| |
| |
|
Personal Finance Information |
|
|
|
Organizing Your Finances - Thinking Outside the (Shoe) Box
If you're like most people, your personal financial records are most probably kept in less than "Good Accounting Practices" standards. For example, stashing old ATM receipts and hanging on to a stub showing what you paid for a pack of mints two years ago (cash, of course), might be filed with your paycheck stubs, credit card statements - paid and unpaid alike - as well as a few tax forms, a stray paper clip and a penny. Anything from an old shoebox to a toolbox would do you for this method of personal financial tracking but you can do better than that. Not to worry. Here's how: 1) Plan for a few hours of "alone time" with your financial records. This is a dandy time to pack the kids off to the mall, put up a pot of excellent coffee and a little snack (preferably chocolate), as a treat when you're done. 2) Supply yourself with ample space, such as a large dining room table. Make sure you have enough organizing supplies close at hand: sticky notes, file folders, a tub to hold them with hanging file folders, large envelopes, a check file, ring binder/s and a three-hole punch if you like, an open stacking file, and an organizer/sorter. A trash can by your side is a must. 3) Get everything from everyplace - shoe boxes, check files, file folders, etc. 4) While enjoying your cup of coffee, make a game plan. Decide what you're going to put where: e.g., checks and statements go in a specific file for checks and statements, credit card statements can be unfolded and placed in a file folder, etc. 5) Start sorting on the table. Checks go here, ATM receipts go there, paycheck stubs go over there, paid bills go on the other side, etc. until all the "stuff" is divided into neatly organized piles. Use sticky notes to mark what-goes-where on the table to avoid confusion. 6) Put all the "paid" items away first. Be ruthless - it's perfectly okay to toss the receipt for those mints from two years ago. 7) Put the rest of the inactive items in the envelopes, file folders, check files or other storage devices as are interesting, functional, and readily available from your local office supply store. 8) Have another cup of coffee and tackle the active, or open, items. Decide what you're going to pay and when. If you have an open stacking file, you will find one with four compartments (one for each week of the month), very handy for this purpose. 9) Balance your checkbook. Now. 10) Enjoy your chocolate after putting everything away where it belongs and, oh, by the way, check the calendar for when you'll be doing this again next month. Of course, next month this will all be done much faster. I highly recommend using technology to make this much easier and faster. Programs like Quicken and Microsoft Money will help. Really any spreadsheet program will do. Have a category for each life area you spend money. Once a week or month take your receipts, checkbook records and scribbled notes and record where you spent ALL your money....every penny. One of my students was shocked to find out he was spending $75 per month on orange juice! Legend has it that the Rockefeller boys did this and they turned out alright. This time next year you'll wish you started today. Leo J. Quinn, Jr. owner of http://www.LeoQuinn.com is a financial educator from the Albany, NY area. For over eight years he has been helping thousands of people get control of their finances and get out of debt in a fraction of the normal time. He has a special offer for readers of this newsletter at http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/adtrack.asp?AdID=132551
MORE RESOURCES:
Personal-Finance - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Car Donations and Used Car Donations Car donations and used car donations are the way many people choose to recycle their older model cars without having the headache of repairing, advertising, showing, and hopefully then selling them. Being able to get rid of an older car and at the same time gaining the benefits of charitable giving and a tax deduction are all part of the allure of used car donations. Are You Ready To Be Fired? Your boss has just informed you that your department is being reduced by two and you are fired. After he leaves, what are you going to do? This is not about finding a job it's about being prepared for financial change. More Money? My Cup Runneth Over...But Im Still Thirsty Most of us, especially those of us who have debtor's disease (if you have it you know what it is!), have commented or at least thought, "If I could just win the lottery, or sweepstakes, everything would be better." Unfortunately, even if that big dream did come true things probably would get worse instead of better. Adverse Debt Levels Blight UK Consumers Personal Finances Debt levels are at an all time high in the UK. The younger generation tend to be feeling the pinch the most, but parents are increasingly being required to bail them out, often at great expense to their own limited mortgage or retirement savings. Dramatically Improve Your Stock Trading Success Get Access to Realistic profitable strategies & discover the mindset to dramatically improve trading success.* Avoid those confusing "cookie cutter" technical analysis tips and tricks that you can read anywhere else for free. Personal Finance - Have Consumers Had a Belly Full of Personal Debt? For months, we were trigger-swipe happy, putting our groceries, clothes, holidays and service charges on our credit cards. We wanted mortgages, we took out loans, we watched Property Ladder and What Not To Wear. How to Balance Your Checkbook - Get a Calculator and Pencil and You are Ready To Go! Despite how easy it is to balance a checkbook, very few people take the time to do it and the few who do, don't always do it the right way. If you write down in your checkbook ledger what should be deducted and added, you are on the right track - if not, start there and follow these nine easy steps to a balanced checkbook. Saving Money - Are You Doing Enough? It is estimated that we, as consumers, waste an average of 30% of our paychecks on items we don't need or pay way too much for the items we buy. Since 1990, spending is up 30% and debt is up an astounding 80%. The World is Not Enough - Calling for a More Ethical Approach to Personal Finance At a time when the entire world's attention is focused on the problems of world debt, with the Live 8 concerts, the G8 summit in Scotland, the Make Poverty History Campaign (MPH) and the various anti-poverty marches, it seems that everyone wants the world's governments to behave more ethically towards the manner in which international finance is conducted. This is obviously a laudable attitude to take, and has gained immense momentum with such a groundswell of public opinion that even the UK Chancellor, Gordon Brown, has stated he is planning to participate in the Make Poverty History demonstration in Edinburgh during the G8 summit. Budgeting Made Easy Well, dang! From what I've heard and read, it looks like we've reached an all-time world-class new record in the amount of personal debt on the books. Now it's probably not quite as bad as we've been led to believe, however many of us have managed to tromp further than we should have into the financial swamp. Learning the Basics of Handling Money With prices increasing all the time, saving money can be harder and harder to do. Here are some solutions for saving a little so that you can still meet your needs and still find ways to trim off a little for the future. Financial Readiness: Preparing for BRAC (Base Realignment And Closing) The recommendations for military base closings have been released and the news is not good. If the recommendations are accepted, you will lose your job. What Happens if You Die Without Making a Will If you die without making a Will in the UK, the state will decide who gets what and how much, so those who you would want to benefit may get far less than you hoped.Your estate (your property and all belongings) are frozen and become subject to the law of intestacy. Honor Those Who Serve with Checking Account Supplies Our global society has had a wake up call in the last five years regarding our safety. But there are those in our communities that fight to keep us safe from day to day. Money Matters - Really! One of the biggest challenges facing black RELATIONSHIPS today are finances. Many people mistakenly feel that money does NOT matter. Ways to Save Energy and Slash Electricity Bills 1. Lighting & Light Bulbs Install low energy light bulbs in rooms you use regularly - they last up to 15 times longer than a normal light bulb and provide the same lighting for a quarter of the running cost. Do You Really Need the Power of Money Management Software? I have been a loyal user of Quicken(R) for more years than I can remember. But a conversation the other day with my youngest son started me wondering whether or not I really need money management software. How to Save Money in a Grocery Store Now there are ways to save money in the grocery store, and they may or may not take much effort on your part to learn some great ways to save money. Your greater savings can often be found in the perishable departments of a grocery store. Saving Dimes Can Go a Long Way On the other hand, there are those people who are saving dimes and every other cent. Perhaps its because they hate the clutter of change but want to get rid of it instead of letting it accumulate elsewhere or still rely on the fact that change has value and should be used accordingly. Accessing Funds You Never Knew You Had- Household Utilities and Mortgage Expense Reduction Plan For most of us the process of getting out of debt and pursuing a venture that would create an income stream leading to early retirement seems just a pipe dream. It goes without saying; it takes money to make money.
|
| home | site map |
| Web Site Development - Search Engine Marketing: Dream Team Media |
