Simply Budgets

Accelerating Debt Reduction

admin — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 01:28:44 +0000

In one of my Money Hints and Tips newsletters (Number 13, I think) I refer to a strategy I call Repayment Snowballing, which is used for accelerating debt reduction. This is used to speed up the process of debt management quicker. There are a few different opinions on how best to implement this strategy so lets have a look at which will save you the most money. There are basically two trains of thought.

Pour any surplus cash into paying off your smallest debt first and then when that debt is paid off, adding (snowballing) that repayment onto the next smallest debt until it is paid off or the debt management is achieved. Continue this process, always adding the repayments from the paid-off loans to the next smallest debt until all debts are cleared. (At which time you could give your self a big pat on the back and swear to never put yourself through such agony again!)
Pour any surplus cash into paying off your highest interest rate debt first and then, when you’ve achieved debt management for and paid that debt off, adding (snowballing) that repayment onto the next highest interest rate debt until it is paid off. Continue this process, always adding the repayments from the paid-off loans to the next highest interest rate loans until your debt management is complete.

These look very similar don’t they! The point in question here is, do you tackle the smallest debt first, or the highest interest rate debt first? In Money Hints and Tips number 13, I simply suggest there could be an argument either way. Psychologically, paying off a small debt quickly can give you a sense of actually achieving something. This can do wonders for your sense of mental well being and provide motivation to go on working at the problem in a positive frame of mind. Mathematically though, it is easy to show that tackling the highest interest rate debt by accelerating debt reduction first will always save you money.

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Household Budget Management for Couples

admin — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 02:16:13 +0000

I recently had a client ask me a question about how to deal with the household budget management when you are in a relationship and finances are shared.
It is EXTREMELY rare to find two people in a relationship who are both on the same page when it comes to money. There is almost always one who ends up with the responsibility of looking after the money and it is usually the other who is more inclined to spend and less inclined to save.
The problem is that neither party really understands why their partner is like they are. E.g. why are you so hell-bent on saving? Or why are you so worried about spending? Or why can’t you see that we need to save for the future?
It is very difficult for this to change because as human beings we are all different and have different things that we are good at and bad at. If both of you are prepared to at least take the time to sit down and work out a way to satisfy both personalities then there is a good chance a successful household budget management system can be achieved. On the other hand, if one is just not interested and refuses to change (or even listen), then there is definitely trouble on the way!
The secret, as I see it, is for a shared household budget is to give both partners as much of what they want as possible. You must have a family or shared budget of course, and it should cover the basic expenses that are essential. Then there needs to be some money that is totally for each person to spend (or save) as they please. If your husband or partner is not interested in saving but is happy to let you manage the household budget, then you should get him to agree to sit down with you while you prepare the budget so he can see what you are up against. If you use the Simply Budgets Personal Edition software you will be able to see a year into the future and together you will be able to see exactly what is coming before you get there. You will see when your tight times occur and when you have surplus. You will also know how much spare money you actually have. There is nothing like actually looking into a crystal ball and seeing your future before you get there to get your partner to be more co-operative!
Good Luck with your household budget and feel free to contact me if you need any more advice.
Remember to subscribe to the newsletter for regular tips and updates on the household budget management.

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Teaching Your Children Personal Money Management

admin — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 06:19:20 +0000

Today I thought it would be a good idea to look at our ideas on personal money management and what we should teach our children about money and the value they eventually place on it. One of the key issues I focus on when I have my say about money is how little is taught in school about personal money management for life. However it is not any easy thing to teach in school and there are things parents can do to get their children off to a flying start.
Having been a teacher of secondary school students for over 20 years and having children aged 21, 18 and 15, I believe I am reasonably qualified to make some observations about the needs and challenges facing our youth as they enter the world of money.
As it stands, our society seems to assume that when we leave school, we will instinctively be able to manage money. The fact is though, that nothing could be further from the truth. We leave school with very little knowledge about personal money management and with a lot of pent-up desires and aspirations. For years we had been biding our time and finally we have ‘arrived’. In short, as we enter the world of money, we are like potential lambs to the slaughter. I recently heard an analogy that describes what can happen and often does. It goes like this.
When Mr. Money meets Mr. Experience, Mr. Money gets the Experience and Mr. Experience gets the money.
As school leavers, the lack of experience our children have places them at a great risk of making mistakes they will remember and suffer from for a long time. I heard recently that many school leavers are already in debt by more than $15,000 for consumer goods before they reach the age of 20.
We obviously need to help our children find the least painful path to experience! My belief is that there are key ingredients that parents need to install in their children so that they have the opportunity to avoid the mistakes made by their peers and often their parents before them.
I have heard many people say that they want their children to enjoy the things that they never had as a child. There is a major flaw with this way of thinking though. Have you ever noticed that it doesn’t matter how much stuff you get, you never reach a point where you can say you are satisfied?
I think it is clear that perhaps we should stop sometimes and re-consider what our children’s needs really are. I believe that less is sometimes more. I know that not having everything I ever wanted was one of the best lessons I ever had as a child, so I believe the first lesson is to arrange it so that your children work for the things they want rather than getting them too easily.
Teaching your children to work for their money is one of the best lessons they will get in life. They will place much more value on their money and things if they had to work for them. This is a great personal money management lesson that you can teach your children while they are young, they may not thank you now but they will thank you for it later.

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What do Personal Budgets and Holidays have in Common?

admin — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 04:47:59 +0000

What do personal budgets and holidays have in common?

A man went on a holiday. He had ten days to reach his destination 4,000 km away. Wanting to be sure that he would reach his destination on time he sat down one night and thought about how to make sure he could achieve this goal. He divided 4,000 by 10 to find that each day he would have to cover an average of 400km. A quick calculation allowed him to see that this was possible without undue pressure. Looking at a map he then found towns that would become his targets for each of the ten days of his trip. These were as close as he could find to 400km apart although he did make allowances for the fact that some parts of the trip went through mountainous country and would be slower going.

Having marked the “target” towns on his map he went about preparing for the trip.
On the first day, the man drove 400 km to the first town he had targeted and found he was feeling quite fresh. A quick decision was made to travel further than planned and he continued on his way.

Knowing he was ahead of his schedule was a great thing the next day because he decided he wanted to spend some time sight seeing. He enjoyed this so much that he nearly spent the whole day just driving wherever he pleased. As the day was drawing to a close he arrived at a town that was somewhat short of his original target for the day, but this did not concern him.

On the third day, the man drove till he arrived at the town he had originally set as his day three target and he knew he was back on track.

During the course of the journey the man found there were many days when he was not exactly “on target”. Sometimes he was ahead and sometimes behind. Because he had taken the time to map out a plan before he started, he always had peace of mind from knowing where he needed to be to be “on track”. He allowed himself to respond to impulses that made his trip interesting, but he also kept his original plan in mind.

Had he not planned his journey before leaving home there is a strong possibility that distractions and other impulses might have left him in a position where he could not complete his journey on time. It may have been an impossible journey to complete in the ten days right from the outset. This would also have been revealed during his planning.

It is important to realise that the original plan was never a binding document and it was never intended to dictate exactly what would happen along the way. It was simply a way of predicting where the man NEEDED to be each day if he was to complete his journey comfortably and on time.

Many people treat their finances like an ‘accident waiting to happen’ by never sitting down and planning the journey. Some people embark on journeys that are impossible to complete but they never take the time to work this out until it is too late. Others go through great stress every day simply because they don’t know if they are on track or not. They take side tracks and detours at all the wrong times and would have so much less trouble if they would just sit down and prepare a road map before starting.

Many years ago now I got so frustrated every month when my bank statement told me where I ‘WAS’ (financially) when I really knew that what I needed to know as well was, ‘WHERE SHOULD I BE?’ I invented Simply Budgets to answer that question and I have never looked back. Like the man on the holiday, Simply Budgets allows you to plan your year before you start so you are able to see if what you want to do is possible, and to give you targets each day that you can keep an eye on to ensure you are travelling along OK. You can still take the detours and side tracks, but always knowing where the main road is!

So, what do personal budgets and Holidays have in common? Well, they should both be a lot of fun!!

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Personal Budget Software

admin — Tue, 20 May 2008 04:58:18 +0000

Simply budgets is a personal budget software that will help you in many ways to plan your personal budget. Instead of providing personal budget plans, I wanted people to plan for their personal budget themselves and hence evolved the simply budgets personal budget software.

This personal budget software will allow you to create a road map for your future for the next 12 months or more, depending on your requirements. Most people live from pay to pay and at the end of their lives, they get very little to show. I can strongly tell that this is because of a lack of plan that tells you where you should be and how you can go there. The Simply Budgets will give you this exact plan and will motivate you to reach your goal by planning your finances accordingly.

Creating a personal budget is based on predicting expenses. You know that you will spend for groceries, petrol, insurance premium, bills and regular payments. Simply Budgets factors in these predictable expenses and can generate your personal budget in a few minutes. These expenses can be planned in advance and you will know the date and the frequency of all regular expenses. Simply Budgets personal budget software makes your personal budget easy.

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Personal Budget Tips

admin — Thu, 08 May 2008 06:36:48 +0000

You may receive many personal budget tips through various people and there are plenty, but I will give you my top four personal budget tips.

Personal Budget Tip # 1 – Plan Day to Day Cash Flow

When we learn to identify the limits of our income, we become responsible with our cash flow. This helps us create boundary lines for our expenses. Once we receive our salary no matter how large or small it may be we need to set aside the amount necessary for the monthly bills and plan ahead our expenses our day to day expenses.

Personal Budget Tip # 2 - Live within Our Means

Pushing the limits of our profits creates future troubles. It is wise to learn to live within your means. By learning to live within your means it can ensure that you aviod financial trouble.

Personal Budget Tips # 3 - Get People around to Help Us

An athlete wins a gold medallion because of the help of the people around him like his parents, friends, personal trainer, an agent, a nutritionist, and a sports psychologist. If we aim to get on top of things financially, we need support as well.

Personal Budget Tips #4 - Purchase software for personal money management system

Personal budget software will assist us to create our personal budget. With the Simply Budgets software I also provide newsletters and open line communication in order to ease the use of the money management system.

I hope these personal budget tips help and please subscribe to receive more personal budget tips and a newsletter

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Make a Personal Budget Simple!

admin — Thu, 08 May 2008 06:16:36 +0000

Managing a personal budget is a tough job. This is something that in our teenage years should have learn at school in subjects like math. But knowing teenagers, they aren’t receptive yet. Rather they do not realize the need to know proper personal budget management at that time. Their lives were too easy when parents were still paying for their expenses.
So now that you are grown up and personal budgets are an issue, where can we get personal budget tips for our financial guidance? We may utilize a number of software, books, and other reading materials available out in the market that give personal budget tips. However, there are a percentage of people who are not in favor of browsing many references about budget tips because of a lack of time to do such task. To respond to this, I have come up with a special training program called Cash Flow Clinic that is now available. We offer a full day workshop about how to use the Simply Budgets personal budget software in order to facilitate those whose computer skills or may need more guidance to help create a personal budget.

One component of our workshop looks at helping out Fred Flintstone in his troubles with his personal budget. Eventually, this famous cartoon character is redirected back to the road to success. Similarly, cash issues and personal budgets in daily lives should be well-controlled.

The insatiable longing of people to want better, fancier and bigger is part of the human nature. Because not everybody has the necessary orientation of how to manage a personal budget, many need someone to show how them to control cash flows. Simply Budgets can help with your personal budget.

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Wealth Starts with the Personal Budget

admin — Tue, 06 May 2008 04:31:48 +0000

David talks about how wealth starts by having your personal budget in order.

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Simply Budgets Helps you Create a Personal Budget

admin — Fri, 02 May 2008 06:57:46 +0000

To achieve a secured financial set up, you should have a steady cash flow. Simply Budgets is a software application to help you create a personal budget by ordering the expenses and income through systematic processes.
Examining predictive expenses through Simply Budgets
Simply budgets is a software tool which can be used to plan the financial budget for the future. The tool can be used to manage the finances by examining all the predictive expenses. For example, there are certain expenses like telephone bills, insurance instalments and grocery expenses which are frequent over a period. Simply budgets can be used to plan the finance for meeting these expenses much before the arrival. Using Simply Budgets, you will be rescued from situations, like facing all the expenses all of a sudden.

Predict the financial status with Simply Budgets
Simply Budgets is very ‘easy to use’ tool for planning your personal budget. There are many tools available for keeping records of your expenses. But in order to avoid financial crisis, one has to plan the expenditure rather than just keeping the historical data. Using Simply Budgets, you will be able to visualize your future financial status by examining the predictive expenses. Thus, when you realize that you are going to face financial crisis according to the current spending trends, you can restrict the expenses by cutting down unnecessary expenses. Again, you can spend extra for any comforts or luxury, when you realize that you are in a better financial situation.

it is easy to regenerate your personal budget with Simple Budgets
The budget is calculated according to the user inputs like dates, amounts and similar things. If the entered data has some error, that will reflect in the calculation. In the traditional methods of preparing budgets, it is very difficult to regenerate the budget as one has to go through the entire process like data capture and calculation. With Simply Budgets, it is very easy to recalculate the personal budget after entering the essential user inputs. By using Simply Budgets, one will become more systematic in organizing the data, relevant for calculating the personal budget. Considerable amount of time can be saved for calculating your personal budget by using Simply Budgets.

Support from Simply Budgets
You can find lots of money making and savings tips from the website of Simply Budgets. A newsletter covering different tips for financial planning is broadcast on weekly basis by the website which is available on subscription. You will be able to find relevant information about financial problems and solutions through the Q&A section of the website. Simply Budgets is very helpful in assisting you to create a personal budget which will create the opportunity to gather money for investments.

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Your Personal Budget

admin — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 03:29:56 +0000

David Wright talks about what Simply Budgets can do for your personal budget.

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