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this March I spent days and hours organizing my taxes. If you are those who wait for the last minute to collect the data for the tax filing, you can relate to that!
It was HELL ! I was miserable. making myself doing all this work, trying to figure out what did the heck I spent the money on…
Anyhow, at that point I made a promise to myself to NEVER DO IT AGAIN!
Since then, I have been much more organized and entering my data on a weekly and monthly base.
I just received a newsletter from Terry Matzkin, CLU, ChFC, Financial Advisor and I though it was a great article to help you (if you need to get your finance in order), to get back on your fit!
Start Budgeting By Terry Matzkin, CLU, ChFC http://www.financial-topics.com/
Almost no one enjoys the process of analyzing and budgeting expenditures, but inefficient and wasted expenditures can be major impediments to accomplishing your financial goals. It is difficult to manage your money if you don’t know how much you have or where it is going. Consider these steps when developing your budget:
1. Identify how you are spending your income. Review an annual period so you determine regular monthly expenses as well as irregular, periodic expenses, such as insurance premiums, tuition, and gifts. Much of the information can be found by examining canceled checks, credit card receipts, and tax returns. Total expenses in categories that make sense for your lifestyle. If you can’t account for more than 5% of your income, take a closer look at your cash purchases. Keep a journal tracking every penny you spend for at least a month.
2. Evaluate your expenditures. If you find it tough to find money to save, critically review your expenditures. Consider these tips:
Find ways to save at least 10% of your income. Almost all expenditure categories offer potential for savings. With essential expenses with fixed amounts, such as your mortgage, taxes, and insurance, you may be able to refinance your mortgage, find strategies to help reduce taxes, or comparison shop your insurance to reduce premiums. Essential expenses that vary in amount, such as food, medical care, and utilities, can usually be reduced by altering your spending or living habits. For instance, you can actively shop for food with coupons, exercise to get in better health, or put energy saving light bulbs through your house. Discretionary expenses, such as entertainment, dining out, clothing, travel, and charitable contributions, typically offer the most potential for spending reductions. Dining out four times a week? Reduce it to two, go to less expensive restaurants, and save the difference.
Limit the use of your credit cards, especially if you’re not paying the balance in full every month. Not only do credit card balances carry high interest charges, but credit cards tend to encourage impulse spending. Use cash or a debit card, which automatically deducts purchases from your bank account.
Resolve not to purchase impulse items or items over a certain dollar amount on your first shopping trip. Go home, think about it for a couple days, and then go back to purchase the item. Often, you’ll decide you don’t really need it.
Delay the purchase of large items. For example, instead of purchasing a new car every two or three years, keep your car for four or five years.
If you’re really serious about reducing expenses, consider moving to a less expensive house. Not only will you reduce your mortgage payment, but you will save on other costs, such as property taxes, insurance, and utilities.
3. Prepare a budget to guide future spending. You may want to start by setting a budget for a couple months, tracking your expenses closely over that time period. You can then fine tune your budget for an annual period. Some tips to consider when preparing your budget include:
Don’t include income in your budget that is uncertain, such as year-end bonuses, tax refunds, or gains on investments. When you receive that money, just put it aside for saving.
Set up enough expenditure categories to give you a good feel for your spending patterns, but not so many that it becomes difficult and time consuming to monitor your progress.
Make your budget flexible enough to handle unforeseen expenditures. Nothing goes exactly as planned, and your budget should be able to deal with emergencies. Be sure to include large, periodic expenditures, such as insurance premiums or tuition.
Don’t be so rigid that your family is afraid to spend any money. Everyone in the family should have a reasonable allowance that can be spent without accounting for it.
Find ways to make the savings component of your budget happen automatically. Get the money out of your bank account and into an investment account before you have a chance to spend it.
The money you have available for saving is a direct result of your spending habits. Use a budget to control your spending so you can maximize your savings.
This wonderful lady, whom I just met, was able to teach me so much about life.
Today, as we were talking about my children, I said that I can see ‘some faliures’ in my relationship with my kids.
Charyn stoped me and said:” there is no faliure. You have found someting that is not working, and you learned someting new from it”
This was such a great reminder to what life is all about – we learn as we go, and we always need to look at what we did, and how we can do it better and/or different the next time!
Being successful to me is: getting a little bit better every time!
“Find ways to share your love, your caring and your wisdom.
Someone needs what you know”
Barbara De Angelis
yesterday, while I was on a 3 way call with Potential Future partner, I learned again why I love my work. It is one thing to learn about yourself and change your life, but there is more to life than just my life; I get to share the gift, my knowledge and my wisdom (learning from so many amazing people), with people who choose to take control of their lives, choose to take actions to make their lives to be better from the inside out. I get to share with them how personal development, my team and my mentors helped me change my life, and it is my mission to help them change theirs.
Sharing and giving is the best gift I ever got and will ever get, and it the best one I can give to others.
My work is amazing because I get to be the change I want to see in the world, kindness and love.
when we really really listen, we open our heart.
When we really really listen, we do not judge but accepting the other
When we really really listen, we can learned a lot about ourselves.
I was just introduced to Paul and Eran work at http://supportivelistening.wordpress.com/
I am learning that being a good listener is serving me and the people I care about much more than talking.. God gave us 2 ears so we can listen more than we talk 🙂
With love, Relli
I just read Sharyn Abbott blog, and thought it is well said
What would you do with a magic wand?If someone offered you a magic wand and told you that you have three wishes, what would you ask for? What would you wish for? More money? More time? Less stress? What would you do if you discovered a way of creating all three without a magic wand? There are 7 Techniques to Thrive in any Economy. Most people started their own business because they thought they could build a better mousetrap or got laid off from a corporate job. There are many reasons, but what the majority of business owners fail to do is continue their education and change what isn’t working. Yet failure to change is what causes more than 80% of businesses to close their doors. The next most common reason business don’t make it is they don’t know what they’re up against with their competition.Everyone is busy, but being productive is a different issue than being busy. Time management is one of the hardest skills to master for those who find themselves facing all the tasks of keeping a business afloat.
Relli Siege 