Looking for help with personal finances?
I am looking for some guidance with my personal finances and I am not sure who would be the right type of person/organization to help me. i am not looking of investment advice or investment planning or anything like that, but rather advice on setting a plan for how to pay off some debt and wisely save some money before I mess things up for myself and my credit score. Right now my Credit score is above 700 and I am afraid that my finances are about to become too much for me.
In a nut shell, make a budget and see where your money is going. Next list your bills smallest to biggest. While paying the minimum on the rest, pay off the smallest. Bamm–one gone. Next take the money you were paying on the small one, and put that together with the second bill. When that is gone, attack the third and so on.
Also, get the book TOTAL MONEY MAKE OVER by Dave Ramsey.
Chris,
It looks like you’re asking for help with budgeting. The foundation of any budget is good bookkeeping. You need to track your income and your expenses. Set up a budgeting worksheet on Excel, or get Quicken. Quicken will be easier to work with, but it will cost about $60.. I listed the categories to start below. Add or delete categories as needed. Each column in Excel should be one month. Each row should be 1 expense category. Make sure to reconcile your checkbook each month. Failing to reconcile your checkbook is like having a condom, but not using it.
There are some items which are a bit harder to budget. For example, you pay for homeowner’s or renter’s insurance once a year. Take the bill divide it by 12, and add it to your expenses monthly as an accrued item. Some expenses are unpredictable. For example, you know that your car will eventually need an expensive repair, but you don’t know when it will happen. Go through your check register for the last 24 months. Add up all the unexpected items and divide by 24. Then enter that amount on your budget each month.
I suggest you get a book called Bookkeeping for Dummies by Lita Epstein. Please don’t be offended by the name. For Dummies is a publishing company. They contract with top authors who are both experts in their field and have the ability to put concepts in simple English.
INCOME:
Wages and Bonuses
Interest Income
Investment Income
Miscellaneous Income
Income Subtotal
INCOME TAXES WITHHELD:
Federal Income Tax
State and Local Income Tax
Social Security/Medicare Tax
Income Taxes Subtotal
Spendable Income
EXPENSES:
HOME:
Mortgage or Rent
Homeowners/Renters Insurance (actual amount paid)
Property Taxes (actual amount paid)
Home Repairs/Maintenance/HOA Dues
Home Improvements
UTILITIES:
Electricity
Water and Sewer
Natural Gas or Oil
Telephone (Land Line, Cell)
FOOD:
Groceries
Eating Out, Lunches, Snacks
FAMILY OBLIGATIONS:
Child Support/Alimony
Day Care, Babysitting
HEALTH AND MEDICAL:
Insurance (medical,dental,vision)
Out-of-Pocket Medical Expenses
Fitness (Yoga,Massage,Gym)
TRANSPORTATION:
Car Payments
Gasoline/Oil
Auto Repairs/Maintenance/Fees
Auto Insurance
Other (tolls, bus, subway, taxi)
DEBT PAYMENTS:
Credit Cards
Student Loans
Other Loans
ENTERTAINMENT/RECREATION:
Cable TV/Videos/Movies
Computer Expense
Hobbies
Subscriptions and Dues
Vacations
PETS:
Food
Grooming, Boarding, Vet
CLOTHING:
INVESTMENTS AND SAVINGS:
401(K)or IRA
Stocks/Bonds/Mutual Funds
College Fund
Savings
Emergency Fund
MISCELLANEOUS:
Toiletries, Household Products
Gifts/Donations
Grooming (Hair, Make-up, Other)
Miscellaneous Expense
Total Investments and Expenses
Surplus/Shortage (Spendable income
References :
My advice is to treat it like crisis mode even if you feel it isn’t yet. Use powdered milk instead of normal, buy from the damaged section of the grocery store…
Can get to work with a scooter?
References :
If you’re feeling unsettled about your finances you are smart to want to address it now before it gets out of hand.
What you’re looking for is a personal business manager to help you come up with a budget and payment plan on your debt. You could also do this yourself with a spreadsheet and a whole lot of discipline.
Dave Ramsey has a great "get out of debt" program that really works, but you have to give up your attachment to your credit report, because he doesn’t believe in debt AT ALL and when you have no debt, you have no credit score (or a very low one).
Good luck.
References :
https://www.mytotalmoneymakeover.com/
In a nut shell, make a budget and see where your money is going. Next list your bills smallest to biggest. While paying the minimum on the rest, pay off the smallest. Bamm–one gone. Next take the money you were paying on the small one, and put that together with the second bill. When that is gone, attack the third and so on.
Also, get the book TOTAL MONEY MAKE OVER by Dave Ramsey.
References :