Your Mortgages has focused on this topic with one goal in mind – to help people from all walks of life get a fresh start with their personal finances. We do this by providing solid financial education with simple intelligent budgeting tools that impact their lives forever.
Your Mortgages realizes the importance money plays in our everyday lives and the stress that comes from not being able to meet all of your monthly obligations. By first helping you to reduce your current debt, Steve Faux will start you down the path of financial freedom, you develop a sensible foundation to ensure debt matters stay within your control.
Cutting your household expenses is a key to reducing debt! There are a number of tips to save money on your monthly expenditures that will help reduce debt. The money you save each month can go toward enabling you to reduce debt.
Simply Follow the Tips to Save Money and Reduce Debt Below
Cut Coupons – Sunday papers have valuable money saving coupons in each edition. Go through and clip out coupons for the products you use everyday. Many times you can save a significant amount of money on your grocery bill. Couple these coupons with grocery stores that offer double coupon days and save even more. Also, be sure to sign up for grocery store loyalty clubs and save even more. These programs are free and will save you money as well.
Turn Off Lights When Not in the Room – Cut your power bills by simply making sure that you turn off the lights in a room when nobody is in it. This simple, yet effective task will save you money each month. Also, during the summer months, be sure that all of your windows and doors are properly closed and sealed. This will also save you money each month.
Buy from Bulk Stores – Buying from bulk stores can save you money each month. While these stores require you to pay a yearly fee, the cost is easily recouped by the savings. Many stores offer a free one day membership. Use this membership to make sure that the store you join has the products you use.
Travel in the Off-Season – Taking a yearly vacation is a great tradition. Just because you are trying to save money does not mean that you can’t travel. One great way to save hundreds of dollars is to travel during off-seasons. Going to the beach right before Memorial Day and right after Labor Day will save you money, while letting you enjoy the still warm weather. Hit the mountains to ski late in the season. While all the ski slopes might not be open, the money you save will make up for it!
Teaching money skills to your family is essential to keeping out of debt. From adults to children, everyone can do their part.
Give Your Child an Allowance - Starting kids off with good spending and saving habits is essential to a life of fiscal responsibility. If you give your child an allowance, show them how long it would take to get a large toy if they saved their entire allowance. Also, show them how long it would take them if they only saved a small amount. For example:
Allowance: $5/week Big toy: $30 Weeks needed to save: 6
If they only save $2 of the $5 it would look like this.
Allowance: $5/week Saved: $2 Big toy: $30 Weeks needed to save: 15
Teaching Money Skills Early in Life Is Essential
The entire family can use the same method to save. Create a savings account to serve as a family allowance that the entire family can use. Find a goal to save for such as a vacation, trip to the movies or even an expensive item such as a TV. Create a chart and put it in a prominent place in the house. Every time somebody puts money into the savings account, add to the chart. The entire family will enjoy saving their family allowance for fun things everyone can enjoy.
Creating good spending habits for everyone in the family is essential to avoiding debt.
If you are spiraling into debt, Your Mortgage Professional offers personal finance advice to help get you back on your feet financially. Read below to learn more about how personal budgets can help you cut spending.
Cut Non-Essential Spending and Set Personal Budgets
Cut all non-essential spending. Pay all of your bills, but reduce spending on everything else. Some examples of expense management include:
Cable – you can live without cable TV for a few months until you get a financial footing. If that sounds too drastic, then at least cut back to basic cable. This will save you a significant amount of money.
Movie Rentals – The cost of renting movies has risen and if you rent more than one or two a month, it can end up costing you quite a bit of money overtime. Many libraries offer movies and they are free to borrow.
Eat In – Cooking at home might not be as fun as eating out every night, but it will save you quite a bit of money. Try getting a cookbook from the library and try out a new dish a few nights a week!
Setting personal budgets are an easy and effective way to becoming financial sound. Contact Steve Faux for personal finance advice and for more expense management tips to help get out of debt.
Easy Ways to Save Money and Lower Debt
Living debt free often means that you need to change your lifestyle. By making just a few simple tweaks, you will still be able to enjoy many of the good things in life and still lower debt. By following a few of these simple easy ways to save money, you will be able to lower debt, decrease your monthly spending and have more money available each month!
Have a Yard Sale - Get rid of all the junk in your home that you don’t use anymore. Kid’s toys are big sellers at yard sales. A yard sale is a great way to make some money easily. Buying household items at yard sales are easy ways to save money.
Car Pool - With the daily increase in gas prices it is costing more and more to drive. Find a few people at work who live close by and start a car pool. This can help you save hundreds of dollars each month.
Brown Bag Lunches - Eating out everyday can cost you hundreds of dollars each month. Take lunches from home each day and save money. Not only will this save you money, but will save you from the unhealthiness of fast food!
Utilities - You can save money on your monthly utilities by making a few changes. Turn off lights when you are not in the room. Turn down the heat. Cut the thermostat down a few degrees and put on a sweater. Turn off the water when you are brushing your teeth.
Credit Cards are usually the cause of many people falling into deep debt. But, don’t write off credit cards as being “evil”. When used properly, credit cards can be an effective tool to staying out of debt. Your Mortgages provides credit card education and credit card help to teach you how to use a credit card properly.
Read the Credit Card Education and Credit Card Help Suggestions Below
Pay the Balance off Monthly - While it may be enticing to use a credit card to buy things that you can’t afford at the moment, it is not a wise thing to do. If you do purchase anything using a credit card, make sure to pay off the ENTIRE balance each month. Just paying the monthly payment or part of the balance will just let the balance grow and grow each month. In fact, just paying the monthly payment will not result in your credit card being paid off for years. For example:
If you just pay the minimum payment it will result in the following:
Time to Pay Off: 11 years
Interest Paid: $1,115.41
The interest paid would be more than the original credit card debt total.
EMERGENCIES ONLY - A credit card can be a useful tool in an emergency. Car repairs and emergency home repair are times when a credit card can help you. If you need to use a credit card in the event of an emergency, you need to take steps to pay off the amount as soon as possible.
Once you start down the road to financial ruin it is hard to get your life back on track. Your Mortgages has provided a list of great debt help tips to follow that will keep you from going into debt and allow for debt elimination.
Read Our Debt Help Tips and Debt Management Solutions Below
Live Within Your Means - Create a budget and stick to it. Tabulate all of your monthly bills then subtract that from the amount you receive each month in pay. The result is the amount you can spend each month without going into debt or not being able to pay your bills. This is an essential step to debt elimination.
Eat In - It is far cheaper to eat at home than it is to eat at restaurants every night. Make one night a week your “dine out” day and eat in all of the rest. You will be amazed at the money you save. No debt elimination plan will work if you don’t sacrifice.
Sales! - Browse the weekly ads for great sales. Many department and clothing stores offer HUGE end of season sales on clothes. You can cut your clothing costs by buying from the clearance rack. If you have small children, buy a few sizes above their current size and put them away until the clothes fit!
Cut Cable - Do you really need 400 channels of TV? Cut back to basic cable and your monthly bill will be cut nearly in half! This tip is the easiest of the debt management solutions listed! After a week, you won’t miss those channels!
Can’t Afford It = Can’t Buy It - If you don’t have the money in your account or set aside in your monthly budget…don’t buy it. Too many times we reach for the credit card to buy things that are above our means. Don’t be tempted. If you really want something, save for it or cut other non-essential things out of your budget.
If you are spiraling into debt, Your Mortgages offers expense management and personal finance advice to help get you back on your feet financially. Read below to learn more about the benefits of a savings plan, and how long-term planning and expense management can guarantee your financial well being.
SAVE SAVE SAVE with a Savings Account
Open a savings account - Many times when an emergency occurs, we have no choice but to turn to a credit card in order to cover the expense. If you simply start a savings plan, you will have money available to cover anything that happens. Simply put a small portion of your paycheck into the savings account each time you get paid. Over time, the amount in the account will grow. Knowing that you have the money in the account to cover any unforeseen emergencies will make you feel safe and secure.
Click here to contact Your Mortgages for personal adivce and for more expense management tips to help get out of debt.