budget

Photo Source

Everybody wants a comfortable life, and if you can have a comfortable life with somebody you love, it makes it even better. A lot of work goes into a relationship, though, and if you want to achieve this comfort with your soul mate, you need to work together. 

If you’ve never done so before, it can be challenging to work out the best way to approach your finances, whether shared or not. This shouldn’t be a cause for worry, though, so here is some advice on how you and your partner can work together to live a happy and financially stable life. 

Be Honest with Each Other

Being honest about your finances will save a lot of friction and arguments. If you lay all your cards on the table, there should not be any problems. Never lie about debt or how much you spent on something, as these little lies will add up, and could morph into much larger problems later on. 

Of course, sometimes, you can’t be entirely honest, and if one of you is up all night searching for engagement rings for all preferences, then it can be tricky, especially if you share finances. Borrowing money from friends and family is something that you might be reluctant to do, but in some cases, this may be the only way around it. 

Stick To Your Budget No Matter What

It’s always hard to stick to a budget, and you can convince yourself that a few dollars here and there won’t hurt. However, this is never the case, and if you aren’t careful, you’ll see your spending snowball into something much more damaging. 

You will struggle to adapt to the budget at first. However, you must do so, and hold one another accountable should you slip up. These mistakes are okay as long as you don’t make a habit of it, but it will take more work and effort to get yourself back on track after slipping up. If you don’t want to deal with such a hassle, then you must stick to your budget as closely as possible. 

Have A Plan for Debt and More

Developing a plan before making any significant financial changes is always encouraged. It will prepare you both for running into trouble and make any issues more comfortable to manage. 

These debt plans can include credit card debt, student loans, or car financing. Knowing how much you can put towards your debt each month will ensure you can pay it off more efficiently, and before you know it, you’ll be entirely debt-free, which is something everyone should strive for. Once you have cleared your debt, whether this is short term or long term, you can start thinking about how you are going to live more comfortably.

Easy Living

Budgeting for a better life is never easy. Still, if you have the support of someone else besides you to help keep you on the level and prevent either of you from making any silly decisions, you’ll find that your lifestyle will flourish, so you can do everything you’ve ever wanted to, and more.

This post is sponsored by Diamond Bloggers. All opinions expressed are my own. Thank you.

When you start a family, you’ll be given different pieces of advice and financial warnings. You’ll be told that kids keep you up all night which they do. That your personal time is seriously cut down which it is. How incredible it is to have children and to love someone more than you ever thought possible. What people won’t talk to you about is the cost of having a family. That information they’ll let you figure that one out all by yourself.

Have you seen people driving around in expensive sports cars and planning luxury vacations? You can feel fairly certain those people don’t have kids. Or, if they do they have discovered the best ways to make your finances work for you when you have a family. That’s what we’re going to explore today, and we’ll start by looking at the right way to manage your budget.

Setting Up Your Big Monthly Budget

Everyone should have some sort of budget that they stick to each month or year. It will help ensure that you don’t spend more than you should and that you are able to keep those costs under complete control.

With a budget, it’s also possible to make sure that you have money in savings and that’s important. Most young couples don’t even have a thousand in savings, and that means they have no money at all for unexpected costs such as the potential bills they might have to pay. So, how do you set up your family budget the right way?

Well, you need to think about all the money you make. Include everything in this sum such as side hustles and investments. We’re going to look at both these options a little further down. Now that you have your total you need to look at your outgoings.

If you’re not sure of this, take a peek at your monthly statements. Look for patterns to give you an idea of what typically leaves your account each month. This will include food bills, energy bills, gas for the car and the list goes on.

When you’ve noticed and confirmed these patterns try and find cheaper ways to live your daily life without affecting your lifestyle. It can include anything from your bank charges, insurance, transportation cost. You can even go as far as getting cheaper energy rates. It will make your expenses more manageable and help you manage your finances better.

Once you have a substantial list subtract them all. Now, take a third of the total and mark that as savings. What you have left is roughly the amount you have to spend on luxuries, unexpected costs, and little things for your kids. It should be a fairly substantial amount, and that probably makes you wonder where your money goes. You definitely don’t have that much left at the end of the month do you?

Stop Overspending

It’s so easy to overspend and let’s look at the food shop as an example. By looking at your statements, you should be able to see how much on average you spend on your food each month. You want to work to cut this down as much as possible, and it’s easy to do.

One of the best ways to reduce your monthly food shop is to not be a slave for brands. We all have our favorites brands, but when you take a good hard look, you’ll see they aren’t really special at all. Offering more or less the same and when you realize that you’ll be able to look for the cheapest one every time you shop. Then, you can think about looking at vouchers and coupons online.

There are plenty of sites online like Coupons.com that provide great deals for parents looking for cheap deals on products that they buy regularly or even every time they head to the superstore.

Of course, food shopping is just one of the areas that you might be overspending where costs can be easily adjustable. Another example would be your energy bills. If you have a home full of kids then you might find it’s difficult to keep the energy bills under control.

That’s particularly true when you think about the amount of technology that you are probably using on a regular basis in your home. If you have teenagers, it’s possible that there’s a TV in each room along with a games console or computer. How do you keep the electric costs down when we’re all this tech orientated?

Well, you should be checking out the tech you purchase carefully. All tech on the market today has energy ratings. If you want to keep your energy bills low, you just need to make sure you’re buying tech with the best ratings on the market. In no time at all, you’ll find your bills are reduced down to size.

You might also want to think about getting a smart meter. With a smart meter, you’ll be able to find out exactly what is costing you the most money. That way you can replace it or take more control over how much that device is being used. But be careful of false economy saves.

For instance, if the dryer is costing you more money, don’t stuff it with clothes for fewer cycles. Ultimately, this will just lead to you needing to put it on, again and again, to get clothes dry anyway.

End Fixed Cost Payments

What about the costs in your budget that are fixed? Are there ways to reduce these such as car insurance or even medical plans? Both will be essential for a family to guarantee that you have the resources needed to protect and take care of your children. The answer is that you can reduce these costs.

All you need to do is use price comparison sites. This will help you find the best deal each time you get the chance to renew these plans. For instance, you can use Gomedigap for more info on the best Medicare insurance companies to guarantee that you do get the greatest deal for your money every time. It’s important that you look at this coverage carefully to get the best savings and everything you need for your family.

Boost Your Budget

If when you look at your total that you have to spend at the end of the month, it’s less than you’d like there are ways to boost your earnings. Investments are a smart choice here, and the basic option would be a savers account that provides a high level of interest. That way a little money will be added without you even needing to try. You can look at the best savings accounts on NerdWallet.com.

Or, how about a side hustle. There are lots of choices here including working at home. When you look into these, you’ll find that the market is wide open and there are lots of available opportunities to help you make more money.

Debt Consolidation services with Trout Associates

Sometimes the best way to better your family finances at home can be with debt consolidation services. Financial services strategies to help families with their finances by paying off one or more lines of credit in exchange for a loan that’s better suited to complement your financial goals.

Reasons to consolidate debt include allowing families to be able to more easily pay off your credit card balances with a personal loan that could help you save on interest, increase your credit score and change your debt from revolving to installment debt, among other benefits. Revolving debt in the form of debt that many credit cards use. Most consumer credit cards are categorized as revolving credit, and the amount you use has a considerable effect on your utilization ratio and credit score. Using consolidation services, families can more quickly pay off these sums in order to better their financial situations at home.

Debt collection services, such as from Pacific Collection Group, can also help businesses ensure that borrowers more quickly pay down installment debt, such as a mortgage, auto loan or student loan. By paying off your debt with a personal loan and moving your balance to a consolidated payment, families could see an increase in your score and the payment plan could help you get out of debt for good. Consolidation services can also help consumers to lower monthly payments and shorten payment terms as well. By moving all of your unsecured debt onto a personal loan, you’ll only have a single payment to make each month.

Although consolidating debt isn’t the right option for everyone and all situations, it could significantly improve your finances when it does make sense. Get started by doing your research. find out with consolidation services you may qualify for.

In order to see if your family qualifies for consolidation services, be sure to have information on-hand including the balances and rates on your credit cards so you can compare your current rates to your new options. You should also check your current debt interest rates and decide how much you want to consolidate. You don’t have to consolidate all of your cards for the convenience of a single payment. However, if all of your cards have a higher rate than your new offers, you may be able to save by combining them all. When choosing your amount, remember to check the origination fee on your loan.

With this information in mind, you can apply for consolidation services and options you like, finishing the last steps of your process is simple: after you’ve applied for the loan you desire, just verify your info and sign your loan! Once your loan is signed, you can receive your money sometimes as soon as the same day.

If you think you meet the minimum qualifications and want to pay off your credit cards or other high-interest debt, you can get started and see your options, such as with Trout Associates consolidation services.

Friends, while family finances generally no picnic, utilizing the tips listed above can help make your finances easier to manage this season at home. And if you have any tips for bettering family finances yourself, feel free to leave those suggestions in the comments below. 

(Photo Source)

Being out of work is incredibly stressful, not only do you lose part of your identity when you don’t have a job but making ends meet can become incredibly difficult. Whether you were fired, made redundant, the company went bust or you had to leave for your own reasons it’s not the nicest of scenarios to find yourself in. Here’s how you can make things a little easier until you’re back at work.

Claim what you’re entitled to

First things first would be to see what help and money you’re entitled to that you can live off until you find another job. This could be some form of benefits or welfare if you don’t have significant savings, it could even mean speaking to an injury lawyer and claiming compensation if you’re out of work because of something someone else did. Having this bit of money to get by at least allows you to make ends meet until you’re in a better financial position.

Rework your budget

Take a look at your budget and work out where you can make cutbacks. You’ll need to tighten the purse strings, so any luxuries or extras you don’t need can be cut out for the time being to allow you to use the money you have as best you can. If you’re out of work and having to claim benefits then this will likely be a lot less than you were getting before, so it’s important to use this money in the best way you can. Cancel your Netflix and Amazon Prime subscriptions, work on reducing your grocery bill and stop ordering takeaways. You don’t have to do this forever, but just until you’re earning a stable wage again. 

Speak to your creditors

Falling behind with bills and getting into debt is one of the most stressful things about being between jobs. One of the very best things you can do is make some phone calls and explain your situation. Some companies will agree to freeze your account for a few months, and others will prevent letters being sent out demanding money. At the very least, this should make things less stressful for you during a time that’s already stressful. Creditors and bill companies will be well aware that they can’t get blood out of a stone, you might be able to negotiate lower tariffs, interest rates and other things which can save you money or at least stop you from falling behind as much. 

Start a side hustle

While you’re out of work, why not start a side hustle? If you’re claiming benefits then you might be limited with the money you’re allowed to earn, but if not you can make some extra cash freelancing. Writing articles, designing logos or websites- think about the skills that you have. If you own an established blog already, you could look into ways to monetize such as by joining sponsored post websites. Anything that you can earn can be helpful when you don’t have much coming in.