With the economy going south these past few years, more and more people are having money problems. With a shaky economy it’s very important to have good personal finance habits. The tips in this article will help give you ways to better manage your personal finances and help you stay afloat in these turbulent times.
If you can afford it, try making an extra payment on your mortgage every month. The extra payment will apply directly to the principal of your loan. Every extra payment you make will shorten the life of your loan a little. That means you can pay off your loan faster, saving potentially thousands of dollars in interest payments.
Always pay more than the minimum. When paying down debt, it’s tempting to just make your minimum payments, but each month more interest is charged on the remaining balance, making it seem like you can never make any headway. Even if it’s just $10, pay a little bit more and slow down interest accruals to get that bill finally paid off.
Use kitchen scrubbies as substitutes for expensive aquarium filters. Get the flat fibrous kind and make sure they aren’t treated with any kind of toxic chemicals or impregnated with soap. Cut them to the size of an old aquarium filter and slip them right down into your pump. They work great and save you lots of money!
Keep track of your bank account and credit cards to watch for fraudulent activity. If you see any charges that are not from you, let your bank or other financial institution know immediately by calling them. They will be able to freeze your account and prevent further charges from occurring.
Talk to your friends and family about your personal finances. This helps them understand why you cannot always go out when they extend invitations to you. If you do not tell them why you could not buy a gift or go on a trip, your friends might think that it is due to something they have done. Find cheaper ways to have fun together and share your financial problems with them.
Don’t let banks use your money for free. Many banks require customers to maintain a high minimum balance to avoid fees for checking or savings accounts, but pay very low or no interest on the amount. You can usually find a better deal at a credit union or an online bank.
Personal Finance
One of the best ways to stay on track with regards to personal finance is to develop a strict but reasonable budget. This will allow you to keep track of your spending and even to develop a plan for savings. When you begin saving you could then move onto investing. By being strict but reasonable you set yourself up for success.
A great way to keep on top of your personal finance, is to set up a direct debit to be taken out of your paycheck each month. This means you’ll save without having to make the effort of putting money aside and you will be used to a slightly lower monthly budget. You won’t face the difficult choice of whether to spend the money in your account or save it.
Improve your personal finance skills with a very useful but often overlooked tip. Make sure that you are taking about 10-13% of your paychecks and putting them aside into a savings account. This will help you out greatly during the tough economic times. Then, when an unexpected bill comes, you will have the funds to cover it and not have to borrow and pay interest fees.
Buying and selling stock can be a good way to boost ones personal finance provided they do it in an educated way. If one does not put research behind their stock decisions then there is no guarantee that one will stand to make any profit from their investment that they have made.
A great personal-finance tip is to assess your home and figure out what kinds of changes you can make to reduce your monthly energy bill. This is an important strategy to save a substantial amount of money. It could be anything as simple as turning lights off whenever you leave a room.
A great personal finance tip that can help you keep your expenses down is to always make sure you eliminate services you have no use for. If you own a cell phone and you don’t use text messaging, you’re just wasting money if you’re paying every month for text messaging.
In an economy where every penny counts, it’s important to know how to effectively manage your finances. The advice given in this article should give you some good starting points to managing your money and keeping your head above water financially. Some of these tips may not work for you, but hopefully at least a few of them gave you the information you needed to get you on the right track.
