miercuri, 23 noiembrie 2011

How You Can Get Your Finances Together

By Rebecca Kerr


Many people find their personal finances to be one of the most confusing and stressful elements of their lives. If you are one of these people, don't despair. This article will give you the knowledge and advice you need to deal with almost any financial situation that you may encounter.

To keep yourself committed to saving, earmark the money for an important purpose and set a specific goal. It is far easier to feel good about choosing to save your money over choosing to spend it if you can tell yourself that it is going toward something important like your child's college education.

Think about the way you drive your car. Do you need to go out 5 times today to run errands, or can you do them in one trip? Do you need to drive to get groceries or can you get them delivered? Changing your driving habits can help you save money on gas.

If your employer matches your 401k contributions, maximize your contributions to take advantage of the "free" money for retirement. Besides that, you do not pay taxes on the money you contribute to your retirement plan until after you start drawing it as income, so you are actually reducing your tax load in the short term by investing more for later.

Get out of debt by concentrating the bulk of your monthly credit card payments only on those cards that you are paying interest on. If you happen to have cards that are interest-free, simply pay the monthly minimum. Focus your finances on clearing out the cards that are regularly contributing to your overall debt levels.

Have more than one bank account. You have many things that you need your money for, including your daily expenses, long term savings and any investments. You should have a different bank account for each purpose. This creates order in your financial life and it makes it easier to get an idea of how your finances are doing overall.

Have an emergency account. This account should be separate from your checking and savings accounts and used only for real emergencies. This will keep you from going further into debt when you do have an emergency, particularly because people do the most spending when they feel they are in a crisis.

Use the right plumbing fixtures to reduce your water bill. There are a variety of fixtures that are specifically designed to reduce the amount of water consumed when using sinks, showers, and toilets. They are generally known as "low flow" fixtures. The data suggests you can save 10-20% on water by using these fixtures.

As we have shown in this article, you can have greater peace of mind knowing how your 401k contributions are working to your advantage. By implementing some of the tools you have seen here, you can rest easy during your retirement years with a bigger egg in your nest!




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