Finance: I Wasn't Paying Attention: Where Does My Money Go and How Can I Get Some Back?

I Wasn't Paying Attention: Where Does My Money Go and How Can I Get Some Back? - Part 1

Written by Janet L. Hall

Continued from page 1

As Deborah Fowles, financial writer of about.com, stated in her article * Financial Planning *: * To those of you who think you know where your money goes without keeping detailed records, I issue this challenge: keep track of every cent you spend for one month. I promise you'll be surprised and perhaps shocked by how much some of your "small" expenditures add up to. For an eye-opening illustration, try repparttar American Express * Savings or Spending Big Calculator at http://www6.americanexpress.com/401k/scripts/saveBig.asp Enter repparttar 112782 cost and frequency of a habit or indulgence and how many years you expect it to continue. Click a button and see not only how much you'll spend over repparttar 112783 specified time period, but also how much that same amount would grow to if you invested it at various rates of return. Mind-boggling! *

You might think all of this is too much work, am I right? Well let me ask you, how much work will it be or take when you are retired and have no savings, no investments, no assets, no money, no NOTHING because you didn't control your cash flow?

If you're already retired, how hard might you be struggling because you aren't paying attention to your money?

As Dr. Lair Ribeiro, author of * Success Is No ACCIDENT * wrote, * If you go on doing what you've always done, you'll go on getting what you've always got. *

STOP procrastinating! Get your priorities in line! Get focused! OverHall your cash flow so you can stop worrying about money, stop living from pay check to pay check, stop being late on your bills. Work on balancing your cash flow so you won't have problems or troubles NOW or in your later years.

TIP: The best time to work on this is when you are paying your bills.

Business Owners-The Small Buisness Development Center in your neighborhood will be happy to help you for FREE with your business cash flow!

Websites of interest:

~~ Basic Budget Worksheet at http://financialplan.about.com/finance/financialplan/ library/blbudget.htm

~~ Budget Worksheet http://www.moneyminded.com/incomego/start/a7budw15.ht m

~~ List of Small Business Development Centers http://www.nttc.edu/assist/sbdc.html

~~ Cash Flow Worksheet http://www.e-analytics.com/fpa2.htm

~~ Managing your Business Cash Flow Worksheet http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/lifestyles ext/ p06_0100.htm

~~ FREE Exl-Plan Business Shareware to prepare comprehensive financial projecitons, budgets, and business plans http://www.planware.org/exldown.htm Smiles, not Piles, Janet L. Hall

The Organizing Wizard, Janet L. Hall, is a Professional Organizer, Speaker, and Author. She is repparttar 112784 owner of OverHall Consulting, and Organizing By Phone. Subscribe to her FREE organizing newsletter at http://www.overhall.com/newsletter.htm or visit her web site at http://www.overhall.com

Copyright ( C ) 1999, 2000, 2001 by OverHall Consulting P.O. Box 263, Port Republic, MD 20676 All Rights Reserved. Permission is granted to reproduce, copy, or distribute so long as this copyright notice and full information about contacting repparttar 112785 author is attached.

The Organizing Wizard, Janet L. Hall, is a Professional Organizer, Speaker, and Author. She is the owner of OverHall Consulting, and Organizing By Phone. Subscribe to her FREE organizing newsletter at http://www.overhall.com/newsletter.htm or visit her web site at http://www.overhall.com

Organizing Your Finances: - Show Me MY Money: What You're Worth or * net * Worth

Written by Janet L. Hall

Continued from page 1
a negative number you need to REALLY * OverHall * and Balance your financial area! ~~ Pay off some/all debt ~~ Cut back on spending ~~ Stop charging ~~ Start a savings plan B. If your total net worth is more than half your annual income but less than a few years' income you need to * OverHall * and Balance your financial area. ~~ If you're 40 or under and own a home, you're okay for now ~~ If you're 40 or over and you don't own a home: `` Cut back on spending `` Stop charging `` Reduce debt `` Increase your savings `` Buy a home before retiring C. If your total net worth is more than a few years' of your annual income, CONGRATULATIONS! Keep doing what you've been doing! Listed below are some questions to ask yourself now that you know and can see what your net worth equals. 1. Do you have enough cash reserves to meet your needs? 2. Do you have enough protection to provide money for unforeseen emergencies (we talked about this last issue)? 3. Do you have enough fixed assets (usually long-term; bonds are an example) to provide or produce additional income? 4. Do you have enough equity assets (short or long-term; real estate and stocks are examples) for growth and income? To answer those questions, you need to know what your family and your needs and goals are and then plan how you are going to meet them. Quick Tips to INCREASE Your Assets: 1. Maximize your 401(k) contribution 2. Start investing 3. Get automatic deduction/deposit from paycheck to savings each pay period. Quick Tips to DECREASE Your Liabilities: Credit Cards 1. If you have to use a credit card, use only one major card 2. Pay more than repparttar

minimum payment on repparttar 112781

credit card with repparttar 112782

highest interest rate 3. Stop charging to repparttar 112783

highest interest rate credit card 4. Get rid of department store credit cards 5. Don't apply for anymore credit cards Mortgage(s) 1. Pay a little extra each month towards repparttar 112784

PRINCIPAL of your mortgage payment 2. Drop your PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance) when your home equity exceeds 20% of your home's value (talk to your mortgage lender) 3. Refinance mortgage at a lower interest rate 4. Refinance mortgage at a lower interest rate AND finance for 15 or 20 years instead of repparttar 112785

usual 30 years. 5. Pay half your monthly mortgage payment every two weeks (talk to your lender)

Smiles, not Piles, Janet L. Hall

The Organizing Wizard, Janet L. Hall, is a Professional Organizer, Speaker, and Author. She is repparttar 112786 owner of OverHall Consulting, and Organizing By Phone. Subscribe to her FREE organizing newsletter at http://www.overhall.com/newsletter.htm or visit her web site at http://www.overhall.com

Copyright 2000 by OverHall Consulting P.O. Box 263, Port Republic, MD 20676 All Rights Reserved. Permission is granted to reproduce, copy, or distribute so long as this copyright notice and full information about contacting repparttar 112787 author is attached.

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