Are you new at budgeting money? Do you really need to start saving up for a new car, or your children's college funds? Here are some tips on how to start! 1.
Make a total of all your static bills.
Static bills occur every month, usually on the same day.
Insurances, house payments, cell phone bills, and car/school loans are all considered static.
Don't include things like grocery shopping, clothing, or eating out.
2.
Make a list of income you receive each month.
Use the amount of money you get after it's taxed.
3.
Subtract the static amount from your income.
This will become your true income.
4.
Take a look at your credit cards.
Order them with the highest interest cards at the top.
We need to pay these off first, before any saving can occur.
Saving money doesn't help if you're racking up interest payments! Only keep the one with the lowest interest rate in your wallet.
This is for emergencies only! **If your credit card debt is under control, you may skip to step 8!** 5.
Think about all the money you need to spend to SURVIVE.
Not on dinners out, new toys, or clothing.
Things you need to keep your family fed and healthy.
Spend half of your true income on these things.
6.
Use the rest of your true income to start paying off your credit cards.
Make the minimum payment on each card.
If you have money left over, call the credit card company and ask to make a payment on principal.
If you pay a larger amount online, they take it off the interest.
we don't want that! 7.
Repeat these steps until your credit card debt is under control.
This doesn't mean having absolutely no debt, but I would recommend an amount you can pay off in 3-6 months.
8.
Congratulations on making it to step eight and getting your debt under control! Now let's start saving.
Use http://www.
calcxml.
com/calculators/retirement-calculator to calculate retirement savings needed.
9.
If your company has a 401k and they offer a match (any percentage), start one.
There will be a minimum contribution you'll need to make per month.
Start with that.
If they do not offer a match, you need to start a Roth IRA.
You can submit up to $5,500/year (as of 2014) to this fund.
Start small this month, and if you feel the following month you can add more, do so! 10.
If you have a car loan, now is a perfect time to call your loan provider and complete a request to lower your interest rate.
They may or may not allow this, but it never hurts to try.
You can also try this with your credit cards.
Depending on your mortgage type, you may be able to do this with your house as well.
11.
If your employer directly deposits money into your bank account, set up an extra account to add money into.
Since you don't ever see it, you won't think about it.
If you deposit your checks yourself, take advantage of a savings account! As hard as it sounds, try not to indulge.
Cut pack your cable package, go out to eat once a month, and instead of seeing movies on the big screen with your entire family, wait until you can rent it.
Chances are you can rent movies through your cable provider! The cost of four tickets to a show might be about $40, for two hours.
You can enjoy much more family time at $5/movie once a week in the comfort of your own home!