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Hi Everyone,
I thought I'd put a list of tools you can use to help motivate you to keep to your spending goals.
And please, add your own as well! The more tools we have in our toolkit, the better job we can do on our goals.
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The Basics:
You don't really need a bunch of tools if you know what is 'coming in' and what is 'going out', going out being your savings. A simple budget can help, and you don't even really need to give yourself a budget if you just write down the following:
1. How much $ you make in a month (or you can do it by week, or by year)
2. How much $ you are spending (either total, or by category)
3. How much do you have left in your account, and what do you do with it ? (For instance, just because you don't spend all the money in your account doesn't mean you save it. You could accidentally be spending that leftover without ever knowing it unless you keep it separate from your account by moving it into a savings account, and don't touch it!
Now, for the more detailed tools:
1. Use an online financial tracking device, such as Mint.com to help you keep track of all your accounts with only one website.
2. If you are in debt or use credit, use CreditKarma.com to keep track of your credit score. And you can check your report once annually for free at annualcreditreport.com.
3. It's never too early to start saving for retirement, and to help motivate you to save money (don't get disheartened, it all adds up over decades) use this tool to see how much you'll want to save for retirement every month: http://money.msn.com/retirement/retirement-calculator.aspx There are tons out there, you can search for one you want- just search 'retirement calculator' and you can find tons.
4. I just found this funny 'demotivator' for non-essentials we spend frequently on. You can enter what it is (such as make-up), how much you pay, and how often you normally pay for it, and it'll help you realize it's a lot more as it adds up over the years! http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/demotivator/?spenddesc=makeup&x=233&y=33
I'll add more later!
I thought I'd put a list of tools you can use to help motivate you to keep to your spending goals.
And please, add your own as well! The more tools we have in our toolkit, the better job we can do on our goals.
/emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />The Basics:
You don't really need a bunch of tools if you know what is 'coming in' and what is 'going out', going out being your savings. A simple budget can help, and you don't even really need to give yourself a budget if you just write down the following:
1. How much $ you make in a month (or you can do it by week, or by year)
2. How much $ you are spending (either total, or by category)
3. How much do you have left in your account, and what do you do with it ? (For instance, just because you don't spend all the money in your account doesn't mean you save it. You could accidentally be spending that leftover without ever knowing it unless you keep it separate from your account by moving it into a savings account, and don't touch it!
Now, for the more detailed tools:
1. Use an online financial tracking device, such as Mint.com to help you keep track of all your accounts with only one website.
2. If you are in debt or use credit, use CreditKarma.com to keep track of your credit score. And you can check your report once annually for free at annualcreditreport.com.
3. It's never too early to start saving for retirement, and to help motivate you to save money (don't get disheartened, it all adds up over decades) use this tool to see how much you'll want to save for retirement every month: http://money.msn.com/retirement/retirement-calculator.aspx There are tons out there, you can search for one you want- just search 'retirement calculator' and you can find tons.
4. I just found this funny 'demotivator' for non-essentials we spend frequently on. You can enter what it is (such as make-up), how much you pay, and how often you normally pay for it, and it'll help you realize it's a lot more as it adds up over the years! http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/demotivator/?spenddesc=makeup&x=233&y=33
I'll add more later!
