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
If a tool existed that would give you a strong sense of control over your finances and help keep your financial stress low, wouldn’t you use it? If this tool served as a financial road map, showing you clearly how you could live within your means, generously support the causes you care about, and save […]
A weekly roundup of some of the more interesting and helpful personal finance articles I’ve read recently. 5 mental tricks to make a good money habit really last (Forbes). How to set yourself up for success. Working ‘til you die is a lousy financial plan (Time). As I like to say, plan vocationally, emotionally, and […]
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, 54% have less than $100,000 saved for retirement. No amount of finger-wagging lectures seems to move the savings needle. The […]
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 […]
A weekly roundup of some of the more interesting and helpful personal finance articles I’ve read recently. The simple thing that helped me save $30,000 (CNN Money). Ah, that lowly, much-maligned yet wonderfully powerful tool called a budget. The 50% rule: why frugality is freedom (Better Humans). I’ve never been crazy about the term “frugal,” […]
A weekly roundup of some of the more interesting and helpful personal finance articles I’ve read recently. Parents pass (bad) money habits to kids (Squared Away). Whether we teach our kids about money—and how—has a lasting impact. Why is it so hard to stick to a budget? (US News). Like any new habit, it can […]
A weekly roundup of some of the more interesting and helpful personal finance articles I’ve read recently. An essential budget query: Is this spending aligned with my values? (NY Times). How a little awareness can help you get more for your money. This is what happens when you get rid of 75% of your stuff […]
A weekly roundup of some of the more interesting and helpful personal finance articles I’ve read recently. How to graduate from college debt-free (and regret-free) (Time). Practical advice from one who did just that. 7 401(k) rules you should know by heart (USA TODAY). Good guidance for getting the most from your workplace retirement plan. […]
Have you ever felt like a stranger living in a strange land? Like somehow you’ve woken up in a place where you don’t speak the language? I felt that way while watching a morning news segment about financial infidelity. The host mentioned the results of a national survey in which: 71% of married Americans acknowledged […]
More than any other document, a will puts you in touch with your mortality. That probably explains why, according to a survey by Lawyers.com, 65 percent of adults in the U.S. don’t have a will. However, if you care about what happens to your property after you die – and more importantly, if you care […]
