5 Easy Tricks To Manage Your Finance Better

Helpful Tips To Improve Money Management Skills      

Good money management skills can make a difference in the type of life you can create for yourself and your family.  Your ability to save for emergency situations and pay your bills on time can have a direct influence on your interest rates and credit limits, which in turn reflects on where you live, what car you drive, and whether you can afford a vacation.  It’s never too late to improve your money management skills.  Whether you're looking for credit card debt settlement programs or just want more out life, these skills will help you become a first-class money manager.

One of the first skills you can acquire that is sure to help you become an expert at managing your money is to track your expenses.  Credit card debt problems occur too readily when people don’t realize they are overspending and acquire more and more credit cards to pay their bills, improve their business, or meet emergencies.  If you are a business owner, keep your business account separate from your personal one.

Know where your money is going; it might surprise you.  You might be spending more than you think in some areas.  Keep receipts and write your expenses down on a sheet of paper or a spreadsheet, whatever is more comfortable for you.  There's even budgeting software you can use and hook up to your bank account to help you see where your money is going.  Don’t forget about your guilty splurges, record these, too. You will need a realistic picture of your spending habits.

Setting up a budget and sticking to it is not as difficult as you may think if you have never done so.  Here are a few helpful tips to help you master the science and the art of money management.

1. Set Goals For Your Finances

A goal expressed in broad terms like ‘managing your money better’ may not be specific enough.  It's useful to have concrete short and long-term financial goals that help you visualize where you want your finances to be in 6 months to a year and beyond.  Not only will you be able to see how close you’re getting to your goal which will give you an added boost, but you will also stay on track longer.  Don't set goals for your finances that are unreachable; you might not have a million dollars in the bank by the year 2020, but perhaps you can be debt free in 6 months, and save 20% of your income by the end of the year.  Doable is what you want to start off with to gain confidence and stability.

Set specific goals and follow through on them.  If your goal is to save a certain amount of money by the end of the year, then start making strides towards that goal on a day by day, weekly, and monthly basis. Just like small expenses add up, small amounts of savings sum up too.  Divide the amount you want to have in your bank account by the number of months and weeks in the year to come up with how much you need to save per week and month to stay on track.

Financial expert Mike Halloway, of “Save your way to riches” a nonprofit organization that helps people with poor money management skills get on the  good money management bandwagon says, “give your goals a reason, visualize the outcome, and you’ll get there before you know it.”

2. Keep Track of All Your Expenditures

It can’t be stressed quite enough.  Tracking your money expenditures is the first and most important skill you can develop. With the advent of the debit card, people nowadays spend way too much on small stuff that adds up, and it is way too easy to overspend. In the past, you would take out as much money as you needed for weekly expenditures from your bank after depositing your income check. Today, most people have direct deposit, and some never take out cash. It's OK to adopt new technologies for their convenience, but they shouldn't have you spending more than you should.

When you have a clear picture of where your money is going on a weekly and monthly spread, you will start to see patterns and areas where you can tighten your belt and start taking action towards your goals.

3.    Saving and Investing

Saving a percentage of your income is all dandy and can get you on track to the next hurdle in your financial management skills development, that of investing. Most American families save a little, but when it comes to investing they may not know how to or where to go for advice. Financial advisors are waiting in line for your call or email.  Tap into their knowledge and hear them out. Their investment plans may take you from being debt free to becoming a savvy investment mogul.  It has never been easier to invest in mutual funds and the stock market.  Even penny stocks can give you a lift in a surprising way.  However, be careful, don't do it alone until you've become an expert.

4. Automatically Become a Money Saving Machine.

Spending more than you earn is a trap easy to fall into for many Americans.  So much so that some money managers  think it has become the “American way.” Smart money managers make it impossible for them to fail at saving because they automatically stash a sum of money away every payday.

 No one can tell you how much to save.  However, saving you must, not just for a rainy day but for investing in your future and that of your family.

5. Settle Your Credit Card Debt

Over half of all Americans have credit card debt; if you are one of them, it’s time to start thinking about ways you can become debt free. Credit card debt settlement programs include transferring balances to new credit card accounts offering lower interest rates and consolidating your credit card debt.  Call your bank and let them know your intention to become debt free. Use your negotiation skills to convince them to give you the best possible rates and fewest fees.  It might mean freezing your credit card account or taking out a loan that will wipe the balance out.

When you use your credit card, don't max it out. Pay your balance in full if you can before the next billing cycle.  You will collect more reward points on your card this way.