Financial Lessons Made Easy. Get Started Today!
Posted at by PConran on category Personal Finance
If your finances are in disarray, then life can be more difficult. The following advice will help you get your finances into shape.
If you are not ready to sell, don’t. If the stock you own is doing well, then let it continue to do well and not sell. Take a look at stocks that are performing less well, and think about making some changes with them.
If you have a spouse, then see who has the better credit and use that to apply for loans. If you are suffering from a bad credit rating, understand that correcting this is a gradual process. Once you have both improved your credit scores, you can share the debt responsibility for future loans.
If your have junk debt buyers breathing down your neck about old debt, know that in many cases, the debt is already uncollectible or will soon become uncollectible. Seek expert advice on the statute of limitations on debt. If a debt collector is trying to collect on an expired debt, don’t pay!
Before you can fully repair your ailing credit, you must first pay off existing debts. Cut back on spending and pay off debts, loans and credit cards. For example, you might want to eat at home instead of going out, even on the weekend. Taking your own lunch to work and not eating out on weekends can save you a lot of money. If you’re serious about repairing your credit, you’ll have to commit to reducing your spending.
The easiest way to keep your finances clean is to avoid consumer debt like the plague. Give serious consideration to adding any new charge to your card. Think about the time it will take you to pay it off. You should stay away from any credit card charge that can’t be paid off within 30 days.
Take advantage of alert services that many banks offer to online customers. There are a number of changes that your bank can alert you to through email or text messaging. This type of alerts will stop you from overdrawing your account and you will be informed right away in case of fraud.
If you find the task of balancing your checkbook manually to be too much trouble, you can do it online instead. There are websites and stand-alone software programs that can do it all, from creating budgets to tracking your bank account data.
Pay Check
Rule #1 of good personal finance is “income must exceed expenditures.” Those who spend all or most of their earnings will always end up living pay check to pay check, or worse, need to borrow constantly. The golden rule is to spend less than what you earn.
Save a few dollars every day. Rather than shopping the same market all the time and making the same purchases, peruse the local papers to find which stores have the best deals on a given week. Make sure you are willing to purchase on-sale food.
Don’t try to save money by putting off needed maintenance. Small problems that could have been avoided by routine maintenance tasks will become big problems that will cost you more money in the long run. The small expenses associated with maintaining your home or car are minimal when compared to what it will cost you to make any major repairs.
If you take the time to get your money in order, your life will run more smoothly. If you can control your finances, you can reduce your overall stress while having more time to spend on the rest of your life.