Thursday 27 June 2013

Making Your Financial Relationships Much Easier

By Phillip Ward


The relationship between you and your money is a long-term one. You should always make sure your finances are taken care of. In this post, you'll find many good ideas for effectively managing your personal finances.

The foundation of your budget should be all of the money you earn vs what you can afford to spend. Begin by calculating how much after-tax money you and your partner bring into the household each month. Don't forget to include every income source, including second jobs, rental property and interest income. The most important thing in budgeting is to make sure your spending is never greater than your combined income from all sources.

Take the time to record your expenses. When you have all of your expenses listed in front of you, you get a better picture of just what your money is doing for you. Divide up less frequent payments, like annual or quarterly bills, so that they are represented on your monthly expense sheet. You also need to account for unexpected expenses such as minor emergencies or repairs. Budget money for recreational activities as well as other niceties that you know you will spend money on. You will want to make your budget as accurate as you possibly can.

When you are unable to pay off one of your credit cards, then the best policy is to contact the credit card company. Letting it just go to collections is bad for your credit score. You will find that most companies will let you pay it off in smaller amounts, as long as you don't keep avoiding them.

Create a manageable budget based on your income and expenditures. The first thing to do is find out if it is possible for you to eliminate any expenditures. Rather than buying coffee from Starbucks, you should try making your own at home! Look for areas where you can reduce your monthly expenses, like your cable and phone bills.

Utility bills can mount quickly. If yours seem to be too high for your usage, consider making updates and repairs to your home. Weatherizing your windows can take a huge bite out of your heating bill, as you don't need to heat and cool your home as much. Another way to decrease the amount of power used by your home is to do away with your outdated hot water tank in favor of a newer, more energy-efficient appliance. You can lower your monthly water bill by ensuring that you do not have leaky pipes and operating your dishwasher only when you have a full load. These changes can cost a lot up front, however, in the end you will save money.

When it comes to credit cards, always try to spend no more than you can pay off at the end of each billing cycle. By doing this, you can help to avoid high interest rates, late fees and other such financial pitfalls. This is also a great way to keep your credit score high.

A good start is lowering the amount of energy your appliances use. Purchasing energy efficient appliances will lower your utility bills, and also possibly save you money at the end of the year in the form of tax incentives. You should also make sure to turn appliances off when they are not in use. This can save you some more money. I would recommend network marketing, because you can get started from very little money and you can make alot of money in a very short period of time.

It is useless to try to heat and cool your home if your roof and insulation are allowing all of the air to escape. These upgrades may cost money now, but they will lower your bills. You might want to consider starting a home based so you can write off a large portion of your utility bills. I would recommend network marketing, because you can get started from very little money and you have a huge upside potential.

Make friends with your credit card issuer. Most major credit card issuers have a Facebook page. They might offer perks for those that "friend" them. They also use the forum to address customer complaints, so it is to your advantage to add your credit card company to your friend list. This applies, even if you don't like them very much!

Even though some of these plans are an expensive investment, they'll pay off later. Any money spent now will come back to you, and more, in the form of less expensive utility bills. As time passes, you will enjoy more financial freedom using this method.




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