Money Release: Making, Saving, Investing and Debt Management » saving

5 Ways to Manage Your Money Wisely

Vic — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 05:22:37 +0000

Money is valuable. We need it to conveniently move and live in this world full of economic transactions. Thus, we need to manage our money wisely so that we can always enjoy financial freedom. Managing our finances should be started as early as now to avoid pecuniary problems and escape from being trapped in various debts and loans. The following are five ways that will help you manage your money intelligently.

1. Plan and stick to that plan. In managing your money, you must have specific goals. These include your definite financial objectives, such as increasing your income and savings or reducing your expenses to a certain amount or percentage. In order to achieve each of your goals, you must have strategic procedures which include your steps to reach those goals. Also remember that like all plans, a financial plan or a budget should be one that is S.M.A.R.T. (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound) plan. In this way, you will be assured that you have a definite and achievable financial mission with the required strategies to accomplish it.

2. Put your things in order. Everything that is in chaos is unmanageable. This is the same with the tangible and intangible things around you. Thus you need to organize your stuff and activities to save time, as well as money. Remember that time is gold, and that every time lost is money lost. Just imagine if you spend an hour looking for your lost car key you’ve misplaced in your messy room. If you are earning $20 an hour, then you have already lost that amount dealing with your cluttered way of living. To manage your money, you must organize your stuff and tasks to make your life smooth, optimized and productive.

3. Choose the people whom you will be dealing with. Peer pressure is one of the major factors that influence our financial decisions. If you go around with people who are extravagant, it’s likely that you will also become one of them. If you also mingle with people who are financially irresponsible, unreliable and love to rely solely on your pocket, then you will be in a big economic trouble. Thus, you need to wisely choose the persons whom you will be with. You should choose the right friends and activity partners to be with. This way, you can prevent negative pressures and influences that cause you to use your cash and other resources impractically.

4. Motivate yourself. This is the most powerful way to manage your personal finances. All your plans, procedures and tools to achieve your money targets will depend on your principles, attitudes, values and habits. If you want to reach your financial goals, you must learn how to motivate yourself. If you want to realize your target income, you should be more diligent. Furthermore, if you want to reduce your expenses, you must be humble and patient to resist spending on things that are beyond your needs. Remember, that planning and budgeting are futile if you will not have the passion to execute and accomplish them. Hence, to optimally manage your money, you must know how to direct your whole personality into it.

5. Track your records. Lastly, tracking will give you lots of advantages in effectively managing your finances. This is the monitoring and controlling process of your financial management. Without records, you cannot gather important financial data to be used in analyzing and formulating the best economic decisions. Therefore, you need to keep records of your economic activities, such as your cash flow and statement of income. These records will help you determine your financial strengths and weaknesses. These will also give you important data, such as the things you need to continue and the areas you need to improve. Moreover, those pieces of information are useful in detecting financial risks. These early warnings will give you the ability to prevent them in an efficient manner.

Conclusion:
We don’t need to be so smart to manage our personal finances wisely. Becoming wise is becoming diligent and passionate in collecting data and knowledge that we need to analyze and come up with the best financial decisions. Then, these raw data must be organized into specific procedures and objectives. Finally, we must be equipped with the right values, attitudes and habits to execute those steps, achieve our goals and maintain financial success.

How to Save Cash by Spending Money

Victorino — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 05:35:12 +0000

How to save cash by spending money? Is this question sounds absurd to you? I hope it doesn’t, because this is for real and it is one of the forgotten ways to save your cash and the money you have in the bank. To save cash, we don’t just think about money, we also need to consider time. Moreover, in considering time, we don’t just recognize the short-term outcome, but we also need to identify the long-term results. We should understand that not all cash savings we are doing now can save as money in the near future. On the other hand, we should also remember that not all cash spending we are doing today can exhaust our money in the long run.

Many people actually fail to save money because they are afraid to spend it. Some businessmen even become bankrupt because they keep so much money. Why are these events happening? Those people who are worried of cash outlay are the ones who don’t pay their dues and obligations on time, such as monthly bills and loan amortizations. This practice causes them additional fees, surcharges and penalties. The results are additional liabilities beyond their original payables. Those business owners who keep too much money out of greed are the ones who escape paying their actual income taxes and other financial obligations. This behavior results to audit investigations which cause big loss to the business not only in monetary terms, but also in terms of integrity.

To really save cash, not only in the short run but also in the long run, we need to spend money wisely. We should consider the permanent things rather than the temporary. Thus, we need to settle our financial obligations so that it may not bring us additional expenses that will dwindle our savings in the future. Who wants to be penalized, and who wants to pay money in excess of what is originally liable? Of course no one wants it.

We can also save more cash in the future if we will avoid becoming too frugal. This means we should avoid buying cheaper goods just to have instant and temporary savings today. Purchasing cheaper stuff can be meant acquiring low quality goods. The disadvantage of buying cheap and low-quality merchandises is that they don’t really serve us in the long run. Yes, we can save money by paying less, but we can become losers when it comes to their usability. Just think of buying an expensive brand-new car versus buying a cheap and secondhand car. Of course we can save money by acquiring the used vehicle because we will be paying a cheaper price. But will this help us save our money in the coming days? I don’t think so. The repairs and maintenance can be an expensive recurring expense if we will be riding in a secondhand car. On the other hand, buying a brand-new vehicle will require us to spend a larger amount of money now. However, it will save us more pennies by avoiding the hassle of continuous repairs expense. What it makes feel better is that we will be driving a new and a more comfortable car.

Money Bible Verses: On Saving and Emergency Fund

Victorino — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 04:48:50 +0000

Saving money seems to be an easy task. But the reality tells the other way around. The truth is… it is difficult to set aside money. This is because we do not only encounter controllable temptations to spend money, but also we often face uncontrollable circumstances that lead us to use them. These unmanageable circumstances include our routine necessity to buy our daily food, unexpected medical expenses, unanticipated repair expenses, and other expenditures we must not ignore. Thus, it is just wise to save money for these kinds of events we don’t expect to happen anytime in the future. We call this amount an emergency fund. This is a fund we set aside for the exclusive use of our emergency needs in an unpredicted future. There can be confusion whether saving money is wise and biblical, considering that saved money, which don’t earn interest, seems to be unwise. There are also claims that investing is far away better than saving. With these, let us find out what the Bible says about saving money. The following are passages from the Holy Scriptures pertaining to saving bucks and setting aside for an emergency fund:

1 Corinthians 16:2
On the first day of every week each one of you is to put aside and save, as he may prosper, so that no collections be made when I come.

Proverbs 6:6-8
Go to the ant, sluggard; consider her ways and be wise; who having no guide, overseer, or ruler, provides her food in the summer and gathers her food in the harvest.

Proverbs 19:2
Also it is not good for a person to be without knowledge, and he who hurries his footsteps errs.

Proverbs 21:5
The plans of the diligent lead surely to advantage, but everyone who is hasty comes surely to poverty.

Proverbs 21:20
The wise man saves for the future but the foolish man spends whatever he gets

Proverbs 27:12
A prudent man sees evil and hides himself, the naive proceed and pay the penalty

Proverbs 30:24-25
Four things are small on the earth, but they are exceedingly wise: The ants are not a strong people, but they prepare their food in the summer;

Ecclesiastes 11:2
Divide your portion to seven, or even to eight, for you do not know what misfortune may occur on the earth.

Conclusion:
The Holy Bible which is full of wisdom clearly is a reference of purpose. Every acts and teachings we can find in the Holy Books are under a great purpose. Therefore, we can say that the righteousness of saving and setting aside money depends on its purpose. Yes, investing can be better than saving, but saving under a good purpose can be better than a risky investment. Saving money for an emergency fund is recommended for this uncertain world. Saving money for the future of your children (educational fund) is also wise. But saving money without a clear purpose is dull. Saving money can also teach us self-discipline – a virtue that gives us great results in our lives. It also orients us to patience and prudence – two virtues that keep us away from financial troubles. Hence, let us be disciplined, patient and prudent persons. Let us save money with a great purpose. If you love your family, you won’t give them a gloomy future. Finally, if you honor God, you should always see to it that you always bear fruits for your people to be picked.

Should I save money or pay off debt?

Victorino — Fri, 14 May 2010 09:51:02 +0000

Should I save my money or pay off my debt? Have you ever found yourself asking this question before? Let us say, you have a debt (car loans, home loans, credit card debts, mortgage, et cetera) of $888 which is due today, and your creditor is expected you to collect that amount of money from you, will you pay off that debt? Or you will save that money and just pay the penalties or interests? If I will be the one to be asked, I will definitely pay first my obligations that are due before I will set extra money for my savings. Some people will try to save money and choose to pay interests instead of paying the principal loans thinking that they can earn more money from saving or investing to cover the incurred interest expenses. However, this notion is not financially, morally and spiritually sound. Why? My reasons are the following:

1. I want to be free rather than become a slave

“The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower becomes the lender’s slave.” – Proverbs 22:7

2 I don’t want to lose credibility

“It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay.” – Ecclesiastes 5:5

3. I don’t want to be a wicked person

“The wicked borrows and does not pay back, but the righteous is gracious and gives.” – Psalm 37:21

4. I don’t want to disobey God

“Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it. Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give it”—when you have it with you.” – Proverbs 3:27-28

5. Interest expense is usually greater than interest income
The finance cost of debt or loan is usually greater than the revenue generated by saving money. Hence, it is still financially better to pay off debts than to save money. If you are an investment savvy and you are thinking that the return on investments will become higher compare to the interest expense, then review numbers 1 – 4. Besides, not all ROI rates are higher than a certain interest rate. Also, interest expense may become tax deductible, but interest income and investment income may also be subjected to income taxes.

Conclusion:
If you have debts, then you should pay off them before they become due. This is to avoid unnecessary finance charges, preserve your credit credibility, promote good relationships with God and of course with people, and achieve your financial freedom. However if you have cash now, but your debt is not yet due, you can invest that money in a low risk investment schemes (e.g., money market instruments, mutual funds, et cetera) to earn more money and have a better chance of paying your debt when they become due.

5 ways to avoid poverty and becoming poor

Victorino — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 03:28:16 +0000

Who wants to become poor? Who wants to become a prisoner of poverty? Probably, no one wants to become poor. We dream of riches. We desire it not only for our own happiness and consumption. We want it also for our family and maybe for our country. But being rich is not an easy task and avoiding poverty is not a goal that is usually achieved. However, avoiding ourselves to become poor lies in our own hands. The following are five tips to secure ourselves and avoid financial deficiency.

1. Avoid vices
Drunkenness, gluttony, womanizing, gambling, and the likes will surely make us poor. These things destroy our financial budget and even ruin our discipline – a virtue that is very important in our way to riches and success. These bad habits are proven to make our pockets run dry. So if you want to avoid poverty, you need to avoid these negative routines and preserve your self-control.

2. Earn right
Financial deficiency comes when people don’t have sufficient earnings that can cover their expenses. Therefore, to avoid such deficiency, you need to earn adequately. One way to assure that you can have good income is to have a stable job. Having a stable job means completing a college degree or post graduate degree. This means that education is very important to overcome poverty. Hence, if your are still in college, be sure that you will study well, graduate with honors, and earn an outstanding educational background that will entice big employers. Another way to earn right is to do business strategically. If you are the type of person who doesn’t rely on employers, you can do business successfully. A successful businessman is one who is diligent, disciplined, intelligent (who does research), intuitive, patient and innovative.

3. Spend wisely
Having a sufficient income will not be enough if we spend extravagantly. Hence, you need to spend wisely and avoid wasteful expenses. One way to control our spending habit is to record and monitor it. We can make budgets to plan our expenditures and check if we spend below or beyond those budgets. We can also analyze our spending pattern to create solutions on how we can manage them. This also means we need to have self-control and other virtues that will stop us from spending wastefully. We can prioritize our basic needs so that we only buy the most vital things and avoid unimportant things. The goal is to not spend beyond our earnings and to not forget our savings.

4. Save with interest
Saving is good but saving with interest and earnings is better. If you hide your money without earning, you will be defeated by inflation. Hence, if you are really serious in saving your money, save it from inflation and put it in investments like time deposits, mutual funds, debt investments and equity investments.

5. Have confidence
This may not sound financially, but if you are really determined to defy poverty, you need to be confident and be positive to reach that objective. Worries and excessive doubts are the top destroyers of any goals. Hence, don’t stop believing and doing every right thing to escape from being poor.

How to take care of your money?

Victorino — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 08:15:50 +0000

Money can be everything to us if we use it the right way. That’s why we should do our best to save them and let them grow in our hands. Although money is just a piece of paper or just a coin of metal, we should also take care of them so that they may always be in our sight. But how can we take care of our money? How can we assure that these precious things, if only have emotions, will become glad in the hands of their masters? The following are ways to make them properly serve you.

Give it a sense of purpose
Money has its own purpose; the primary, is being a medium of exchange. Although it also serves as a store of value, a sleeping money is not a happy money. Therefore, we should use it and avoid making it an idle object. However, we should also assure that they will be used in the wisest ways. We should not use them in spending our vices, our extravagance, and other nonsense expenditures. Just like human, any person without a sense of purpose will not become happy. If we want money to always come to us, give them value and use them in a way that they will serve their purpose.

Don’t just burry it, plant it
Money, without growth, signifies that its master or holder is irresponsible. To take care of our money means to nurture them and make them grow. Therefore, let us give them all the best available opportunities to cultivate them. We can invest them rather than just burry them. We can make them capital in our strategically planned and carefully established businesses, invest them in mutual funds, and other investments that return income and interests.

Make it morale and legal
Dirty money is sad money. Treasures that are grabbed through immoral and illegal means will trouble our conscience, as well as our freedom. Money that are produced by those corrupt deeds are money full of shame. Therefore, to take care of our money and ourselves, let us assure that we run them through clean and fair systems.

Make a plan for it and follow that plan
Everything we care of, we become thoughtful on them. We plan for them and we vision their good future. Just like our concern towards our money, we make it a budget to keep it away from exhaustion and other financial troubles. But thoughts without actions are useless. Sometimes, we don’t follow our plans. This is of no difference from breaking our promises to our dear money. If we desire to treat well our money, we should take care of them not only in our minds but also in our hands.

Keep and eye on it
Last but not the least is monitoring and accounting our money. Taking care of them is knowing them. A person who do not know where his money are going and what are they doing, usually loses his money. Therefore recording, tracking, organizing and analyzing our money are ways to keep them in the good positions and making them coming back to our side.

Conclusion
We should take care of our money to keep them coming back to us. We should treat them well so that they will love us and we become their favorite destinations. Although money should not be loved as people’s masters, because the love of money is the root of all evil, they should be cared as our useful tools and companions. With this, we should become responsible masters of our own money. We should use and treat these little things in the righteous and just manner.

How to Save Money on Your Entertainment Expenses

Lord — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 18:57:02 +0000

With the hectic lifestyle that almost everyone is exposed to in the day to day life, it is vital that one finds time to unwind and let go off the steam. This brings to mind the need to find ways of entertaining one’s self with the different entertainment options that are at our disposal. Even so, there tends to be the habit in over indulging in this process which in itself can lead to severe financial implications to say the least. Looking especially at times when there is money crunch, it is wise to formulate ways through which it is possible to save on entertainment while at the same time not being fully limited from enjoying yourself.

One of the ways through which one can help avoid the expenses that come with entertainment can be through the swapping of houses with a friend living in a different part of town. Not only is one here able to enjoy what can be termed as a “vacation” in a different part of town, they also end up not coughing up money which would have been the case with a hotel. To further make this much more entertaining, friends can write down a list of the beautiful places their visiting friend can go to visit.

For students who most of the time have little money with them for school needs, the availability of entertaining amenities in the school come across as very rewarding. It is very possible for students to start saving their money by indulging themselves in the different entertaining activities that can be found within their school. Activities here can include, sporting events, concerts, movies, just to name but a few. To make this even more enjoyable, joining of the different clubs found in school can also be an option. This is very easily achieved by looking around for clubs that are looking to recruit new members.

It is not a must that an individual entertains himself any time they find themselves free. Discipline as a result has to be seen to be achieved by individuals for example alternating their behaviors when it comes to entertainment. There can be, for example one week that should be set aside for an individual to perform their entertainment activities which can be followed by another weekend of simply staying at home and may be reading a book. This to say the least can help save a lot of money which can be put into use for other necessities.

Movies are one of the main areas in entertainment where individuals tend to spend most of their money. This however can be something that one does not necessarily need to do away with but can be done at a much cheaper cost. Movie matinees are one type of movie that individuals stand to save a lot by looking at. The movies shown here are mainly done during the afternoons or even late evenings and they are very much affordable owing to their low prices. To add to the advantage that one stands to achieve here is the service which is fast.

How to Save Money on Your Birthday Party

Lord — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 06:24:18 +0000

A birthday party should be exhilarating and fun-filled. This requires one to make thorough arrangements that will make the event remain etched in many people’s minds for another year. Saving money fro the entire event is one consideration that requires to be emphasized on because no one would love to work on a strained budget after the events or end up being unable to pay the bills.

There are ways in which one save a great deal of money and one of such is to hold the birthday party right at the comfort of the home. This helps in reducing overheads that might be accrued in hiring a venue such a restaurant or a park for the occasion. This however is not an end in itself as one has to be extremely considerate of the number of people they want to invite. Coming up with an elaborate list of the expected guests is one way of handling this, not forgetting the maximum number of people that the home can accommodate at once.

It does not auger well to invite the whole community even if one is proud of their achievements in the years they have lived. This might end up charging the credit card and adding immensely to your debt. Close friends and relatives should be the top priority because they are well aware of your status and they will understand the whole situation. One should however not invite them just because they will bring gifts but the essence is to make them feel that they are part of the family.

Once should ensure that they shop for cheap supplies for the occasion and involves shopping around in inexpensive outlets. These include party hats, napkins, plates, tablecloths and so much more and are widely available in dollar stores. It is however important to note that you will only get cheap party supplies and other inexpensive favors if only you know how to shop for them.

There are folks who fall victims of the last minute rush, something that can be avoided quite easily. The best way to do this is to stock up beforehand for like a month before the birthday party draws nearer. For example if the birthday party one month after Christmas, one can actually take advantage of the offers that come with the season or even other holidays such as Valentine and Easter. This is the best time to get most if not all of the supplies and save money quite significantly.

In terms of refreshments, one can mix juice at home instead of buying a whole box of various soft drinks or even buy fresh lemons to squeeze lemonade and its something one can do using hands if there is no blender. This is one way of fighting germs in the body instead of drinking artificial drinks that flood the market. A catering service is always the best choice to avoid the instances where you cook, nobody turns up and the food ends up in the trash. If one is not comfortable with catering services, a cheap restaurant can also be a good fit for the same.

How to Save Money on Gas and Fuel

Lord — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 05:28:05 +0000

With the increase of fuel and gas prices, most people feel that it cuts deep into their finances and try to look for ways to save some money on these. These are some of the tips that can be used to save on money.

Driving less will surely reduce fuel expenses. This involves quite a number of processes. One of them is the use of bikes, buses, joining a carpool or walking. Carpooling comes with the benefit of less traffic since carpool lanes can be used. The other strategy is by moving closer to the work place or working near homes. Combining trips can also save fuel and money since several short trips can be made into one long trip. Once in your destination, parking at the fast available spot reduces amount of fuel used to move around looking for parking space closer to where you are going as this can also be enhanced by walking between stops.

Maintenance of your car will also go a long way in helping to reduce fuel expenses. Dirty oil, clogged air filters and engines that are not well tuned tend to increase fuel costs. Pump your tires well to reduce friction between them and the road and at the same time to improve gas mileage. Using the right grade of motor oil reduces friction in the engine thus saving fuel.

It is also important to note that to save fuel costs, buy fuel from a place where you can get a better deal because regular fuel is practically the same in all brands. The thing to consider is the level of octane in the fuel. Low octane fuel is less expensive and offers better value to your engine since it completely burns up thus it does not leave carbon deposits in your engine. Other steps that can be used include obtaining a credit card which offers gas savings if you purchase items using it or join a loyalty club offered by some gas stations or departmental stores.

Changing driving habits greatly reduce costs on fuel and gas. Planning trips in advance prevents wastage of time and money and at the same time prevents unnecessary stops on the way. Driving at constant speed and maintaining a safe following distance as this reduces acceleration and braking which would have increased fuel consumption. The use of GPS to help with navigation and inform you about the shortest and safest distances to your destination will also increase your gas mileage.

The type of car also matters when trying to cut down on money spent on fuel or gas. Fuel-efficient cars such as diesel cars give you better gas mileage. Hybrid cars offer immediate reduction at the pumping station and other benefits such as tax breaks from the U.S government and the local state. Smaller cars are better and offer improved mileage since they are lighter.

With these tips in mind, fuel and gas expenses will be reduced a great deal and at the same time other benefits such as a well maintained car and time management, will be felt.

How to Save Money on Your Telephone Bill

Lord — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 05:20:47 +0000

Hand dial at the telephone

Telephones are very important communication tools in our lives but the bills can sometimes cost you a lot of money and stress. To avoid this there are several methods you can use to pay less on your telephone bills thus saving more money. One of the ways which you can use to reduce your telephone bills is by using softwares such as Skype and Magic Jack. Skype is a computer software which enables you to call online for free. This helps you to save a lot of money because you do not pay for your calls. This software also offers you instant messaging, video calling and very cheap rates on international calls. Magic Jack on the other hand is a device which you plug into your computer via the USB port and you plug your phone on the device. This makes your phone to be connected to your PC. This helps you to make and receive calls helping you to save money as you do not have to pay the land-lines rates. It is very practical especially for people who travel frequently.

You can also use other forms of communication such as e-mail to talk to your friends and family. This helps you to save money because internet is relatively cheaper and you can use it to send many messages for very low rates. You can also use some social websites such as face book, high five, twitter and others to communicate with your friends instead of calling them. This helps you to save a lot of money as most of the sites are free of charge and you can even talk the whole day without spending much. When you use your phone, make sure it is absolutely important and keep your conversations short so that you get to spend less time on the phone which leads to saving lots of money.

To save more cash, make calls at the correct times. Most telephone services offer off-peak hours where you get to make your calls at cheaper rates. These are the best times to call as you get to save some money. Make sure you read the terms carefully when making calls at these peak hours because at times they are only offered for some part of the call. Take note of this and keep to the specifications.

When you are choosing the rates that you want to be charged with, ensure that you choose the per second billing system. Charges per second enable you to save more money than if you are being charged by the minute which most companies do. When you want to make international calls use call cards for this purpose. Call cards are timed and are much cheaper than calling overseas with your land line. If your main form of communication is using texts, ask for the unlimited service instead of paying per text. Finally always look around for cheaper options on your phones such as discounts and special offers from your service provider so that you can take full advantage of the offers.