The focus for the past few weeks has been Dave Ramsey’s baby steps. Baby step 6 is to pay off the mortgage. This one is hugely debated. Many believe that the tax benefits to paying a mortgage are more beneficial than paying off the mortgage in full and no longer having that benefit. Regardless, paying… Read More Creating Wealth Takes Time
When it comes to Dave Ramsey’s baby steps it is really important to take stock of where you are financially and figure out how to get ahead. Once you’ve put away $1000 toward emergencies, there are two things you need to do in order to accomplish baby step 2, paying off all debt except your… Read More Budgeting and Getting Out of Debt Go Hand in Hand
There are several ways to create goals but one of the best ways is to use the SMART method. It allows you to create manageable goals that can be broken down into actionable steps. So what does SMART stand for? Specific – What exactly what is to be done with the money involved? Measurable… Read More SMART
What is the reason we are unable to keep ourselves on track financially? Most women I have spoken with say it has to do with accountability. Here are 3 tips I have found for staying accountable when it comes to spending money. Impose a 24 hour rule – don’t make impulse purchases. This is achieved… Read More 3 tips for budget accountability
One of the reasons so many people give up on budgeting is that it makes them nervous. It reminds them that they are irresponsible, makes them feel overwhelmed and it creates angst where there may not have been any. The fact is that you need to create a budget but you may not want to.… Read More “Budget” isn’t a dirty word
When it comes to a budget, I truly believe that the simpler you can keep it the better. Many times people seem to overcomplicate and get overwhelmed when looking at spreadsheets and graphs. While there is software that is meant to make things easy to manage, I find that it is best to use paper… Read More 50-20-30
May is almost over. June is a pretty busy month for my family and I’m not sure I’m truly looking forward to it. Preschool graduation, dance recitals, Father’s day, Children’s Sunday at church, my mom’s birthday, my daughter’s birthday, lots of running and spending. My husband and I try very hard to make sure we… Read More The holidays are fast approaching
Did you know the average car payment is about $500 month? That the average car loan is for $30,000? And the average loan term is over 5 years? Those statistics can easily be found online but those figures are pretty disconcerting. There are many (MANY) articles (not even kidding – Google it) that suggest that… Read More Auto financing 101
Ralph Marston wrote, “Every time you interact with someone else, you have the opportunity to give that person some kind of value. Whether it is a thing, or a thought, a gesture or a kind word, the most powerful gifts are those that come straight from the heart.” Isn’t that a beautiful thought? And it’s… Read More A beautiful thought
Many times people fail to create a budget simply because they don’t understand the importance of having one and because they feel it’s overly complicated. Creating a budget doesn’t have to be complicated though. In fact, it can be very simple. You need to know what a budget does first. And a budget has… Read More It’s complicated
