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Creating a budget can be an effective way to manage your finances as a step towards achieving your financial goals. Here are some steps to get started:
Category: Finances
Simplify Bill Paying
I was talking with a friend who had just spent the afternoon writing out checks to pay her bills, putting stamps on the envelopes, and driving to the post office to mail these inside (to avoid having them stolen from a collection box). We talked about how she can simplify her bill paying.
Five Ideas for Decorating for the Holidays on a Budget
With prices for everything on a seemingly endless spiral upward, you might want to go DIY for holiday decorations this year. Even if you are not an artsy-craftsy type, here are five ways to add a festive look for pennies:
What Is in Your Wallet?
Sounds like the tagline for the commercial for that famous company, right? Well, I mean the question to stimulate your thoughts just in case…
You see, a client of mine just had his wallet stollen. One of the first things that crosses one’s mind in that panic-stricken situation is, of course, “What did I have in my wallet?”. It is indeed an awful thing to happen to anyone. In addition to feeling violated, who has the time to deal with contacting banks, credit card companies, the Department of Motor Vehicles, and any other company that concerns the contents of your wallet?
5 Ways to Prepare Your House to Retain Heat This Winter
Oil and natural gas prices are expected to significantly rise this winter. While you can’t control prices, you can take some measures to conserve heat. Here are five ways to prepare your house to retain heat this winter.
3 Ways You Can Plan for the Holidays Today
It’s not too early to plan for the holidays, especially this year: disruptions in supply chains could mean that items you were hoping to purchase for gifts could be difficult to come by. Even books are affected because of limited supply of paper and because some popular gift books are printed overseas. This includes coffee table books, children’s picture books, books with fancy paper or covers—in other words, gift-y books. Supply chain issues across industries are predicted to hamper holiday shopping, so if you usually wait until after Thanksgiving to shop, you might be out of luck.
Your Estate Planning Shouldn’t End When You Write Your Will
You’ve taken care of all your estate planning and have a health care proxy, power of attorney, and executor of your estate. Bravo! However, your estate planning really shouldn’t end when you write your will.
Consider this: what if the unspeakable happens and you are incapacitated or die. Does your health care proxy know how you want to be cared for? Do you want to be kept on life support, and if so, under what circumstances should life support be continued or terminated? Does your power of attorney know where you keep your important papers? Does your executor know where to find your will and, if you have any, trust documents?
How and Why to Balance Your Checkbook – Even if You Are Not Writing Checks
Most of us aren’t writing many checks these days, but we are still spending money and receiving payments. In the old days, there were only two ways to withdraw funds from your bank account: write a check or hand over a withdrawal slip to a bank teller. You deposited funds in person at the bank. Then with the marvelous innovation of ATMs, it was no longer necessary to go into a bank to withdraw, deposit, or transfer money. Today you can pay bills online through your bank’s website or app, or through apps such as Venmo, Zelle, & CashApp or transfer funds to and from PayPal. Your paycheck is most likely deposited directly via EFT. All this said, how and why do you need to balance your checkbook even if you are not writing checks?
How to Endure a Layoff with Grace
COVID-19 and the closing of the economy has resulted in a lot of layoffs, temporary and permanent. Being let go from a job because of cutbacks is even harder than being fired. You know you’ve done nothing wrong. You understand why it’s happening, still, you feel that you have done something wrong or that your employer didn’t value you. In case you have fallen victim to the corona virus in the way, here are some do’s and don’ts of how to endure a layoff with grace.
What to Do When a Spouse Dies
Being prepared for whatever life throws at you is so important. This became glaringly so to me recently as a client of mine suddenly lost her husband. One of the first questions she had for me was what to do when a spouse dies. Isn’t there a checklist? As a result, I hope this will help any of you who may need this or at least prove to be a source of help to which to refer.
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