Letâs have some real talk about freelancing and money matters, shall we? When it comes to running your own freelancing business, solopreneurs face some particular challenges. A major one? Knowing when itâs okay to spend more on personal, day-to-day living expenses. In other words, how can you gauge that itâs time to move some of
The post Freelancers: When to Give Yourself a Raise appeared first on MintLife Blog.
Focus on experiences over things and watch your savingsâand lifeâgrow fuller.
The post Why spending less doesn’t mean living less appeared first on Discover Bank – Banking Topics Blog.
If you’re ready to account for where every cent of your money goes, You Need a Budget could work for you. The app is based on the premise of “giving every dollar a job,” meaning you budget for every expense — fixed, discretionary or otherwise. Want to buy a new purse or pair of shoes? If your monthly clothing budget is $100, then you may not be able to afford it this month. Friends want to double date at that trendy new Italian restaurant? It may not be in your $200 dining out budget.
The app makes budgeting straightforward, allowing you to see how much over or under you are for a particular line item. But it’s best for people who want to get serious about how much they actual spend and where they may need to make sacrifices to achieve a larger goal.
Zero-based budgeting is tough, but I can see its value. You have to account for every dollar coming in, either using it to cover monthly household expenses, pay off debt, for dining out and for what YNAB calls “quality of life” expenses like vacation. During this process, I realized that I’m not as good a budgeter as I thought. I do a good job of tracking our spending after the fact, but I could improve when it comes to setting aside money for specific purposes — basically being more financially proactive. For example, before using this app, I had no idea how much my husband and I spent each month dining out and we never really set aside a specific amount for this purpose. It was more like “we’ll eat out no more than two times a week.” I also had no gauge of my own discretionary spending, since this money comes out of my personal account. Using the tool allowed me to see that we spend less than $200 a month eating out, but that I need to keep a better eye on my discretionary spending for things like beauty and hair products and anything from Amazon.com (Amazon Prime admittedly has turned me into a shopping junkie). We plan to buy a house within a few years, so YNAB allowed me to see that these are two areas where we (or I) could curb spending and put that additional money toward a down payment. Actually seeing the budget also showed me that we could be saving more. We have more cushion than we need in our account for household expenses, so it might be better to put more of that money toward retirement or paying down my student loans.
Welcome to the fourth of a six-part collaboration between Mint and Brewing Happiness. Iâm Haley, the girl behind Brewing Happiness â a blog about celebrating the small healthy choices we make in our lives, complete with recipes for everybody! In the first few articles I covered tips on making healthy groceries affordable, cutting food costs
The post 3 Easy Ways to Make Coffee Shop Drinks at Home appeared first on MintLife Blog.
Saving more money is one of those big goals that a lot of people have, but get stuck. I know this because we use to be right there too. The year would fly by and we were nowhere near our goal. With a few months left, weâd scramble to figure out how to knock it out. It
The post Goal Setting: How to Become A Better Saver appeared first on MintLife Blog.
Saving money takes discipline. And a certain amount of sacrifice.
The post Not saving? These 3 reasons to save money will give you the motivation to start appeared first on Discover Bank – Banking Topics Blog.
The easiest way to save more money? Put your savings on autopilot.
The post Money hack: How to automate your savings and see results appeared first on Discover Bank – Banking Topics Blog.
Do you have money tasks that you need to do but you keep putting off? Today’s financial to-do list will put you back on track so you can start checking things off your list. Managing your whole life, especially your financial life, can be difficult. There are so many things to remember and so many […]
The post Your 2023 Financial To-Do List (15 Things To Check Off) appeared first on Making Sense Of Cents.
Today I have a great blog post about how to create a financial plan from my blogging friend Jim Wang. Enjoy! Ever walk out of a restaurant and see a fishbowl at the entrance, filled with business cards? The sign next to it would say “Want a free dinner? Meet with a financial planner!” When […]
The post How To Come Up With A Financial Plan Without Visiting A Professional appeared first on Making Sense Of Cents.
Ready to see your savings grow? Here are four ideas to inspire your very own money savings challenge.
The post 4 ways you can start a money savings challenge appeared first on Discover Bank – Banking Topics Blog.