How can I sort out my finances?

Answer 1

Eliminate all your credit card debts before you take on any more. If you can avoid any consolidation loans. Transfer your debts to a 0% interest card, do this only once it damages your credit rating which you will need if you want to get a house.

Plot out a budget, Everything that you spend versus everything that comes in, factor in everything. Keep all your bank statements and analyse them closely for bank errors in your favour. Compare your budget with your bank statements, the descrepancy is a good indication of how realistic you are being.

Give up smoking. Stop drinking. read a book instead of going out to the movies.

Start collecting boots advantage points especially if you wear glasses or contacts collect the points with them. Get the nectar points too, they are crap but they eventually add up.

How much do you really need your car?

Sell all your stuff, it just sits there anyway, DVD's and CD's are fairly useless, DON'T back them up then sell them. you would end up with the money but you would be breaking the law.

Use Ebay to buy anything that you need, start by searching for common misspellings, if the post is listed badly it won't attract any buyers.

Set a target and stick to it.

Get a better job/ get another job.

Get married, two incomes are better than one.

Read "how to beat the system" determine if you are eligible for any financial help from anyone. Only take the help that you are entitled to.

Decide how much of your income you can afford to save, don't bother saving if you still owe money, pay off debts first. Once you have saved for a while move some of the money into long term investments but keep a months salary aside for large purchases or in case you lose your job.

Make sure that you keep up your national insurance contributions. Pay into a company pension or if you don't have one set up a private pension.

Don't get involved in Gambling, it looks attractive but you can't beat the house. I tried this. I laid down $50 and I worked my way up to $1000 dollars, I cashed it out and they closed my account without honouring the payment. They weren't bothered when I lost $1000 dollars though.

That's about all I can think of.

Answer 2

I obviously dont know your financial situation but I assume that you may have a few debts that are bothering you. In my opinion ( & this is only an opinion) most people get into debt by trying to live beyond their means & along the way take on loans etc which at first may seem the easy option as banks etc seem to throw loans at us left right & centre with all sorts of incentives..... but whatever the incentive or how 'low' the interest rate is .... its still a debt that has to be repaid. Although we all like nice clothes . mobiles phones, gadgets etc you have to prioritise as to what. is necessary & what is a luxury that you can do without ( maybe for a short time until financial pressues are eased a bit) Whatever you do dont take on more borrowing to repay some of your current debts..... this is a very short term fix & will only lead to more problems. Remember you are not the only person in this situation, talk to your lenders & explain the situation, maybe if possible take on some part time additional work if your circumstances allow, just by cutting down on bits here & there which may seem like it wont make much difference will all add up. The one thing that really bugs me is mobile phones, which can be a huge expense.... do you have one & do you really need it? Could you take more control with a pay as you go one & use it only for vital calls instead of general chit chat? Can you walk to/from work to save on travel expenses, take a packed lunch instead of buying stuff in town in your lunch break which will be hugely different cost. Get rid of some bits & pieces that you dont use any more on ebay or car boot etc. There are loads of ways of cutting back,which only need to be temporary until things get better..... but dont panic help is out there. Hope I have been helpful & not gone on about what you already know. Good Luck

Answer 3

First, it would be helpful if you knew what you spent. Get a personal finance program like Quicken or MS Money, and track every penny you made and spent for a month. That includes where you spent your pocket money. Then you'll have a good idea where you are. You can do this in Excel or any spreadsheet, but it's easier with personal finance software.

You don't really say why you want to sort out your finances. Are you in financial trouble? If so, take that info and start making cuts.

The best areas to cut are the services you buy every month.

Do you get the deluxe cable or satellite TV plan? Cut to a cheaper one, or even go back to using an antenna if feasible.

Look for a cheaper internet plan. Even if you don't want to switch, you can call your current plan and ask them to match the rate. They'll usually do so, at least for a few months.

Do you have an expensive cell phone plan? Ditch it. If you use less than 200 minutes a month, prepaid is probably a better alternative. Look at T-Mobile for what I think is the best prepaid plan right now.

Shop for auto insurance quotes, especially Costco or Sam's Club if you are a member. Go to their web site and look under Services.

Is your phone bill expensive? Consider switching your long distance to a 3rd party carrier like www.americom.com that has rates of 3.9 cents per minute with no monthly fee or minimum usage. Likewise ditch expensive add-ons like caller id and call waiting.

Do you have an expensive car with big payments? Consider trading down to a cheaper car with smaller payments.

Look at every service you use and think about whether you need it, and at that level of service. Can you get it cheaper elsewhere? If you haven't done this in a while, you'd be surprised how much you spend every month on stuff you don't use very much.

Next, look at food. Do you eat out a lot or get a lot of fast food? Then start packing your own lunch and do a little more cooking at home. That'll save a lot of money.

If you're in debt you need to develop a plan to start whacking away at it. First, stop using your credit cards. Pay minimums on all your credit cards, except the one with the highest interest rate. Pay as much as you can on that one every month.

Do you have an emergency fund? Even before you make a go at paying down the credit cards, you may want to build $1,000 in an emergency fund, just so you have it in case your car breaks down or other emergency, so you don't have to add to your credit card debt later.

Ignore all the work at home schemes people will pitch you. I bet you every one of them is about getting a referral so they get some bonus. If there was so much money to be made by working at home, they'd be doing it, instead of trying to get you to join.

Also, see if you can find these two books at your library:

"Get Clark Smart: The Ultimate Guide to Getting Rich from America's Money-Saving Expert" by Clark Howard. It is full of good advice as to how to save and spend your money wisely.

"Automatic Millionaire" by David Bach. He's got advice on how to turn your finances around, mostly by saving money, to invest so you can retire rich.

Lastly, I've recently started a blog that contains financial wisdom I've learned over the last couple of decades. You won't be asked to buy or join anything. It's at http://wise-money.blogspot.com

Answer 4

My honest advice is sometimes you can't, but in the main don't borrow beyond your means and make do without non-necessary stuff until you can afford it. Modern economies are based on trying to sell you things you don't really need. There's freedom in being debt free, so base your finances around clearing your debts and common sense. Hope this helps!

Answer 5

Start by drawing up a list that shows the things you absolutely have to pay for each month (rent/mortagage, travel, food, insurance etc) then do anothre list for the things you usually spend money on each month but are not absolutley essential (magazines, clothes, going out etc). If your income only covers the essentials list, you have to cut back on the non essentials until you have paid off all your debts. Its as simple as that

Answer 6

1 what is your income
2 what bills do you have to pay (rent, electricity, credit cards)
3 If more than one credit card, eliminate one, consolidate
4 if unable to pay bills in full, make arrangements to pay an acceptable minimum
5 reduce your spendings : see what you can ( and temporarily at least) do without (like cable)

Answer 7

get advice from your bank and other people u can rely on when it comes to finance

Answer 8

spending less is always a good start...which I always think is helped by saying to yourself "do I really need this extra pair of high heels"??!!

Answer 9

go 'on the game' spanky, tax free money , open air, meet new friends.