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February 17th, 2008 — Budgeting, Personal Finance
When developing a budget or financial goals it can be tricky to figure out how far in advance you should plan. If you’re too short-sighted you could wind up with savings that don’t meet your needs. Conversely if you think too far out, you could be putting some of that money you’re tucking away for your savings to better use.
Here’s how to figure it all out:
What are your financial goals? List your financial goals on a piece of paper.
February 2nd, 2008 — Budgeting, Budgeting Software, Personal Finance
Want to create a monthly budget but don’t know where to start? By using a simple spreadsheet program like Microsoft Excel you can create a budget in a few minutes.
Here’s how to get it done!
Step 1: Open Excel or your favorite spreadsheet program, open a new spreadsheet and give it a name. If you want to lighten up the budgeting process, give it a positive name like ‘The Best Life Budget’
Step 2: Create four columns and name them: Category, Monthly Budget Amount, Actual Amount and Difference. If you want to really track your budget on a closer basis, add a column for each week of the month. It will look like this:
Category | Monthly Budget Amount | Week 1 Spending | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Monthly Total Spending
January 17th, 2008 — Budgeting, Personal Finance
Budgets are fantastic tools to keep smart business owners from spending too much, but what happens when you have more money than you’ve budgeted for?
What do you do when there is an excess? (What a problem to have!)
Experts advise us to not save the money but to reinvest in your business. How do you decide where to reinvest?
One of the best places you can reinvest your money is in your marketing plan. Amp up your marketing a bit and try a direct mail campaign or a large scale promotion.
Of course, just because you have a little extra money to spend doesn’t mean you want to jump into a new marketing tool without planning. As with any marketing tool, you’ll want to set goals for your plan and test it before you roll it out.
January 2nd, 2008 — Budgeting, Personal Finance, Personal Finance Help
Do you balance your checkbook?
Recently I had an eye-opening experience. I was sent an invoice for something I had already paid for. When I contacted the company, the representative asked me what the check number was on the check I sent.
I gulped. I didn’t keep track of my checks, let alone balance my account. It seemed like way too much work. I’m not an accountant, after all.
I had to swallow my pride. “I don’t know,” I said. “I don’t track my checks.” What could she say to that? All I could do was wait for the check that I was sure I wrote to clear the bank, and call them back.
May 17th, 2007 — Budgeting, Personal Finance
The thought of putting yourself and your family on a budget can often feels overwhelming for many. The truth of the matter is that not having a budget, operating with financial blinders on, is much more overwhelming than creating and sticking to a budget.
Before you even get started thinking about a budget, you’ll probably want to spend some time assessing your attitude to money. Money is not an evil or a bad thing. In fact money is wonderful!
Money enables you to have a roof over your head, to feed your family and pets, to keep you and your family healthy, and to wear the clothes that help you tell the world who you are and what you’re about. Money buys education opportunities, cultural experiences, and money enables you to help others in need.
Think positively about your money.
May 2nd, 2007 — Budgeting
When done correctly business bookkeeping can make budgeting easy.
Small business owners generally fall into two categories. There are the business owners that let their accounting tasks, invoicing, and payables pile up on their desk - or even in a shoe box, until they’re forced to face the music. Usually this happens around tax time.
The other side of the coin are the business owner that are amazingly organized and know where every penny of their money is going. What do these business owners have that the rest of us don’t?
More time? A PhD in accounting? Nope, chances are they have a system.
To put it more simply, they’re organized.
