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How to organize your finances: What to do each year

Kevin Gallegos
Vice President of Phoenix Operations

How to organize your finances: What to do each month

Kevin Gallegos
Vice President of Phoenix Operations

Refinancing credit card debt into a personal loan

Kevin Gallegos
Vice President of Phoenix Operations

How to tackle spring financial cleaning

Kevin Gallegos
Vice President of Phoenix Operations

Use caution when signing up for retail store credit cards

Kevin Gallegos
Vice President of Phoenix Operations

Plan ahead and save money when hosting holiday meals

Kevin Gallegos
Vice President of Phoenix Operations

Tips for new grads to get on the road to financial feedom

Kevin Gallegos
Vice President of Phoenix Operations

An allowance will teach kids about the value of money

Brenda Hendrickson CSA
CEO

How families can work together and stay on budget each month

Brenda Hendrickson CSA
CEO

Good money habits: The dos and don'ts of personal finance

Lee Rawiszer
Managing Principal

Budgeting

The most effective and efficient way to save money is to create a household budget, where you list out everything from bills to entertainment and look for ways to cut spending so that you can save all excess monies. Doing this will help you gain control of your money situation and allow you to afford those big purchases you have always wanted to make. Look to ExpertBeacon to give you credible advice when it comes to helping you save money and get ahead.

How to organize your finances: What to do each year

In previous articles, we discussed financial tasks to do daily, weekly and monthly to help organize and keep track of your money. Once you are on track monthly, review tasks to do on an annual basis.

Refinancing credit card debt into a personal loan

Taking control of credit card debt is a key step in becoming financially fit. As more people consider refinancing their credit card debt into a personal loan to pay the debt off once and for all, it’s helpful to review these do’s and don’ts.

Use caution when signing up for retail store credit cards

Retail store credit card offers can be extremely tempting. Store personnel will tell you about major discounts, promotions and other perks that come with signing up for their cards. But before you jump at the next offer, consider these do’s and don’ts.

Tips for new grads to get on the road to financial feedom

New grads may be entering the working world with a diploma, but they still need to continue their education when it comes to managing their finances. As they receive their first paychecks – and first big bills – they will find following these dos and don’ts helpful in establishing their financial freedom.

How families can work together and stay on budget each month

Let’s play the game How to Stay on Budget. Here’s how to play, and a few rules:

We have to know the difference between gross and net incomes. Also, the difference among fixed, variable, and discretionary expenses. The objective is to end with a zero balance.

Gross income is your pay stub amount. Automatic deductions of taxes, insurances, retirement plans, etc. are taken out and what you’re left with is net income. It’s not how much you make, net income is how much you keep. Start with this net income for your living expenses.

Buying in bulk can help you save money in the long run

Most people know that buying in bulk can mean big savings. It also can mean big purchases, overstepping the budget, and wasting money (and product). Follow these dos and don’ts to make sure your forays into the world of bulk buying are smart ones.

How to save money on your heating bill during the winter

How much did you pay last month on your heating bill? While bills are necessary, nothing is more frustrating than finding out you overpaid. Heating bills can be a major expense to winter, and are predicted to rise with more occurrences of the polar vortex expected. Even new homes have options on saving an extra dollar in the cold. Whether you live in the blistering winters that occur in Wisconsin or Michigan or you live where the occasional snowfall occurs, follow these practical tips to save money on your next heating bill.

How you can plan and budget to save money on your summer vacation

When the weather finally starts to get warmer and people are eager to get out of the house and go on vacation, there is a need for good vacation information. With the brutal winter out of sight, more Americans are planning summer vacations than in years past. Average vacation costs—primarily due to travel—have only continued to increase year after year.

Follow this budgeting advice, save money while you’re on vacation with your family, and make the most of your summer vacation.

How to best invest inheritance money or other financial windfall

Many individuals can share a story or two about someone they knew who received a large sum of money, such as an inheritance, and within a year or two had spent it all. I can’t imagine how it must feel when there is a zero account balance, and nothing to really show for it. Of course, some might argue that buying a house or a car is having something, but how long can you afford that home without adequate cash flow?

How to save money and take a vacation without going into debt

Studies show that taking a break from work and everyday life stress is good for physical and mental well-being. Vacations are energizing. But they can be expensive, too. With some planning, it’s possible to enjoy a vacation without going into debt.

Spend your money wisely while on vacation and stay on budget

Vacations can be trips to foreign countries, trips to American sites, cruising the oceans, or visits to local recreation areas. They all have one thing in common: they all cost money. Some more than others, of course. But for each of these vacations, planning for them and keeping to a vacation budget is paramount. Make a plan and a budget for your vacation, and go see the world without coming home in debt and regret.

Educate teens on the importance creating and following a budget

The current economic environment has caused many families to reconsider their savings and budgets, with some seeing the need for drastic changes. For instance, as their high school students approach college, many families realize that belts need to be tightened in order for their savings to fully fund the upcoming college tuition, books and other expenses, in addition to rising family expenses.

How to talk to your children and grandchildren about finances

If you consider yourself a financially savvy adult, you probably spend plenty of time reviewing stock market reports and investment options, budgeting your finances and planning for retirement. Do you, however, take time to plan for the financial future of your children or grandchildren? Studies show that parents and grandparents often don’t play a role in financial planning for family members. In addition, most parents don’t talk to their children about finances and saving for future endeavors.

Saving for a rainy day fund is easy with this advice

Saving for a rainy day by building an emergency fund is one of the smartest things you can do with your money. As the name suggests, an emergency fund will help see you through an unexpected and potentially costly life event, such as a health crisis, a job layoff or a major home repair.

How to respond when a friend asks for money or a loan

This is a very tricky situation: Your friend is asking for money—a loan. If you say ‘yes,’ you risk being someone’s ATM. If you say ‘no,’ you might damage your friendship, or lose your friend altogether.

Has this friend asked you for a loan before? Has it been paid back? A loan should be in writing, stating the interest (if any), and have a repayment schedule. Maybe it’s time to be a good friend, and have a candid discussion about budgeting.

How to teach your children financial responsibility

From a very early age, children can start to grasp some concepts about money. Teaching your children financial responsibility at a young age will pay off in the long run by instilling key values and helping to protect them from making major financial mistakes as they grow and mature.

Prepare a budget and then use online tools to manage your money

Budgeting can be a difficult and arduous process. Luckily, the days of spreadsheets and handwritten ledgers are behind us. Now we have the ability to automatically track our spending, set text message alerts and review the state of our finances in real time. However with the variety of budgeting options out there, it can be difficult to identify what you really need or where the best place to start is. Take this expert advice to identify the best way to build your online budgeting tool kit to become a budgeting master.

Save money in a rainy day fund for life's unexpected emergencies

We have insurance for almost every aspect of our life: car, home, life, travelers, etc. What about insurance for life's uncategorized and unexpected events? A rainy day fund protects you from such events in the same fashion car insurance protects you against theft and damage. A rainy day fund is money that you set aside for the specific purpose of dealing with the inevitable—but unforeseeable—events of life that would otherwise put you in a financial pinch or disaster.

Recommended New Year resolutions for your personal finances

The New Year for many means creating new financial resolutions. While we would all love to be more financially secure, we often don’t know which financial resolutions to set to achieve this overall goal. However, a little extra know how can make achieving your financial stability a little easier.

Teach your children rich habits to be financially successful in life

Clearly every student wants to be successful and thinks they will be successful, but none have been taught by their parents or their school system how to be financially successful in life. Not only are there no courses on basic financial success principles, but there are no structured courses on basic financial literacy. We are raising our children to be financially illiterate and we are raising our children to be poor and to fail in life.

Financial planning 101 for empty nesters

Your kids are finally out of the house! Sometimes you don’t know whether to jump up and down with excitement or curl up into a ball and cry. It’s an event, also known as empty nest syndrome, that triggers mixed emotions. As a way to cope with your emotions, start focusing on new goals. While your kids were home, your life probably revolved around them, which is very common for many parents. That’s why when kids do leave home, the emptiness of the house can be overwhelming.

How to create a household budget

Budgeting may not sound exciting or fun, and in fact, it scares some people. One the other hand, it is the number one way to spend, save smartly, and to get a good handle on your finances. The good news is that budgeting doesn’t need to be complex. Keep reading for simple steps and insights into how to use a good budgeting tool - whether that’s free online software, an Excel spreadsheet, or good old-fashioned pencil and paper.

How to organize your finances: What to do each month

In a previous article, we discussed financial tasks to do every day and every week to help organize and keep track of your money. Once you gain control on a daily and weekly basis, it’s time to look at tasks to complete each month.

How to tackle spring financial cleaning

Cleaning out the garage, washing walls and vacuuming under the bed might be on the spring cleaning checklist at your house. But don’t forget about your finances. Spring is an excellent time to make sure they are in order.

Plan ahead and save money when hosting holiday meals

Holiday dinners with family and friends can be fun, festive – and expensive. One meal can stretch a budget, but if you host more than one event during the holiday season, costs can easily skyrocket. The good news is that there are creative – and delicious – ways to save significantly on holiday meals.

An allowance will teach kids about the value of money

Money rules the world, even for children. A good time to teach kids about money is as soon as they become aware of pennies and loose change. Young children love to get those coins as if they were buried treasure. Very young children would rather have 100 pennies than one paper dollar. They like the ‘many-ness’ of their hoard.

Good money habits: The dos and don'ts of personal finance

Reading, writing, and arithmetic are core pillars of American educational institutions. American students learn to read and write from the moment they start kindergarten. As children progress through middle school and high school, they are introduced to topics ranging from biology and chemistry to history and civics. But most high school graduates will note that the practical focus of personal financial education is grossly overlooked.

Living a healthy lifestyle can help you save money

There are a number of lifestyle changes that can result in better health. For example, by adopting a healthy diet and getting regular exercise, you can lower your blood pressure and possibly even remove medication from your daily regimen. Taking less medication and going to the doctor less often can help you save money.

How to choose an investment broker that is right for you

Finding the right broker for you is just as important as choosing the right bank. You’ve got to consider what kinds of products and services you need in order to be successful. Choosing a financial institution to help grow your retirement nest egg isn’t always an easy task. There are several common traps that the uninformed investor can easily fall into. Read this article for expert advice on how to choose a broker that is right for you.

Give kids an allowance to learn about money and how to budget

Allowances often present dilemmas. Is it better to give your children an allowance or should you pay as they go? While the former has its own set of problems, the latter can rob children of the opportunity to learn money management and responsibility. Many children would prefer the ask-and-receive method—although it comes with the risk of a “no”—because it usually means they get more money and it’s often easier.

What is diversification and a diversified investment portfolio?

Even novice investors have probably heard of the concepts of asset allocation and diversification, but building a truly diversified portfolio may take a little more work than you think. Taking the time to know what diversification means, and how it is achieved, can make a significant difference in the long-term performance of your investment portfolio. While the old saying, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket” is wise investment advice, you should go further and say, “Don’t put all your eggs in only a few baskets either.

How to stay on a strict budget and be happy at the same time

We put ourselves on a budget for a reason, though it can sometimes feel like being on a strict diet. Maybe we are on a budget because we need new tires for our car, or a pet became ill and we have to face the expensive veterinarian bill, or we are going through a difficult divorce. Unexpected events that leave us in a financial panic pop up at the most inconvenient times, and they seem to happen one after another. Planning ahead for a vacation or special purchase is wise, but if we have to cut out everything fun, it makes us wonder what we are working for.

Owning gold or a gold IRA can be a great long-term investment

Gold is a great long-term investment, but only if you are smart about it. It is not foolproof, and there are aspects of buying gold that must be paid attention to and other actions that should be avoided. Here are some dos and don'ts of buying gold that will help you get the most out of your gold ownership or Gold IRA.

A financial planner can help you reach your investment goals

Personal finance, budgeting, and retirement planning aren’t exactly common topics around the dinner table. There are a group of individuals who live and breathe these topics: financial planners. Financial planners enjoy numbers, budgets, retirement planning, and investing. They can help you meet your financial goals, without having to do all the heavy lifting yourself. Follow this advice to ensure that you choose the right financial planner for you.

Teach your kids about money and how to budget, spend, and save

Money makes the world go round. How we use it, spend it, or save it is critical to our existence. Our money attitudes and habits were learned at a young age by our parents, relatives, and friends. Later, from education and, finally, from life. But the basis of our relationship with money still lies in those formative years.

Advice for those investing in the stock market for the first time

Investing on your own can be a daunting and exciting prospect. Every individual has the ability to control their finances and invest on his or her own. As you begin your investment journey, you’ll find that the more you learn, the more questions you will have. This is normal and it’s a process that every first time investor goes through. The good news is that investing successfully doesn't take years. This expert advice will help you get your investing started on the right foot, and can make all the difference when you're looking to invest for yourself.

Financial planning for the first time investor

If you haven’t started investing, you may regret it down the road. Taking small steps today could make a significant difference in increasing your net worth, for example starting an emergency fund, a financial plan, hiring a CFP, and diversifying your investments. But you have to get started! This article will provide a few simple steps for the first time investor.

Make small changes in spending and reduce costs to boost savings

The challenge many of us face these days is how to make the most of the limited resources we have. There is no magic formula, no seminars to attend—yet this challenge can be met and overcome. An analysis of your everyday spending habits and a commitment to make small changes can result in remarkable savings. This is developing a frugal mindset. Remember—take care of the small changes and the big ones can take care of themselves.

Save money and spend wisely—become a millionaire by living frugally

Today, with economic anxiety at epidemic proportions, we need to take charge of our lives more than ever by developing a frugal mindset. This advice will give you the basics for achieving millionaire status.

When paying your bills, decide which debt is best to pay first

When you are sitting at your desk, staring at a big stack of bills and a paycheck that may not be quite as big, how do you decide what bill to pay, and how to proceed? Should you pay your credit cards, student loans, or living expenses first? Some basic advice can help you set your priorities.

Navigating online shopping during the holiday season

The bargain shopper’s favorite time of year is during the holiday months. Online shopping days like Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Free Shipping Day have grown from marketing gimmicks to become massive events that can dramatically affect the bottom lines of both retailers and individual brands. If a company’s products don’t zoom off the shelf during this frenzy, then they might be discontinued and forgotten by consumers.

Smart shoppers recognize how to take advantage of sales, by scouring sites for the items on their list, doing research, and sticking to a plan.

Cure the holiday debt hangover with a headache-free financial plan

A couple of months into the new year, many Americans are still suffering from a holiday debt hangover. In fact, in early December – just as the shopping season was getting underway – more than 1 in 10 people who used credit cards to make holiday purchases back in 2011 were still paying off the debt, according to Consumer Reports. The good news is that there are proven ways to cure this kind of hangover.

Gain control of your money

By scanning current headlines, many can see how tough times remain for years to come. Numerous people continue to struggle with money and making ends meet. The great news is it does not take a degree in economics to learn how to handle your money better.

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