Financial Planning

What makes up a good budget? What expenses should you include in the budget? What can you do about variable expenses in your budget? How can you personalize a budget?

Where are you going?

The key to a good budget or spending plan is knowing where you have been and where you want to go. Knowing where you have been is done by insuring you have written down where all you money has been going. You can find this information by categorizing and reviewing your last 6 months of check registers or other accounting methods you have been employing. If you have no such method in place, you have just uncovered your main budgeting problem which is the first item to be corrected.

If on the other hand you use a check register or other means but have numerous general entries such as “cash” or “miscellaneous” or other unidentifiable labels, this too must be corrected. You MUST know where your money is going before you can divert it. I recommend carrying a small spiral notebook for at least 2 weeks (longer is far better) and recording every cash transaction. I have never had a client or student do this who has not come back to me amazed by what they had learned from this experience.

Budget Labels

Once you have a record of all your expenses for a decent period of time, the remainder of the budgeting process is relatively easy. The following labels can be used to guide you in listing what debts and expenses go where in organizing your finances. Nothing from the list below is written in concrete. So adjust the labels to suit your particular needs. Where an entry is variable, enter a monthly average based upon past history and expected futures.

Here is a suggested list of budget items:

Income:
Your Income
Spouse’s Income
Other Income
Expenses:
Fixed Expense
Rent (not mortgage)
Other Housing
Child Care
Child Support
Alimony
House insurance
Car Insurance
Medical/Dental Insurance
Life Insurance
Other Insurance
Variable Expenses:
Utilities
Phone
Cell
Cable
Internet
Other Utility
Transportation
Food
Clothing
Medical Expense
Personal
Entertainment
Savings
Other Variable Expenses
Secured Debt – Those bills/debts which have a tangible asset (Mortgage, Auto, etc)
Un-secured Debt – Those debts which offer nothing tangible that can be taken from you for non-payment (credit cards, medical bills, etc.)

Federal Guidelines For Household Budgets
The following are recommended percentages for household expenses. They are offered by the federal government in bankruptcy counseling nationwide. They should be used only as guidelines.

Housing 25%
Transportation 15%
Utilities 10%
Food 10%
Clothing 5%
Medical 10%
Personal 5%
Other 5%
Savings 10%

Too many Americans are paralyzed and overwhelmed by their debts. The desire to get out is real, but as bills come in and money goes out, hopelessness kicks in and making drastic change feels incredibly overwhelming…

For all people who are in debt this process will continue until they either A) pay off what they owe and stay out or B) file for bankruptcy and later be in a great spot to make the same mistakes!

For the motivated person who is willing to do what it takes to get out, here are 3 ways that can get you COMPLETELY out of debt.

1.) Put A Realistic Budget Together And Follow It

A wise man said: “You’ll either tell your money what to do beforehand or it will do what it wants afterwards”.

So many people I talk with say “I’m already spending as little as I can… I don’t need a budget”… I guarantee that is not at ALL the case… you’ll be surprised at what you see when your expenses are outlined on paper.

Don’t get all complicated and technical with crazy spreadsheets and software… just get out a piece of paper and write down all the regular monthly expenses you can’t do without, including your debts.

Now allocate your income to those expenses and *stick to it*!

2.) Negotiate A Lower Interest Rate With Credit Cards

Many people don’t know this but 99% of the time your credit card company will give you a lower interest rate just by your asking for it!

Why? Because there’s *so much* competition out there and they want to keep your business. If they say “no”, tell them another company made you an offer for a lower rate! (You wouldn’t be lying… those offers are very easy to find and they know it!)

3.) Consolidate Your Credit Card Bills Into One Payment

There are plenty of companies out there that will call each of your credit card companies, negotiate a lower interest rate and even lower balance payment, and put them all into one bill for you to pay.

No more having to organize multiple credit card bills and pay them separately!

Note: Consolidation is not for everybody. Make sure you talk to a trusted financial advisor first!

To live a debt free life is a good option to think in using Christian debt management. If you have a big debt this can be one of the best solutions for you, but even if this is your first time you have problems with debt, Christian debt management can be a good option. Many of these Christian options are based on nonprofit schemes, so most of the times you only pay for the minimum expenses they incur. Contrary to the prices you have to pay for other options in the same category. Additional to this, Christian debt management agencies will give you a lot of help during the process.

Which option is right for you?

No matter the name, you don’t need to have a religious background to be part of a Christian debt management program. If you are searching for help to reduce the debts you have in the long term, these agencies will give you the support you need. An experienced advisor in debt management can help you by phone or personally. This kind of advisor will guide you trough the process of understanding your financial situation and how to do better decisions in the future.

What can this debt management program give you?

The benefits of a Christian debt management program compared to others are many. For example:

* Reduce the amount of your debt. If you have a penalty they can help you even more.
* Reduce your interest rate down to 6 to 8 percent, based on all your debts.
* Depending on your current financial circumstance; a plan to become debt free in some months or years.
* Creation of a budget to start paying your debts and financial objectives based on your own situation.

You will learn as you do with Christian debt management and that is one of the best benefits you can get. Is very common that your advisor teach you how to do a budget and with it plan to fulfill your personal needs and desires (financially talking). At the same time he will teach you financial methods to improve your habits around money, so you will be able to deal with your debts and at the same time plan for a long term solution to your financial security.Christian debt management is a very affordable and interesting solution for your debt management needs. The financial education you will receive is priceless, so start planning for your future with this amazing opportunity.

Credit and debt are something which can only creates tensions in consumer’s life nothing else. Getting out of debt is not an easy thing it require lot of efforts and self motivation. There are a lot of programs through which consumers can get rid of debts which they are not able to pay. Some of most important programs are debt consolidation, debt settlement, credit and debt counseling and bankruptcy. Every one of these has some good as well as some bed points. Its consumer choice, that which program they like most suitable for them.

Credit and debt counseling in Texas both are specially designed for those consumers who really want to get rid from there debts or it is for consumers who are interested to minimize there debts consequences. The important things is that consumers should go for some authorized and well reputed credit and debt counselor as there are also some inexperienced and fraud counselors which can only waste consumers money. If you want a credit and debt counseling in Texas than you should try to contact those consumers who have utilized the services of some credit and debt counselor as this thing helps you in finding out some good counselor.

Credit and debt counseling in Texas is helpful for consumers if they realize it especially for those consumers who really want to pay off there debts. A good credit and debt counseling in Texas helps consumers in managing there monthly payments and minimizing there total debts. Credit and debt consoler brings a positive change in consumer’s lives as they get rid from collection calls of creditors and collection agencies. Credit and debt counselor also helps consumers in maintaining good credit score. Consumers start feeling less pressure and less burden on there shoulders. Credit and debt counseling in Texas is gaining much popularity because of its several benefits for consumers. It depends on consumers that at what stage they decide to hire the services of some good credit and debt counselor.

Credit card debt reduction is farthest from the mind of an average American who could accumulate between $5,000 to $10,000 spending money by maintaining several credit cards. But having this amount of money, it would also be difficult to steer away from indebtedness. The scenario would be like the old adage, that is easier to gain weight than to lose it. It is easier to accumulate debts than saving money to pay off these debts.

However, there are several steps one can follow in credit card debt reduction. But loan applicants should not forget that paying all