If you have made some poor financial decisions in the past or gotten into some bad spending habits, the time to break and fix those is now. There is no time like the present to focus on your income, your spending and your debt. The ideas that follow are ways that you can start to regain some control.
Getting a college education is one of the best investments you can make. An education will pay for itself and give you lifelong skills you can use to earn a living. Reports show that those with a bachelors degree, earn almost double of those that only have a high school diploma.
Do not close credit card accounts in hopes of fixing your credit. Closing credit card accounts will not help your score, instead it will hurt your score. If the account has a balance, it will count towards your total debt balance, and show that you are making regular payments to a open credit card.
Cooking at home can give you a lot of extra money and help your personal finances. While it may take you some extra time to cook the meals, you will save a lot of money by not having to pay another company to make your food. The company has to pay employees, buy materials and fuel and still have to profit. By taking them out of the equation, you can see just how much you can save.
A student should always consider every option before taking out a student loan. Grants, scholarships, and savings funds can be great ways to pay for college. Student loans will saddle you with debt and can lead to a shaky financial future, should you default. Plan ahead and pay for college wisely.
Home equity loans are tempting but dangerous. If you miss a payment on a home equity loan, you could lose your home. Make sure that you can afford the monthly payments and that you have a significant emergency savings built up before taking out any loans against your home.
Change over to a checking account that is free. Look into local community banks, online banks and credit unions.
Many people incorrectly believe that it is cheaper to own than rent. That is not true because when you own a home you are responsible for more than just your monthly house payment. You have to pay for utilities, property taxes, and any repairs that may need to be done to the place.
Keep a journal of expenses. Track every dollar you spend. This will help you figure out exactly where your money is going. This way, you can adjust your spending as needed. A journal will make you accountable to yourself for every purchase you make, as well as help you track your spending behavior over time.
Get yourself a credit card that pays rewards. If you pay your credit cards off each month, a rewards credit card is ideal for you. Run all of your monthly expenses, including groceries, gas and your daily Starbucks, through the card. Bankrate.com can help you find the card that pays the highest rewards for the types of spending that fits your lifestyle.
If you have any credit card debt, make sure to start paying the higher interest ones down first. Putting all your extra money into paying off your credit cards now is a smart move, because looking at the trend, interest rates are going to continue to rise over the next couple of years.
Rebalance any investments that you may have. Stocks and bonds have had an overall good year, though cash yields are near zero. Look at your portfolio and make sure that you don’t need to move anything around so that you are earning more money. You should be doing this every year to help your portfolio.
It can be much, much easier to get into debt without realizing it if we are paying by credit card versus paying by cash. Because of high interest rates, we often end up paying much, much more when we pay by credit card than we would if we used cash.
Money spent on a home to live in is a much better investment than money spent on a home to flip for a profit. If you’re looking to make some type of financial gain, the housing market is really something you should avoid right now. It could cripple your personal finances in irreparable ways.
Find less expensive ways to do the things you enjoy. Enjoy the movies? Rent one instead of going to the movie theater. Like eating out? Try making a picnic lunch and eating it at the park. By finding cheaper ways to do things, you can still enjoy yourself without feeling a pinch.
Take the time to get educated about finances. You are sure to benefit from taking the time to learn all that you can about finances through financial books, magazines and reputable Internet sites. You are sure to learn things that you would not otherwise know and that you could benefit from.
Often when people try to save money, their approach is to try to spend less so they have more leftover to save later. If you are serious about improving your personal finance, you should do the reverse. When you receive your paycheck, set aside money that you want to save first, and then use the remainder for spending. By immediately restricting your budget, you will save more effectively.
Feeling like you are out of control in your own life is not a good way to live. Taking charge of your finances means that you need to really take a deeper look, find out what you have been doing and what you should be doing instead. This article has shown you how you can start to do just that.
