Comments on: Four Fast Financial Fixes

By: Investing 101

Investing 101 — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 16:20:30 +0000

I was just about to make the comment about budgeting when I realized David beat me to it. I personally do a combination of budgeting and putting things on automatic, which is something I picked up from David Bach. Works like a charm once you set it up and start doing it for a couple months.

By: David

David — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 01:55:02 +0000

Good article Jim. I think you could add budgeting to the list. An obvious thing, but really the foundation to long term financial success. One thing that helps make budgets easier to manage and to keep, is to use an allowance system. Each member of the family gets an agreed amount of money on “payday” to spend on things they need, want and as they please! The budget master of the house sets the allowance amounts for each family member and knows the spending will stay in budget because no one can spend more than their allowance for each pay period. That way you stay disciplined and on course month after month.

And of course, the emergency fund you have takes care of the unexpected.
See http://www.theallowancesystem.com for more details on setting up an allowance system.

By: Megan

Megan — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 04:25:33 +0000

Thanks for the tips Jim. I have already done the first two things on your list. Starting an emergency fund was easy, but contributing to it on a regular basis is proving to be quite a challenge. I will look into getting a Roth IRA as soon as possible.

By: Kristen

Kristen — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 03:05:48 +0000

Nice tips Jim!

Another good way to simplify your finances is to sign up for automatic bill pay. This way, you’re never late with your bills. It’s made my life a whole lot easier. You just have to be sure you keep enough in your accounts so that you never over-draw them.

Kristen
@ filife

By: Repaire Credit Score

Repaire Credit Score — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 15:40:26 +0000

I got a shock when I got my credit report – I simply hadn’t realised how much information they held going back six years. They even had an incorrect address a credit card lender had typed on their system by mistake following a move of house (a neighbour kindly brought the letter round as it had been sent to their address instead). Even though I contacted the lender and they corrected the address on their system, the credit report still had a note on their account saying “may be associated with the following address (my neighbours)!”

By: Paul @ FiscalGeek

Paul @ FiscalGeek — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 20:45:58 +0000

I did the multiple accounts thing for a long time trying to trick myself into saving money, that was a big one for us finally getting on a budget and consolidating to one account. With too many accounts you just can’t monitor them appropriately.

By: DebtorinNYC

DebtorinNYC — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 17:20:11 +0000

If you sign up for the free trial of credit score monitoring, be SURE to cancel it. I forgot to cancel mine and I ended up paying $15.95 a month for it.