Budgeting

Whether you’re a fab grandma, mother, student, or any other individual, this post is for you! Together, we’ll go through 7 different ways to save money regardless of your situation. Some of these tips, tricks and tactics may already be things you do, while others may be completely new to you. Let’s see what the ideas are!

 

Buy on sale

Duh… Sounds really obvious, but most of us only buy items on sale when we’re at the store and we happen to see that they’re on sale. When was the last time you planned your groceries based on what’s on sale where? Thought so…! So, next time you’re getting ready to go grocery shopping and are making your shopping list, be sure to check out some of the weekly offers. Check out the Lowes Food flyer if you’re in the US or the discount flyer for FreshCo if you’re in Canada. It’s worth going in prepared when you’re looking to save money!

Track your income and expenses

This may just be the most effective tip on this list and is one that I can’t recommend highly enough to everyone. Whether you’re old or young, small or large, have a large family or are living alone, tracking your income and expenses is a fantastic way of saving money. Now, you might be thinking: “How will knowing what I spend and how much I earn help me save money? Surely this just takes up my valuable time that I could be using to watch Netflix or use to do an odd errand or two so I can buy another $10 coffee at the local coffee shop…”

This is one of those tips that doesn’t seem like it would have any impact on how much you save but is actually extremely effective for pretty much everyone. The reason it’s so effective is that you can see where your money is going. Getting one of those expensive $10 coffees everyday may help you get a little more work done, but it is costing you $300 per month. If you have Netflix, Spotify, YouTube music, Hulu, HBO plus and five to ten other subscriptions, you’ll see that each $5 or $10 subscription quickly adds up to hundreds of dollars per month.

By understanding where your money is going, you can save a lot of money in the long run. Try it out for a week or two and see what happens to your expenses.

Budget, Budget, Budget!

Once you’ve been tracking your income and expenses for a little while you’ll be in a great position to create a budget. By budgeting, you prevent yourself from spending too much. It also gives you the opportunity to save for something you’ve been wanting to do or buy for a long time. It may be the perfect opportunity to pay off your mortgage a little faster or save up for that vacation you’ve been wanting to go on for the past few years.

Reduce waste

Cut down on the subscriptions, buy only what you need and stop with those $10 coffees! As you track your expenses, you’ll be shocked at how much you spend on a yearly or monthly basis on things you don’t need, or worse, don’t use. By tracking your expenses, you are in a better position to recognize where your money is being wasted. On a yearly basis, these costs can add up substantially.

Reduce your debt

Debt can seem very useful until you realize that you’re paying way more money back than you’ve borrowed. The more debt you have, the more you pay in terms of fees. It’s important to think about how much you’re paying on your debt.

Although a mortgage is a huge debt, you only pay a small amount of interest on it compared to say, a credit card debt. This means that paying off $1000 worth of your mortgage is going to save you less money than paying off $1000 on your credit card debt. Pay off your most expensive debts first before moving on the less expensive ones. The more you pay off, the more you’ll have left over at the end of the month. Find out what the interest rates are on your credit card debts, and pay off the ones with the highest interest first.

Think about your subscriptions

All companies want to get you on some form of subscription. There are companies sending you groceries everyday for inflated prices, automatically send you razor blades and many offering online subscriptions for music, TV, and other forms of entertainment.

The subscriptions and monthly expenses you actually use aren’t really wasted. If you spend each night watching Netflix for three hours, it’s not going to be worth saving the $20 (although, you could be doing something more productive with your time… Just saying!). However, do you really need five different video subscriptions? Is it really worth paying for all three of those music applications you have?

Any cost that returns weekly or monthly is going to add up to a pretty penny on a yearly basis. Every $10 you save per month will mean you’re left with another $120 by the end of the year!

Use coupons, royalty programs and cash back programs

If I offered to give you $100, would you want it or not? Unless you believe that money is the root of all evil and that you’re better off living a life completely free of material things, you’re probably going to accept the generous gift. So, why, when a company offers to give you a discount of $100 by using a coupon, do so many people let the chance of free money pass by? 

Sure, not all coupons are going to save you a great deal, and it’s important not to buy anything you don’t need. However, it can save you an arm and a leg if you do use the coupons at your disposal. Check the weekly flyers that stores give you and use all promo codes you can!

A few dollars saved each day can add up to thousands saved per year!

Conclusion

As you can see, saving money each month doesn’t have to be all too difficult. By keeping track of your expenses and preventing waste, you can save thousands of dollars per year with very little effort! Hopefully, after reading this post, you’ll be more inclined to spend a little less to ensure you save a little more.

If you are a professional rental investor hoping to boost your portfolio so that you can make the whole thing much more lucrative, there are many ways that you might be able to do that. The important thing is that you never think of it as an impossibility, as the truth is that it is always going to be possible to do. However, it will often take a lot of work, and you should bear that in mind if you hope for it to work out right. In this article, we will look at investing in rental properties, and how to make sure that it is as easy and straightforward as possible.

Get Help Locating A Property

Even if you have been investing in properties for a long time, there are bound to be occasions when you find that you are struggling to find a new one that fits your criteria. You might have a specific idea in mind of the kind of property that you are looking for. Perhaps you have researched the local residents and you know what people there want, for instance. Whatever the reason, you will find that getting local help from a realtor is often a good way to ensure that you can find the right property to improve your rental portfolio. That alone will save you a huge headache.

Finance It Directly

The issue of financing is one that is always going to crop up when you are investing in rental properties. You need to have a strong plan for where you are going to go and how you are going to make it a reality. For many investors, the best way is to go through a direct financier of rental loans like Visio Financial Services. They will be able to finance you with the loan that you need to make the purchase a reality, and in so doing will ultimately ensure that you can build on your portfolio in whatever way you hope to. Whether it is your first rental property or your fiftieth, you will find that you are going to have much more luck with this kind of help on your side.

Patience

No matter who you are, a home is a big investment to make. You should not be too surprised if it takes you quite a while to get it, and if you need to work hard for many years before you have a real chance of being able to make it a reality. That can be true even for subsequent investments beyond your first. Because it can take so long, you are going to want to try and practice your patience as best as you can, as that will help you psychologically get through it. If you are resolute and you find that it takes many years, then that can be a real challenge, so being patient is going to help you a lot. Bear that in mind and you should find that it is much easier. Investing in rental property is worth the wait.

Important Things to Do For Your Finances

Your finances will determine your quality of life. The more wealth you have, the better your quality of life. You have access to so many more things than you would have otherwise had depending on your income and wealth. That is why it is important for you to take care of your wealth and try to grow it as best you can. This is even more important when you get to be over 50 years old. You don’t want to be working as you did during your 50s. Your 50s should be a time of relaxing and unwinding until you can get to a better situation. Even passing on your wealth is something you will need to consider during this time. You have to do things like avoid probate and make a decent will that protects everyone you care about. Understanding the financial world is critical to success in this arena.

Understanding finances is even more important when you are over 50. At that age, it becomes critical to your survival. Millions of people every year go broke after they stop working. They spend the last few years of their lives working at a job they don’t love. They also spent time not getting the things they want and barely making it. By doing the right things financially, they can achieve a certain level of success that few people can have.

Investing For the Future

Before you get to 50, investing is critical. You have to spend your time and money investing in a variety of places that will continue to grow. Making your money work for you is the first step to financial success. Investing should always start early. It should begin the moment you start working. It is something that needs a lot of work and investment to accumulate. Eventually, you get to a level where you are over 50 and your investments start paying you a salary that is close to what you were making when you worked full-time. This is the dream of every person in the modern economy. They want to be able to work and invest money so that it pays them after they have stopped working. 

Some people, however, choose to try other investment strategies that will pay off more quickly. These people would rather take the risk than take a smaller return. There are merits to this way of thinking, but it can be dangerous if you don’t get it right. There have been many people who lost everything by taking a risk and not being smart in the way they calculated things. For example, someone who invests all their money in the stock market and then loses it when the company they invested in goes bankrupt. This happened with Enron.

Your Goals When You’re Over 50

We go to many different phases of life. At the start, we are helpless and our parents are responsible for almost all aspects of our well-being. We need their help to do everything and we aren’t functionally able to take care of ourselves. As time goes on, we learn more and gain experience. We can invest money and also plan for our future. Eventually, we get to a stage where we are almost at retirement. At this age, we should have already laid down the foundations for a great retirement. Retirement involves being able to take care of yourself without working. That means the money you put away during your working years is put to use. The most important thing for you to do as a goal is to have a lot of money put away. You also need to have good insurance since this is when you are most likely to need it. The last three years of your life are when you need to have great medical coverage so you can have a better quality of life.

Lifelong Financial Success

Financial success past 50 is difficult. However, it is an essential part of having a future worth living. You spend your time doing a lot of great things in life, but after you become 50 it all changes and the trajectory of your life goes from being one where you make money to one where you spend it. Having an understanding of finance is critical to being successful in this arena.

We’re all saving for something, whether it’s a new car, the deposit for a house, a vacation or just for a rainy day. Savings are something that we should include in our monthly budgets, but with so many other bills and financial responsibilities, it’s often easier said than done. Whether you have a simple savings account, a piggy bank or stocks and shares ISA’s, it’s easy to neglect your savings and convince yourselves to worry about them later. Sadly, it’s this kind of attitude that usually hinders your progress and keeps you constantly out of reach of your saving goals! So, what’s the answer? How can you ensure that you’re adding to your savings pot every month? Read on for 5 simple ways to boost your savings.

Save it first

Most people pay out all their other bills and then top up their savings account with what’s left of their paycheck. However, it’s this habit that often leaves us neglecting our rainy day fund entirely. What if I need that money? What if there’s an emergency? I’ll just put double in next month. Sound familiar? Instead, always pay your savings account first! That way you’re paying in every month without fail. It removes the temptation to spend it or to put it elsewhere!

Go through your contracts

Of course, your phone is a necessity. But is your extortionate monthly deal really worth it? Shop around for a cheaper deal, if you’re currently locked into a contract until a particular date, then speak with your provider about other options you may have.

Do you pay for cable TV? And are you also paying for streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime? Strip back these accounts and you could be saving yourself $100 a month minimum! Decide which services you want to keep – if any – and cancel the rest. Put all the money you save straight into your savings account.

Your utilities

When was the last time you compared your utility providers? Head to an online comparison site, fill in some simple details and see how much you could be saving a month. If you want to swap, then go for it. Your new provider will do all the hard work for you and you can enjoy some additional funds in your savings.

Go through your budget

Food, rent, car, nights out – go through your monthly budget and see if you can squeeze it further. Reconsider options such as getting rid of your car and taking public transportation instead. Head to a budget-friendly supermarket or avoid big brand names and try a cheaper option. If you enjoy meals out with your partner or friends then opt for meals at home instead. There’s always money to be saved somewhere, even in the most frugal of budgets, so go through your expenses and eliminate as many of them as possible.

Pay off your credit cards

If you’re currently in debt, then any savings you’re making are simply being spent on the interest you’re accruing on your debts. Make paying off your credit card debts a priority. Once you have paid them off,  you can put the payment amounts into your account and boost your savings!