Budgeting Tips

We are constantly bombarded with notices about data breaches. These data breaches can lead to identity theft, which can hurt your credit score. That could take some time to repair. Fixing identity theft can take from a month to over a year. This is based on the extent of the fraud. How cooperative your financial […]

Most of us have parents who are seniors. Some of us, as their adult children, may be very involved in their care. This could be emotional and/or financial support. The emotional support should be a given. We should care about their well-being. This could be in the form of regular visits and calls. Taking them

I love the Bullet Journal. I have always created one when I needed to visualize a financial issue I was having. For instance, how to pay down my credit cards, pay off my car loan, pay off student loans, or set up savings goals. It has been an invaluable tool outside of my normal budgeting

Bankruptcies have been increasing for the last few years. They are 16.2% higher than a year ago. The number of bankruptcy filings to date is 486,613 compared to 418,724 a year ago.  However, the number of bankruptcy filings today is nowhere near the rate of 2010, when there were about 1.6 million. The most common

Our credit scores are tied to financial institutions that decide whether to offer credit cards, an auto loan, student loans, or a personal loan. Our credit report will reflect how we handle these products as a FICO Credit Score. A FICO score is a three-digit number ranging from 300 to 850. It summarizes a person’s

Living paycheck to paycheck can be overwhelming at times. However, there are things you can do to make this more manageable while you improve your financial situation. A financial plan based on each pay period will consider variable expenses, monthly bills, and quarterly expenses. Once you plan for your expenses, you can concentrate on building

Each credit card has a unique set of credit card numbers. The same applies to a debit card, gift card, or retail card you may own. These various numbers are used to identify the financial institution, the payment network, account number, and security protection numbers. These basic numbers are the framework for every credit card

Once the bankruptcy process is complete, the bankruptcy court clerks will send out all the discharge papers. They are mailed to the creditors, the U.S. trustee, the trustee in the case, and the trustee’s attorney. The documents will also be sent to the debtor and their attorney.  Hence, the bankruptcy case has been officially settled

There are many ways to save, pay our bills, and make purchases.  Credit cards are the most popular way to execute a financial transaction. However, there is more than one way to skin a cat. We have payment options for using our bank account to make payments, purchases, and direct deposits to our financial institutions.

Budgeting does not have to be hard.  You need only to write down your income and subtract your expenses.  Your expenses should include an emergency fund and all your everyday needs. A budget is the blueprint for your financial goals. All financial goals should have a plan to pay expenses, save, invest, and establish a

Teaching your children how to manage their money may be one of the most important legacies that you can leave your child. Financial literacy is the key to building wealth. There are many activity-based budgeting tools available to parents and grandparents. Teaching your child about managing money does not require lesson plans. You can make

I love planning vacations. I have found that the best time to plan a vacation is one or two years in advance. Planning is a great way to ensure your funds are in order and you travel well. It is a good idea to start with a budget. It will determine how and when you

I have lived in the North all my life.  My few visits to the South as a young adult did not impress me. I had no desire ever to move to the South.  However, as we age we see things differently.  Things that seemed out of line with our lifestyle become what we now require

There are lots of numbers on your credit card.  Each part of the number identifies specific information about each card. These numbers identify the credit or debit card type, the credit card issuers or banking institutions, and the cardholder. Each of these numbers has a specific job but the most important is to protect us

Creating a budget and sticking to it can be hard.  Many people look at a budget as being restrictive and inflexible.  Some may become overwhelmed when an unforeseen expense can arise from nowhere. What you budget for compared to the actual figures can make you just want to give up. However, the budget is necessary

In our set it and forget it culture we are constantly encouraged to be on autopilot. We have auto-deposit, auto savings, auto investments, and auto bill payments. However, just like we should review our automobile policies when they are about to be renewed, we should also review our life insurance policies.  Especially if there are

Every few years my husband requests a new wallet for his birthday, Father’s Day, or even for Christmas.  It mainly depends on when he wears out his current wallet. However, by now I know not just to buy any leather wallet.  I have learned that he requires Anti-theft RFID wallets for credit card blocking. I

There may come a time when you or a loved one may not be able to make decisions for yourself. Should you become incapacitated you will need a trusted person to take over your financial matters in the form of a Power of Attorney (POA). A Power of Attorney may also be needed to help

There may come a time when you may become short of cash to take care of an unexpected emergency.  The type of emergency that your emergency fund may not be able to cover. After reviewing all your assets including your life insurance policies, you may arrive at a decision to sell one or more of

There may come a time when you are attempting to obtain a mortgage or personal loan. You may need to send a credit inquiry letter of explanation.  Or you may need to send a credit inquiry removal letter to fix your credit report.  Both may be essential to obtain the additional credit you hope to

Size matters when and how you use your credit card.  It is very important that you as a consumer are able to use your credit card wherever you want or need it. It would be an absolute nightmare while shopping if you had to worry about whether your credit card would fit into the payment

Many people do not understand how credit works.  They apply for credit cards and just start making purchases.  They may purchase some small items or purchase large items that they have always wanted or desired. Some people make purchases for retail therapy or enjoyment. Whatever the reason for the soaring credit card balances it can

The decision to file bankruptcy can be the hardest and most often the easiest to make when faced with insurmountable debt. What makes it so hard is the negative impact on your credit report. What makes it so easy is the relief from having a fresh start. However, how long does it take to recover

Seeking financial and investment advice can seem daunting when you do not know whom to trust. You can try to educate yourself by reading financial information, but it can be overwhelming when there is so much to learn. At first, you may need to understand how to budget, your spending habits, and how to save.

Starting over at fifty may seem difficult if it is due to a job loss or divorce.  Both can be an emotional burden that is hard to navigate at first, especially if you have been in both relationships for quite some time. You may need a mourning period to center your world. To make matters

You have heard the old adage from Benjamin Franklin “…but in this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” This was true in 1789 and it is today as well. Everyone is going to die one day, and everyone is required to pay taxes. There is a tax on our

Congratulations on achieving entrepreneurship. Whether you are starting your new business or in the process of setting one up you need to understand processing fees.  The fees are part of the process of doing business and these costs need to be factored in. However, if you only plan to run a cash business, this will

Credit Card fraud is a real problem that is not going away any time soon.  In fact, credit card fraud attempts are up 46% year-over-year per MerchantCostConsulting.com. However, there are things we can do to protect ourselves from identity thieves. It starts with being mindful of sensitive information sent within regular mail or junk mail.

I have been a marketing professional for many years. I have worked on direct mail campaigns for various banking and retail companies offering an invitation to apply applications. Many offered pre-approved, prequalified, or pre-selected offers. These were all marketing terms designed to entice prospective customers to apply for a new credit card. They will most

The ability to identify what type of credit card requires some knowledge of what the first few digits listed on the card mean. These numbers identify the payment network, and banking institute, and finally include the account number assigned to you. I have several credit cards, and each is assigned a different type of credit

The journey to obtaining a new or used car can be easy or difficult depending on how much you are able to spend on the auto loan payments, your credit score, and how much you can afford to put towards a down payment. Most people start by looking at the type of car they can

Having to file for bankruptcy may be the hardest financial decision you will have to make.  After trying for so long to keep your head above water, this may be your only option. It is not a quick fix but can afford you some peace of mind. However, there will be consequences such as a

I must admit that I am terrible at this.  Every time I must sign a new credit card it smears or looks nothing like my signature.  The search for the best pens to sign credit cards with is my personal challenge.  I typically grab any random pen hoping it is the best pen to get

Credit Scores are necessary to get additional credit, lower interest rates, obtain a mortgage, some apartments, and certain jobs. It can even affect your ability to obtain insurance and buy a car. You need a credit score to purchase almost everything that requires you to borrow money or prove your creditworthiness. Everyone wants a good

Your credit score is a very important tool when making a major purchase.  Purchasing a car is the single most expensive purchase after a home for most Americans. Therefore, choosing what make and model, how much to spend, and whom to buy from becomes important. Your current credit score and your future credit score can

By 2050, the world’s population of people over age 50 will double to 2.1 billion. Those over the age of 80 will triple by 2050 to 426 million.  This very rapid change in the age of the world’s population will present various challenges including old-age income insecurity. For Boomers, the median retirement savings is about

Foreclosures unfortunately are a part of the home-buying cycle of life.  My first home was a foreclosed home purchased from a bank.  In 1994, foreclosures were up 17.7%, How can this happen? Is there anything that can stop this from happening? When is it too late to stop foreclosure from your lender? We ended up

Most people have the desire to leave some type of legacy to their family members after they die.  There may be some assets they would like to leave to a loved one like a house, a car, or other monetary gifts. However, what happens if you die with significant debt beyond your means to honor

Credit cards and debit cards all have numbers that we use when making a purchase. They are created by a financial institution and the parts of the account number have a role. The number on the credit card is also referred to as the issuer identification number because it identifies the financial institution as well.

Does a Credit card fraud case ever result in felony charges? My credit card number has been hacked and/or stolen a few times.  I have never been asked to testify or submit my statement other than to the police. Where are the criminal charges? Is credit card fraud a felony? Is there even a need

Every time you make an online credit purchase you are asked to provide your CID number or CVV code. These codes are not required for in-person credit card use where you provide identification or a Pin to complete the transaction. However, these numbers afford some measure of protection from fraud and scams when shopping online.

Everyone should retire when they are ready with as much money necessary to cover their living expenses.  This is true financial freedom in retirement. Whether you are relying on Social Security Benefits, Roth IRA, Traditional IRA, Pension, Savings, Real Estate, Stocks, Bonds, or a 401K plan you should consult a financial advisor regarding your retirement

Most of us will at some point in our life succumb to the pitfalls of credit card debt. Credit cards are way too easy to get and way too easy to abuse. The buy now and pay tomorrow is so enticing, however, tomorrow always comes and so does the bill.  Getting into debt can be

Think how wonderful it could be if when you got paid you could keep most of your money for yourself. After paying for your basic living expenses: mortgage/rent, food, utilities, and transportation you still have money left over. The rest of the money could be used for daycare, savings, and any other personal expenses you

Learning to save money can be a most rewarding experience.  There is nothing compared to having money in the bank when needed. Savings can cover many emergencies and unexpected expenses.  It provides financial independence that prevents you from borrowing from friends and family, taking out a loan, or using credit cards when you don’t have

There are many costs associated with purchasing a home.  The obvious ones are the closing costs which include home appraisals, and home inspections.  Most realtors do an exceptional job of outlining all the costs associated with purchasing the home.  They even provide checklists with itemized costs needed to complete the process.  However, what about the

Let’s be honest establishing and maintaining good credit is not always easy. Life happens and things go wrong.  Financial literacy is at the heart of most of the problems.  It contributes to being irresponsible and careless with our spending.  Not fully understanding that the spending spree today must be paid for in the future.  Sometimes

We have on occasion lived off one income due to job loss or our desire to aggressively pay down debt.  Thank God we always survived the job losses and achieved our goal of becoming debt-free.  It was mainly due to living frugal, having an emergency fund, following God’s plan. It is only through His grace

Am I Living stingy? What does it mean to live stingily? First of all, a stingy person is considered a miser.  They are always reluctant to spend money on anything even essentials.  The most famous stingy character was Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dicken’s ‘A Christmas Carol’.  I watch this yearly and know that I am

Everyone wants to have some level of wealth to retire.  Whether it is to live comfortably or not having to worry about every dime they spend.  To achieve this goal, you must start with a steady income, understand how money works, and live within or below your means.  You should reduce and/or eliminate debt and

We face many challenges when saving for Christmas in advance. You may still have last year’s Christmas expenses to pay.  Your current debt does not allow you to save for anything much less for next Christmas. Your current bills leave very little wiggle room for saving. You have trouble staying on budget. Nevertheless, Christmas will

About four years ago our youngest son got into a bit of financial trouble.  He had lost his job and ran up a lot of debt. Our immediate reaction was let’s go get him and help him out.  We did not want to be parents enabling grown children but we did not want to see

What is financial literacy? Financial literacy is budgeting, saving, understanding credit, interest, debt management, and investing. But first, let’s start with your relationship with money.  How do you see yourself? Are you a hoarder, Spender, or a Money worrier? Test yourself with the Hesta Quiz.  Learning how we view and interact with money leads to

Throughout my financial life, Dave Ramsey’s comments on finances have always been in the back of my mind.  I followed Dave Ramsey’s 7 Baby Steps – It worked for me.  However, I did pivot from time to time.  Lost my way, then found my way back again.  As they say, life happens. Even though I

How much is $40,000 a year per hour? The hourly wage is $19.23 an hour. Is this a good salary in today’s economy?  Well, it is more than the $15.00 that is currently being demanded for the minimum wage.  Let’s look deeper into the economics of a $ 40,000-a-year salary.  Is it possible to live

What Is Living Below Your Means? It is more than just frugal living. You need to understand how much you have and how much you can spend. It is taking a few moments to pause when making an impulse purchase that will affect the dynamics of your life. What does living below your means look

So, what is the purpose of a budget? The purpose of a budget is to track income and spending, to reduce and/or eliminate debt, grow savings and wealth. It allows you to create a plan for spending for current and future purchases.  I like to create a yearly budget that then becomes my spending plan

Let’s start with what is wealth? Wealth is making money, owning property, and having business ventures that create income and or value.  To be honest I never really thought much about my wealth until a friend shared an app that calculates net worth. I thought net worth was for the super-rich.  I know because I

Saving money is not always easy unless you are like me and others that are genetically bent to be miserly.  I have been saving money ever since I had my first job. Earning about $32/week working a summer youth program job.  I saved almost every dime from the first to the last check.  I just figured

To be financially sound for me means that if I lose my job, I have enough available cash to cover my expenses until I find another job. For me, that is more than 12 months of cash in my emergency fund.  This can be extended when supplemented by unemployment by reducing the amount I must

We were once Empty-Nesters until my youngest ran into financial trouble and had to return home.  He had lost his job, used the last of his income and savings to pay rent.  He also acquired more than $20,000 in credit card and student loan debt. After 3 years he has paid off his debt and

We are spending less on Christmas this year because we want to save more, spend less, and work on paying off the house. It all comes down to what means more to us.  Spending aimlessly for one-day buying stuff we don’t really need.  Just to try to figure this all out once the bills arrive

Credit has become the staple of our country since the first credit card was introduced in 1950 by Diner’s Club, Inc.   Upon graduating college, I knew I needed to establish credit if I was going to be able to get ahead in life.  I found out very early that maintaining a good credit score meant

As a Boomer bringing up the rear, I have had the advantage of watching and reading about all my older Boomers.  Per the media Boomers are so wealthy, Boomers have so little saved, and my all-time favorite Boomers have ruined the world.  Baby Boomers are defined as those born between 1946 to 1964.  I almost

There has been so much said about the Millennials and Debt but I must add my thoughts as well; as I have raised two Millennials.  At an early age, we taught both of our sons the value of saving. We opened savings accounts for both of them when they were in grade school.  We had

When I started working, I always felt it was important to save. I called it my Rainy-Day Fund.  I would withdraw from it whenever I ran a little short from overspending.  It prevented me from ever having to borrow money from others.  I never understood the point of borrowing because you would eventually have to

For Budgets And Spending Plans To Be Implemented Properly, You Will Need Both Checking And Savings Accounts. The Checking and Savings accounts are the engines that will drive the train to financial security.  They both have their specific roles to help you become debt-free and on the road to financial freedom. In this blog I

Why I Needed To Create A Spending Plan. Now that you have created your budget, it is time to create a spending plan. If you haven’t read my last two blogs on creating budgets called Budget: Love and Selflessness  and Setting up a Budget for Beginners  take a few moments to catch up. You will need a budget to

It Has Been Said Whoever Controls The Marbles Controls The Game, however, I believe this is not true when budgeting for a household.  I believe a budget should be made up of love and Selflessness. During my first marriage, my ex-husband controlled the budget which also included my paycheck. Therefore, the things I wanted to

As I Sat On The Beach Reflecting On The Journey, we took to arrive at our dream vacation in Hawaii, I realized the road previously had a lot of twists and turns. We were drowning in debt, house poor, and just trying to stay above water before getting serious about our debt.  Now we are sitting on

The Key To Creating And Living Your budget Is Your Mind Over Money. You must keep your mind on what you plan to do with your money to create a mind over money budget.  When spending money, we should always be mindful of our budget. Begin thinking frugally. First, start allocating funds to savings. Always pay

After Years Of Budgeting To Eliminate Credit Card Debt, student loans, our car notes and building up wealth. It was time to seriously consider getting completely debt free.  Our last financial goal is to pay off the mortgage.  Once again, I had to review our budget to determine how we can achieve this goal within

I Got My First Credit Card After Finishing College Debt Free. The more I spent and paid only the minimum payment the more the bank increased my line of credit. All seemed fine for a while the minimum payments were affordable. I was becoming a little concerned about the debt escalation but not enough to

I began setting up a budget from the day I began working. I remember my mom at the kitchen table with a piece of paper and a pen working on hers using her weekly paycheck. Mine is a little more sophisticated, my budget planning consists of using spreadsheet after spreadsheet, year over year.  I create