What is the best spreadsheet or tool for managing personal finances?
There are many budgeting tools for managing personal finance. There are some free and premium tools that help in managing finances. A few are listed below Free Tool1. OpenOffice:It is basically a free tool for budgetingand used to manage personal finances.Premium Tool 1. FLOP (Financial Life on one page): Essentially, this is a balance report to compute Net Worth, keeps track of account numbers and other financial information about the users account.2. Bill Payment Schedule: This tool helps to pay bills effectively and manages the financial expenses.
What can you do to improve your financial within a year?
To improve the financial situation, you look at both Income and Expenses.Expenses can be controlled immediately but increasing revenue may need some planning and may take some time.Control Expenses and Save:-1. A Review of Needs vs. Wants and STOP spending on Wants - food is a need but eating out in a restaurant is wants. Having to drink water is a need but a beer/juice may be a want. Having clothes on is a need but having branded clothes and more than you need is a want. Having a vehicle to go from point A to point B may be a need if there is no public transportation available but having an expensive car is a want. Discuss in the family and stop spending on wants.2. Stop Buying on Credit Cards - getting cash out of pocket is psychological and it’s hard but swiping credit card is much easier.3. Pay Off Highest Interest Rate Credit Card Debt First - use the money saved from not spending on wants and pay off credit card debt, starting from a highest paying credit card, and then to other debts.4. Build Your Emergency Funds - worth 6 to 8 months of living expenses.5. Start Savings in Tax Differed Plans and if you are in the USA, you must always invest enough into 401K plans to take full advantage of company matching towards your retirement plans.Increase Income and Start Creating Wealth:-1. Increase Value of Your Work and Services - If you are an employee of a company, figure how you can add more value to the team and the company. If that requires going to specific training, gaining additional certifications etc. so that your chances for promotions and salary raises go high, you must act on it immediately. Ask your supervisor what else you can do to be more valuable to the company. If you are a business person, find out ways to create value for the customers.2. Invest in Self - within a year, you can only get additional certification and credential that does not take long but in long run, you must consider gaining next level of education. These certifications would help you get higher income.3. Invest the Additional Revenue - Invest in diversified portfolio to generate wealth (please read some of my posting on Investing).
How can a person improve its financial situation?
Think about what your goals with money are. Money is a tool to accomplish something. Find out what you want and roughly how much it will take.Go over what you currently make and spend. Lots of free budgeting sites/apps can help you find out your spending habits. (Be honest with yourself. Estimating $50 for food/alcohol a week when you spend $100 only hurts you)SAVE BEFORE YOU SPEND.. Most people worry about saving what is left.. This is how the poor stay poor. Wealthy people put away 10–20% in savings/investments AND THEN decide what to spend.Be patient.. Investing in stocks will not make you rich tomorrow. It will however make your account balance go from positive to negative in times. Know that statistics are on your side. Overtime the market wins. You have to be patient.Discipline is the key to everything. There is not point being motivated and setting a budget only to do it for two weeks. Always have your larger goals in mind when making decisions. “Is this $4 coffee worth it even though its quick and easy? Can I buy disposable cups at home and take them with me before I leave? Is $4 a day on coffee going to help me get that vacation I want? etc…Good luck!
HELP! personal finance. i don't understand.?
The fiscal policy of a country can influence a person’s financial decision making. Think about our country’s fiscal policy and explain two ways that it has an impact on your own finances.
What can I do in one month that will change my financial life forever?
The keys that I am about to give you will change your financial life forever ONLY if they are continuously applied for the rest of your life. I believe that poor financial outcomes stem from poor financial habits. Once these habits are changed you will see a dramatic change in your financial life!Understand that wealth is a state of mind much more than a physical condition.To become wealthy you must first have a wealthy state of mind. “If you always think in abundance you will eventually have wealth but if you think always in scarcity you will remain poor”-Think and Grow RichDevelop wealthy habits.One of the main ways to do this is to replace Entertainment with Education. How many hours do you spend watching television vs reading books? Or listening to music vs. educational podcast. I’m not saying anything is wrong with leisure but understand that there are only 24 hours in a day and wealthy people use them wisely.Learn how to save and investDeveloping saving habits is huge in the actual preservation of money. Remember its never about how much you make but how much you KEEP!Create a budget. You can’t save money unless you have money left to save so creating a budget and keeping expenses low is mandatory!You must learn how to invest your money in a well diversified manner with low investment cost. A great read on how to do this is Tony Robbins book - “Unshakable”Create multiple steams of incomeNEVER rely on only one source of incomeYou must find ways to create income while you’re not even thereChange your circleI am not telling you to drop all of your friends BUT you must hang around like minded individuals. It’s a fact that you are who you spend majority of your time with, so if you shift your circle to financial educated people you will see great improvements in your CharacterNever stop learning!As the saying goes “You can determine a man’s wealth by his book shelf”. This speaks volumes on how important continuous learning is so never stop seeking knowledge.Last but not least, GRATITUDEYou must be grateful in every state that you’re in. Always focus on what you do have not what you lack.Give back to others, whether through money, time, or service.If you continuously implement these 7 strategies in your everyday life I have no doubt that your financial life with change forever!For more financial advice please visit Cofield Advisors - Making financial advisory affordable and subscribe to our blog or schedule a free consultation.
What role does budgeting play in our personal finances?
What role does budgeting play in our personal finances?Budgeting is how you direct your spending to the more important items. You use it to plan your spending and make sure that you spend less than you save.Some of your expenses aren’t flexible. You have committed to spend a certain amount in rent, or loan repayments, or subscriptions. Those are called “fixed budget items” because you know what their values are.Many expenses are flexible. You can decide how much to spend on food, clothing, entertainment, leisure travel, etc. Setting a budget helps keep those expenses under control. If you have $2000 in the budget for a yearly vacation, you know you won’t have enough for a trip to New Zealand and plan accordingly. On the other hand, if you want to travel to New Zealand, you may budget $2000 per year (and forgo a vacation trip) until you have enough saved.What role that plays is up to you. Some people don’t need to do much formal budgeting because they’re not prone to impulse purchases. If you have a partner it’s important to agree on your financial plans and having a budget can be a great help in having the right discussion.Remember that your budget is a tool for you and does not need to be an exhaustively detailed description of all spending. If you want to include a weekly/monthly amount for each partner to spend however they please, that also works. The point is to:Make sure that all fixed expenses (rent, insurance, etc) are taken care ofMake sure that flexible expenses don’t get out of hand, but things like food and clothing are funded well enough so no one starves or goes nakedProvide a plan where you are spending less that you earn, and are able to grow your emergency fund and plan for future goalsHave a plan that everyone involved understands and agrees to, so no one feels angry and deprived and goes on an emotional spending spreeMy short answer is:Budgeting is an important tool for financial planning, and for couples and families to use to communicate about money and come to an agreement.
How do I manage stress caused by financial problems?
Your stress is the result of what you are thinking about… The more you think about, focus on, and dwell on your problems, the more problems you will have.Does thinking about the perceived financial problems make you feel good?Does thinking about the perceived financial problems do ANYTHING to resolve them?I am pretty sure that the answer to both of these questions is a resounding “NO”!So, what might you do differently?Certainly be aware of your financial situation, and take action to resolve it… perhaps seeking professional advice if necessary (watch out for the thieves, seek out credible assistance - Dave Ramsey,Instead of focusing on the problems, seek out and look for anything and everything in your life that you have to be grateful for. Write down and share 3 gratitude statements everyday (unique each day, no repeats). The attitude of gratitude will shift your energy focus from the current negative (problems) to positive (gratitude).Commit yourself to do more that you enjoy and makes you feel good, minimize the thoughts/actions that you do not enjoy and/or makes you feel bad.When facing decisions, ask this vital question, “what would I do if I had no fear?” All too often our problems are fueled and expanded by our stinkin-thinkin… which is most often driven by our fears and anxieties… Bottom line is to recognize the inanity of the fear, anxiety, and worries about the finances… Such thoughts do NOTHING positive for the circumstances OR your daily well-being…