The million-dollar question that everyone is asking is how do I cut my budget and save money? About ten years ago, no one was as concerned with trimming the fat. Well the truth is ten years ago America was not on the verge of a recession. Today more and more individuals are looking for authentic ways to change their spending behavior. There are hundreds of ways in which anyone can contribute to less spending. The most important ingredient to any recipe is to substitute the most expensive ingredient without sacrificing quality. This can be said for budgeting as well. It is time for households to eliminate luxurious items.

The most expensive household bill that any family can control is the utility bill. For instance, rent or mortgage has a fixed rate that cannot be changed, and so does car insurance. However, gas bills, electric bills, and water bills are bills that the only the consumer can control. Not many people look at paying bills this way. By cutting back on electricity use families can save thousands of dollars each year.

1. Start by turning off the lights before exiting a room.
2. Change out high watt light bulbs to the low voltage ones the government is recommending,
3. Try using a ceiling fan and opening a few windows instead of constantly running the air conditioner.
4. Cut laundry days down to twice a week. Wash color clothes on one day and whites another day.
5. Take a pack lunch to work 3 to 4 days per week and eat out less.
6. Take 5-minute showers and eliminate baths as they waste a lot of water.
7. Do not water plants on rainy days.
8. Try shopping for clothes on clearance racks and at stores that offer the same items for less.

These are literally 8 small things that can change your spending behavior, providing the person wants to change. The most effective way would be to put you self on a spending diet. If you have allotted yourself a weekly allowance cut it in half. Only buy items that you need. You do not have to be the first one to see a new movie, wait until the price goes down. Take the extra money and invest it in an interesting bearing saving account, and at the end of the year calculate how much you have spent compared to how much you have saved. Pay off credit card debts as soon as possible, and never spend what you cannot afford to lose.

This was written by Chase Sagum who is an Editor for the Getting Out of Debt section of DebtResources.org.

Del.icio.us

Facebook

TweetThis

Digg

StumbleUpon

Due to ever-increasing strains brought on by the seemingly terminally-ill economy, thousands of small business owners across the United States are making payroll through the pawning of their possessions. The trend has been noted by pawnshop owners from New York to Los Angeles. While the typical pawnshop exchange is a matter of a few hundred dollars or maybe a grand or two, small business owners are putting up Rolex collections and diamond rings that net them $15,000-20,000 at a time. The select minority is engaging in this behavior to take advantage of a swelling precious metals market, but the overwhelming majority is pawning items for payroll because they have no other choice.

Websites like Pawngo.com are ballooning because of this trend, with the stand alone mom and pop pawnshops picking up the slack. The reasons, apart from the fact that economic environment is forcing it, are that unlike bank loans and other more traditional lending options, pawning valuables is a way for businesses to acquire quick cash without credit checks or the risk of long-term damage to credit. It’s an in-and-out process that takes minutes with little financial risk. For small business owners, to which payroll is limited and so are lending options, no other choice makes sense.

For other small business owners who aren’t in financial straits, the pawning option is an opportunity to cash-in on the rising price of gold and other precious metals. Instead of selling the gold in a more traditional exchange which includes a capital gains tax, folks are settling on the relatively low interest rates applied to monies deposited into a bank account. Either way, there’s a high dollar charge on the movement of gold, but through pawning there’s opportunity to turnaround and invest the big chunk of capital right away. The time is now for those with large amounts of gold, diamonds, and silver to sell their precious metals and gems due to a global skyrocketing of value, and those with keen business sense aren’t wasting any time.

But for the majority of small business owners utilizing pawnshops, it’s all about payroll and making the remaining ends meet on time.

Does this trend indicate that “Small Business Pawn Manhattan” is going to become as popular a neon sign as Bail Bonds Las Vegas”? Probably not given that the rising value of precious metals and gems is historically only a blip. These prices rise and fall all of the time and when the market becomes super-saturated with gold and diamonds the bottom will fall out and small business owners will lose incentive to sell jewelry. But this trend does act as a startling tell for what kind of hardships our small business leaders are having to go through these days. Using pawnshops for payroll used to be the sign of a serious problem in the way your business is being operated. These days it’s just like a visit to the bank.

Del.icio.us

Facebook

TweetThis

Digg

StumbleUpon

Wise money management is a skill that many people struggle to acquire. The combination of poor budgeting and careless spending can lead to deep financial trouble down the road. Consider the following mistakes and work hard to avoid them. Their consequences could have lasting effects.

1. Making minimum credit card payments. The average American household carries roughly $16,000 in credit card debt, a sum that many pay off in small, minimum payments. While the credit card companies allow customers to pay off debt in this way, it isn’t for the sake of convenience. Consumer credit interest rates can top 20%, adding thousands of dollars to the principal balance over time. The less you pay, the more they earn. Ask yourself if those original charges are worth the outrageous markup and start paying more than the monthly minimum.
2. Living from paycheck to paycheck. Whether you live extravagantly or struggle to make ends meet, the practice of living on the edge of debt is never a good one. Emptying your bank account without regard for savings is short-sighted at best. What will you do in an emergency? How are your long-term goals (e.g., retirement) affected by short-term fixes? Attempt to see the bigger picture and create a budget that sees it too.
3. Becoming house poor. The U.S. housing crisis saw over four million foreclosures between 2007 and early 2012. Among the many contributing factors was the concept of becoming house poor. Buying a home is a large responsibility full of hidden costs. Signing on for an expensive mortgage also means signing on for insurance fees, property taxes, repairs, etc. Allotting more than 25% of your income to home costs can leave you vulnerable in times of financial trouble. Skip the spacious colonial and stick to a property you can afford.
4. Under-insuring. Insurance coverage is an unavoidable part of life. While you may be content to use under-insuring as a cost-cutting tool, rolling the dice with liability could land you deep in debt. Your home, vehicle, and even life insurance require accurate reporting to serve their intended purposes. If a tornado destroys your house, will a small payout help you rebuild? If you are in a traffic accident, will liability-only insurance help you get back on the road? Monthly premiums may be steep, but scrimping on your coverage could carry expensive consequences. Play it safe in this arena.
5. Living risk-free. Caution in some areas does not necessarily translate in others. Consider the following example

Troy is a 29-year-old chef. Over the years, he has managed to save $32,000 for retirement. Troy is unfamiliar and nervous about investment options, leading him to place his funds in an ordinary savings account.

Troy’s commitment to retirement savings is admirable, but his approach needs a little guidance. Long-term growth is imperative to establishing a well-funded retirement account. Allowing your funds to sit stagnantly means missing out on potential opportunities. Speak with a financial advisor about how to handle your savings. A professional can help you set up a plan that addresses your goals and your risk tolerance.

This guest post was provided by Sarah Elliot, a writer in the credit repair industry.

Image credit to millionaire mindset secrets

Del.icio.us

Facebook

TweetThis

Digg

StumbleUpon

Sometimes regular budgeting just isn’t enough. If you need extra money, then some extreme lifestyle changes can be made to find some extra money within your income. If you’re looking to enjoy yourself this summer, you might want some extra money in your savings account. Here are ten extreme ways you could save money to such an end.

1. In The Shower

This option is practical because it can be done to different extents. For example, in extreme cases you could shower every other day, but simply learning to take quick effective showers can shave a surprising amount on the water bill. Further reductions can be made by skipping the shower on a Sunday – if you’re not going out it can occasionally wait till Monday.

2. Your Mobile Phone

At the end of the day, a mobile phone needs to make calls send texts and, depending on your immediate needs, access the internet. Since most phones can do this these days, there’s no need to upgrade to this year’s latest smart phone. By downgrading or keeping your phone, you’ll save money.

3. Grow Your Own Food

While vegetables can often be cheap, growing them yourself can be even cheaper. Doing this regularly will reduce your shopping bills. Plus, you get vegetables at their freshest, with the added benefit of knowing you prepared them yourself. Even if you live in a flat, there are ways to grow your own vegetables, you just need soil, water and sunlight.

4. Buy Second Hand

Not the most extreme option, buying used goods can save a lot of money. Whether it’s clothes, DVDs or other products, the quality is often very close to brand new products at a fraction of the cost. This is can be rather easy to keep up once you get into the habit, and you’ll save a surprising amount.

5. Wash Clothes In Cold Water

 Hot water doesn’t always have its benefits. It costs you more and cold water will still wash clothes all the same.

6. Compare Everything

More than just utility bills, check for cheaper options everywhere. Being complacent and accepting the current prices won’t reduce the costs, finding a cheaper solution will.

7. Negotiate

Whether you find somewhere cheaper or not, never be afraid to negotiate. More than just your utility bills, you can let other services know if it’s cheaper elsewhere. This includes the likes of computer repairs and garages, where your custom is appreciated. Letting them know of a better deal elsewhere might reduce the costs for you.

8. Walk

A simple option, yet many don’t consider the benefits. Not only will you save money, you’ll get some exercise too. You don’t need to drive everywhere, it wastes fuel and money. If the weather’s good, a long walk can be rewarding in itself.

9. Car Share

If you have to drive somewhere, and public transport isn’t an option, consider joining or setting up a car share. If you know people who need to go the same way you are, then sharing the costs of driving can benefit everyone.

10. Nights In

While nights out are always fun, they are expensive. Instead of buying lots of drinks at a bar, invite your friends over with a cheap bottle of wine. It may not sound as exciting, but the end result is usually the same.

Author | Amie is a passionate about personal finance in her spare time she enjoys reading about high interest savings account deals, and looking at savings and investment plan sites like Fair Investment Company

Image courtesy of tomazstolfa from Flickr

Del.icio.us

Facebook

TweetThis

Digg

StumbleUpon

Seasonal shopping is just plain smart. If you can’t afford “it” this season, save for the next season. Of course necessities usually are right now issues, and buying an air conditioning/heating system or plumbing replacements rarely hit at a good time. Let’s take a look at some of the hints offered by the experts, even from my experience, and see if you agree.

January

From my own personal experience, January savings is for Christmas cards and wrap, furniture, bedding linens, some cold weather gear, flooring, and prom dresses. You can also sneak in a mother-of-the-groom dress deal in January! From the experts did you know home theaters are best buys a couple of weeks before the Super Bowl…how about that! Duh!

February

Weddings are much less expensive in the colder weather months, especially February and November. Even Valentine’s Day is not as pricey as June! And think of the colors in early November in parts of the country with palates of gold, reds, oranges, and browns blended with a few evergreens. According to experts boats and cameras are thrifty buys in February.

March

Besides March being the frozen food month, a couple other items available at lower prices are gardening tools (getting ready!) and china and flatware. You may end up with last season’s patterns for a table setting, but lately variety is the spice of an interesting meal. And apparently perfume is best in March, so if you happen to have a summer anniversary, at least that might be one less expensive item to purchase.

April

In April, you will find malls advertising running and other types of gym shoes on sale; some will even have coupons for making better brands more appealing. And would you know it, snowblowers are hot items for late March and April shopping! If you can file early and expect a tax return, April can be a great time for televisions, as well as vacuum cleaners.

May

Speaking of appliances, I found out the hard way that refrigerators actually go on sale in May. Just tell your 16 year old fridge that! One good thing to note is that mattresses and box springs are available at great deals in May, so after stocking up on linens in January you can put them on that brand new mattress in the spring. Other interesting items available in May are picnic and BBQ items, and almost any party supplies; so your June wedding doesn’t have to be quite the expense fiasco you imagined…well, maybe!

June and July

For June and July, I have a surprise, or at least I had never considered it, stock up on butter! Its freezer life is about six or seven months…just in time for holiday baking! Both interior and exterior paint happens to be a hot commodity this time of year as well. Wonder if you could paint the interior with the AC on and then keep the exterior paint  till early fall and paint it then when it’s just a bit cooler?! Also, in the early summer months berries, peaches, and many summer vegetables are at their peak so outings to pick them or, if you have a green thumb, gathering your garden wealth, and freezing them is prime.

August

Home playground equipment and lawnmowers we found were best August purchases. Now, depending on your local climate, plants and flowers are available for good deals, as are swim suits and other beach apparel. (Note to self, by now for that cruise you booked in April for September.) And in at least one state, August offers a tax-free weekend for shopping for items like school supplies, some clothing items, back packs, and other things with the hopes of providing opportunities to purchase necessities for families.

September and October

September and October are good for stocking up on some canned goods, broths, and hearty frozen pies as the cooler months approach. For the tip I am always grateful, October is car buying month. And it is common knowledge that purchasing seafood in the months from September through December means fresher finds. Of course as you begin thinking about the holidays, October is a great month to check on any specials for those must haves. Fortunately, I just ran out of pecans and almost to the end of the walnuts so will be stocking up very soon!

November and December

Rounding out the calendar year, besides the holiday goodies and pre-sales, remember to see if your favorite nursery has bulbs, trees, and various shrubs on sale. Another item our family has enjoyed is the RV purchased in late November. The deal included a much fancier one, with many more “bells and whistles” making our summer adventure a great time. Oh, remember you can keep frozen turkeys for several months, after all who doesn’t love a smoked turkey in the summer?! One tidbit I certainly did not know is that the best time to buy golf clubs is December! One Christmas gift checked off! And a couple more items include those small appliances you hate getting for anniversary gifts…maybe they would be ok for Christmas; apparently pools are a good December item as well.

Coming to a Close

As the year and these thoughts come to a close, keep in mind the above offerings are certainly not all. If you are a newcomer to your area, spend at least a full calendar year getting acquainted with sales, items in those sales, and the time of year of the sales. It really would not be wise to embark on a dispute because that certain small appliance should be on sale in December. Oh, and before I neglect to mention about the air conditioners, October is usually the month to replace one. Happy shopping!

Jennifer Hawkins is a professional chef and restaurant owner who saves a ton of money every year by shopping smart. She loves to blog and she covers everything from cutting down your grocery bill to tips on serving quick, healthy meals.

Image Credit: 1,2

Del.icio.us

Facebook

TweetThis

Digg

StumbleUpon

Your son is about to celebrate his entrance into manhood. This is one of the biggest events of his life, and as you start planning for the ceremony, ordering invitations, contacting caterers and arranging entertainment, you are going to realize that this is also one of the biggest, at least in relation to expense, events of your life as a parent. A Bar Mitzvah can easily cost tens of thousands of dollars, if you are not careful. How can you stick to your budget and give your son an amazing experience, without depleting his college fund? Consider these tips to stick with your Bar Mitzvah budget.

Get Organized

Being unorganized when you are planning a huge party can lead to expensive mistakes. If you order too much food from the caterer, you will be paying for food that no one is eating. If you pay a DJ and forget to do the follow up call, you could end up with money out of your pocket and no music at your party. Figure out an organizational system, and use it.

Go Cheap with the Venue

The party is not about the place. Rather, it is about the people, entertainment and food. You do not have to have the most expensive place. In fact, you may not even have to rent a venue at all. Do you have space in your home or yard to host the party? Then do it there! Sometimes you can split the party into two, with one party the day before the event for the adults in your son’s life, and one the day of the event for the kids. This allows you to use a smaller venue, like your yard, rather than renting a hall.

Know Your Guest Limits

Your guest list is going to be one of the biggest factors of your budget. Avoid the temptation to add people without thinking about it. You are not going to be able to include everyone, so talk to your son, and choose only those who are the most important to him, with close relatives always included. Once you know the number of guests you can afford, stick to it, even if it means some delicate conversations with extended family members.

Remember, this is just one event out of many you have in your son’s life. Yes, it is important, but it is not worth going into deep debt or spending all of your savings. Create a budget, and then use these tips to stick with it, and everyone will be happy in the end, including your young man.

Samantha Hunt works at eInvite, an online retailer of invitations, personalized announcements, stationery and other paper goods.

Del.icio.us

Facebook

TweetThis

Digg

StumbleUpon

In the economic environment investors have had to endure the last 4 years, it is a wonder any can look beyond their nose to see what the long-term investment future may look like. Many investors feel as if they are simultaneously juggling a bowling ball, a cat, and a lit firework and if they drop one their portfolio will suddenly disappear. Money managers and certified financial counselors are right there with them speaking as calmly and hopefully as they possibly can about staying focused in the markets without using manipulation or any other means that may land them in trouble.

The reality is that for now, long-term investing is the most sensible way to approach the markets right now. It is certainly a wise strategy for all ties, but especially now. As Warren Buffet said, and I paraphrase, “I never get into a market I cannot endure if it should close for five years.”

Perhaps the days of gravy will return when the economy stabilizes, but if the truth be known, it is not a bad time to invest. In fact in August of 2012 over $34 billion in dividends were paid out by S&P 500 companies. It is predicted that an increase of 16% will be paid out over the previous year. Yes, corporate profits have been strong, but there is so much more to your investment strategy than an immediate payoff.

What is Long-term Investing?

According to Investopedia, long-term investing is “An account on the asset side of an investor’s balance sheet that represents the investments that they intend to hold for more than a year. They may include stocks, bonds, real estate and cash.” Taking this a little further, long-term investing usually looks at least five years down the road.

Goals of Long-term Investing

Typically, most long-term investment goals are aimed at helping the investor achieve finances needed for retirement, college tuition, owning a business, and making a large purchase.

• Retirement: Of course, investors have their own personal reasons and goals for what they want to accomplish. In fact, under retirement, almost every investor will have their own unique thoughts on what retirement looks like and what they will want to do during retirement. Retirement may include having the home paid off, being debt-free, traveling, working on one’s golf game, starting a second career without financial concerns, volunteering overseas in an orphanage, or simply relaxing on a front porch with a glass of fresh-squeezed lemonade.

An investor who is 30 now and hopes to retire by the time they are 65 have 35 years to save. Most investment counselors will say someone needs a minimum now of at least $3500 a month in income to live modestly in a non-urban area today. In 35 years, they will need a monthly income of at least $12,500.

• College Tuition: The cost of college tuition has risen 1,120% over the last 30 years, according to a Bloomberg report. That would mean if things progress at the same rate, parents of a new child must save nearly $500,000 over the next 18 years just to pay for four years of college that now costs $10,000 a year. It is hard to imagine tuition reaching that unfathomable level, but the point is, long-term investing must also be smart as to be able to pay the academic costs that seemingly are out of control.

• Owning a Business: The downturn in the economy these past four years has prompted inspired people to take more control of their future as we have seen a wave of entrepreneurs enter the market place However, most of these are really small companies doing less than $12,000 a year. They are more like second jobs and are subsidizing school sports, a second car, braces for teeth, or a family vacation.

However, there are others who want something larger and are willing to pay for it. Whether it is owning a Subway franchise or two or more, a small boat tour company in Alaska, a chemical research and development start up, something in technology, or a retail store, it takes capital, and lots of it. Long-term investors understand how much it will take them to start up or purchase the company they want to own and establish benchmarks along the way. Financing issues, finding the right tea to help you, hiring the right employees, location, marketplace, and more will all make up how one goes about investing.

• A Large Purchase: There are as many large purchases in the mind of an investor as there are people. Houses and vacation homes, cars bought debt-free, weddings, boats, endowments and other financial gifts (see orphanage above), jewelry, travel, funds for grandkids, emergency medical savings, and more can all make up the designation for a large purchase.

Three Strategies for Long-term Investing

Following are three strategies for you to consider when defining, planning and executing your long-term investment goals:

1)      Safe Strategy: This is the strategy chosen by those who do not want to take risk. This will also at best grow an investor’s money the slowest. Just because it is considered “safe” does not mean it is impervious to failure. Usually it means growth will be slowest and there will be many investors in it. It is tragic to look at your statement each month expecting some radical jump in value. Safe can also mean being in an investment like natural gas that will continue to be in demand and for which the resources are great. Index mutual funds and bonds are found here also.

2)      The Faucet Strategy: This is a strategy designed to provide a decent enough return that you will be able to draw out cash occasionally, like turning on and off a faucet, without hampering the overall growth of your investment dollars and longer-term plans. These require more aggressiveness than that of the safe strategy. Investments like these include balanced funds, gold and silver, certain kinds of stocks and real estate.

3)      High Growth Strategy: This is for those who are ambitious and want their money to grow as fast as possible and are typically seeking 12% or more in portfolio growth each year. This is achievable in some economies, but not necessarily now unless you have the brilliance of Warren Buffet. Who would not want these returns But they require much more risk and loss is not uncommon until one hits. “Gambling is not for most investors who are considering retirement, college tuition, mortgages and more. A mix of sound investment combined with some exploratory capital may be wise as one’s portfolio matures,” says Chip Hutchison of the Hutchison Group Rock Hill, South Carolina.

From the writers at RevenFlo

Del.icio.us

Facebook

TweetThis

Digg

StumbleUpon

To budget or not to budget

More and more families are needing to stretch their monthly budgets just a bit farther. It certainly isn’t easy, but it can be done. One thing that can be quite helpful is using budgeting software.

Some discover what money management expert Richard Bach has called “the latte factor,” small expenses that regularly drain your finances. Using this software will help you patch the holes in your budget and remove those pesky lattes – or whatever else is tempting you from keeping a sturdy budget in place.

It used to be that budgeting software was quirky and a bit difficult to use. But today’s software is intuitive, user friendly and works with the click of your mouse. Here are several options for great budgeting software.

YouNeedABudget.com

This personal finance budget software can be used on either a Windows based computer or on a Mac. What YouNeedABudget.com promotes is not only that they will encourage you to use their software – but their budgeting methods, which they say “has helped thousands of people gain control of their finances.”

You have the ability to try the full version with all its features for free for 34 days. The features include using Cloud Sync, so you can be up to date wherever there is an Internet connection. There are both iPhone and Android apps available so when you are spending on-the-go, you can log the information right into your budget.

One of the things YouNeedABudget.com is proud to say is that many people discover they are able to start by saving $200 after a single month. In nine months, people are able to save $3,300. If you have been living paycheck to paycheck, this is both impressive and exciting. They encourage a budget that wont let you spend too much and will also help you reach your financial goals.

Quicken

Quicken states they are the #1 personal finance software tool. One of the reasons to choose Quicken is that you can connect this software to your bank, to easily manage your account(s). People who use Quicken like that their expenses can be sorted into categories. You’ll see them both as a list with dollar amounts and percentages – but you’ll also see a colorful pie chart. It is easy to see exactly where your money has been going. Whether you are a “left brain” or a “right brain” type, this software is one that will be logical and easy to understand.

The software then sets a monthly budget for you based on your past history. You can customize your budget and also help to plan for future financial goals. The program works in “real time” so you’ll know exactly how much money you have in your accounts and to work with in your budget.

There is a mobile app so it is easy to make financial decisions on-the-go. If you are running errands and want to add in your expenses as you are spending, it is easy to do. You can check your budget and make financial decisions – all before you make that purchase.

Mint.com

Mint is a popular favorite when it comes to budgeting tools. You’ll find that Mint.com is available for free, there are no charges to use this software. Mint.com has received positive recommendations from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Money (Magazine).

Many who use Mint.com like that it has mobile apps available. You can choose from iPhone, Android and iPad. This makes it easy and convenient to save money by sticking to your budget while on-the-go. You can think before making those impulse purchases that sink anyone’s monthly budget because you’ve got all of your information available.

One of the reasons people like to use Mint.com is the information you enter in it is secure. This software simply reads the information you enter into it. You are not able to move the financial information you place in Mint.com and no one else can either, this is for your security and protection. It will connect you with your financial accounts in real-time using just your Mint.com password.

Just as Quicken uses a pie chart to visually show you where your money goes, so does Mint.com. This is helpful for right brain thinkers as well as left brain thinkers who are comfortable viewing a column of numbers and percentages. When you realize you are spending too much money on take out meals, based on how large that part of the pie chart is – it can help you get your spending under control.

Remember that no budgeting software will work unless you use it regularly. Take the time to enter your information and also to analyze its supplied data. This can help you set financial goals and plan for both your short term and long term future.

Lauren Hill writes for Galorath.com, a company offering software that helps you deliver your goods as promised in a timely fashion.

Del.icio.us

Facebook

TweetThis

Digg

StumbleUpon

Christmas is a time to enjoy the company of your loved ones and slow down a bit before the start of the New Year. But it can also be quite a stressful time when it comes to money.

A lot of people end up spending quite a lot of money during this holiday season and this can even lead to debt.

Here are some simple tips to ensure you budget well for Christmas and get to enjoy it without spending a fortune.

Draw Up A Budget

It is a good idea to draw up a budget for yourself for the Christmas season. You can do it by dividing the budget into different categories. The main expenses during Christmas include:

• Food
• Gifts
• Cards
• Decorations
• Possible travel

You can then think a little bit how much you want to spend on each of these categories. The key is to make sure that you have saved some money during the year to ensure you don’t need to loan money to purchase anything. Don’t go wild with your credit cards either.

If you want to use them it is a good idea to look carefully, which credit cards offer the best deals for you to use.

How Much To Spend

Of course you need to carefully think about how much you want to spend on each category. For instance, with gifts you should be careful about thinking the people you really must be buying a gift to. Don;t feel pressured to buying expensive gifts to people that you don’t even spend a lot of time with.

Remembering people with a Christmas card is enough to show you are thinking about them.

Clever Tips To Save Money

The good news is that there are a lot of good tips on how to save money and still have a great Christmas. Here are some tips for each of these categories.

Food

Food is often one of the biggest parts of Christmas expenses. The best way to save money with food is to draw up a menu well before the holiday and be realistic with the amount of food you are going to eat. Don’t buy crazy amounts of food so that you don’t end up throwing it away.

Gifts And Cards

A good way to save money with your gift shopping is to look into the option of making your own gifts and cards. For instance, making great homemade food gifts can be a really nice way to remember friends and neighbours and it will be a lot cheaper than a wine bottle or similar.

Decorations

This is another bracket where you save a lot of money by making your own decorations. There are a lot of great ideas at the Reader’s Digest website. Making your own decorations is not only cheaper but it can also be a fun thing to do together with the kids. Make sure you also use some of your older decorations as you don’t need to buy new ones every single year.

Featured images:

•  License: Creative Commons image source

Katherine is interested in providing budgeting tips and help in finding accounting services. She also likes to volunteer to get young people involved with the local communities and is passionate about learning salsa dancing.

Del.icio.us

Facebook

TweetThis

Digg

StumbleUpon

Maybe you know, were raised by, or are a coupon lady. We all know the type. In years past, hardcore couponers curated hefty binders to house their precious double and triple savings paper coupons. Couponing was a calling, a preoccupation, a lifestyle. For these committed shoppers, the payoffs could often be unpredictable. Coupon clippers would frequently stagger home under the weight of 256 rolls of double-soft toilet paper. “I got it for buy 1 get 2 free!” they would rhapsodize as justification. I remember those days fondly. But I am happy to say that today, there is a better way.

These days you don’t need a printer or the old plastic binder that was de rigeur for coupon kings and queens of yore. Today, you can get by with just your smart phone. Modern apps do a lot of the work for you, presenting a simple image to be scanned by many retailers. Sage-One online accounting products can help you find out just how much you’re saving, but for now I’ll describe how various coupon apps saved my wife and I on our weekly grocery bill.

As budget shoppers, we try to eat well on $100 a week or less. We both downloaded several coupon apps to see the difference they could make. Yowza worked well and was easy to use. Within seconds of firing up this app, we found coupons from several grocers in our area (as well as lots of other kinds of stores as well). We saved the coupons that were relevant to the stuff we eat (peanut butter from Whole Foods, Vegetable Oil from Safeway, Tomatoes from Giant, etc). We weren’t about to drive to every grocery store in our area, but there were enough coupons related to stuff we regularly eat at our nearest grocer, so we headed there to shop.

On the drive, I was scanning the local paper for printed coupons. Using SnipSnap I was able to take pictures of these coupons on my phone. Once at the store, I didn’t have to drag along the paper coupons, or one of the aforementioned plastic binders. I was worried at first that the cashier wouldn’t be able to scan the coupons off my phone, but she had seen this before, and the discounts went smoothly.

The last app we tried was Grocery Smarts. It worked very much like Yowza, but for some reason brought in a pile of different coupons. We were able to pick up some popcorn and kombucha at steeply cut prices, all in the time it takes to fill a grocery cart.

Finally at checkout, we saved $19.84. Our total price would have been $118.16, but through app-couponing, we were able to keep it under our goal of $100. I wasn’t sure we would have been able to do it, but we were keeping track of our total mentally, as we shopped. We nailed it. Saving fifteen or twenty dollars once a week for a year is going to add up quickly. I was amazed at how little time it took to save this much. Couponing is never going to be the same, and neither will my grocery bill.

Redesigning a movie auditorium is a really exciting project, and one that could potentially be used to make a profit. Whether you’ve purchased a movie auditorium for personal use or have dreams of setting up your own independent cinema that will be open to the public, making sure that your auditorium is comfortable and set up properly is a priority. Depending on the amount of work that you’d like done and how you’re picturing the result, the amount of money that you’ll need to spend on the redesign can vary. However, if you’re looking for some great ideas that are likely to fit into almost any budget, read on!

Seating

The seating is an important part of any movie auditorium – it’s got to be comfortable, stylish and fit as many people as possible inside. Depending on the size of the auditorium and how many people you expect to be using it at one given time, the amount of seats you will need to use can vary. If your auditorium already has seats installed that are in good condition, you may be able to get away with cleaning them up and continuing to use them. For auditoriums in need of further refurbishment, you can purchase a range of seating options from auditorium seating manufacturers.

Ceiling

Acoustic tiles are the best option for the ceiling of your movie auditorium, and you’ll be glad to hear that this is also one of the cheapest ceiling coverings to obtain. Most movie theaters use this type of covering; go to any cinema and you will probably see fiberglass panels much like those used in offices. If your auditorium ceiling is unfinished, acoustic tiles or fiberglass panels are the least expensive way to complete the job.

Flooring

For acoustic reasons, you should never choose a floor for your movie auditorium that is made of wood, tile, concreate or linoleum. Instead, opt for a plush carpet whenever possible. Depending on the size of the auditorium the price that you will pay for carpet will vary, and will largely depend also on the type and quality of carpet that you choose. Industrial wear carpets are good for those who plan to open their auditorium for public use as these are less susceptible to wear and tear. Opting for a stain resistant carpet will also reduce dirt and debris stains and help the auditorium appear cleaner. It is far better to spend more on a high quality carpet initially than pay to replace a poor quality carpet in the future due to damage.

Color and Themes

When designing your movie auditorium, you should consider using colors that will control the reflections of the light from the screen, and also make the room appear larger. Darker colors such as navy or black are an excellent choice, combined with lighter, contrasting colors.

Are you an interior designer who would like to share any helpful ideas for redesigning a movie auditorium? Or, have you redesigned a movie auditorium yourself, and would like to tell us your story? We’d love to hear from you in the comments.

Image Credit: http://www.filmadvocacy.org/2013/05/

If you have a budget that just won’t work, something’s got to give. Many people change the budget in this situation. But I’m going to suggest the novel idea that instead of reworking the budget, you rework your life instead. This will be harder for some readers than others, as professional and family connections make big changes difficult. But for a certain kind of reader, this won’t be hard at all, and others will find that personal finance is important enough to warrant some drastic action. Here’s what I’m talking about.

Budget gurus tend to make budgeting all about lifestyle. They tell you to eat out less. They tell you to save more. They tell you to live on rice and beans for the next 10 years, thriving on the knowledge that you have so much self-control. This writer has never been able to live that way. Instead, it can work a lot better for many people to simply change the game. For some people, this starts with moving.

You can save thousands of dollars every years simply by moving to another city or region. Different areas have wildly different cost of living standards. If you live in an expensive area, it’s like a tax that you pay on everything you do. This “tax” is often many times higher than any money demanded by your state and federal governments, and people pay it simply because they’ve never thought about doing otherwise. But what if you just moved? There are cheap American cities which have a lot of room for new residents. Get in on the ground floor, and you could save tens of thousands on food, housing, and lifestyle expenses, just within a couple of years.

Most consumers are also paying for things they no longer use or remember. I’m talking here about things like online entertainment subscriptions, or those mail-order razorblades you forgot to cancel. These subscriptions are all the rage, and more and more online retailers are offering this as an option. It’s best to take a careful look at your online spending statements to figure out if you are making payments that you are not aware of. An hour’s work can save you hundreds of dollars in the next year.

Similar auto-drafted payments for unwanted services is a big news story in England. PPI is a kind of insurance that got sneaked into a bunch of standard financial contracts. So thousands of people signed up for it (and paid for it every month) without even knowing about it or wanting it. This has given rise to a lot of lawsuits, and several class actions options are available to people who have PPI and don’t want it.

As you can see, there are a variety of big (and detail-oriented) changes which and free up your budget in a way that simple self-control and fun-denial can’t. If you’re able to identify and commit to these changes, you’ll be on your way to a much better personal finance lifestyle, without having to change your behavior much at all.

Every household spends money, but are you spending within your means? Taking control of your financial situation and balancing that household budget is essential. This guide will let you do it.

Compare Spending with Earning

Before you do anything else, you need to get to grips with the reality of your current situation. That means looking at how much you spend and comparing it to how much you earn. You should have any trouble working out your household’s overall earnings. But you will need to keep a spending diary to really work out much money you spend in an average month. If you find that there is a deficient, and you’re spending more than you earn, then your budgets aren’t balanced. And you have a problem to fix.

Photo Source

Plug the Gaps in the Short-Term

If you find that your financial situation is severe, and you are unable to make payments on your mortgage, then action is needed. This means looking at all those gaps in your finances and doing what you can to plug them. This could mean using your savings to balance things. Or you could take advantage of personal loans to sort things out. In the short-term, mitigating the immediate threats to your financial stability is what’s most important of all. You can worry about the other issues later.

Then Plan Some Long-Term Changes

When your short-term problems have been dealt with, it’s time to look at long-term changes. It’s impossible to balance your household budget without making serious changes to how you spend money. You should see if you can cut back on your weekly food shopping budget. And make sure you compare all the deals on things like electricity, gas and phone services. You might be able to get a better deal and save money in the long-term, so it’s worth looking into.

Pay Off Debts

If you took out loans earlier to help plug the immediate gaps in your finances, you should focus on paying that money back. Loans and credit can be great ways to sort out short-term problems, but they are not healthy for your finances in the long-term. Draw up your own repayment plan and see if you can pay it back earlier than the creditor is demanding. If you do decide to do this, make sure that you check if there are any charges that come with paying back the loan early though.

Save When You Can

Once your budget is balanced, you might start finding that you have some excess cash. Of course, this can only be a good thing, but it doesn’t mean that it has to be spent. This is the kind of money that should be put away for the future. Saving money is vital if you want to secure your long-term financial security. The money that you save away while you’re young could be what helps you to enjoy a comfortable retirement in the future. Once you get into the habit of saving money, it will come naturally.

Image Source

Last year was a bad year for cyber crime. In the UK alone, there were more than 5.1 million incidences of online fraud and 2.5 million cybercrime offences. And one of the primary victims of all this crime is businesses.

Protecting your business against cybercrime has never been a more pertinent issue. Your company could be the next target for criminals. Right now there are multiple channels through which cyber criminals are targeting businesses. First of all, there are the social engineers. These are the people who dream up schemes as a way to get valuable information from people. They’re creative types, and hard to predict. Then there are the hackers. These people don’t bother coming up with some elaborate con scheme. They look for exploits in your business IT system that they can leverage to gain access to your data. Finally, there are the programmers. These guys are in the business of writing viruses to bring down company servers and systems.

Because the threat from cyber criminals has never been greater, companies are looking for ways to protect themselves. According to the Wall Street Journal, big business is investing billions into the effort. If you’re responsible for a security budget, here’s where to spend your money.

Setup A Phishing Experiment

Phishing is a popular way for criminals gain access to sensitive company information. Phishing is very much like any other con trick. It seeks to convince people that it is a legitimate communication. And then it builds up enough trust for them to start giving out sensitive information. Clearly, this is dangerous for companies who care about the integrity of their data.

One of the biggest entry points for sensitive information is your business’s employees. This is something that JP Morgan recognised after had a data breach earlier this year.

JP Morgan decided to respond with a phishing attempt all of its own. It sent out a quarter of a million fake phishing emails to its employees to see what they would do. To its surprise, the firm found that employees opened a phishing email about 20 percent of the time. The company declined to say how many employees responded to the emails. But it was a severe enough demonstration of security failing that the company took immediate action.

After the experiment, employees were banned from using their work emails for personal use. And the company decided to invest a further $500 million into its online security apparatus. The phishing experiment revealed that the company was vulnerable through its employees. It served as a call-to-action to the board of directors and got security to the top of the agenda.

Employee Training

commons.wikimedia.org

Many companies have employees who use social media. Professional social media sites should be about networking and growing businesses. But they’re also a big target for hackers. The problem is that many employees don’t realise just how much information they give out. Information comes out in dribs and drabs, not all at once. So it can be deceiving. And yet, all this information can quite easily be collected by hackers and pieced together. Hackers with a fuller set of information can then use this to their advantage to hack company IT systems.

Employee errors are no small part of the business cyber security picture. Recently the Association of Corporate Counsel found that almost a third of data breaches are the fault of workers. And it’s usually because staff simply don’t know how what they’re doing affects security. Often it’s the simple and innocent things that have the biggest detrimental impact. For instance, employees who send sensitive information on home networks without the same level of security. Or employees who access client data and then take those data home with them. (This recently happened to Morgan Stanley).

Training, therefore, helps employees see some of the non-obvious ways their behaviour impacts security.

Expert Consulting

Once you’ve convinced the board security is an issue, and trained your staff, what’s next? To bolster your existing systems, of course. But should you go about doing that? Every business is different. And, therefore, every business has different security needs. Some companies only need protection for their back-end systems: they don’t collect customer data. Others need vaulted servers to protect mission critical data.

Here’s where the value of technology consulting becomes obvious. For any business to have an effective security strategy, it needs expertise. Understanding the company’s strengths and weaknesses is imperative if the company is going to be viable.

pixabay.com

The first thing to discuss with a consultant is the type of threats your business is likely to face. If your business is high profile or controversial, it’s likely that you’ll face a threat from botnets. The idea behind botnets is to drain your company of processing power. Here your web server is pinged from multiple locations millions of times a second. As a result, it starts to lose performance. And in extreme circumstances, it can be brought down.

These denial-of-service attacks are designed to prevent your business from carrying out its operations. They can also harvest capacity from your IT resources, bringing down your productivity. And so it’s essential that they aren’t allowed to run their course. Proactive maintenance of systems by a third party is an excellent way to prevent attacks from getting out of control.

If your business has valuable data, hackers might try to use trojan horses. The idea here is to gain backdoor access to your business systems. Hackers will try to harvest your email lists, erase your data or get customer information. Here again, consultants can help you to identify the problem and point you in the direction of how to deal with it.

Focus On Improving Security In Non-Computer Devices

The latest frontier in the battle between companies and criminals is the internet of things. It’s not just computers anymore that are subject to hacking. According to the Cybersecurity Market Report, it’s things too. There are now whole sub-markets that are connected to traditional IT infrastructure. Things like smart and the industrial internet are new technologies. But they aren’t adequately protected by existing ecosystems. Hence, there’s now a significant risk that businesses in these sectors will suffer catastrophic breaches.

Companies need to spend more on making sure that smart devices are as secure as the rest of their network. Criminals will exploit any weakness in your smart device network.

pixabay.com

Hire Ethical Hackers

Investor’s Business Daily recently reported cybersecurity spending would balloon over the next half decade. It’s expected to top $1 trillion between 2017 and 2021. Driving that trend, they propose, will be a rise in businesses hiring hackers to test their own systems. These freelance hackers will be put to work, testing whether companies can withstand an attack.

commons.wikimedia.org

But the focus is, again, going to be on the internet of things. Industry tracker, Cybersecurity Ventures, predicts double-digit growth in the sector going forward. It also predicts that protecting the IoT will, ironically, fall to hackers.

The good news is that educational institutions have been training people to hack for years now. And there’s a large pool of ethical hackers for businesses to choose from. Hackers can be hired to do all sorts of things to help your company. But the most common use is for highlighting data protection issues. Hackers are usually assigned the task of breaching company data. Along they way, they help to expose weaknesses in company defences. And these shortcomings can then be targeted for improvement. Most of the time, weaknesses are on the employee end of the spectrum. But sometimes you’ll find fault with password encryption and server access.

Redesign Cyber Security Systems

Lastly, it’s time for a reality check. Companies are spending more money than ever on protecting themselves from cybercrime. And yet the average loss following a breach has risen to $7 million. That suggests that the industry is doing something wrong when it comes to spending their money. According to PwC’s cybercrime report, 47 percent of companies are putting money into new technologies. But far fewer companies are thinking about their cyber security strategies. The effect of this is that companies are putting their money into technologies that probably aren’t helping them. Too few companies are stepping back and assessing the risk that they face, and how those risks have changed.

So here’s how to spend your money. First, generate a risk-based cybersecurity framework that’s adaptable. Seek professional advice if you need to. Make sure that your company knows the specific risks that affect the sector. And find out what are the latest tactics being used by cyber criminals.

pixabay.com

Second, share knowledge with other companies about the state of your cyber security. Only 15 percent of enterprises told PwC that knowledge sharing was a priority for them. And so it’s clear that many businesses aren’t leveraging existing relationships.

Finally, involve all stakeholders in discussions of cyber security threats. Partners, outside experts and the board should all contribute to the process. Including everybody in your strategy helps you to avoid wasting money and resources.

Everyone of us has come across the advice: credit cards should be used wisely. But knowing what is smart and doing what is smart are two different things altogether. With the increasing number of US young adults purchasing things with their plastics, the advice is worth repeating. 64% of 18-34 years olds say they randomly use their credit cards, versus 43% in 2013, as per reports of survey done by Mercator Advisory Group. Do you ever feel guilty about any of the bad financial habits that you regularly keep repeating?

Image: https://pixabay.com/en/shopping-spending-till-slip-879498/

We all know that bad spending habits can break our budget on a monthly basis and it is a big concern to deal with. Bad financial habits may include impulsive shopping for shoes, dining out every weekend or going for parties every other day. If you’ve maintained an income statement, you will probably see the dollar figures associated with overspending. Here are some tips and tricks that you may follow in order to bid goodbye to your bad financial habits.

• Tip #1: Put an end to mindless charging

There are credit card users who nurture a mindset which prompts them to pay with plastics rather than cash as the former ‘doesn’t count’. This is an entirely wrong notion that they harbor in their mind. Though you don’t have to shell off cash from your pocket, you will later on have to pay outrageously high interest rates for buying things on credit. Don’t you think that the money you pay on interest rate is a sheer wastage? So, as long as you can afford something with cash, buy it with cash.

• Tip #2: Head out only with the cash that you may need

Are you about to visit the mall for shopping? If yes, take only the cash which you may need. If you’ve set a budget of $100 for clothing, go to the ATM and get exactly $100 out and not a penny more than that. Take that money in your wallet and keep all your credit and debit cards at home. It is only this way that you will be forced to work with the cash that you have on hand.

• Tip #3: Paying ONLY the minimum amount on your cards is not the right way

It is sometimes understood that when your financial condition is tight, you may not feel like parting with your hard-earned dollars to pay off your credit card debt. But that will just make you hurt yourself in the long run. People who simply pay the minimum amount on the credit cards are actually extending the time period on every single item that they buy. Hence, it is always wiser to pay more than just the minimum monthly payments.

• Tip #4: Stop spending more than what you make in a month

Do you think yourself to be the US government? America is also in a tough state where its fiscal deficit is shrinking and how do you see your personal deficit? As per the National Financial Capability Study, about 36% of individuals, 1 among 5 Americans spend more than what they make in a month. Your personal goal should be to flock around among the 41% Americans who spend much less than what they earn in a month.

• Tip #5: Stop thinking that you’re not financially smart enough

Money matters can definitely be confusing but we presently live in an age where consumers are almost forced to exercise control over their personal financial lives, whether it involves investment decisions of retirement savings. You must have thought earlier that investing is hard or it is for the rich. But this is a wrong notion. You’ve got to take control over your own finances and make sure you’re making smart financial decisions.

The serenity and peace of being debt free has its own kind of glee and satisfaction. If you don’t stop your bad financial habits, it is almost impossible to walk along the path of debt free life. Follow the above mentioned tips and tricks to get rid of your bad financial habits and embrace monetary wisdom.

The fact is that the more we stress over money, the more stressful it gets. But taking control on saving and spending can help you alleviate some of your worries. Irrespective of whether you wish to be a millionaire or you just wish to stop spending your paycheck before you receive it, there are always some interesting ways of keeping aside little amounts of cash. From taking care of your clothes to smart shopping, there are numerous tips to save money faster than your normal pace. Here are few areas to manage and few tips to follow.

Budgeting and banking

1. Choose a bank which gives back: Watch out for a bank which makes the most sense. Look for perks like high interest rate on savings account, no fees on ATM and no overdraft fees. Small banks often provide better interest rates and perks. In case you see that your bank doesn’t offer perks, ask them to offer.

2. Use an app to set goals: Set an ultimate goal and repay your credit card debt. Later on come up with a realistic and actionable plan for accomplishing your goal. Try finance-tracking apps like Learnvest, BUDGT or Mint which give you visual barometers of specific goals.

3. Don’t use ATMs too often: When it comes to ATM trips, be smart. Try to withdraw a fixed amount every week and stick to it as this way you won’t force yourself to hit on a non-affiliated bank. In order to stay organized, divide cash into envelopes with written ‘rent’, ‘food’ and ‘fun’. When an envelope becomes empty, stop spending in that category and try to control your expenses.

Home and Electronics

1. Turn off the tap while washing dishes: Spray little water on all dishes kept inside the sink and then turn it off while you scrub. When it’s time to rinse, turn off the water. Hand washing dishes just once in a day and not allowing the water to run while scrubbing can save around 200-500 gallons of hot water in a month. This is not something good for the environment but also good for your wallet.

2. Personalize your air freshener: Fragrant wall flowers, fancy aromatic sprays and a few over-priced candles can have a serious impact on your wallet. How about creating your own air freshener so as to save money on buying the more expensive ones?

3. Install energy-efficient appliances: Less energy will be equivalent to less money that you need to spend. If your fridge is something which is still working fine, don’t chuck it off. Instead, make sure all the other appliances in your home are energy-efficient and that they carry an Energy Star model.

Therefore, if you’re wondering about the ways in which you can rein in your expenses, take into account the above mentioned tips and advices. Install all the budget-friendly apps which can help you stay on the right track with your personal finances.

Image source: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2017/05/07/13/27/wallet-2292428_960_720.jpg

To budget or not to budget

More and more families are needing to stretch their monthly budgets just a bit farther. It certainly isn’t easy, but it can be done. One thing that can be quite helpful is using budgeting software.

Some discover what money management expert Richard Bach has called “the latte factor,” small expenses that regularly drain your finances. Using this software will help you patch the holes in your budget and remove those pesky lattes – or whatever else is tempting you from keeping a sturdy budget in place.

It used to be that budgeting software was quirky and a bit difficult to use. But today’s software is intuitive, user friendly and works with the click of your mouse. Here are several options for great budgeting software.

YouNeedABudget.com

This personal finance budget software can be used on either a Windows based computer or on a Mac. What YouNeedABudget.com promotes is not only that they will encourage you to use their software – but their budgeting methods, which they say “has helped thousands of people gain control of their finances.”

You have the ability to try the full version with all its features for free for 34 days. The features include using Cloud Sync, so you can be up to date wherever there is an Internet connection. There are both iPhone and Android apps available so when you are spending on-the-go, you can log the information right into your budget.

One of the things YouNeedABudget.com is proud to say is that many people discover they are able to start by saving $200 after a single month. In nine months, people are able to save $3,300. If you have been living paycheck to paycheck, this is both impressive and exciting. They encourage a budget that wont let you spend too much and will also help you reach your financial goals.

Quicken

Quicken states they are the #1 personal finance software tool. One of the reasons to choose Quicken is that you can connect this software to your bank, to easily manage your account(s). People who use Quicken like that their expenses can be sorted into categories. You’ll see them both as a list with dollar amounts and percentages – but you’ll also see a colorful pie chart. It is easy to see exactly where your money has been going. Whether you are a “left brain” or a “right brain” type, this software is one that will be logical and easy to understand.

The software then sets a monthly budget for you based on your past history. You can customize your budget and also help to plan for future financial goals. The program works in “real time” so you’ll know exactly how much money you have in your accounts and to work with in your budget.

There is a mobile app so it is easy to make financial decisions on-the-go. If you are running errands and want to add in your expenses as you are spending, it is easy to do. You can check your budget and make financial decisions – all before you make that purchase.

Mint.com

Mint is a popular favorite when it comes to budgeting tools. You’ll find that Mint.com is available for free, there are no charges to use this software. Mint.com has received positive recommendations from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Money (Magazine).

Many who use Mint.com like that it has mobile apps available. You can choose from iPhone, Android and iPad. This makes it easy and convenient to save money by sticking to your budget while on-the-go. You can think before making those impulse purchases that sink anyone’s monthly budget because you’ve got all of your information available.

One of the reasons people like to use Mint.com is the information you enter in it is secure. This software simply reads the information you enter into it. You are not able to move the financial information you place in Mint.com and no one else can either, this is for your security and protection. It will connect you with your financial accounts in real-time using just your Mint.com password.

Just as Quicken uses a pie chart to visually show you where your money goes, so does Mint.com. This is helpful for right brain thinkers as well as left brain thinkers who are comfortable viewing a column of numbers and percentages. When you realize you are spending too much money on take out meals, based on how large that part of the pie chart is – it can help you get your spending under control.

Remember that no budgeting software will work unless you use it regularly. Take the time to enter your information and also to analyze its supplied data. This can help you set financial goals and plan for both your short term and long term future.

Lauren Hill writes for Galorath.com, a company offering software that helps you deliver your goods as promised in a timely fashion.

Christmas is a time to enjoy the company of your loved ones and slow down a bit before the start of the New Year. But it can also be quite a stressful time when it comes to money.

A lot of people end up spending quite a lot of money during this holiday season and this can even lead to debt.

Here are some simple tips to ensure you budget well for Christmas and get to enjoy it without spending a fortune.

Draw Up A Budget

It is a good idea to draw up a budget for yourself for the Christmas season. You can do it by dividing the budget into different categories. The main expenses during Christmas include:

• Food
• Gifts
• Cards
• Decorations
• Possible travel

You can then think a little bit how much you want to spend on each of these categories. The key is to make sure that you have saved some money during the year to ensure you don’t need to loan money to purchase anything. Don’t go wild with your credit cards either.

If you want to use them it is a good idea to look carefully, which credit cards offer the best deals for you to use.

How Much To Spend

Of course you need to carefully think about how much you want to spend on each category. For instance, with gifts you should be careful about thinking the people you really must be buying a gift to. Don;t feel pressured to buying expensive gifts to people that you don’t even spend a lot of time with.

Remembering people with a Christmas card is enough to show you are thinking about them.

Clever Tips To Save Money

The good news is that there are a lot of good tips on how to save money and still have a great Christmas. Here are some tips for each of these categories.

Food

Food is often one of the biggest parts of Christmas expenses. The best way to save money with food is to draw up a menu well before the holiday and be realistic with the amount of food you are going to eat. Don’t buy crazy amounts of food so that you don’t end up throwing it away.

Gifts And Cards

A good way to save money with your gift shopping is to look into the option of making your own gifts and cards. For instance, making great homemade food gifts can be a really nice way to remember friends and neighbours and it will be a lot cheaper than a wine bottle or similar.

Decorations

This is another bracket where you save a lot of money by making your own decorations. There are a lot of great ideas at the Reader’s Digest website. Making your own decorations is not only cheaper but it can also be a fun thing to do together with the kids. Make sure you also use some of your older decorations as you don’t need to buy new ones every single year.

Featured images:

•  License: Creative Commons image source

Katherine is interested in providing budgeting tips and help in finding accounting services. She also likes to volunteer to get young people involved with the local communities and is passionate about learning salsa dancing.