What’s inside: 5 pro tips to live and stay debt free;sponsored by Houghton-Mifflin Harcourt.
Despite how much I love the holidays, it’s always areliefto be done with holiday expenses!This year our family madea lot of homemade gifts and focusedon traditions (instead of things) to have an awesome Christmas without breaking the bank.
Livingdebt free is important to our family’s financial future, sowe take special care to make sure our holiday spendingstays in control.
The tips are meant to help you stay debt free, but I believe they apply to everyone trying to feel more on top of their finances. (And just to clarify,when I say debt free, I’m excluding things like a mortgage, as houses are usuallydifficult for most people to buy up-front).
Since I handle our family finances, I found this book fascinating — I read half of it in one sitting!It covered everything from job benefits to retirement planning, but there were five tips to help stay debt free thatI just had to share!These are great financials habits to startnow (and easy enough to do so today!)
Five Financial Habits from the Pros to Stay Debt Free
Keeptrack of spending.Accountability is crucial! If you have to go back and tally every single dollar spent for the month, you’d probably discover it’s actually more than you thought — and you’ll be less inclined to spend as much next month. There are even free apps which make it super east to keep track of your spending — check with your bank to see if they offer one.
Use real money for purchases. Avoid building up credit charges that you’ll have to face at the end of the month. Whenever you can, try and pay with cash or a debit card. Seeing your money leave you in real time can make the purchase more painful, and usually will force you to ask the question “Do I really need this?” If you do purchase on credit, pay the bill in full every single month.You never want to build up credit card debt and pay needless interest unless it is an absolute emergency situation. (See number 3)
Never assume it won’t happen to you. Emergencies happen when we least expect it, so it’s important to be prepared at all times.Start building a strong emergency fund now and you’ll thank yourself later (hopefully you won’t have to!). Depositset amount from each paycheck into a savings account so it’s done without you thinking about it, but will be there when you need it.
Automateto avoidmistakes. Like most people, I have a thousand things on my mind at any given time. It’s only human to forget to pay that credit card bill off at the end of the month or the electricity bill that falls on an odd day. Why not take that off your to-do list by setting up an automatic payment? Not only can automation help build a savings account (#3), but it will also keep you from racking up needless late fees on bills and reduce the stress of trying to remember every single deadline.
Don’t flex your willpower muscle if you don’t need to. Have you ever noticed it’s easier to avoid cheating on your diet in the morning versus at night? That’s because willpower is actually a limited resource that gets weaker the more you use it throughout the day. Simply remove the temptation of unnecessary purchases by avoiding them!For example, unsubscribe from those retailer emails that seem to all have the best sale ever. If you find that you make a lot of online purchases late at night, put the computer away and read a book before bed instead.
Want to know ALL of my money saving tricks, including the one thing our family does that saves us over $1000 every month? It’s all inside my ebook Secrets to a Successful Single Income Budget! CLICK HEREto find out more!
None of these five tips require a major lifestyle change, but done together, they could add up to major savings for your budget and help you stay debt free!
The One Lifestyle Change that Allowed me to be a Stay at Home Mom
Author
Recent Posts
Stacey aka the Soccer Mom
Stacey is the creator of The Soccer Mom Blog, a Houston Texas mom blog that focuses on positive living for women and families. She loves to share real food recipes, money-saving tips, parenting encouragement, kids activities, DIY tutorials, home hacks, fitness, and so much more! To get to know Stacey even better, click here.
Latest posts by Stacey aka the Soccer Mom (see all)
Strive for a balance in your spending where you prioritize appreciating or long-term assets rather than depreciating ones. Focus more on your home and less on your car. Focus more on investments than impulse purchases.
Start by identifying both short-term and long-term goals. Short-term goals might include paying off a credit card or building an emergency fund, while long-term goals could include saving for retirement or purchasing a home. Make sure the goals have realistic timelines and specific amounts.
1 is never lose money. Rule No. 2 is never forget Rule No. 1.” The Oracle of Omaha's advice stresses the importance of avoiding loss in your portfolio.
With a debt consolidation loan, you borrow money from a lender and roll all of those debts into one loan with a single interest rate. This allows you to make one monthly payment rather than paying multiple creditors.
Even if you admit to the negative action that's being reported by the credit reporting agencies, you may be able to get the item deleted from your credit report by requesting a "goodwill deletion." This is particularly useful if you have a single late or missed payment on a long-standing account.
The No. 1 rule of the Ramsey investing philosophy is not to invest a dime — at least not until you eliminate all of your toxic debt, which he considers to be pretty much everything but your mortgage.
The premise of the 30-day savings rule is straightforward: When faced with the temptation of an impulse purchase, wait 30 days before committing to the buy. During this time, take the opportunity to evaluate the necessity and impact of the purchase on your overall financial goals.
Old-money families focus on securing their family's well-being for generations rather than growing their wealth quickly. Etiquette and manners. Old-money individuals have mastered etiquette, manners, and class. This shows respect and opens doors.
The simplest way to describe Smart Money Concepts (SMC) trading is to say that it is price action by a different name. SMC involves using classic Forex concepts like supply and demand, price patterns, and support and resistance to trade, but the concepts have been renamed and described in a different way.
For example, the SMI closed yesterday at 10000. During the first 30 minutes of today's trading, the Dow Jones has gained a total of 100 points. During the final hour, the Dow Jones has lost 80 points. So, today's SMI is 10000 – 100 + -80 = 9820.
The rule is that a third of your take-home income should be used towards your home, a third for living expenses, and the last third should be for savings and investments.
Simply put, it states that you should always save a portion of your income before spending it. This fundamental principle encourages you to prioritize saving over impulsive spending, ensuring a secure financial future. When it comes to managing personal finances, the golden rule serves as a guiding principle.
Introduction: My name is Francesca Jacobs Ret, I am a innocent, super, beautiful, charming, lucky, gentle, clever person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
We notice you're using an ad blocker
Without advertising income, we can't keep making this site awesome for you.
