Skip to content

TIPS TO SAVE MONEY

After the holidays we all can relate to the dread of opening a credit card statement and wondering how long it will take you to pay off holiday debt. Here are our best tips to budgeting to recoup from the holidays:

 

Budgeting

Making a budget is probably the hardest step, but also the most rewarding, if done correctly. When you are starting to budget, you will need to first detail a list of your fixed costs – those expenses that you must pay. Fixed costs could include mortgage payments or rent, strata payments (if applicable), property tax payments (if applicable), electricity costs, water costs, internet, and more. After this you will need to determine your variable expenses, or the other main costs you have such as food, entertainment, and daycare.

Once you have set a price tag on all of your fixed costs and variable expenses, it’s time to decide how to manage the budget. The best practice to ensure your budget is executed is with a simple practice of cash in jars. The idea behind money jars is that each is given an item line from your budget – for example one jar will have “food” written on it, another represents “entertainment”, and so on. As you get paid, you withdraw the funds you need to top up the jars to the amount specified on the budget. After this, you have that set amount to spend. Having funds in a jar will make you more aware of expenses because the available funds are consciously in sight.

The problem with budgeting but still utilizing your cards is the ability to overspend and not notice. This is the common issue if, for example, you are using a credit card for points but aren’t keeping track of spending.

 

Pay the high interest debts first

You should always ensure you are paying your minimum payment on all of your debts as required – but where should you put the bulk of the money when budgeting to pay off debt? Always pay off high interest debts first. By paying off the higher balance cards as priority, this will reduce your overall interest costs being charged to you on a monthly basis. As you reduce your credit obligations, more of your money will be paying off the direct principal of the debt instead of just the interest. Once you’ve completed one card, the best practice is to move onto the next highest-interest card.

After the holidays we all can relate to the dread of opening a credit card statement and wondering how long it will take you to pay off holiday debt. Here are our best tips to budgeting to recoup from the holidays:

Talk to your credit providers

Another great simple way to start reducing your debt load would be as simple as trading in the points credit card for the provider’s lowest interest credit card. Another alternative would be to open a Line of Credit (LOC). LOCs are typically known for having higher limits and lower interest rates than most credit cards. Depending on your situation, it might make sense to open an LOC and consolidate multiple high interest credit cards into one lower interest payment that could be more manageable.

Balances on cards

This won’t help you save money as much, but it will help you retain your credit score. Always ensure that when paying down your debts, you pay down to at least to 75% of the balance so your higher limits won’t start to negatively impact your credit score.

Needs over wants

As when we budget, we always have wants as well as our needs. You will need to award yourself when you hit milestones! It can be as simple as once you payoff one of your cards, you get to treat yourself with a dinner or purchase the one shirt you’ve noticed on that store shelf the last month. By rewarding yourself with small tokens, it will keep you motivated and feeling accomplished for being able to get yourself in a better financial situation.

Although budgeting can be hard, tiring and hard to stick to like our new years resolutions – 3 weeks creates a routine, 6 months makes a habit!

27 Comments

  9. I know this web page offers quality based posts and additional stuff, is there any
    other web site which provides these information in quality?

  11. Hmm it seems like your website ate my first comment (it was
    extremely long) so I guess I’ll just sum it up what I had written and say, I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog.

    I as well am an aspiring blog writer but I’m still new to the whole thing.

    Do you have any tips for inexperienced blog writers? I’d
    certainly appreciate it.

  12. Fantastic goods from you, man. I have understand your
    stuff previous to and you are just too wonderful. I really like what you’ve acquired here,
    certainly like what you’re stating and the way in which you say it.
    You make it entertaining and you still take care
    of to keep it wise. I cant wait to read much more from you.
    This is really a terrific web site.

  13. 丁寧な説明で大変参考になりました。実際のサイズ詳細が明らかになり購入検討がしやすくなる。全体の造形バランスや細かい部位の仕上がりがリアル。オプション追加でよりリアルな仕上がりになることが確認できる。このような誠実な対応から強い信頼感を覚えます

  14. Asking questions are actually fastidious thing if you are not
    understanding something completely, except this article provides good understanding
    yet.

  15. excellent issues altogether, you just received a new reader.

    What may you recommend in regards to your
    publish that you simply made some days in the past?

    Any sure?

  17. I’ve been exploring for a little bit for any high-quality articles or weblog posts in this kind of house .

    Exploring in Yahoo I eventually stumbled upon this site.
    Reading this info So i am happy to express that I’ve a very excellent uncanny feeling I discovered exactly what I needed.
    I most unquestionably will make sure to don?t forget this web site and
    give it a look regularly.

  18. The most well-known popular sex tube on the net,
    Experience TubePorn.TV! The horniest and sexiest women who
    appear in the greatest sex clips you’ve ever seen are the most spooky
    thumbs up! Chose from a massive variety of inspiring porn films in any genre.
    webpage https://mygrandopening.com/author/gonzalowithrow/

  19. I admire your blog , it has of lot of information.
    You just got a perennial visitor of this blog.

  20. Hey are using WordPress for your blog platform?
    I’m new to the blog world but I’m trying to get started and set up my own. Do you
    require any coding expertise to make your own blog?
    Any help would be really appreciated!

  21. Remarkable things here. I am very glad to peer your article.
    Thank you so much and I’m looking forward to touch you.
    Will you kindly drop me a mail?

  23. Hey there! This is my first comment here
    so I just wanted to give a quick shout out and say I genuinely enjoy reading your articles.
    Can you suggest any other blogs/websites/forums that go over
    the same subjects? Thanks a lot!

  24. Woah! I’m really enjoying the template/theme of this blog.
    It’s simple, yet effective. A lot of times it’s very
    hard to get that “perfect balance” between superb usability and visual appearance.
    I must say that you’ve done a fantastic job with this.
    Additionally, the blog loads extremely quick for me on Firefox.
    Superb Blog!

  25. Useful information. Fortunate me I discovered your site accidentally, and
    I’m shocked why this twist of fate didn’t took place
    earlier! I bookmarked it.

  27. Paragraph writing is also a fun, if you be familiar with
    after that you can write otherwise it is difficult to write.

Add a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Ready to get a best solution for your business?

Nam sed est et nunc ullamcorper commodo vitae in risus. Suspendisse ac est eget mi fringilla accumsan.

Get Start Now