The new year is around the corner and we’re all thinking about how to make better decisions so that we come out of top financially.  Take a look at the list below and incorporate a few, if not all into your daily financial life.  Commit to being a better steward of your finances and you will certainly reap the benefits.

1. Create Your Financial Plan  and spend some time each week developing and reviewing your plan to make it happen.  With every financial transaction, top of mind should be “how does this fit in with my financial goals?”.
2. Daily: Take 10 minutes to review your main accounts.  Make certain that all charges are accurate and review any purchases you may regret later.
3. Weekly:  Review all transactions to help you stay on track with your financial goals
4. Monthly:  Review your accounts to make sure that all bills were paid on time or are scheduled to be paid.  If the funds aren’t there then call the institution to alert them of an expected payment date or work out a payment plan
5. Quarterly:  When creating your financial plan, create milestones that benchmark your progress.  For example,  If your plan is to pay off $10,000 in 12 months then by month 3, you should have $2500 paid off.  If that doesn’t happen then it’s time to readjust the plan and move the goal or play catch up.
6. Write down your financial goals.  SMART Goals are the best way to orchestrate success in this area.
7. Set your finances on autopilot.  Set up every recurring expense using Bill Pay or via ACH draft.
8. Create a goal statement:  My intention is to ________________ in order to achieve financial freedom
9. Spend less than you earn
10. Save 20% of income for savings and retirement
11. Pay down non-mortgage debt to less than 15% of income
12. Think long term and spend time in fruitful investments for the future, for example: start a business
13. Read at least 1 personal finance book every month.  Keep abreast of emerging financial issues that impact your life.
14. Be mindful of emotional spending.  Shopping when you’re sad, mad or depressed often leads to purchases you’ll regret later.  Address the core issues, as emotional spending only slaps a temporary cover-up on the problem.
15. Spend more time with others who are where you want to be financially.  Doing this helps you compare and contrast how you operate with money in comparison to them while helping you make changes along the way.  As my pastor likes to say, seek those who have your solution and get away from those who have your problem.
16. Everyday, day dream and feel what it will be like when you reach your financial goals: debt free, 6-12 months of emergency fund savings-whatever it is-dream about it, talk about, write about it and make it happen.
17. Buy things that will last longer than it takes to finance them.  If you finance a TV (you really shouldn’t!), then it should last longer than the time it takes to pay it off.  This goes for anything, whatever you buy should still be useful 6 months from now.
18. Give back.  This can be with your time or money.  Spend time time giving back to others less fortunate than yourself.
19. De-clutter your finances.  What are some things that you’re paying for (magazine subscriptions, extra trips to the makeup counter, techie gadget impulse buys) that leech money you really need to hit your financial goals.
20. Spend time in the future.  Leave financial regrets in the past as they took place in order to teach you lessons for the future.
21. Financial problems teach you the life skill of problem solving.  If you can dig yourself out of financial ruin, then you’ll be surprised as how you face life’s other challenges.
22. Research account aggregation tools and commit to monitoring your money on a consistent basis.
23. Every dollar in your budget needs a job.  None should be idle and without purpose.
24. The coming financial year won’t be perfect.  But commit to learning from your mistakes to avoid making them again.
25. With financial freedom comes peace of mind.  Work towards this and see how everything else in your life falls into place.  Money problems are often the root of other difficulties in life including health and relationships with others.
26. Don’t compare your financial situation to others who are in a better position than you are.  Remember, like you they had to work to get where they are and if you take anything from their situation, it is that you can one day be financially free yourself.
27. Find peace with your financial past.  You may have had some situations that put you in a financial hole but the best part is as long as you’re alive today, you have another chance to make things right.
28. Make some hard decisions about your spending habits.  How will you Tame Your Achilles Heel?  The more insight you have into this area, the better decisions you’ll make.
29. Find ways to earn more money.  Developing multiple streams of income is key to financial freedom.
30. Your friends won’t bail you out of financial ruin if you continue to make bad decisions.  If spending money on happy hours, eating out and partying on the weekend take you away from your intended financial goals then it’s time to reassess how you spend your money and time.
31. Do the right thing!  Avoid “because I deserve it” and “I’m stressed and need retail therapy” purchases.  You’ll almost always regret them and they do nothing to fix the core issues.
32. Enjoy this time in your life.  There are many life lessons to be learned.  Spend this time not only about creating a budget but how you got here and the plan to move forward and not fall back.
33. Sell anything that you haven’t touched in 6-8 months and pay down debt or plug into savings.
34. Discuss your financial plans for the coming year with your partner or spouse.    Make sure you are both on board with goals and how you will address setbacks.  Commit to reviewing goals weekly, monthly and quarterly.
35. Start having weekly “family meetings” with each other (couples) and monthly with your children.  Part of these meetings will address family finances which discuss spending habits and financial goals.
36. Teach your children about the benefits of entrepreneurship.  Instead of another Elmo, PS3 or XBox, give them a gumball machine that they will own and operate.  This teaches them the inner workings of how a business is run while learning the world of business at a young age.
37. Give children gifts that will last long past the next birthday: create a college fund or add money to a college fund

What are some tips you have for leading a healthier financial life?

Most people see buying a home as a part of the “American Dream”, well for most it’s become a nightmare.  Buying a home is pretty much the best way to throw your money away and here’s why.  Renters win because they have the flexibility that homeowners do not and after 30 years alone of paying interest to the bank, you’ve lost out on any potential monetary benefit.

You never truly own the home.  Even after paying off the mortgage, there’s still property taxes, HOA fees, home insurance and other mandatory costs which make buying a home a veritable money pit. You must consider every single penny that you spend in direct or indirect relation to the home.  5 years ago, real estate investors would only consider the purchase price and subsequent sales price to determine the profit made.  Nowadays with reduced and nonexistent equity, investors are looking at every penny to determine whether or not the deal is worth it.

• Renters only rent.  No HOA fees, property taxes, home insurance, home repairs or any other cost usually handled by the landlord.   The counter argument here is that the landlord rolls all of these fees into the rent.  However, consider that while this may be true of some rentals, it is not of all rental.  In some cases, doing this drives up the rental rate which makes it unattractive to most renters.   Consequently, there are many landlords who eat the cost of extraneous fees as it is better to have someone in the unit than have it empty. 

There is no guarantee of a “permanent home” with home ownership.  As we’ve seen with the recession, should you lose your job and exhaust all reserve funds, you are out of luck and that home will be sold to the highest bidder.

• Renters can usually rent for as long as the landlord will allow or needs a renter in the home.  If a renter loses a home, there’s the option to get a cheaper rental until things get better.  When you own a home, even if your financial situation changes, you must continue to pay the mortgage payment as agreed upon during closing.

Buying a home locks you in for as long as you own the home.  Think you’ll just sell it?  Fat chance.  Given that most homeowners who bought their homes in the last 10 years are underwater, good luck.  Though it isn’t impossible, the only chance of getting out is to strategically default or sell via short sale if you’re underwater.  Both options trash your credit since the originally agreed upon balance isn’t what the bank receives in the end. 

• Renters on the other hand are free to go at the end of the lease which can be month to month upwards of 2 years.  There’s also the option to break the lease with a fee paid which equates to 2 months or that may be waived if the renter or landlord is able to find someone to replace the renter.

Today’s economic conditions require a 20% down payment.  In some areas, this can be as much or more than $100k for a starter home.  Once you sink the money into the home, you don’t see it again unless you’re lucky enough to sell at a profit.  This is a gamble and unfortunately, many homeowners come out on the losing end.

• Renters only need to put down the 1st month’s rent and security deposit. The latter is returned at the end of the lease term.

Home ownership is no longer an investment.  With the recession, this became a daunting reality for many homeowners.   Home equity became non-existent which meant kissing good bye the good ole “forced savings” theory.  For this reason alone, renters come out on top since the lack of an investment potential makes the argument that buying is more advantageous a moot point.

• Renters in this case, just pay rent with no expectation of long term investment potential.

Homeowners are responsible for the cost of all repairs and upgrades.  This is self explanatory.  As a homeowner you are responsible for every single repair that comes your way, renters only pay for repairs that are a result of intentional damage or negligence.  Otherwise, the landlord pays for everything.

• Renters don’t deal with repairs unless the resulting damage is their fault. 

What’s your perspective on renting vs buying?  This is an age old debate that’s certainly changed it’s course over the last 3 years.  Which side of the fence are you on?  Renting or buying?

As we ramp up financial plans and resolutions for the new year, we’re all looking for ways to make extra money.  It’s no secret – if there’s debt to be paid, there’s money to be made.  Check out the following ways to make extra money while putting a dent in your debt or better yet saving for a rainy day.

Pet Sitting, Especially Overnight Pet Sitting

Pet sitting is a great money maker as pet owners are willing to shell out the cash to make certain their pets don’t lose their furry minds while they are gone on vacation or just away for the weekend.  The hours are convenient for someone who already has a 9-5 as the overnight portion typically starts late evening and goes into the next morning.  The rates for this can run upwards of $50 per night if you own your own pet sitting business.  If you go through a pet sitting service then you can expect to net around 25%-50% of the total fee paid by the owner.  If you have the time to attend to the pet during the day then there’s extra cash in this as well: walking, cleaning the litter box, administering medication etc

Mystery Shopping

Mystery shopping is a great way to earn money during down time since it requires very little effort.  Many companies allow you to sign up and get started on the same day which is great since you get the cash within 1-2 weeks after your assignments have been completed and verified.  EMPSonline.com has always been a consistent place which lists “shops” that pay $40 per shop.  The best part?  They offer direct deposit and the ability to submit your reports online.  This streamlines the process and lessens the time between starting a shop and getting paid.

Sell Old Stuff On Ebay And Craigslist

Ebay and Craigslist are great for selling old stuff.  Your trash is another man’s treasure and they are more than willing to pay you for it.  Go forth and list your items there and get your money!  Another tip?  You may sometimes come across an item that is grossly under-priced on Craigslist and sell it on Ebay if you’re willing to ship it to someone in another state.  This tends to be the case with so computers and other electronics if the person is desperate to get rid of it.  This is also found this to be the case with exercise equipment.  Ebay tends to pull bidders into a frenzy towards the end of the auction so if you have an item that most people are searching for then buying low on Craigslist and selling high on Ebay may be the way to go.

Date Night Childcare

If you love children, then this is a great option!  Market yourself to local parents as the date night solution.  Parents of young children are always looking for trustworthy and reliable people to babysit so that they can have a few needed hours to themselves.  Offer overnight babysitting and you’re in it to win it!  Parents appreciate it and you will certainly be passed around to their friends to do the same.  Tip:  It helps if you’re CPR and first aid certified.  Parents want to know that if something happens that you know how to tackle the situation with skill.

Get a 2nd Job

Right now it may seem that jobs aren’t plentiful but there are indeed many lower paying jobs that you’d be surprised aren’t being filled.  This is to your advantage as you may be able to negotiate better hours in exchange for filling a position, especially during the holidays.

Make Your Hobby Your New Money Maker

What do you spend most of your time doing?  Take that and make some money doing it!  This isn’t always immediately obvious, so take some time to think about how you can combine 1 or a few of your passions into something that can net you some cash for a rainy day.  For example, if you have a Type A personality and love organizing spaces then advertise yourself to friends and family as an organizer.   The same goes for make up.  If you happen to do makeup really well then market yourself to local brides as the makeup guru to get their faces done on the big day.

Start A Bath and Body Products Company

Don’t gloss over this just yet.  There’s a huge market for naturally made soaps, creams and perfumes.  If you can find a good supplier for unique and quality scents with a fresh base then you are set. The drawback of this is of course becoming too popular and then falling behind on orders since they are handmade and made to order.  Research this opportunity carefully and thoroughly.  One should only enter this arena if they truly have a heart of creating lovely smell goods!

Tutoring

This is pretty self-explanatory.  Put flyers up at local schools and post and ad on Craigslist detailing your specialties and rates.  It helps to have great references and the ability to coach children through difficult topics while helping them learn the information in a way that they are unable to in class.

Earning extra money may seem difficult, but put some thoughts into where your energy will be most profitable prior to jumping in.  What are your best money makers when you need extra cash?

It’s that time of year again and we’re in the mindset where we begin to think about the things we’d like to do better next year.   Financial resolutions are often high on the list with much “spend less, save more” promises that never seem to quite make it past Valentines Day.

Plan For The Future

Create A Financial Plan:  Getting started with improving your finances requires first developing a plan for success.  A financial plan is the foundation upon which all your plans exist.  Without this plan, it’s impossible to have goal directed success as it relates to your finances.  This helps you decide whether that purchase you’re about to make coincides with your values and goals.  So in essence, it becomes the compass that helps you get to your wealthy destination.

Action:  Use this financial plan template to get started.  Fill it out as directed and then use it to guide your plans for the new year and beyond.

Budgeting

Develop a budget or spending plan that actually works for you based on where you are right now.  Don’t go cold turkey if you know that won’t work for you.  Instead, try reducing your spending in critical areas slowly until it “feels right”.  One mistake we often make us cutting these out cold turkey which actually backfires down the road.  Unless you have really good discipline, slowly but surely wins this race.

Action:  Get started here!  Need a budget template?  Check these awesome budgeting templates from Budgets Are Sexy.

• Take a look at your spending over the last 3-6 months by aggregating your accounts into Yodlee
• Check where you’ve fallen short, for example spending $500 on happy hours and eating out which leads to your account being overdrawn, well you might want to start there.
• Decide how much you need to cut back in each category.  Start off with $250 for the above-mentioned example.
• Create a new budget based on the template you select here.
• Use the next 2 weeks to test drive your budget.  Review your spending weekly to determine where you need to tweak things a bit.  This is an ongoing process, but as you go along, it gets easier.

Get Your Credit In Check

Check your Credit for errors, collections, judgements, late payments and possible liens.  If necessary, start the credit repair process in order to remove derogatory items.  Sign up for a credit monitoring service that will allow you to consistently and actively manage your credit so that you aren’t blindsided when applying for new credit down the road.

Develop a plan to begin the credit repair process

Decide which debts you will pay off and what other accounts need negotiation around a new payment plan for settlement or removing late payments in exchange for paying off the whole balance.  Tip:  If the account has already reported on your credit report, call when you have enough to pay half, more than half or the whole balance.  This way you have leverage and better able to negotiate removal of the derogatory information.  This agreement must be given to you in writing.

Action:

• Check your credit report.  There’s always a section which lists your creditor’s contact information.  Call them to discuss the account and what possible remedies are available to you.
• For the accounts that you have decided to pay off.  Check out these debt reduction strategies and see which one works for you.  The debt snowball method tends to be the most popular but it may not work or be appropriate for every situation.

Schedule Time With Your Money

Set up a time to review the above-mentioned tasks every week.  Staying on top of these issues develops a habit that you’ll need in order to cultivate financial discipline.

What are your financial resolutions for next year?  How have you fallen short this year and how to you plan to change things next year?

In our next series of Avon interviews, I had the pleasure of interviewing Avon superstar, Denise.  Like Becky, she makes money selling Avon products to friends and family and has tons of fun doing it!  While interviewing Denise it became immediately clear that we share many of the same values around women and money which made this interview easy with many “yes, me too!” moments.

What’s Her Story?

Denise is a mom who has been selling Avon for about 3 years now.  She happened upon Avon due to the pending birth of her son, however she’d recently lost her job. While feeling at a loss for how she would support her family, Denise decided to follow through on a local advertisement she saw for Avon.  Feeling that she was failing her son before he was born due to losing her job, she honed in on her survival instincts because she had a new child to support.

One key selling point that helped her make the decision is that selling Avon means selling something that someone else makes.  This means no time spent creating the product, being an Avon representative means that the product is ready to ship while making a higher margin.

21st Century Avon

A common theme in our interviews is all of the representatives feel that Avon has certainly turned the page and is no longer “your gramma’s Avon”.  Avon is cool, fresh and appeals to a wide audience of women which spans generations.  Some of us grew up with our moms selling Avon for extra cash and for many this played an integral part in supporting their households.

For Denise this was no different.  At the time, she was in a place where she was dependent upon the income from Avon to support herself while giving her the time and flexibility needed with her newborn son.

She describes herself as her own best customer and tells me that “people don’t know how much Avon has to offer.“  From “perfume to panties”, Avon sells everything a woman needs to feel sexy, sophisticated and pretty at the same time.

Flexibility

When asked what she likes best about Avon, Denise replied that the flexibility this offers is top of mind.  This isn’t a job where she would have to sell, sell, sell while under high-pressure deadlines, she is able to sell as little or as much as she wants with no threat of losing her job.  She often remarked about the sense of freedom because no one can fire you and you set your own financial goals.

Advice For New Avon Representatives

Denise tells me that for new Avon reps, the sky is the limit as they have nothing to lose.  They start the business for $10 and there’s no need to buy any inventory as with other businesses.

• Timing is important. Representatives should buy products ahead of time for customers that will use them.
• Think strategically.  You’re your own boss.  Be disciplined about the hours you put into it.  Make decisions that will be profitable.  Buy things that you know will sell.  We both agreed that in order to be successful at any business it is important to treat it like a business, not a hobby.
• Commit.  Dedicate yourself and your time to the venture.  Get on a  schedule and know what you want to get out of it.
• If you aren’t your own best customer then you’re losing money.
• Make it a lifestyle, not a job.  When you truly love what you’re selling it doesn’t feel like a job.

How Does AVON Help Denise Reach Her Financial Goals?

Now that Denise is in a better place financially (recently secured a FT position), everything she makes from AVON is “me money”.  This includes everything from massages, eyebrows, Christmas gifts or just extra spending money that she would not have if Avon weren’t  a part of the picture.  This adds to her feeling of independence as she remembers that only 3 years ago she had lost her job and today, thanks to Avon she is feeling more independent.

What are your thoughts on AVON and the opportunity to set your own schedule and make as much or little as you want?

Disclaimer:  I am a paid brand ambassador for AVON. My views are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Avon and its affiliates.

With the new year upon us in a few weeks, you may be thinking about jump starting your finances.  This is pretty common as people tend to engage in a review of their financial life around this time of year in an effort to make resolutions.

Your financial plan may be one of those elusive resolutions and you may be even thinking, “5 years is too long for me to “plan” but in reality it isn’t.  We aren’t addressing what to do when you reach retirement or any other really long term goal.  Think of 5 years as the standard.

Check out the following tips on how to create a financial plan you can stick with!

Create A Foundation:  Discover Your Values

What are your financial values?  Do you want to get out or stay out of debt?  Would you like to travel more or start/ramp up a hobby?  Own a home?  Start a business?  Answering and incorporating these into your financial plan will help you set up a foundation which guides your plan through the end.

Develop A Few Concrete Financial Goals

SMART goals apply here.  Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time Specific.

SMART Goals Overview

Specific

• Start off by being specific in your goal. Clearly define what you are going to do. Include the what, why and how.

Measurable

• You must be able to measure your goal in order to manage it. I will pay an extra $200 towards my credit card is better than I want to be debt free.

Attainable

• Your goal must be attainable, although it should stretch you to reach the goal. You can’t possibly pay down $19,000 in debt when you only earn $15,000 for the year.

Realistic

• A realistic goal is one that will stretch you but not impossible. Completely cutting out all entertainment and eating out isn’t realistic for most.  But starting my reducing the amount of money spent in this area is more realistic.

Timely

• A timely goal will give you a clear target to work towards. You may choose a week, a month, a year, just make sure that the time is realistic.

Save $1000-$5000 for an emergency fund. 

This is only to be used in emergencies and may vary depending on your lifestyle and needs.  So it’s OK if you need to save more like $2500.  If you have a larger family and expenses, then $5000 may be a more comfortable number for your situation.

Pay Down Debt, Avoid Digging Deeper In Debt and Save for 1 Month’s Living Expenses

Check out these debt reduction strategies and see which one works for you.  The debt snowball method tends to be the most popular but it may not work or be appropriate for every situation.

Save towards 6 months of living expenses

Once your debt has been paid off, work towards saving 6 months of living expenses.  Most “personal finance experts” recommend a minimum of 3 but given the economic factors, let’s go with 6.

Start Investing In Long Term Goals

This can include retirement, college education, owning a home or anything that warrants a longer term investment of time and money.  One thing to note which goes against Dave Ramsey’s advice in this area, put your retirement ahead of your child’s college fund.  Check out the following compelling reasons from Christian Personal Finance:

1. You have only one chance to fund your retirement.
2. You will force your children to set their own priorities.
3. Success is not guaranteed by a piece of paper.
4. Your child might not graduate.
5. Your child may need to support you in your senior years.

 

Think hard about whether or not it will be a worthy endeavor to save for your child’s college education.

Create a will

Make certain that you create a will so that your affairs are in order upon your passing.  This is a topic no one really wants to visit until it is too late but doing this now will put your mind at ease.

Check out this template from David Bach which should give you more of a visual of what the plan should look like:

(click to enlarge)

My personal financial plan:

• Become debt-free with the exception of a mortgage and student loans.  Both are pretty large and unless I hit the lottery then, I’m stuck.
• Save for a $60,000 emergency fund.
• Work towards at least $100k in retirement savings which I am behind on due to debt
• Reduce my expenses to the minimum, just above bare minimum.  I still want to travel and enjoy life, but there are a lot of extras right now I can stand to do without that don’t necessarily enrich my life.  I’d like to spend money in more meaningful areas of  my life that will create lasting memories.

Have you created a financial plan?  If not, what has stopped you from creating one?   If you do have one, what are the values and goals that drive your financial plan?

There was a time when I cared about these things we tend to call holy grails of personal finance.  You know, obsessing about checking your credit score, buying a home – those things that cause you to rack your brain at night if you’re one these personal finance types who cares about these things.

I stopped caring a long time ago because in the grand scheme of things they don’t affect how I sleep at night.  At one time yes, but these days?  No.

Car Insurance

There was a time when I cared about how a speeding ticket would impact my car insurance rate.  When pulled over I would going into a long diatribe with the officer about how this would affect my insurance rate.  Those were the days.  But now it doesn’t really matter as much to me.  Any tickets I’ve gotten have not impacted my insurance rate as they’ve gone down for each year.  I pay around $60 per month.  Even during the years when I was more a speed demon than I care to share here   Even if it did, car insurance is just one of those I hate to deal with but can’t live without if I drive a car.

Credit Score/Checking My Credit Score

I used to obsess around checking my credit score.  So much so that I was getting new scores every 2-3 months.  Now that I use cash for everything that doesn’t matter so much any more.   Now, keep in mind, I have never had a late payment EVER but I still have debt   It is what it is and losing sleep about it isn’t something I plan on doing again.  I have a plan to pay off my consumer debt in a few months but I’ll still have student loan debt *shrug*

Buying a Home And Living The American Dream

Been there, done that and have the underwater t-shirt to show for it.  I keep saying to my husband that I don’t think we will ever buy another home.  Please don’t write about the tax benefits either because when you break down the dollars you really don’t come out on top.  Property taxes, maintenance, HOA fees etc- all things you pay just to get the holy interest which magically gives you a  better financial life with the deduction.  I just don’t believe in the good ole American Dream which tells us that you have to buy a house in order to live it.  I’ll pass.

Carrying Huge Debt

Being 6 figures in student loan debt used to be something I was ashamed to admit.  As you probably guessed, now I don’t care LOL  I try to live my life free of shame and while it is something I don’t enjoy, it’s a part of my life,  I’ve learned an expensive lesson.   I’ve seen other PF bloggers and readers ashamed to admit it but guys, it’s here, admit and accept it.  It only shapes who you are if you can’t own up to the reasons why you ended up with the debt.  Let that go, because Sallie surely needs her money and she isn’t letting you go.  Like others I am working on this area of my life and don’t profess to be an expert.  However, while working on getting out of debt, it isn’t something I plan to lose sleep about.

Coupon Clipping/Extreme Couponing

This is a waste of time for me.  Time=Money and I refuse to spend hours clipping coupons to save a few cents while buying crap I don’t need again in the name of “I bought 23 toothbrushes for $2.60!”

Being Frugal

I hate this term.  Being frugal=cheap and I hate cheap anything.  I like to think of it as having more wisdom as it relates to my spending habits.  Frugal means shopping the sale rack for clothes that no one wanted so they are now marked down.  Being wise means waiting for the very coat I’ve wanted for months to go on sale.  The difference is waiting to get what I want instead of waiting for everyone else to get what they want and then pick up leftovers at a bargain in the name of being frugal.  Same thing with shopping for food.  Being frugal means buying some cereal I don’t normally eat on sale when all I can do is get what I want and when it goes on sale great, but otherwise I get what I want.

What do I obsess about?

• Having An Emergency Fund-for obvious reasons
• Paying down debt

I don’t lose sleep over these items either but they remain priorities for the present  time.

What are your holy grails when it comes to money?

Check out my guest post on Taming Your Achilles’ Heel for Financial Freedom.   Thank you Flexo for allowing me to post about a topic that’s really personal so my hope is that it helps someone tame their own Achilles’ Heel when working towards financial freedom.

Here’s an excerpt:

Taming your Achilles’ heel will take introspection and honesty while making some hard decisions about how to change your spending habits. Deciding to take this on will be difficult but the results are worth it in the end.

To recap:

• Identify your “heart,” where you spend most of your money.
• Decide to change your heart from reckless spending to whatever financial goal you have in mind.
• Engage in serious introspection about why you spend the way you do. Are there other psychological needs that spending temporarily meets?
• Divorce yourself from the emotions which enable you to rationalize and accept destructive spending habits.

Go on over to Consumerism Commentary and take a look, comment letting me know what you think!

Over the last few years I’ve test driven several account aggregation systems in hopes to find that one tool that gives me everything I need on one suite.  These include Mint.com, HelloWallet.com, Yodlee.com et al.

I tend to look for certain features before taking it for a test drive.  If I don’t see anything about bank level security then I know they don’t allow users to connect directly with their banks and I don’t bother signing up.  This is always a deal breaker for me.

Why Is This Important?

I’m probably lazy and so are most users.  Who wants to bother with downloading .csv files from their bank website, save the file and then upload it to the program?  I don’t.  I simply want to be able to log on and have all of my transactions and balances updated automatically.  This is especially true if I am on the go or need to check my accounts while at work.  I have transactions occurring almost every day so this is important for me to be able to see up to the minute information while on the go without fussing with a .csv file.

Other Features I Look For In Account Aggregation/Online Budgeting Tools

Great Design and Intuitive User Interface

Mint.com continues to win this battle for obvious reasons.  Their user interface is a huge change from Microsoft Money which I used shortly before switching over to Mint.  Hello Wallet does a nice job in this area as well but not as good as Mint, especially when it comes to the intuitive user interface.   I spent a lot of time fiddling around with Hello Wallet in hopes of “getting” their system but it just didn’t happen for me.  Another turn off is being forced to pay for the month before even knowing whether or not the system is a good fit.

In this department, Yodlee could use some help.  While their tools are robust and enable users to slice and dice information 50 ways to Sunday, the design itself needs major work.  They rely too much on the fact that their tools are solid and neglect the user interface and design.  Clearly, whoever runs Yodlee, is more focused on producing more tools that enable users to dissect information rather than making the design more aesthetically appealing.  This is especially true for their Android application.  Check out the Android Market reviews if you don’t believe me

Cash Flow Forecasting

None of the above-mentioned system excel in this area.  In fact, this feature seems to be almost non-existent.  Hello Wallet does this but more so an overview of the monthly cash flow and not day by day. I simply want to be able to understand my cash flow any any point in the month based on what transactions are planned on a given day.  Is that too much to ask?  Rudder did a really good job with this but they tanked not too long after launching so there’s that.

Envelope Budgeting

This is the holy grail of all budgeting plans.  Essentially, the user assigns each envelope (budget category) an amount they wish to spend within the budgeting period.  This is usually a month or some people choose every pay period.  As they proceed through the month and spend within the envelopes, the amount spent is removed and the balance is then updated.  Since I am a very visual user, I don’t yet feel that any of the tools mentioned here excel in this area, so they could use some work.

Now, Mint’s budgeting categories do try to mimic envelope budgeting but it doesn’t really hit the nail on the head in this area.  If they came through with a true envelope budgeting system that is visually appealing while being intuitive then I’d be on it.  Mvelopes is well known for their use of this system but the interface is an eye sore and frankly, horrible.  It reminds me of Windows 3.0 and they need to fire whoever designed the front end of their system.  I signed up and stayed for 11 days before quitting and demanding a refund.   As you can see, I didn’t even bother with reviewing the system here. Visuals are important as demonstrated by Mint’s success, so hopefully, Mvelopes will wake up and follow suit.

Planned or Existing Mobile Application

For the most part, this option is almost always an indicator of traction.  Users love the program so much they want it to be available to them via an iPhone or Android application.  If the program isn’t at least planning for a mobile application then I’m less likely to use it long term.  The only exception for this being Yodlee as they only recently launched their mobile app on the iPhone and Android.  But, again they can do this since their suite of tools are rock solid.

What account aggregation tools/online budgeting system do you use?  What do you look for before jumping on the bandwagon?

The art of shopping has become quite a complicated affair. It has become an art form because on one side you have the business owner who has to keep selling or he or she doesn’t make a living, and the consumers on the other side who really only want to buy what they need but are tempted on all fronts to buy more. It is more than an art form.

This is a very real battle.

Much research goes on behind the scenes to find the most effective way to get you to buy more than you need. Business owners want you to part with your money and they are willing to give you a so called ‘bargain’ in order to win the battle of the wills. But you must stand your ground if you are to keep that last dollar in your purse for what you really want, not what you are told you want.

Extreme Couponing is For Suckers

Extreme couponing is a good example of you having good intentions when you go shopping but only finish up with cupboards full of products you don’t really need because you were told you had a bargain. You might not realize it at the time but the current clipping frenzy is sucking you in to buy things you don’t want and the business owner’s are laughing all the way to the bank.

The whole plan behind extreme couponing is to get you into the shop so you will purchase something at full price. The business owner feels it is worth sacrificing something of smaller value to him as long as you buy something of more value while there.

For instance, they hoped you will leave the store with a new outfit that you just couldn’t resist when you initially entered the shop to get a free bottle of perfume with a coupon on a pair of $20 earrings.  Sound familiar?

This is not to imply that you can’t play them at the same game, you can beat the system if you use self discipline:

• Make up a shopping list of what you want before you go shopping, go
  through your coupons to see which ones you can use to your advantage.
• Check newspaper ads to see where the bargains are and off you go. It is a fact that you can save a lot of money by
  being careful how and when you cash in your clipped coupons but the secret is only using a small
  amount at a time and don’t allow yourself to be sucked in.
• Make use of the frequent shopper program (sales emails) whenever you can as this is a way you will get told in advance of any bargains that are planned in the future.
• When shopping always be aware of the various marketing ploys employed by the different shops and their products. When rummaging through the dump bins keep an eye out for the price, you will often find a higher priced article thrown in among the bargains.
• Island displays are another to be wary of. The middle shelf is often where the higher priced brands are placed, very low and very high shelves usually contain the lower priced.
• Also, items that attract the impulse buyer are usually made more prominent than others, especially around the checkout counter.

By, keeping all this in mind while you shop you could save yourself hundreds of dollars a year.

Kristy Ramirez is a frugal freelance personal finance writer for Life Insurance Finder where she helps people sort through a range of different insurance types and find the best solution to meet their needs whilst saving money.