Archive for the 'Budget' Category

Heating Bills Down

A report form the Energy Department is predicting gas bills will be down about $119 this year. If this is the case, this is a great opportunity to use it to pay off more debt. :)

The bad news is if you use oil to heat your home your bill will be about $91 from last year. Time now to budget for this up tick.

Families using natural gas should expect to pay an average of $119 less during the upcoming winter compared to last year, a decrease of 13 percent, the Energy Department said.

Associated Press Business News: Winter Heating Bills Likely to Be Lower - MSN Money

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Posted by Administrator on October 10th, 2006 .
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Tools for debt reduction

If you want to get serious about reducing debt you need to check out Net Worth IQ.com. What is NetWorthIQ? In their own words; “NetworthIQ is a social personal finance manager designed to make monitoring your net worth easy and, dare we say it, maybe even fun.”

Again it goes back to the simple rule I live by, if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. Getting out of debt is all about budgeting, cutting cost, and applying as much income to pay down debt. This is a free service so sign up and start your road to freedom

No one wants a physical, but we all need one now and then, just to keep tabs on our well being. Your finances deserve nothing less, and determining your net worth is a good first step. It’s all about keeping track of your overall financial health.

Track, share, and compare Net Worth. How do you measure up? NetworthIQ

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Posted by Administrator on October 7th, 2006 .
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Too much paper work

We suffered from the same issues until I decided enough was enough. I pulled out a regular sized envelope and each month we take receipts and put them into the envelope. This is a daily task and everyone in our household is on board. But before the receipts go in the envelope it goes into Microsoft money so we can track our expenses.

We are all about the budget. Yes the “B” word. Get over it, it’s really not that bad.

Each month we get a new envelope and start over again. It now it’s a house hold habit and we are much more in control of our paper work and finances.

If you asked me to find a receipt to return something - I would be looking for hours. My paper files are an absolute mess for this year. I have about three places around the house where there are piles of papers that are just waiting for their homes.

Blogging Away Debt » Blog Archive » What Number Confession am I on Now??

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Posted by Administrator on October 4th, 2006 .
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You need a debt plan

If you are serious about getting out of debt than it all starts with creating a game plan. In this case you need to know how much money you have coming into the household and how much is going out of the household. Once you know how much money you have left at the end of the month you can then add the extra to your debts and create a debt crushing snowball.

I hate to say it but it all starts with a budget. You have to have a BUDGET if you want to get out of debt. If you do not figure out your household budget you will fail at your debt reduction efforts.

If you can not measure it you will not be able to manage it. Period!

People would rather go to the dentist and have teeth pulled than create and live by a written budget. Like anything worth while it just takes a bit of discipline and desire. With out these two “magic” ingredients getting out of debt will be tough and almost impossible.

So get real honest with yourself and know your future and the future of your family are dependent on you taking control of your financial destiny. Once you have a budget you have a game plan.

Would a football team enter the super bowl with out a game plan?
Would we try and land men on the moon with out a plan?
Would your Doctor cut you open with out a plan?

No!!!  Getting out of debt is no different.

So take the time to create a game plan and stick to it. This is the key to getting out of debt. There are no silver bullets or magic pills. Just hard work and desire and I believe each and every one of you can do this. It will be hard but in the end getting out of debt is simply to important to not take the challenge.

 

Posted by Administrator on October 3rd, 2006 .
Filed under: Budget | No Comments »