Personal Savings
In recognition of April as Financial Literacy Awareness Month, here are some tips for teaching children of all ages how to save and manage their own money.
Ages 3-6: Make It Visible. A simple action such as putting change in a jar can help teach youngsters some important lessons. Encourage kids to keep adding change to the jar and watch it grow over time. When it’s full, count the change together and use part of the funds to buy something as a reward. As the children get older, teach them about budgeting and splitting the change up into separate Continue Reading »
Personal Savings
Getting started with smart personal finance isn’t always easy. It’s one thing to read blogs like this one that offer budgeting and savings tips, but it’s another thing to actually do them.
Part of the problem is our society tends to idolize the “big winner” and not really appreciate the guy next door who bikes to work, cooks his own meals, shops at the thrift store, and gets all his books from the library. That sort of life isn’t glitzy. Yet it’s that sort of life that can — and does — lead to true wealth.
Talk with anyone Continue Reading »
Personal Credit
Most consumers understand that bankruptcy or foreclosure is going to tank your credit score and negatively impact it for the next seven years. But there are plenty of other smaller mistakes you can make that can turn a good credit score into a mediocre one. Here are some of the more common mistakes to steer clear of:
Open too many accounts at once: Credit card sign-on bonuses are enticing, but don’t sign up for every card that’s offering a reward as each application – and subsequent credit pull – will generate a hard inquiry on your credit report. Each Continue Reading »
Personal Savings
One of the cornerstones of any budget or personal financial plan is to have an Emergency Fund. For many, the hard part isn’t so much starting the Emergency Fund as it is leaving it alone.
It can be easy to let life get in the way. Perhaps you have begun putting money away for one reason, but find yourself needing to spend it on something more immediate like a car repair or a new boiler for your house. Even if you’re saving for something specific rather than a general emergency, it can be a real challenge to stop yourself Continue Reading »
Budgeting
Even if you have a good working budget, it’s easy to slip up on occasion. Sometimes it’s easy to get back on track, but other times might prove to be more difficult. Here are some tips to help keep you focused on making your budget work.
Spend Cash Only: This is unrealistic when talking about big-ticket items such as mortgage and car payments, but for everyday spending on items such as food and entertainment, this is very effective. When using a credit or debit card for these types of daily expenses, we sometimes aren’t aware of exactly how much Continue Reading »
Personal Credit
Many people lump credit card fraud and debit card fraud together, but there are actually critical differences between the two types of fraud.
If you receive a fraudulent charge on your credit card, contacting the bank that issued the card allows you to decline the charge and have it removed from your account. Since a credit account is essentially a managed debt, the removal of the charge erases that portion of the debt and you don’t pay any money out of your pocket.
If you receive a fraudulent charge on a debit card, however, the charge is applied directly to Continue Reading »
