Where will your financial future take you? Will you live paycheck to paycheck or take control of your money once and for all? Learn all about debt, credit, loans and more at Smart Young Money!
Two times the salary in two years? The economy is filled with workers perched right on the educational threshold to higher earnings. This sector of the workforce is sitting on a salary goldmine-two years of applied career training away from doubling their paycheck. Are you one of the lucky ones? Find out how trading up to a new degree can help your bottom line.
In our knowledge-based economy, earnings are directly related to education. According to the latest U.S. Census Bureau report, the average high school graduate earns $1,780 per month; associate degree holders earn $2,702; bachelor’s degree holders, $3,841; and master’s degree holders earn $4,945. That’s an average increase of thirty percent with each two-year stint in the classroom.
Personal savings have reached record lows, yet saving is essential to ensure a comfortable future. Learn how to track monthly expenses with a budget and potentially free up cash for saving.
BEFORE YOU START
• Speak to others in your family about the importance of working together to improve the household’s bottom line and come up with cost-saving ideas.
• Figure out how much money you saved last year. What percentage of income did you set aside for the future?
• Plan to use any windfalls you may receive this year (a bonus or tax refund) to pay off debt and pursue financial goals.
1
Put Savings First With a Budget
Where does that money go? America, it seems, is in the midst of a savings crisis. Personal savings rates have dropped in recent years and remain low by historical standards as many people continue to spend beyond their means.
If you’re among those Americans who can’t seem to save, it might be time to create a budget. A budget allows you to understand where the money goes and may help you free up cash for important savings goals, such as college and retirement.
2
Getting Started
Setting up a budget will require some work, but the benefits more than offset the time invested. How you create your budget is up to you. You may choose a piece of financial planning software, such as Microsoft Money or Quicken, or you may choose the paper and pencil route. The above worksheet is a simple yet inclusive budget that you can use to get started.
The first element of any budget is your income, or how much money you receive each month. This can include paychecks, legal settlements, alimony, royalties, fees, and dividends from investments that you do not reinvest. Once you know what your monthly income is, you can use a budget to make sure you don’t spend more than you earn, thus helping to reduce debt and freeing up cash for savings.
Next, you need to know how you spend your money. Start by tracking your spending for a month. Gather bills and receipts, and don’t forget to include newspapers from the corner store and trips to the soda machine. Don’t assume any expense is too small to record.
Write down your expenses and break them into categories. Using the budget worksheet as an example, we find Fixed Committed Expenses — mortgage, loan, and insurance payments that stay the same from month to month; Other Committed Expenses — things you can’t live without, like food, utilities, and clothing; and Discretionary Expenses — things you like but don’t necessarily need.
Personal savings have reached record lows, yet saving is essential to ensure a comfortable future. Learn how to track monthly expenses with a budget and potentially free up cash for saving.
BEFORE YOU START
• Speak to others in your family about the importance of working together to improve the household’s bottom line and come up with cost-saving ideas.
• Figure out how much money you saved last year. What percentage of income did you set aside for the future?
• Plan to use any windfalls you may receive this year (a bonus or tax refund) to pay off debt and pursue financial goals.
1
Put Savings First With a Budget
Where does that money go? America, it seems, is in the midst of a savings crisis. Personal savings rates have dropped in recent years and remain low by historical standards as many people continue to spend beyond their means.
If you’re among those Americans who can’t seem to save, it might be time to create a budget. A budget allows you to understand where the money goes and may help you free up cash for important savings goals, such as college and retirement.
2
Getting Started
Setting up a budget will require some work, but the benefits more than offset the time invested. How you create your budget is up to you. You may choose a piece of financial planning software, such as Microsoft Money or Quicken, or you may choose the paper and pencil route. The above worksheet is a simple yet inclusive budget that you can use to get started.
The first element of any budget is your income, or how much money you receive each month. This can include paychecks, legal settlements, alimony, royalties, fees, and dividends from investments that you do not reinvest. Once you know what your monthly income is, you can use a budget to make sure you don’t spend more than you earn, thus helping to reduce debt and freeing up cash for savings.
Next, you need to know how you spend your money. Start by tracking your spending for a month. Gather bills and receipts, and don’t forget to include newspapers from the corner store and trips to the soda machine. Don’t assume any expense is too small to record.
Write down your expenses and break them into categories. Using the budget worksheet as an example, we find Fixed Committed Expenses — mortgage, loan, and insurance payments that stay the same from month to month; Other Committed Expenses — things you can’t live without, like food, utilities, and clothing; and Discretionary Expenses — things you like but don’t necessarily need.
The fact that you are reading this articles is a good indication that you are looking for advice on how to deal with your credit card debt. Also obvious is that you have come to the realization that there is a problem and you are now searching for a solution.
You have heard so many times that you need to engage in aggressive debt elimination that it is virtually ingrained in your mind – so how do you do it? That would be the million dollar question. For most people it is an ‘easier said than done’ situation and they may feel helpless or overwhelmed in their current situation. If you are one of these people, hang in there because getting out of debt really is possible, but committing yourself to the process is mandatory.
Little amounts can make a large difference to your finances.
As gasoline and food prices continue to rise, the squeeze to make family budgets balance each month becomes more of a struggle. After the big savings have been found and taken, smaller savings have to be found to make ends meet.
This can be frustrating as it can feel like everyone is being nickled and dimed to death. That’s why it’s important to realize how these small amounts can make a huge difference in your overall financial health.
Most of you know what to do when it comes to trying save money, right? All you have to do is open a savings account. Well I disagree. Money Market accounts are the best to go with right now, simply because they have the highest interest rate payout FOR BANKS. Now of course, if you are willing to invest your money elsewhere, then I recommend E-trade. They are very reputable and pay higher interest than your bank. But if you want to stick to your bank, then go with the money market.
Everyone likes the convenience of carrying credit cards as opposed to carrying cash, even when it means falling deeper and deeper into debt. Most people have not set a specified limit for themselves and what was once positively convenient has now become a ball and chain around their neck.
When you hear people talking of getting a student loan, although the process is widely unknown to most people, it is actually a lengthy and somewhat confusing process. From the search for the best loan to the application process followed by the acceptance or the rejection, it can be an overwhelming experience, often causing people to shrink away from trying to apply, regardless of their needs. Yes, it is a time consuming process, but after all is said and done – it is necessary and important, so knowing where to look and which ones are the best is a good start in the right direction.
Being in debt can be an overwhelming and seemingly never ending trial. No matter how you got there, the point to be made is how to get out. Your options are far more accessible in these last years, giving you a varying selection of choices to make concerning getting out of debt.
