Advice For Help With Your Personal Finances – Manjit Biant
You don’t have to have a degree in finance or banking to be able to control your own personal finances. All it takes to preserve and even expand your financial assets is a little good fiscal advice and a touch of common sense.
Some people believe that by not doing maintenance on their homes and vehicles they are saving money. Doing maintenance is a way to safeguard yourself from serious problems in the future. Taking care of your belongings is an easy thing to do and you will be amazed to see how much you can save. By skimping on your maintenance you will create bigger expense later on, like by not doing regular servicing on your car, could lead to breakdown later.
Patience can save you a lot of money when considering your personal finances. A brand-new electronic device, for instance, will entice some people into making an immediate purchase. This usually results in paying top money for an item, whereas if you waited just a little, you could have saved a lot on sales and when the fad had decreased. These savings will really add up and allow you to eventually get much more for your money. An example would be the recent Iphone 5 – people went crazy, they had perfectly good Iphone 4 sets but wanted to buy and upgrade for the sake of it to keep up with the trends.
Create a budget and follow it until you are able to dig yourself out of debt. It doesn’t matter if you prefer software, or the old fashioned pen-and-paper method, keeping a budget highlights spending trends that are adjustable. This will help you spend less than you usually do. I like to use a simple spreadsheet on excel. Even if you are not in debt – a budget will help you to save money where you are losing it on wasted spending.
Pay attention to trends when investing in foreign expenditure. If you do not stay current with the market, you will not know when to buy low or sell high. Do not sell anything on a swing that is high or one that is low. Have a very clear goal in mind if you are choosing to move your money before the trend has fully played out.
The Internet can be a great way to find discounts and coupons that are not otherwise available. Use these methods for locating coupons to help you get into the habit of saving the most amount of money to put yourself in a better financial situation.
Work with a tax planner or financial advisor, to overhaul your financial situation. Think about any investments that you can make through your job that may be a pre-tax deduction, especially pensions or 401k programs. Make sure that you have money set aside in case of medical expenses. Take advantage of all the 401K and pension matching programs and workplace programs that your company offers you. Doing these things would be a wise use of your money. It makes sense, financially, to do this.
You should have a savings account. The fund should have at least three months worth of income savings in there. Take around ten percent of the money you make and put it in this savings account. When you have reached the 3 months savings level – then you can start thinking about other investments.
If you have had a hard time qualifying for credit for a large purchase, such as a home, have a look at your credit reports. Often mistakes and outdated information may be damaging your credit score. If you find a mistake, send a letter to the credit bureau and request that it be removed. You can get special credit cards that help you build your credit – an example is Aqua card – built especially to build up credit and gives you 3% cash back on all your expenditure.
You may want to talk with a friend or family member that has experience or a good understanding in finance and is in a good financial position, so they can teach you how to manage your finances from their personal experiences.
Look into purchasing store brand products. Store brand foods are often similar to name brand foods but a lot cheaper. Most of the time, it even has the same things in it. Don’t shy away from trying store brand foods. They can seriously lower your grocery bill.
Make sure you carry some cash, as well as debit cards for small purchases. You should not just use your credit card for every purchase. Many credit companies and vendors are setting minimum purchase amounts, so you should always keep your debit card and some cash with you just in case. Stops you buying more than you was intending to.
However if you can manage paying your card off at the end of each month, then using a credit card that pays cash back is a good idea. I use a card that pays me 3% cash back but I make sure I pay it off at the end of the month.
Everyone should have an ISA savings account. The interest is tax free upto the current years limit. Or in the USA or other country any of the accounts that pay tax free. Also if you have a partner who does not work, then they can get their interest paid tax free as well. It is worth registering and putting all your savings into their account. Just hope they don’t run away with it!!
When you are out and about, bring an envelope with you. That way, you have a safe place you can store business cards and receipts. This way you can ensure you have all the documents you need for your records. This way, you can compare your receipts to your monthly credit card statement, to ensure that all the charges are correct.
Be careful about education costs. Make sure that you in a secure financial situation before you pile up a great deal of debt with student loans and education costs. Getting your children into private school or university and you are not sure of your future, it will more than likely put you into debt for a very long time, so be very careful about this. Also think very carefully about sending your children to private school, can you really afford it?
If you find yourself with lots of money in your pockets, do not take a chance on luck. Investing the money in instant lottery tickets has a small chance of making a person richer. A better secure investment if you like that kind of thing is Premium Bonds with National Savings. You buy bonds and your money is secure and you can get back any time – you just forfeit your interest to be entered into a draw.
If you are self-employed, to save money, something you might want to consider is working from home instead of an office. Commuting is expensive to and from work. You have to pay for things like parking, gas and meals which can start racking up your costs.
Pay your utility bills in a timely manner. Your credit rating may go down if you pay late. Most utility companies will even charge late fees, which will cost you a lot more money than you had planned. You will lose money by making late payments, so pay your bill in a timely manner.
Everyone has the ability to increase their wealth and lead a comfortable life. We need to use our heads and remember these simple tips, remember to follow a budget and decrease your debts and look at ways you can put some of your money away.