Budgeting
9 articles
Perhaps you have a new job, are a newlywed, or have recently committed to a personal savings plan. Whatever your life stage, you’ve surely heard that regularly contributing to savings is an important financial strategy. You know to save for emergencies, retirement, college, and large purchases such as cars and homes, but where do you
If your child is one of the millions of college freshmen headed off to school, your August might be packed with shopping, gathering textbooks, and packing up entire rooms. And while picking out the perfect dorm decor might seem important, don’t neglect the deeper subjects. Now is the time to talk to your child about
Moving out of your parents’ house just may be the most important step you take toward independence. You can finally live by your own rules, without curfews or restrictions, and take care of responsibilities on your own schedule and in your own way. However, as appealing as this may sound, the freedom of living on
Ah, that fresh new budget smell. You know the one – it’s laced with the good intentions of making a commitment to spend better. You might print it out and stick it to your fridge, or simply vow that you’ll live by it faithfully from now on. Of course, after the honeymoon period, there’s a
If you’re like many people, you’ve set one or more financial goals for yourself. You might be trying to stick to a personal budget, save more for retirement, pay off your credit card debt, build an emergency fund, or buy a house. There’s just one small problem: You want the reward, but don’t want to do the work
Tracking what you spend is an essential element to financial planning. But it is most valuable if you use the information to better direct your financial resources going forward. One way to do this is to create an allocated spending plan. With such a plan, you decide where every dollar you make goes before you
Say, for example, that a married couple makes a total of $100,000 a year. Both spouses work hard for their money, and enjoy spending their discretionary income. But who gets to spend more on discretionary purchases if one spouse makes $30,000 a year, while the other makes $70,000? Can each spouse still respect and love
So you’ve been working to make a budget using tools like Personal Capital or Mint.com and have been diligently putting in all of your income and expenses. Yet every month, it’s the same result: you continue to overspend. While your efforts to create and maintain a budget are commendable, there is probably nothing that is actually
It has been really difficult lately for many people to make ends meet, and this is especially true for one-income families. Many families are confronted with a family member unexpectedly losing a job and going through unemployment. On the other hand, others deliberately choose to be a one-income family because it is the best decision for
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