Debt Free Life Hacks: Managing Money Like a Boss

So it's settled; another round of stimulus checks are making way to the mailboxes and bank accounts of eligible individuals. Don't know if you're eligible? Find out more by visiting the Economic Impact Payments page on the IRS website.  Extra Money, How will you spend it? Depending on your circumstances, this extra check can help in various ways. If you suffered a job loss or a cut in hours, the extra money could help you make ends meet. If you are fortunate to still be doing okay during these trying times, the check could help you in other areas. The key is not to be wasteful.  Here are some ideas on how to spend your stimulus check for those without an urgent need: Emergency Fund  💰- If you do not already have a fully-funded emergency fund, consider putting some or all of your stimulus check into an existing emergency fund. If you do not have one, start one with these funds.  Pay Down Debt ➖- Have some bills or debt you need to take care of? This is an excellent o...

Spending is easy. You go to the store, you see what you want and you get it. Maybe you're more into shopping online. How easy it is to type in your credit card number and hit submit? Even worse, you have different websites that save your payment details so all you have to do is throw some items into a virtual cart and checkout.  Spending can get out of control. You ever hear people talk about retail therapy? You're sad, so you shop, you're lonely, so you shop, you're bored so you shop, you're happy, so you shop. Soooo many reasons to shop.  Reasons to Stop Spending I'm tired of spending money. Have you ever looked around and thought to yourself, "I don't need ANYTHING!"? That's how I'm feeling these days. COVID-19 has us spending more time at home and probably more time online. This is where online shopping can start to get the best of you. In the beginning, I think I did quite a bit of shopping, some for my birthday, some since I couldn...

Every month, I have the same reaction to the percentage of the monthly budget that goes towards rent. It's a large chunk of money, and quite frankly too much in my opinion. Unfortunately, the rent isn't something that can easily be changed ( at least at the moment ). I decided that my energy would be better spent focusing on spending categories where I could make a difference, that is, categories that did have some wiggle room.  Below is the breakdown of the monthly budget.   Monthly Budget Income Allocation Housing 54% Food 18% Savings 15% Transportation 3% Giving 3% Personal 5% Lifestyle 2% Health 0% Insurance 0% Debt 0% You'll see that most categories are below 5% which is great, and no debt is an added bonus. So what next? A few weeks ago, I posted about going over budget on food and groceries. This was not something I wanted to repeat, so of course, it was a topic for the next budget committee meeting. Upon reviewing the budget it was determined that after housing ex...

A year ago, I decided that as a birthday gift for myself, I would get a one year certificate of deposit. After doing a little research, I found one that offered a 2% interest rate for a minimum deposit of $2,000. Well, I definitely wasn't going to make a fortune with this rate, however, I knew for one year I'd have $2,000 put away that couldn't be touched ( without a penalty ) and it would grow a little during that period. Since penalties are a no-no, I moved forward, confident I would not touch that money for a year. What is a Certificate of Deposit (CD)? A certificate of deposit is defined as "a certificate issued by a bank to a person depositing money for a specified length of time." The money earns an interest rate premium in exchange for investing for that set period of time. Should I get a CD? Perhaps you have a little extra money sitting aside and you are trying to figure out what to do with it. If all your bills are paid, your emergency fund is fully funde...

We've all heard the phrase, "you never miss the water until the well runs dry". Sometimes in life we get so caught up in everything that we don't spend enough time appreciating what we have. How Easily We Forget Things we easily take for granted like food, water, and lights hold so much value. It's not until we're hungry, thirsty, or in the dark that we realize have valuable these things are in our lives. Having lived in Florida for some time, I've seen some of the damage a hurricane can cause.  In those times, there may have been a loss of power for several days to weeks. Then is when you realize how important electricity is and how lost you may feel without it, even for a short time. Realize how valuable your money is before there isn't enough of it Money can be the same way. We can get so caught up in the routine - going to work, getting paid, paying bills, and just living life -  that we just expect it to always be that way. But life is...

Maybe the best motivation to get your finances in order is when you really take a look at your finances. Knowing how much you make and how much you spend is only a piece of that puzzle. Considering all of your assets and liabilities, are you looking at a positive or a negative difference? If  the difference is negative, than that is motivation to pay down debts. If the difference is 0, that’s good because you have no debt, but motivation to build assets up.  If the difference is positive, you’re definitely headed in the right direction. Keep it up! What is net worth? Most simply speaking, net worth is the difference between your assets and liabilities. If all your loans and debts were paid, how much money remains? Consider that your net worth.  Examples:  Betty has a total of $10,000 in savings, $40,000 in retirement, $30,000 in student loans, and a $10,000 car loan. Betty’s net worth is $10,000 ($50,000 - $40,000). Jackie has a total of $50,000 in ...

It’s tax season and for different people, this means different things. For some, tax payments are due😞. For others, a tax refund is owed😊. Hopefully, you’re in that second group. If you are, you are in luck! Proceed with caution though,  it is important to have a plan for the money so that you do not squander it all. The same holds true if you were to receive a stimulus check ; proceed with caution. Recently, I was watching an episode of Shameless. Upon receiving a tax refund check, one of the characters was immediately tempted to spend the money. He felt like it needed to be spent and needed to be spent immediately. Unfortunately, his ideas were to spend the money on wasteful things like the lottery, casino, etc. This is a prime example of what not to do.🤑 There are many ways that you may choose to spend any extra income, and of course, you know your situation best. Below are some ideas to get you started. 10 Ideas on what to do with a tax refund or stimulus check: ...

Time is our most valuable asset, and once lost, we can never get it back. That’s why it’s so important to spend your time wisely and make sure your efforts are not in vain. In order to truly manage your money like a boss, you must be vigilant about knowing what goes in and what goes out. Having auto-bill pay is easy and convenient, just as long as you’re actually looking at the bills. It’s easy to miss a charge or charges otherwise. I recently made a call to my internet provider because a bill that is normally $50, was over two times higher, nearly $130. This HAD to be a mistake. There were charges for items and services that should have not been charged. While valuable time had to be spent calling the company, in the long run it was worth it. When all was said and done, the bill ended up being under $7. Had I not been paying attention,   I would have automatically paid the unusually high bill and that would have been the end. The point is to not be too busy being busy th...

If last year was a great year financially, keep the momentum going!  Go ahead, CELEBRATE! If last year was a terrible year financially, figure out why and if it was something in your control, it’s time to take control! Money is Tricky! The holiday season threw me a bit. Now working for a company where holidays require the use of personal time is taking some adjustment. For one, I barely had any leave hours to use for the holidays. So what did that mean? That means I needed to make some budget adjustments as my next few checks were going to be short ( from like November to January... ouch ! ). Hours I did not have were deducted from my paycheck. >>>>>>>>> 😢😢😭 <<<<<<<<< Additionally, I was in the process of moving which tends to be a major expense (1st, last month’s rent, security deposit, moving company/truck, utility transfer fees, and more on top of paying the current’s month rent at the old place). It surely ...

They only person you should be outdoing is yourself! Too often, people get caught up in what other people have or what others are doing. It's those social pressures of the world that make some people rush into marriages, rush to have babies, rush to buy houses, rush to buy fancy cars...you get the picture. What's the rush? Why do you think you have to keep up with your friends, family, and neighbors? Who made those rules? As comedian Kevin Hart jokes in a comedy skit, "stay in your lane". If more people did this, there would likely be less debt. That's a bold statement, yes, but think about it. More Debt - Rushing to buy a fancy house and car because that's what "everyone" around you has will likely lead to mortgages and car payments that are higher than what you can afford at the time. Only once you can accept your current financial position and only make purchases that reflect your true values will you find peace. Trying to keep up with ever...

There's a great saying that I learned from my mother,   Treat yourself don't cheat yourself .  I'm all for this, and I enjoy a treat when well deserved. An important question to ask is, are you doing too much treating? People work hard and I believe that when you work hard, one should also play hard.  In this light, there is nothing wrong with rewarding yourself for accomplishments or reaching major milestones. The key is to make sure your rewards are reasonable and fair. Reasonable and Fair? You just successfully completed a challenging night course and to celebrate you decide to treat yourself to dinner at your favorite restaurant. That's a reasonable and fair treat. If you went out and leased a brand new car to reward yourself, that purchase is not as reasonable and is more a trick than a treat. The trick is you'll have payments every month, higher insurance, and more debt. Rewarding yourself once has now become a reoccurring expenses.  That exam...

As I mentioned in a recent post, last week I started Financial Peace University (FPU). Ever heard of Dave Ramsey? He is the creator of FPU. FPU is a course that teaches participants how to budget, how to pay off debts, how to save and give.  While not in debt, I knew the program still had lots to offer and that I could only benefit from participating.  The course follows 7 "Baby Steps". While familiar with the program and the baby steps from the books and podcast, I still learned some new things. One thing was that no matter what your financial situation there is always room for growth and room for improvement. I've become even more determined to build wealth and do what is necessary to protect said wealth, once accumulated (when, not if 😁). I went home immediately trying to think of ways to grow my emergency fund (Baby Step 3) and then focus on Baby Step 3b, which is to save 20% for the down payment of a new home. Another thing that I was introduced to wa...

When it comes to expenses, there are things we have control over and others we do not. The key is eliminating unnecessary expenses whenever possible. Unnecessary expenses are those that we do have control over and that we bring on ourselves. I knew someone who would rent movies from the Redbox and forget to return them. She'd end up having to purchase them. While renting the movies is somewhat inexpensive if you keep them longer than the agreed-upon time, you could end up with some hefty fees. For each day that you keep a rental, you are charged an additional daily rental rate plus tax(if applicable). There is a maximum rental period for each type of rental. When you reach the maximum rental period, you're then charged the maximum charge.  This means that a $2 rental could end up costing you up to $70 dollars ($29.75 for a DVD, $34.00 for a Blu-Ray Disc, and $69.00 for a game). Yes...you read that right. Talk about unnecessary expenses! Just think if you had multiple rentals ...

The Credit Score... There are a number of factors that come into play when it comes to the credit score. While I won't go into much detail, I'd like to briefly touch on a few things. There is a lot of importance placed on the credit score, and there's plenty of reasons for that. I argue, however, that one should not be obsessed with their credit score. As long as you're managing your money like a boss, there is nothing to worry about. The score(s) tend to fluctuate and vary depending on where you look and when you check. Often times there is no need to worry.  While the image displayed above shows an increase by 9 points, 8 days later it showed a 2 point drop.  It's important no get worked up over these minor changes.  Good financial habits such as those below often lead to higher scores: Keeping Balances Low -  This means you're not carrying large balances from month to month. You're paying bills in full or paying more than just the minimum.  Cr...

Check out this week's video post on zero-based budgeting. 

Start yourself off with a clean slate, start each month with a clean slate. $0 Balance Due It's a new day, a new week, a new month. How's your slate looking? Are you carrying a lot of debt over from month to month? 😢After paying your rent do you still have lots of expenses crying for your attention?🙋 Today's post will share a technique I use to start of each month debt-free.  I keep a monthly budget; using zero-based budgeting(Put simply this is you telling your money what to do: Current Month's Income - Current Month's Expenses/Spending = $0 ). I typically update my spreadsheet weekly (sometimes biweekly...trying to do better) with the recent purchases and payments. This helps keep me on track and lets me know how much I have left to spend in each category.  If I see that I've spent 75% of the grocery budget and it's only week 2 of the month, there is a problem and I need to carefully watch my spending in that category for the rest of the month...

When you know better you do better! First, I would like to commend you for visiting this blog and reading this post. Why? It says a lot about who you are and your interest in your finances. A big part of " Managing your Money Like a Boss " and being debt-free is knowledge. If you're reading this, that means you're actively learning and growing or reinforcing the knowledge you may already have. Have you ever heard the phrase "Knowlege is power"? It's true. Now, knowledge without action/activity is somewhat useless, but acquired knowledge gives you the power to make informed decisions.  When it comes to managing your money, you want to be knowledgable and in power. The best way to do this is to learn as much as you can about finances, budgeting, money management, debt management, investing, etc. No one expects you to be an expert in all topics, but knowing a little something can take you far.  Here are some ways to increase your financial know...

I was chatting with a colleague during our afternoon walk and we discussed her AC needing to be repaired and the possibility of it needing to be replaced at some point in the future. Her hope was that it would be years down the line before it would need replacing stating she did not have $5,000 to replace the entire system. My recommendation? Start preparing now. Do some research, price the parts and labor and then start saving specifically for that expense. Do it before you need it so that when it does go out completely you won't have to go long without air, scrape to find the money, borrow the money, or add it to a credit card that's already close to being maxed out.  Even if she doesn't have the full amount saved by the time it goes out, something is surely better than nothing.  This method can work for just about anything. You begin with the end in mind ( a strategy for course design that happens to work in other instances ). Decide what you want, how much it cos...

You pay $200 a month for cable and have NO savings! 😟 In today's world of streaming media services, it is sometimes hard to believe that some still rely heavily on cable services and satellite TV.  Of course, sports buffs may be hard to convince, but there are other options.  The primary purpose of this post is to get into the heads of those who put nonessential services before creating a safety net for themselves and those they may support.  My goal is not to bash cable but hear me out.  If you have reoccurring services/bills for nonessentials, consider how going without ( even for a short tim e) can help you to build up savings/emergency fund.  Examples of Services and Potential Annual Savings: Service Potential Annual Savings Note Cable/Satellite $1100+ Assuming a bill of between $85 - $100 monthly. Savings will vary based on the actual amount paid. Satellite Radio/Streaming Radio, Game St...