Getting Started With a Budget
Using a budget is one of the smartest money management moves you could make. For guidance on using a paper & pencil system, read the Budget Quick Start Guide and make use of the Cash Flow Plan, Cash Flow Tracker, and Recommended Spending Guidelines, all found in the Resources section. For help using the online tool Mint.com, watch my tutorials here, here, and here. And for help with the Envelope system, read this article.
Remember, “The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.” – Proverbs 21:5
An endless number of studies have documented people’s general lack of financial preparedness for their later years. As just one example, the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) says that among workers age 55 and older, 44% have less than $250,000 saved for retirement (25% have less than $50,000). No amount of finger-wagging lectures seems to […]
Every now and then, I come across an article in the mainstream personal finance press that’s so wrong, so misguided, that I just can’t keep silent. So it was with a piece published earlier this year by Kiplinger, an organization I generally respect, enjoy, and learn from. The headline read, “Budgeting Doesn’t Work: A Fatal […]
Weekly list of curated personal finance articles from around the web. The five types of wealth (The Knowledge Toolkit). Some healthy new ways of thinking about what’s valuable. What is Service Line Insurance and Do I Need It? (Clark Howard). You probably get lots of pitches for this. Here’s one personal finance expert’s take on […]
People who don’t use a budget often cringe at the mere mention of the word. They think of a budget as something you go on, like a diet. “We can’t go skiing this winter—we’re on a budget.” They think of a budget as being about less—less freedom less spending, and less fun. But a budget […]
Weekly roundup of recommended personal finance articles from around the web. Everything you can’t have (Collaborative Fund). “Your brain doesn’t want stuff. It doesn’t even want new stuff. It wants to engage in the process and anticipation of getting new stuff.” The vehicles we choose to drive (Becoming Minimalist). Come for the Harvey Mackay quote, then stick […]
I’m fascinated with the process of life change. So many of us would like to make some changes — in our health, our relationships, our finances. And yet change seems hard. We might make progress for a while, but then we slip back into old familiar patterns. What does it take to make changes that […]
In a recent post, The Starting Point for Building Effective Money Management Habits, I talked about the importance of understanding our biblical financial identity. We’re not consumers, as our culture suggests. We were designed to be wise builders who manage money in a way that enables us to build a thriving relationship with God, loving […]
Goal setting is all the rage this time of year. Unfortunately, so is bashing the practice. Some have become tired of the whole New Year’s resolutions routine. It seems trite to them, unproductive. It’s cool to be anti-goal. I’m okay with being uncool. I love the start of a new year. It always feels like […]
If ever there was a relationship designed to be built on a foundation of trust it would be the marriage relationship, right? And ideally, that trust would extend into all areas, including money. However, according to a Pew Research Center study, just 56% of married people say they trust their spouse a great deal to […]
Do you know your net worth? That’s how much is left after subtracting your debts from the total value of your cash and assets. At first glance, figuring out your net worth may seem pointless. You’re probably not going to bump Warren Buffett or Bill Gates from their spots on any “World’s Wealthiest People” list […]
