Rate State » Budgeting

Free Budgeting Tool with Business Budget

Mark — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 19:23:01 +0000

I‘ve created a new Excel zero-based budgeting spreadsheet that’s very similar to the original spreadsheet found here that’s been very popular. The main difference is that it now sports integration with a simple business budget. This allows you to get a more complete picture of your finances from month to month while keeping your personal and business budgets separate.

The business portion of the budget is not a zero-based budget but a more conventional one with the ability to indentify and predict multiple income types. To make things easier for you I recorded a screencast that takes you through the basics of how to use it.

It is not a fancy spreadsheet by any means. It is a simple and straightforward way to keep track of what you hope to achieve. I have found that despite all the fancy budgeting solutions available today I keep coming back to my tried and true Excel spreadsheets.

Check out the YouTube overview below or view it on YouTube.

Download the Zero-Based budgeting with Business Budget spreadsheet here

10 money habits – the nasty ones

Mark — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 19:28:38 +0000

Here’s an article worth mentioning off Bankrate via MSN. (Confused)
Anyways, it contains some good “not to do’s” regarding your money. In a nutshell you shouldn’t do the following…

Spending without a budget.
Carrying a balance on credit cards.
Ignoring interest rates.
Not investigating disability insurance.
Failing to see how little purchases add up.
Not matching employer’s contribution to retirement.
Waiting until the last minute to fund IRA.
Paying everyone else, saving “what’s left.”
Not managing your investments.
Getting emotional about your investments.

The article describes each no-no in depth so go check it out.

Full Article at MoneyCentral

Why are you in debt?

Mark — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 17:16:31 +0000

I know this is a sensitive question, but why are you in debt? More specifically why are you in debt with credit cards and other non-mortgage debt? I know why I was in debt. I wanted more than I could pay for. And once I had more than I could pay for I found myself making payments on my debt with more debt. A death spiral and one that many, many people find themselves in.
Here’s the great things that consumer debt can do for you:
1. Take away options – When you’d rather (fill in the blank), you have to work instead to keep your head above water.
2. Increases stress in your life and the life of your friends and family.
3. Create all sorts of headaches (and heartburn) when you finally can’t make a payment or two and the creditors start calling you.
4. It can cost you everything: your home, your possessions, your marriage, and in very extreme situations, your life.
5. It can keep you from getting a great job. Employers are increasingly checking credit reports before hiring.
6. Steal your retirement – Every dollar in interest paid is potentially one less day of retirement.

The negatives of consumer debt could go on and on. But the question is a very valid one because it tells us about financial motivations. Once again, why are you in debt? And, do you want out?

Best financial advice – What do you want to know?

Mark — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 00:32:15 +0000

Because we actually care about your financial future – and believe it or not, we do – we’d like to know what financial subjects our reading public are most curious about. Is it budgeting? Saving? Retirement? Mortgages? Something else?
Please take a few moments to sound off on what you want to know the most about. We’ll do our best to provide you with relevant information you can actually use.

Technorati Tags: Budgeting, Credit, Debt, Finance, Finance Tools, Investing, Mortgages, Real Estate, Retirement

How to save money

Mark — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 15:53:01 +0000

The concept of saving money is very simple: Don’t spend everything you make. Put some away into savings. Actually doing savings is much more difficult. Right? However, there is one common theme I keep hearing no matter which financial guru I happen to see on t.v. or read from. Here it is: PAY YOURSELF 10% OF YOUR INCOME BEFORE YOU PAY ANYONE OR ANYTHING ELSE! (this includes creditors, collection agents, the grocery store, your mp3 habit, Bob’s Steak and Rib Pub, etc, etc, etc.)
Now before you lose patience with me because you either think this is too simple to work, too dumb to work, or simply not worth it let me assure you – It is the best possible way to start on your path to financial prosperity. Having been hugely in debt and low on cash flow a mere 5 years ago I can attest to the effectiveness of using this method. It’s absolutely amazing how quickly a nice little cash cushion can add up and be there for you in case of a real emergency or an opportunity to pay off debt. It can also be rolled over into investments if your debt is paid off. The key is that you have to give it shot, work it consistently, and be rewarded with the gratification of not being a part of the status-quo who don’t have a pot to “you know what” in.

I recommend using an ING Direct account to put your savings in. ING is currently paying over 5% interest (which is about 4.75% more than your bank will likely pay you in your savings account.) and it’s easy to set up and use. One nice feature is that is takes a couple of days to transfer money back and forth. This can keep you from spending your money on impulse but won’t keep you from using it in emergencies.

Begin saving at ING Direct

Technorati Tags: Budgeting, Debt, Finance, Finance Tools, Investing, Retirement

Retire earlier by cutting corners

Mark — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 00:25:34 +0000

You’ve probably heard the old adage “a penny saved is a penny earned” right? How about this modern twist – “A penny saved is $200 (if invested wisely and compounded over 20 years)” Well, I’m not exactly sure how much compounding it takes to turn a penny into $200 but I’m very sure that saving money leads to wealth. There’s absolutely no doubt about that! The Motley Fool just published a great article about how cutting corners on things like eating out and expensive coffee drinks can help you retire much sooner.

Are you fretting about your lack of savings and the amount you’re putting away for retirement? Well, me too. I always do. Today I want to tell you the best way I’ve found to accumulate money beyond setting aside part of your paycheck each month. It’s fairly easy and fairly painless, and it could add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars by the time you retire. – Rex Moore via The Motley Fool

How To Retire Faster via the Motley Fool

Here’s another quick and easy idea! The Orange Savings Account. Earn 4.35%. Great rates, no fees, no minimums

Technorati Tags: Budgeting, Finance, Investing, Retirement

Free Budgeting Tool

Mark — Tue, 11 Apr 2006 17:38:16 +0000

Here is a simple Zero based budgeting tool created in Excel for your personal finances that we created for your use. It is based on Dave Ramsey’s “zero based budget”. The idea is that whatever money you bring in per pay period gets 100% allocated to a particular category. If you have excess dollars once you’ve allocated to all the categories then you need to adjust where your money is going.

The end result is that you will know exactly where your money is going every pay period. Another suggestion is to create an envelope for each category and withdraw the pre-determined amount of cash and place it in that envelope. When the money is gone from that envelope, you’re done! (or you move some money from another envelope.)

Try to remember that no budgeting system is fool proof. You still need to exercise discipline to make it work. It’s also possible that at first you may not allocate a reasonable amount of money for a particular category. In that case you’re going to run out of dough no matter how well you plan.
Remember to be responsible with your credit card purchases and your willingness to take out loans. Use common sense!

Click here for the free budgeting template

Technorati Tags: Finance, Finance Tools, Investing, Retirement

Budgeting. A HUGE must!

Mark — Tue, 21 Mar 2006 06:04:05 +0000

One of the keys to financial success (perhaps the most important key of all) is the monthly budget. It is absolutely amazing how quickly your finances can come together and start to make sense when all you had before was a vague idea of where your money was going and a sense of foreboding.

The truth is that budgeting takes a certain amount of discipline. Some people struggle with it more than others. Giving up impulse spending for planned spending (and savings) can be very difficult. But if you don’t start doing it…guess what…you’re probably going to be broke your whole life. Harsh but most likely true.
The upside of budgeting is that you’ll have more discretionary money, more savings, more options, and the overall peace of mind that comes from you managing your money. Not your money managing you.

My wife and I scoured the internet for a good budget tool that integrated well with our financial institution yet wasn’t overly complicated. We finally settled on Mvelopes to manage our money. It’s been very, very effective.

For a preview of its features click here

Take a tour of Mvelopes Personal

Technorati Tags: Finance, Finance Tools, Budgeting