Managing Your Finances as a Newleywed

It's important to plan for your financial future beforehand so you have idea of what to expect. Once you get married, most newlyweds' open a joint checking/saving accounts.

Below is a list of 4 easy steps to take when determining your financial future.

Step 1-Determine your net worth
Net worth is the difference between assets and liabilities.

Make a list to figure out your net worth, make a list of all the things that you own and assign approximate values to each one. Then make a list of all your debts. Subtract these two numbers and you will have your net worth.

Step 2- Family accountingYou will need to decide who is going to manage your accounting. Is one partner going to manage the finances or will this be a shared responsibility? Are you going to choose to handle the finances independently, if not you will need to create a system of whose going to pay the bills.

Step 3- Set goals
Statistics are showing that 95% of senior citizens can't afford to retire. Set goals and start saving for your future today. Create short-term goals and long-term goals.

Make sure when you set your goals that you are actually striving for them so they should be adjusted to your spending lifestyle

Step 4- Plan for adjusting your finances once married. Many couples get married without having a financial plan in mind.

It's very important to discuss your financial situation before tying the knot that way everything is out in the open.

If you don't want to deal with thinking of financial strategies get help from a financial planner for any needed advice.

Credit Card Hazards - Beware of Scary Print

You are pre-approved! Every time I check my mail there is at least one or two pre-approved credit card applications. You get them too, I'm sure. You can even have terrible credit and they still continue to flood your mailbox. And if you just filed bankruptcy you will get more of them than you know what to do with!

Credit card debt is so easy to get into--over and over again. Most people don't feel like they are spending real money until the bill comes, and then it's too late. The credit card companies know how to make it very tempting to fall back on any good habits we've created and just spend away. It's hard to get away from, but we have to resist temptation.

When establishing good credit, one of the things we're told to do is to get a credit card and then use it to spend wisely. Experts advise us to pay our bills on time and not to exceed the credit limit. However, no one really talks to us when we get that first card about how easily and quickly we hit that limit, or how easy it is to miss that first monthly payment.

Once you get behind, it can be really hard to catch up. Oftentimes, credit cards come with introductory interest rates that are nothing or very low. But many times, those rates soon change and you can find yourself with a full balance on your card with an 18 or 29.99 percent interest rate!

That interest rate can then put you over your limit, if your not paying at least the minimum payment, now making you susceptible to over-the-limit fees. Before you know it, you are getting bad reports on your credit reports for credit card debt on a card that you haven't even had very
long.

Unfortunately, when times are hard, abusing credit cards is all too easy. When the economy is bad and cash is tight, it is all too easy to put your daily living expenses on your credit cards. If there is any kind of pattern like this in your credit card spending, it can build huge credit card debt pretty quickly.

If you are not making your credit card payments, the credit card companies do inquiries to verify your address or other information. Every time they make an inquiry on your credit report, it makes you look like even more of a high risk, further worsening your credit history.

All the credit card debt on your report, even if some of it is good, can make you look high risk for car loans or mortgages - especially if any of those cards hold high balances. Even worse, that bad credit report can keep you from renting an apartment or getting a job that requires a background check.

So keep in mind, as tempting as it may be to pay with a credit card, choose the "debit" option next time. It's normal to risk it all when times are tough, but doing so creates more problems later that can take you years to fix. Credit card debt has long term risks, but if you use credit cards wisely, you can build credit that brings rewards instead.

Learning to Manage Your Finances During a Crisis

All tsunamis, hurricanes and medical atrocities aside, there's more to crisis proofing deadly and financial catastrophes. In the realm of protecting ones family from the devastation of financial dire straits, a simple plan starts with a budget.

The average American family is only now learning to spend significantly less of their income. If this had been the case 10 years ago, financial crises would almost become extinct or at least significantly less pervasive than it is today.

The formula for financial solace is to reduce the outgoing budget to be applied to a savings account or market fund. The 30+ million Americans ensconced in debt could lower their stress rates and genuinely enjoy life if they put an end to over extending finances. Living from month to month impairs the quality of life issue.

Being financially devastated can be a paralyzing situation. Despite an adequate salary and a dependable job, families across the United States continue to be challenged by making their means last from month to month.

Pre-Crisis Financial Planning
Starting a savings account or plan features a surefire way to be prepared for unforeseen costly emergencies. It could be anything from a malfunctioning boiler or a household flood. In lieu of the family crisis, being prepared financially can cushion the devastation of the event. Without a job, this task seems daunting, if not impossible.

Nevertheless, learning new spending habits may be challenging for a compulsive spender. Keeping up with the Joneses is not worth the superficiality of terminal financial distress.

Obviously, there are only two solutions to the spending deficit equation; either: Increase ones salary significantly (which is arguably difficult to do in an economic crisis, unless you work for Goldman Sachs)

Start living below your financial means drastically. Many people, choose this option by force and not so much by choice. The loss of a job, forces you to change the way you live.

Unfortunately, not everyone is able to achieve either objective. In fact, for many consumers they require both goals to the spending objective, start making more and stop spending until they can see their way out of the red. As the old adage, The more you make, the more you want is true. But the problem grows when people begin to spend more than they make, even while on public assistance.

The end result is a financial avalanche.

Even if you think that you have the rob Peter to pay Paul down pat, its only a matter of time before everything could snowball. The reality is that the only financial rescue team available to you may be a personal loan or debt consolidation loan.

To prevent the dominoes effect of financial stress take over here are a few steps to quell your finances in the right direction:

Compile a list of current bills

Devise a list of household operations

Review areas to cut spending (ordering out, entertainment, shopping sprees, etc)

Develop a balanced budget to live on only 60 percent of your household income

Sell any personal commodities that are beyond ones financial means.

Get organized on your PC with either a Quicken or Microsoft program.

Work to balance your budget by paying of bills

Detail a goal with realistic terms

Stock between five and ten percent a month into a savings account or a money market account on a regular basis.


Fast Debt Solution

Since the idea of taking on a second job is an unpopular choice for most people, but may be the standard, as we slowly make our way out of the worst economic crisis since 1929, a rapid debt solution is a debt consolidation loan.

Since the loan is designed to pay-off current debt and stretch out the repayment term over time, it can be the ultimate debt solution for managing ones finances.

Financial Crisis Savers

Personal loans are either secured or unsecured loans. Secured loans place the borrowers property up for collateral. (For example, a house, real estate property or a high end recreational vehicle).

An unsecured loan usually has a higher interest rate. Since the financial institution is at greater risk of a defaulted loan for a person with poor credit, the fees are reflected in the interest rate.

Pretty straightforward, debt consolidation loans repay all current bills. Then the loan charges the borrower an interest and monthly charge.

For its overall convenience and ease is considered an immediate way of quelling financial stress.
For the type of emergency, where one needs less than a thousand dollars, a payday loan is just the remedy. The best way to outsmart a payday loan is by paying the loan immediately and avoiding going with a plan that has a pre-payment penalty.

During a family or financial crisis it's comforting to know that financial squadrons otherwise known as debt consolidation, personal loans or even payday loans may be the option for a monetary rescue.

Getting a Fresh Start For Your Finances In 2011

While 40% to 50% of us make New Years resolutions on January 1a ritual that has existed since ancient times approximately 60% to 80% of us have already broken them by the end of February, according to researchers.

It's still not too late, however, to reset the trajectory on your familys' finances, experts note.

1. Build a Budget

If you haven't already done so, create a realistic budget. 

Approximately 85% of your income should be set aside for necessities like housing, food, health care and clothing, according to the professionals at VISA USA.

This leaves 15% for entertainment and something many consumers completely neglect: savings.

2. Distinguish Needs from Wants

Make sure you have a clear understanding of what you need in life versus what you want in life.

You need to pay for the antibiotics when the doctor diagnoses a respiratory infection. You don't need to buy the latest movie released on DVD to aid in your recovery.

You need to pay the rent or mortgage. You don't need to buy the lovely accent pillows that beckon to you from the interior design boutique.


Always separate the needs from the wants particularly if money is tight.

3. Monitor Your Spending

To see what you really spend each month, keep a running log of all purchases no matter how small for a full month. This will give you a visual display of where your money goes after you deposit your paycheck.

You may find that the $3 cup of coffee or fast food lunch, starts each day adds up to $90 a month a pocketbook pincher that may prompt you to buy a pound of coffee beans at the local market and grind them yourself or take your lunch a few days each week. That $90 blossoms into $1,080 in savings at the end of a year.

4. Create an Emergency Fund

Life is full of surprises both positive and negative. If you happen to lose your job, like many of us have or suffer an illness that temporarily sidelines you, you will need cash reserves to support you during the rough months.

In most cases, consumers who find themselves dealing with a financial hardship are unprepared and have not saved for unexpected situations, says Diane Giarratano, director of education for Novadebt, a U.S. financial management service agency, with multiple locations, that provides credit counseling, budgeting and financial education.

5. Educate Yourself

When you attended high school or college, you studied history, mathematics, language and science, but there was probably no course in basic money management.

If you need help in meeting a financial goal whether its buying a home or reducing your debt take advantage of community resources.

Consumers should feel free to contact
a good credit-counseling agency to obtain free advice with regard to establishing a budget or to learn how to handle unexpected hardships, Giarratano says.

6. Don't Become a Victim

Identity theft has become an international epidemic, so be extremely cautious when giving out your credit card or personal identifying information. Monitor your credit card bills carefully for unauthorized charges, and immediately report suspicious activity to the issuing company. With the new Financial Regulations in place, this has become more important than ever before.

Credit card companies, are looking for ways to retain the capitol that they've lost.

Identity theft is often an inside job, warns Robert L. Siciliano, a personal security expert with Boston, Massachusetts-based Safety Minute Seminars and author of The Safety Minute.

Lower-level help desk workers and frontline call center employees often have access to all our personal information in their databases, he says. What are you doing to protect yourself? If you're not paying attention, you could be a victim, too.

And when a disaster strikes, such as the recent killer tsunamis in South Asia and East Africa, be wary of scammers from fake charities before reaching for your checkbook. Unfortunately, there will always be unscrupulous individuals who seize such opportunities to profit from others misfortune.


Avoid using your credit card to make contributions, advises James Walsh, author of You Cant Cheat An Honest Man: How Ponzi Schemes and Pyramid Frauds Work and Why They're More Common Than Ever.

Even though this can be a convenient way to proceed, many crooks are looking for credit card numbers, Walsh says. They will press strongly for immediate support. Don't rush.

Instead, initiate the call yourself, and select a reputable charity.

Go with recognized names, Walsh says. No organization is perfect; even the best-meaning groups occasionally misallocate money or fall victim to abusive employees. But larger charitable groups like the Red Cross, the United Way and Catholic Charities have the mechanisms in place to audit their people and performance.

Charitable contributions are tax-deductible, so keep good records of all donations including small cash gifts