HOW TO BUILD A RAINY DAY FUND

12/05/10 2 COMMENTS

How to Build a Rainy Day Fund

The road to becoming free of your credit cards and mortgage can be a long one, especially if you have a financial crisis while trying to remove interest from your life. The best way to survive something like this is to save for a rainy day by building an emergency fund. If there’s no budge in your budget, there are many ways to save a few dollars here and there that will add up to a substantial nest egg.

Cell or Home Phone?
If you’re like a lot of families, everyone has a cell phone. And if you also have a land line, chances are it’s collecting dust and does nothing but act as an answering machine for solicitors. If you feel a land line is still a necessity, considering cancelling premium services such as caller ID, three-way calling, and call waiting.

Entertainment Costs
All work and no play can pile stress onto your already inflamed nerves. One of the best ways to relieve stress is to watch a good movie. But, do you really need 250-plus channels? Really? Chances are you don’t have time to enjoy but a small portion of the channels you’re paying a premium price for. Even reducing your cable or satellite package one level will save you money.

Convenience Items
As convenient as convenience stores and the vending machines at work might be, they are costing you money — lots of it. Stop buying those $6 lattes and bring coffee from home instead. Think of it this way — restaurants usually sell a cup of coffee for about $1. When they only pay $6 per pound for the coffee, their cost per cup is about 10 cents. This means you’re giving away 90 cents every morning.

MARRIAGE & MONEY = STRESS

11/05/10 0 COMMENTS

Marriage & Money = Stress

Every marriage faces its own ups and downs. Sometimes couples recover from these obstacles and in other cases the stress from a disagreement seems insurmountable and the marriage ends in divorce. Handling marital problems in a healthy way can be very challenging — even when going through a counselor.

One of the most common topics of discussion (or rather argument) in a marriage is money. The discussion doesn’t even need to be about the lack of money; a full-blown fight can stem from what to do with the money you do have. For example, savings earmarked for a family vacation but spent on an impulse-buy ATV can surely raise the stress level of a marriage.

Some working couples get married with the premise they’ll be wealthier now that two incomes can be combined. Not necessarily true. Larger living quarters, two car payments, two (or more) credit cards, and children all take a large bite out of the discretionary income of a family.

Stressors in a marriage can come from other sources but escalate when money problems arise. Oftentimes when couples fight about money, their dispute is actually overshadowed by something behind the scenes — power struggles, stress at work, or other basic issues surrounding household finances.

In addition, today’s economic roller coaster can send an otherwise well-composed husband or wife to the emotional edge because financial stress can actually cause more stress in general. Not only can the topic of an argument be money-centered, but the frequency of arguments can increase dramatically. A harmless discussion about a home repair can turn into the blame game about an entirely different scenario.

PREPARE YOURSELF FOR BECOMING DEBT FREE

07/05/10 0 COMMENTS

Prepare Yourself for Becoming Debt Free

Ask yourself these questions …

    How long could you survive if you lost your job today or a family member was struck down with a life-threatening illness?

    Do you have the financial resources to deal with a routine, but unexpected, auto repair?

    Could your budget handle the aftermath of forgetting to enter a couple debits into your bank register?

Any one of these scenarios could spell financial disaster — even for someone already on the path to becoming debt free. We all live in fear of these things happening to us as individuals and to our extended families. But are you prepared?

If you’re on a debt-reduction program, you might not have thought about the wealth part of the puzzle — accumulating cash and other resources for the future. Think about this for a minute … if you have $500 in savings, then you’ve only got $500 protecting you from the cold, cruel outside world. Scary, huh?

Look at your monthly expense budget and multiply it times three. That’s how much money you’d need to live for three months if your source of income suddenly ran dry. We’re not talking about available credit levels on credit cards or lines of credit to come up with the three month total — it needs to be cash savings accumulating interest in case of an emergency.

Beyond food and shelter expenses, think about your car’s license plates expiring during an emergency, registering the kids for school during a layoff, or recurring prescriptions that need filling during a spouse’s reduction in income. Do you have a three-month emergency fund in savings? No? Then start saving TODAY and find a program designed to not only make you debt free, but build wealth too.

NEED MORE MONEY, YOU SAY?

04/05/10 0 COMMENTS

Need More Money, You Say?

There’s nobody on the planet that will tell you they have too much money, would turn down a pay raise, or donate their entire inheritance to charity. Most of us are actually thinking up ingenious ways to make our last $20 stretch until payday. If your job has already announced “pay freezes” for the next fiscal year, there is still something you can do about needing additional income — get a job.

Even if you’re already on a tight schedule and feel there aren’t any hours left on the clock for a part-time job — everyone has something to offer. Plus, you can do want you like to do to make money. In particular, working from home is the perfect supplement to your get-out-of-debt efforts! Here are a few traditional and home-based ideas that can add up to money in your pocket.

Pizza Delivery
Don’t laugh, if you know your neighborhood then the tips (and sometimes free pizza) can make this job seem more like fun.

Garage/Yard Sales
You’d be hard-pressed to find a home that didn’t have knickknacks, furniture, collectibles, and other goodies the owners couldn’t live without (this means your house, too). Larger items can be sold in local newspaper ads.

Lawn Care
If getting outside and breaking a sweat is more your speed, then mowing and watering lawns could bring some well-needed exercise and cash for your wallet. Even better, the equipment you need is probably already sitting in your garage.

Day Job
What better way to make money than to keep doing what you’re already doing. But this time, you’re the boss! For example, if you’re a carpenter/builder then look for the small jobs on the weekends that most construction companies bypass. Plus, the training will be minimal because you’re already trained!