Creating a 5-Year Plan For Your Finances
The Cheshire Cat famously told Alice that if she didn't care where she ended up, it didn't matter which way she headed. Think about this when you contemplate making a five-year financial plan. It's not at the top of on anyone's fun list, but the chances of achieving your goals increase when you figure out where you want to go and lay out a road map to get there. Here are some tips to get you... Continue reading
Ways to Repair Bad Credit
Bad credit doesn't necessarily come just from shopping too much with credit cards or even excess spending. Medical bills or falling home values can lead to bankruptcies and foreclosures that can also tank your credit scores.
If you take no action, your credit rating revives after about a decade, but you can jump-start the process by limiting damage as it occurs, then taking affirmative, credit-... Continue reading
How to Keep a Spending Journal
Do you ever look at your bank account balance and wonder where your money went? Or, perhaps you're getting serious about setting up a budget to get yourself financially on track. The best way to monitor your spending — the first viable step to creating a realistic budget — is to keep a spending journal.
What Is a Spending Journal?
A spending journal is a visual aide that lets you see exactly... Continue reading
How to Go on a "Financial Diet"
The comparison between saving money and cutting calories goes beyond clever analogies. Some principles have much in common, such as the slow-is-best approach. Quick weight loss and sudden money-saving ideas may produce short-term results, but they rarely address underlying conditions where effective, ongoing change can be introduced. Like dieting, spending works best based on a plan. When your... Continue reading
How Personalities Affect Spending
Everyone may pay the same way — either with cash, credit or debit — but the experience of spending money can be radically different from one person to the next. Understanding how your personality affects your spending habits may help you reign in those impulse purchases.
Experiential Personalities
People who prefer spending money on new experiences rather than to collect material possessions... Continue reading
How to Spend Smarter
Spending nothing at all would be a great way to maximize savings if we didn't get hungry around dinnertime. There are hundreds of money-saving strategies designed to find hidden dollars, but how you spend them is discussed less often. You may be able to create wealth through smarter spending habits. Continue reading
