Entries Tagged 'budget planning' ↓

Planning ahead is not planning in vain. People will add years into their lives until they have reached a moment when they want to retire. But with inflation, longer life expectancy and doubts on the Social Security’s future, how will you know how much retirement fund you will need?

Every person needs to retire and sometimes are forced to retire due to unforeseen circumstances. The years of retirement need not be a life of boredom and dullness but one that is happy and prosperous. Picturing yourself in the latter situation depends on the steps that you are taking today. Since there are so many changing variables in the offices, investing now with the future in mind seems like a viable idea. In addition to that, steering the wheel of your finances in the future can lead to a more comfortable retirement.

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A new online financial management application aims to help people who’d like to track their expenses easily - Expensr.

You can fill in your every penny you spend and what have you spent it on to come up with a pie chart that will help you in analyzing (Category Analysis) where your money goes. You can even import bank data to your Expensr account to easily record bank transactions.

Signing up for an Expensr account was a breeze. If you’d like to learn more about it, here is a demo of this financial management tool.

Tags: Expensr, track expenses

Like what Forrest Gump’s famous line says, life is indeed like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get.  You may be contented with your life now, with a stable job, a roof under your head, you are able to pay all the bills with your salary plus extra money to provide for your leisure needs, the next day you find yourself fired for whatever reasons, and you find yourself looking for something to pawn or sell, just to be able to buy food and pay your bills, because you have forgotten to save.  Let’s face reality, this do happen.

Emergency funds are a total necessity for financial security because they give you funds to fall back on in case you become ill or disabled and can’t work, or if you or your spouse lose your job, incur large medical bills, or have an unexpected large bill such as school expenses and a major car or home repair.

When I have exceeded my own emergency fund saving goals this year, I invested the excess funds on real estate using it for downpayment. I have $500 left in my emergency fund savings account and I’d like to double that before the second quarter of this year ends. So that’s a goal of $1,000 on my emergency fund savings account by June, 2007.  

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If you think New York is the most expensive city in the world, think again.  It is currently not even in the top 10.  The top 3 honors go to Oslo, Paris and Copenhagen and the rest are still European cities with the exception of Tokyo and Osaka, which currently hold the 5th and 6th spots, respectively.  (Source)

If you’ve been dreaming of living in any of these cities but can only afford to do so cheaply, there are ways to do it. Continue reading →

Although the Congress has recently passed a bill to lower interest rates on student loans, and other laws related to college financing might get more attention during the current legislative season, college tuition fees are not going down considerably.

And this means that not any law should make parents become less thorough in tackling their kids’ college financing issues.

A Forbes feature by Jack Kopnisky about college financing presented the following guidelines for families to get the most out of their kids’ college financing planning:

Get an early start. Families should start discussing college financing at least as early as they begin to talk about the student’s academic and career goals. A logical time to hold the first conversation is when the student enters high school as a freshman.

Be informed. Both parents and students should take time to conduct research on financing options and processes before sitting down to discuss what mix best addresses their particular circumstances. Also, it is important that families seek out and take advantage of all federal aid available to them before turning to alternative financing options like private loans. Applying for federal and institutional aid requires some advance planning.

Be honest. Parents should be forthcoming about family finances and the amount they are prepared to pay for their child’s education. Interestingly, only 63% of the parents First Marblehead surveyed told their child how much they had saved for their college education, but 88% of students and 81% of parents agree that parents should be upfront about their ability to pay for college with their kids. Setting appropriate expectations early in the college selection process can help to mitigate possible areas of tension.

[image from bls.gov]

Any group or organization, whether commercial or private, needs to earn money in order to thrive and survive. Sadly, not all companies are fortunate enough to find themselves in the red at the end of every day. Some companies will find themselves in debt long before they receive the income they anticipate to get. Others will suddenly find their once booming business rolling slowly downhill.

Even private individuals forget how much income they have, and, whether in despair or excitement, often find themselves forgetting about their budgets.

An effective budget plan should be able to help anyone, whether a company, organization, or person, save money and spend it wisely. A well-drawn, detailed budget plan can keep you from running into debt by showing you exactly what you can or cannot afford to purchase, and by showing you how much money you have saved, or if you have saved any money at all. A good budget plan can be done by anyone, from a large company hoping to allocate its funds into socially-directed activities, to the father of a large family thinking about what gifts he can get his children for Christmas, to a young single living on his or her own for the first time. Continue reading →

All companies, organizations, and even private individuals would always want to be on the earning side of the financial bargain, by living according to means, and having money left over at the end of every day. This method of giving money and receiving it is easier written and read about than implemented. There are emergency expenditures that have to be made, impulsive purchases that are often regretted much later, and the stress of work or school that can make even the best of us forget our budget.

A complete budget plan can help your company or organization spend money wisely. It can also help you avoid going into debt, by clearly outlining how much you get, how much you need, and how much you have left over. An effective budget plan will give its maker a clearer sense of what he or she can afford to buy, or what he or she cannot afford to. The rules of budget planning apply to the largest of companies, to the simplest of housewives working out their household expenditure, to even the student struggling to make the grade while making ends meet.

In broad terms, a budget plan involves three major steps: identifying the extent of one’s income, recognizing expenditures, and then calculating the balance.

Work Out Your Income

The first step in making an effective budget plan is to draw up how much money you will receive, whether in the form of allowance, salary, wage, or even loans. On a sheet of paper, make two columns, with one side identifying the source of the income, and the other citing how much income you will receive from the source.

Make three versions of this document. One version will outline your income weekly, the other monthly, and the third yearly. This can give you a chance to plan your immediate, medium-term, and long-term purchases.

Identify Your Expenses

It is now time for you to write down your expenses. On another sheet of paper, make two columns, with one side identifying what you will spend on, and the other citing how much money you need to spend on it. You will need to make three versions of this document. One version will outline your weekly expenditures, which can include food, office supplies, or toiletry. The second version will outline your monthly expenditures, which can include rent, electric bills, water bills, and Internet bills. The third version will outline your yearly expenditures.

Be very careful in listing down your expenses and leave nothing out. You may neglect to outline small travel expenses, such as short commutes, because fares seem to be low. On a weekly or monthly basis, such expenses may indeed make up only a small percentage of total expenditures; on a yearly basis, however, such expenses can make a dent in your income.

You will have to take note of two kinds of expenditure. Non-discretionary expenditure includes all your necessities; discretionary expenditure, however, may include spending you will do for pleasure, such as entertainment for company guests, eating out with friends, or clothes. You will also need to factor in debts and loans, such as those incurred using your credit card.

Find Your Balance

Add up all your income, then add up all your expenses. Subtract your total expenses from your total income, and you will have your net savings. If you have more income than expenditure, then you have saved money; if the opposite is true however, you will need to rework your budget so that you do not run into debt.

You can also download budget planners so that you don’t miss a thing when you put that budget plan together.

[image from FranklinPud]