Posts Tagged ‘ budgeting ’

Budgeting Tips for a Spectacular Holiday

31/10/2011
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Budgeting Tips

No matter how wonderful they turn out, the holiday season always seem to bring a lot of stress. While we all enjoy the holidays, not having to worry about them financially would make them even brighter. There are many things that can be done to create a spectacular holiday without the existence of enormous bills to deflate us after and create the mood commonly known as the holiday blues. In order to budget for a holiday, planning is a must. First figure out everything you will need in order to pull off your version of the perfect holiday. Here are a few tips to help you save while still out performing yourself as usual. Decorations – If you are someone who wants the holiday to permeate your living area it is time to get a little crafty. There are many homemade items that will not only look beautiful but...

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5 Top Tips for Managing your Finances

03/10/2011
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managing personal finance

How to Get a Better Grip on Your Finances Managing personal finance is tricky, but a careful blend of money saving and understanding your spending habits can really help you. Reduce those credit card bills and ease the strain on your finances with these simple tips: Use shopping lists Shopping lists can allow you to budget what you spend at the shops every week. Most people buy the same things every week, so you’ll have an idea of what those products cost. You can total that and work out what you are really spending. Using a shopping list and avoiding deviation can reduce your impulse purchases and really make sure you aren’t overspending. Plan your shop around what you or your family needs, and hold back on treats unless it is a special occasion. Buying own-branded goods can also save you around 30% on the branded equivalents. Budget your...

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The best budgeting software to help you manage your personal finances

28/09/2011
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manage your finances

When it comes to managing your finances, staying on top and staying in control are crucial. Whether you want to maintain a big money share portfolio, monitor multiple savings accounts or simply keep a close check on your grocery spends each week, keeping accurate budget reports are crucial for keeping track of how your money is performing and where it is going. For many people, the idea of budgets and spreadsheets fill them with dread, but luckily there are now a host of online and desktop software solutions which can keep accurate records of your finances. There are many different options for personal finance tools for both PC and Mac users and the best ones can really help to take the stress out of budget control. Here are some of our favorites: GnuCash (Windows, Mac and Linux) www.gnucash.org For those loathe to spend money on software, GnuCash offers a...

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The Great Balancing Act: Self Knowledge and Self Budgeting

19/08/2011
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What is the key to a healthy bank balance? The answer is contained within the question itself, balance. Balance is needed to enjoy a healthy relationship with money (and when I say a ‘healthy’ that’s exactly what I mean, as it is now well documented that financial concerns have a huge effect on our physical well being.) Achieving this balance doesn’t necessarily involve filling up your savings account, tightening your belt and waiting for a rainy day, just as it doesn’t involve gratuitous indulgence. What’s sought is an ability to enjoy putting money to a responsible use. Reaching this goal may mean altering your financial behaviours. However, in order to do this you will first require a level of self knowledge. Knowing your own tendencies will allow you to emphasis your positive traits and then level out you natural flaws. For example, you may recognise yourself as a shopaholic,...

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To Budget or Not to Budget that is the Question

07/07/2011
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budget

We’ve all been enticed by that “awesome new what-cha-ma-call-it” before. So what is it that gets us to pull out our wallets and hand over our hard earned money instead of putting it away into savings? A lot of it has to do with the emotional appeal of whatever it is we’re considering purchasing. In the heat of the moment however, budgeting doesn’t always seem like the best route. After all it would mean passing up the must-have object. In order to make a clear decision on whether or not to live on a tighter budget and save we have to remove ourselves from the temptation to buy. Go home and think it over before you make a purchase. Let is simmer for a day and see if it still is that important to you. Reaching bigger goals in life, like owning a home, saving for retirement, or paying...

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8 Ridiculous Ways People Try to Save Money

16/05/2011
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save money

There’s no shame—in fact, many would say it’s financially wise—to live an inexpensive lifestyle. Clipping coupons, buying items on sale, cooking food at home, bringing the leftovers to eat for lunch at work the next day, and shopping at secondhand stores are all simple and unobtrusive ways to save a lot of money in the long run. The line that differentiates “frugal” from “cheap,” is a thin one, however, and you’d be surprised at just how far people are willing to go to save a few dollars. Here’s a list of especially ridiculous ways people try to save money: • Eating food out of the dumpster. Many people try to justify this by explaining that groceries throw out unsold food products the moment they hit their expiration date, and the dates themselves are quite liberally set so that there is absolutely no chance of consumers eating old food. True...

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Getting Your Budget under Control

03/05/2011
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budget

Getting Your Budget under Control If you are like most people, your budget could use a little tightening; your credit cards need to be locked up, and your debit card could use a rest. The first step to getting your budget under control is to keep track of your income and expenses, so you know exactly how much you are bringing in and how much is going out. You can do this with software, an excel spreadsheet, or just old-fashioned pen and paper. You don’t have to get fancy; just get organized. Write down or type in all of your monthly expenses: cable, hydro, heat, mortgage, car payments, credit card payments and any other expense you have. Don’t forget to include your life insurance and car insurance payments. If you don’t have life insurance, that should be one of the first things you fix in your budget. Whether you...

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Fighting Over a Blown Budget? Try eBay Therapy

23/04/2011
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Arguments about the family budget; maybe they happen during the monthly or yearly budget committee meeting (you are having those aren’t you?); or maybe they happen at dinner just before bed. Regardless of when they happen or where they occur, these disputes always seem to result in mudslinging worthy of a heated political bout. The accusations are inevitably a variation of the same theme: “the reason we’re short on money is because you blew our budget!” Time to face it: you two are great together, but you both have terrible judgment. Okay, that’s an exaggeration, but you have to admit that on at least one occasion (seriously, just once?), you have each made a poor purchase. So in an effort to find a compromise, it’s time to recognize each of your lapses in judgment, and maybe even make back some of the money you spent with eBay Therapy. It sounds...

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How has the budget affected you?

20/04/2011
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budget

The Government insists that their recent budget announcements are not about raising tax but are about reforming the economy in order to enable future growth. The impact of the budget, however, will be felt by individual UK households with some gaining and some losing and, with a number of fundamental reforms set to take place, the impact will continue to be felt over the next few years. Longer term changes that the Government intends to make include a complete overhaul of the UK’s tax system with a view to simplification. Consultation will start on merging the income tax and national insurance systems which are currently run as separate entities. The way that direct taxes are calculated is intended to change too, with indexation moving to the lower Consumer Price Index (CPI) rather than the Retail Price Index (RPI). This will have an impact on many, particularly those claiming benefits...

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The Importance of Savings

04/04/2011
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Putting some money aside for savings is a really important and smart idea. It’s so easy to get caught up in our everyday lives sometimes it’s everything we can do just to keep on top of our regular finances, such as a checking account and paying bills, but we all know in the back of our minds just how important it is to start a savings account so that when, not if, but when the day comes that you find that you need some money you will be so happy that you took the initiative to start that all-important savings account. What if? There are so many scenarios that could come up that could require you to come up with a large sum of money that there are too many to list, of course. Therefore, you should ask yourself some ‘what if’ questions, such as what if a member...

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