little to pay down your debt.
One way to look at your finances is from a business perspective. If you were to run a business the same way you run your household finances how long do you think you would stay in business? If you want to be successful with then it pays to do what successful people do, and that includes making a budget.
If you are ready to start building your financial future then the first step is creating a household budget. All you need to get started is a notebook or legal pad and a pencil. Create two columns for your monthly income and monthly expenses. The income side should be relatively easy but for the expense side you will need to go through your monthly bills, credit card statements and check book register and write down everything.
When you add everything up the first time it may not be exactly what you want to see but with the truth of your spending staring you back in the face you can begin to make changes that will positively affect your cash flow problem. This first budget is more of a template for the future so don't get discouraged if it doesn't work quite the way you thought it would. It takes most people 3 or 4 months to get a good handle on their financial picture after making a budget.
When your personal finances are out of control creating a household is the first step to bringing them back in line with your financial goals. Once you see where you money is going and why you can take action and for many people this helps to free up some cash flow that can be put to better uses.
To learn more about creating a household budget please visit the website Household Budgets by clicking here.
The first step to financial success lies in knowing your financial situation at any given time. There is an anecdote attributed to John D. Rockefeller--that as a child he was given a monthly allowance from his parents, but upon stipulation that he had to save 10% of it, give away 10% to charity, and account for the rest of it. While his parents required that he record down to the penny where he spent it--you can be a bit more lenient on yourself!
Track your spending for 1-2 full months
Use a program like Quicken to keep track of all your personal finances. I recommend the latest version of Quicken or a similar financial program if you already own one. You should start out by entering in your present-day personal checking account, savings, investments, and cash situation.
To complete this step, you will also need a cheap plastic filing container or something similar. You can purchase these for about $15 at Office Depot, etc. As you make payments, keep track of all the receipts you receive, the checks you write, and any other monetary transactions you make. Like I mentioned earlier, you don't need to be exact when it comes to cash--just try to be, as much as you can tolerate.
At some later time, at your leisure, enter all this transaction data into Quicken. As you do so, put the purchasing receipts into the file folder under the appropriate Category. Make separate labels for each of the file folders-- I suggest some of the following:
Personal
Household
Charitable
Books & Education
Dining Out
Business Expenses
Taxes
Misc.
You can also add your own categories or remove some as appropriate. At this point, you may be wondering why you have to do all this. For the moment, just trust me that it will be beneficial to you (I will explain it later on). Also, it takes a grand total of about 10-15 minutes per week to do what I just described. The next section, Budgeting, will take a little longer. But budgeting also requires that you need to at least perform the first step mentioned above, that is, keeping track of what you currently spend.
Planning your Budget
I can already hear what you are going to say--oh no, not a budget! I don't like them either, because they tend to reign in my emotional spending or "I gotta have it" mentality. The truth is, you are the master of your financial destiny (not to sound corny, but its true for the most part). If you want to buy that fancy knickknack with the wireless PDA attachment downloader, then by all means, get it. But if it doesn't serve your needs in the long run, then you will have wasted $X dollars to serve your fleeting emotional desires. Besides, you will notice after tracking your budget for several months where the real money is flowing. You might buy a fancy computer toy only occasionally, at $200+ dollars, but eating out at lunch everyday + dinner with the girlfriend at fancy restaurants all the time is leaving you broke. How about going to bars? I like to drink, but a beer at a bar or nightclub can range from $4-$10. It's probably even more if you live in areas like San Francisco or New York.
Anyway, the point of planning your budget is just to get a better grasp on directing the flow of your money. I'm not saying that you should totally change your lifestyle or even change it at all--but if you are complaining about not having enough then there are certain things you should do, mainly spend less. It will be described later the benefits of saving & investing your money (which you probably already know anecdotally, but perhaps do not have extensive experience personally).
Good Luck!
No one ever wants to become so sick or disabled that they cannot manage to take care of themselves. No one wants to have to rely on the assistance of others just to get out of bed in the morning, get dressed, use the restroom, and make breakfast. Unfortunately, this becomes a way of life for many people, and when it does they usually have one of two options - they may have family members look after them, or they may have hired professionals to look after them.
If the chosen option is to have hired professionals look after them, these hired professionals can visit them at their homes, or they can be taken care of at long term care facilities such as nursing homes. If hired professionals are going to be providing the care, regardless of the location, it's going to cost money. This is where long term care insurance comes into the picture.
Many people choose not to purchase long term care insurance frankly because it's not an insurance everyone needs. The odds of eventually using car insurance, homeowner's insurance, health insurance, and even life insurance are greater than eventually using long term care insurance. Therefore, many people opt not to add another bill to their lists of household finances; however, in the event that you do need long term care, how are you going to pay for your household finances and the cost of long term care? Having long term care insurance will take care of paying for your long term care.
Before you head to your local insurance agent, research your family history. Have there been any family members who have ended up needing long term care? For what reason, and for how long, did they need the long term care? How did they pay for the long term care? Use these answers to help determine whether or not long term care insurance is right for you.
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