We’re here at the end of the month, and I’m just doing a quick assessment of how we fared with regards to the overall budget.
My wife doesn’t care much for carrying around cash, so I tried to keep up with expenditures online using the debit card. Bottom line is, after a few extra trips to one of our favorite sports bars and some other house related purchases, we spent about $500 more than what I budgeted.
The lesson is this. If our debt reduction plan is going to work over the long haul, then we need to be even more disciplined. I don’t like coming to the end of the month with virtually no cushion in our checking account!
2010/01/28
2010/01/19
Looking for ways to increase the paycheck
January and December are tough months for us in terms of spending. As you’ve read, our homeowner’s dues are due 10 days after the new year begins, which leaves us zero time to recover from Christmas spending.
All this has left me wondering if I’m doing enough to impact the revenue side of the debt equation.
There are the obvious things, like picking up a part time job, but in my career, part time work is not very practical. My wife has her own small business, but revenues there can be very sporadic, so all of my debt and budget calculations are built around my income alone.
That being said, I decided to take a look at my IRS withholding allowances. What’s that you ask? Remember when you got your first job and your employer told you to fill out a form, among many others, which was meant to tell the IRS how much to take out of your check? You had no idea what that meant, so you probably asked your parents and they most certainly said, “claim 0, you don’t want to owe the IRS money at the end of they year!”
So while that is true, you don’t want to “owe” or underpay, throughout the year if you can help it, you don’t want to overpay either! Money that you overpay can be going directly toward your debt attack. So have a look at your withholdings, and use this nifty, albeit slightly intimidating, online tool to help you judge the number of allowances you should actually be claiming:
http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=96196,00.html
Hopefully you’ll find a few extra bucks in your paycheck! I readjusted mine about two weeks ago, so I’ll let you know what the practical effect is in a couple of weeks when I get paid again. Good luck!
By the way, this is not to be taken as tax advice especially because I’m not an accountant or tax attorney, it’s just something that I’m trying. If you do have any tax questions, please contact your tax professional.
2010/01/10
Making some adjustments to my debt attack amount
Well we’re only 10 days in to January and all of my financial signs are leading me to make some adjustments on my debt attack.
I may have to dial down the monthly attack amount that I had set up until I can build up enough of a reserve in my savings account where I feel comfortable moving money if one month gets tight for some reason.
In fact, this is just such a month.
With homeowners dues due and a big car insurance payment due, I don’t want to run the risk of over-drafting my account at the end of the month if I make that big whopping payment toward credit cards.
That said, I will try to “snowflake” this month. I’m going to only pay the minimum on the card I’m attacking, but if after I make those other major payments and at the end of the month I discover a little extra here or there, I’ll put that towards the credit card. That way at least I continue to chip away without giving them too much extra in finance charges.
Going forward I’m adjusting my attack amount until I have at least $1,000 in savings.
I may have to dial down the monthly attack amount that I had set up until I can build up enough of a reserve in my savings account where I feel comfortable moving money if one month gets tight for some reason.
In fact, this is just such a month.
With homeowners dues due and a big car insurance payment due, I don’t want to run the risk of over-drafting my account at the end of the month if I make that big whopping payment toward credit cards.
That said, I will try to “snowflake” this month. I’m going to only pay the minimum on the card I’m attacking, but if after I make those other major payments and at the end of the month I discover a little extra here or there, I’ll put that towards the credit card. That way at least I continue to chip away without giving them too much extra in finance charges.
Going forward I’m adjusting my attack amount until I have at least $1,000 in savings.
2010/01/02
Beware the Pile!
Control. According to Webster, control is a transitive verb defined as: to exercise restraining or directing influence over : regulate b : to have power over : rule c : to reduce the incidence or severity of especially to innocuous levels
This blog has been about getting personal finances under control, but really any venture with a targeted goal needs to have controls in place.
One must understand if events or situations are within a certain tolerance to know whether or not the result will be successfully achieved or if behaviors need to be modified along the way.
Right now, for example, our laundry is out of control! But our finances are finally getting in control.
One of the biggest problems I have with our house is the tendency to collect clutter. Our reluctance to donate toys, get rid of outdated electronics, etc. has created clutter, which most often manifests itself in my house as piles of stuff. I think we may hang on to a bit of the psychology that suggests that our “stuff” defines us. The reality of the piles is that, instead of creating a sense of purpose by reminding us of all the “stuff” we’ve collected; the piles actually create anxiety by reminding us of all the “things” we have to do!
We need to bring how we manage our daily tasks, under control.
But beginning just before Christmas, we started to really de-clutter. I had notebooks full of project management material that was over ten years old that I haven’t cracked open in nine years. Gone. I had a palm pilot that I haven’t used in twelve years (and I never really used it in the first place). Gone. My personal office was full of “to do” piles. Gone.
We made about three trips to the Goodwill last year which is a definite improvement, but I want to consider making that a monthly family field trip – not to shop, but to donate.
It’s a new year, and to spin an old saying, “out with the old, not necessarily in with anything else for a while.” Be it bills, mail, laundry, or dishes, I want no piles in my house…unless of course it’s cash ;-)
This blog has been about getting personal finances under control, but really any venture with a targeted goal needs to have controls in place.
One must understand if events or situations are within a certain tolerance to know whether or not the result will be successfully achieved or if behaviors need to be modified along the way.
Right now, for example, our laundry is out of control! But our finances are finally getting in control.
One of the biggest problems I have with our house is the tendency to collect clutter. Our reluctance to donate toys, get rid of outdated electronics, etc. has created clutter, which most often manifests itself in my house as piles of stuff. I think we may hang on to a bit of the psychology that suggests that our “stuff” defines us. The reality of the piles is that, instead of creating a sense of purpose by reminding us of all the “stuff” we’ve collected; the piles actually create anxiety by reminding us of all the “things” we have to do!
We need to bring how we manage our daily tasks, under control.
But beginning just before Christmas, we started to really de-clutter. I had notebooks full of project management material that was over ten years old that I haven’t cracked open in nine years. Gone. I had a palm pilot that I haven’t used in twelve years (and I never really used it in the first place). Gone. My personal office was full of “to do” piles. Gone.
We made about three trips to the Goodwill last year which is a definite improvement, but I want to consider making that a monthly family field trip – not to shop, but to donate.
It’s a new year, and to spin an old saying, “out with the old, not necessarily in with anything else for a while.” Be it bills, mail, laundry, or dishes, I want no piles in my house…unless of course it’s cash ;-)
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