The Budget – The Ultimate Financial Management Tool
A carpenter uses a set of house plans to build a house. If he didn’t the bathroom might get overlooked altogether.
Rocket Scientists would never begin construction on a new booster rocket without a detailed set of design specifications. Yet most of us go blindly out into the world without an inkling of an idea about finances and without any plan at all.
Not very smart of us, is it?
A money plan is called a budget and it is crucial to get us to our desired financial goals.
Without a plan we will drift without direction and end up marooned on a distant financial reef.
If you have a spouse or a significant other, you should make this budget together. Sit down and figure out what your joint financial goals are…long term and short term.
Then plan your route to get to those goals. Every journey begins with one step and the first step to attaining your goals is to make a realistic budget that both of you can live with.
A budget should never be a financial starvation diet. That won’t work for the long haul. Make reasonable allocations for food, clothing, shelter, utilities and insurance and set aside a reasonable amount for entertainment and the occasional luxury item. Savings should always come first before any spending.
Even a small amount saved will help you reach your long term and short term financial goals. You can find many budget forms on the internet. Just use any search engine you choose and type in “free budget forms”.
You’ll get lots of hits. Print one out and work on it with your spouse or significant other. Both of you will need to be happy with the final result and feel like it’s something you can stick to.
Investing
Investing Basics – What Are Your Investment Goals
How To Know When To Sell Your Stocks
The Importance Of Diversification
Investing
... would you do? Would you sell out or would you let your money ride? If you have a low tolerance for risk, you would want to sell out if you have a high tolerance, you would let your money ride and see what happens. This is not based on what your financial goals are. This tolerance is based on how you feel ...
... from your wants. Advertisers blitz us hawking their products at us 24/7. The trick is to give yourself a cooling-off period before you buy anything that you have not planned for. When you go shopping, make a list and take only enough cash to pay for what you have planned to buy. Leave your credit cards ...
Determining Where You Will Invest
... Investing works much the same way. You will of course learn as much about the investment as possible, and you would want to see how past investors have done as well. It s common sense! Learning about the stock market and investments takes a lot of time but it is time well spent. There are numerous books ...
... This is because State and Local Governments can indeed go bankrupt unlike the federal government. State and Local Government bonds are free from income taxes even on the interest. State and local taxes may also be waived. Tax-free Municipal Bonds are common State and Local Government Bonds. Purchasing ...
... store or hardware store. For instance, dog food and cat food costs about 10% less when bought by the case than it does when bought at the single can price and if you wait for close out prices you save a lot more than that. Set aside some space in your home and make a list of things that you use regularly ...