Money woes can wear you down, both emotionally and physically. Start getting your finances in line with the following personal finance advice.
To get the most out of your money and your food -stop buying processed foods. Processed foods are simple and convenient, but can be very expensive and nutritionally poor. Try looking at the ingredients list on one of your favorite frozen meals. Then the shop for the ingredients at the store and cook it yourself! You’ll have a lot more food than you would have if you had purchased the dinner. Furthermore, you may have spent less money!
You need to meet certain qualifications before you can rent an apartment. Be sure you have verifiable income, acceptable credit, and enough funds for the security deposit and the first month’s rent. Don’t forget that if you have less than perfect credit, the electric, gas, phone, and cable companies usually ask for a security deposit before they establish service under your name.
Resist buying something just because it is on sale if what is on sale is not something that you need. Buying something that you do not really need is a waste of money, no matter how much of a discount you are able to get. So, try to resist the temptation of a big sales sign.
When it comes to personal finances, pay yourself first. When you get paid, put at least ten percent of your pre-tax income into savings before you use your pay check to do other things. If you get in the habit of doing this you will never miss that money and you will be building your savings account.
Instead of using one credit card and almost maxing it out, try to have 2 or 3 cards with lower balances on them. Multiple card interest should be lower than paying back the maxed out one. This can serve as a great technique towards improving your credit score in the long run.
Buying used can save you a lot of cash. Cars for example, lose up to 20% of their purchase price, just by signing on the dotted line and driving off the lot in it. Let someone else pay for that depreciation by purchasing a car that is a couple of years old. You will still have a low mileage warrantied car, but without the hit to your equity.
If you are having trouble managing all of your bills because they are coming due at the same time, you may be able to rearrange your due-dates to make things easier for you. Contact your credit card company or utility company and ask them if you can change your due-date so you have more time between each bill.
If holding a garage sale or selling your things on craigslist isn’t appealing to you, consider consignment. You can consign just about anything these days. Furniture, clothes, jewelry, you name it. Contact a few stores in your area to compare their fees and services. The consignment store will take your items and sell them for you, cutting you a check for a percentage of the sale.
To improve your personal finance habits, keep track of the amount of cash you spend along with everything else. The physical act of paying with cash makes you mindful of exactly how much money is being spent, while it is much easier to spend large amounts with a credit or debit card.
When managing your finances, focus on savings first. Approximately ten percent of your pre-tax income should go into a savings account each time you get paid. While this is difficult to do in the short run, in the long-term, you’ll be glad you did it. Savings prevent you from having to use credit for unexpected large expenses.
If you are making use of credit cards to buy daily necessities such as food and gas, you need to re-evaluate your spending habits before you end up in financial ruin. Necessities and then savings should take priority when spending your money. If you continue to spend money you don’t have, you’re setting yourself for huge debt problems in the future.
Make sure that you set a goal for how much you want to save per month, whether it is a percentage or dollar amount. Setting this goal will prevent you from extra spending at the end of the month, knowing that you have to hit a certain benchmark to succeed.
Always have an emergency fund equal to three to six months of living expenses, in case of unexpected job loss or other emergency. Even though interest rates on savings accounts are currently very low, you should still keep an emergency fund, preferably in a federally insured deposit account, for both protection and peace of mind.
Although organizing your finances can be a daunting task, you can reach financial stability if you employ patience and invest some time. All that is really required is research and sound financial advice. Apply the tips provided to your finances and you should be ready to go.
