Women's Money, Author at Women’s Money

24Nov 2016 by Women's Money

Budgeting: There’s an App for that

Budgeting, Miscellaneous, Money in Your 20s/30s/40s/50s/Retirement, Take Action

Budget, budget, who’s got the budget? Not me, I’m afraid. A budget is one of those things I know I should have but just haven’t quite figured out. Luckily, there’s an app for that! Actually, there are a lot of apps for that and I decided to review the top three (according to iTunes ratings) to see which app fits my needs best, and might just fit yours too!Daily BudgetAs you might expect from the name, this is app calculates how much you can afford to spend in a day!Pros: It has the highest rating on iTunes, a very attractive design, and is very user friendly. You put in your (monthly, bimonthly, weekly) income and follow that with your expenses. It has several pre-set categories of expense, but provides the…

21Nov 2016 by Women's Money

Don’t Let Thanksgiving Gobble Your Money!

#WMWeek17, Budgeting, Miscellaneous

The holiday season approaches, heralded by cold weather and Thanksgiving. Even (especially) turkeys know the holidays are stressful. Between higher power bills, gathering relatives, mass cooking, and gifts it’s a wonder any of us make it through. Although we’re not quite to Thanksgiving, our winter holidays loom in the background. For now, let’s make it through Turkey Day with minimal financial stress. 1. What are Your Needs?In other words, how many people are you feeding? This is a pretty basic question you probably already know the answer too, or could easily determine. For 8 people buy a 12-pound turkey. For 10, buy a 15-pound turkey. (Follow that link for more information.)What if you have less than 8 people? My mom only had 3 people to cook for, which made a turkey…

11Nov 2016 by Women's Money

Women Veterans – How to Overcome Financial Uncertainty

#WMWeek17, Credit, Debt, Goals / Taking Action, Miscellaneous, Take Action, Veteran's Day

55% of veterans believe they are not well prepared for a financial emergency. 77% of service members have financial worries, and 57% worry especially about losing income and job security due to defense cuts. These statistics present a grim reality for America Veterans, regardless of gender. Approximately 11% of our veteran population is female, many of whom are mothers. If you are a female veteran feeling financial strapped and worried about your family, we at Women’s Money® salute and honor your service to our country and want to help you achieve financial security. Two-thirds of veterans report facing a health challenge resulting from their service. In recent disability claims of young veterans, 1/5 report Military Sexual Trauma (MST). If MST is something you struggle with and is impacting your life,…

10Nov 2016 by Women's Money

Acorns to Assets: Preparing Financially for 2017

#WMWeek17, Budgeting, Debt, Entrepreneurship / Making Money, Goals / Taking Action, Take Action, Women's Money Week

So 2017 is approaching and your financial situation is less than ideal. Believe me, a broke college graduate, when I say I understand. But it’s time to take that mess and sort it out. A scary prospect? Absolutely. But one of the most important things to remember is that building a stable financial life is a process. It’s not going to happen overnight, and that’s okay. I have a few tips and tricks to help begin the process of turning your financial acorns into 2017’s assets.1. BUILD THAT BUDGET!The key word here is “build”. Your budget is your plan for how you will spend your income, and as you change your spending habits and lifestyle your budget should reflect those changes.The first step in building a budget is tracking your spending.…

04Nov 2016 by Women's Money

Savings: There’s an App for that

Budgeting, Goals / Taking Action, Money in Your 20s/30s/40s/50s/Retirement, Saving & Investing

If you’re like me, you probably have a savings account but not a plan for putting money in it. These apps are specifically designed to help with your savings plan.I should let you know that this is NOT a sponsored review. This is a REAL review. No company asked us to do this, I just did this out of my own curiosity and desire to pass along some good tips.Money Box This was by far the most user friendly app I reviewed. It had a simple tutorial displayed the moment I opened the app or used a feature for the first time. The app is designed to help you save money for specific goals, like school, a car, or a vacation, and helps make that goal solid in your mind. You…

28Oct 2016 by Women's Money

Life After Debt: Journey to Financial Freedom

#WMWeek17, Debt, Goals / Taking Action, Money in Your 20s/30s/40s/50s/Retirement, Popular

Consumer Recovery Network and storyteller Sarah Li Cain have teamed up together to produce a series of videos entitled “Life After Debt”. The series will feature ordinary people who were in serious debt and their journey out of it. The people who share their stories reveal the struggles with money and how being debt free has impacted their lives for the better. Not only that but they share what has helped them along the way, whether it’s listening other people’s story or getting outside assistance.The video series was created with the goal of helping people know that they are not alone in struggling under the mountain of debt. By openly sharing struggles with money and that a happy financial future is possible, the hope is that viewers are inspired and…

13Oct 2016 by Women's Money

7 Ways Your Bank May Be Robbing You Blind

#WMWeek17, banking, Budgeting, Debt, Miscellaneous, Money in Your 20s/30s/40s/50s/Retirement, Saving & Investing, Women's Money Week

Putting money in the bank always feels satisfying. But how do you decide which bank to put your money in? The first thing to consider when choosing a bank isn’t their rewards program or the quality of their commercials. It’s their fees. Realistically, whatever bank you use is going to charge fees, but you want to keep as much of your money as possible and not give it to the bank. Look at your bank, are you getting robbed of your money little by little? Researching the type of fees associated with checking or savings accounts will save you money in the long run, because you can choose a bank with the lowest number of fees and avoid triggering circumstances.Overdraft fees are one of the most common bank fees. Putting…

09Sep 2016 by Women's Money

Teaching Kids About Money and Business with Pokemon Go!

Budgeting, Credit, Entrepreneurship / Making Money, Saving & Investing

I began playing Pokemon Go out of curiosity. There were a lot of headlines surrounding the new phenomenon, and I wanted to experience first-hand what it was about. As I played, I became enthusiast and began writing about the game’s obvious health benefits and how it encompasses the future of mobile applications. Since I’ve been playing for a while now, I’ve observed some other subtle rewards that reinforce my appreciation for the game: most notably, Pokemon Go teaches players (hopefully young players) about money. The game is both a model for how to how to manage money and promote business.Pokestops Introduce the Concept Of Work For PayPokestops are where you go to get more supplies. When you reach a Pokestop, you spin the wheel and it releases a few assets…

31Aug 2016 by Women's Money

College Seniors – Start Your Student Loan Payoff Plan NOW

Debt, Goals / Taking Action, Miscellaneous, Money in Your 20s/30s/40s/50s/Retirement, Take Action

The first day of your last year as an undergrad is a satisfying day, because it puts you that much closer to the finish line of your bachelors. Unfortunately, it also puts you that much closer to the student debt you’ve spent the last three years trying to ignore. In my experience, student loans are the biggest underlying stressor of college, but ultimately being uniformed about your debt profile does you no favors. However, it’s not too late to study that beast and prepare for battle. Here are some tips to pay off that student loan:1. Inform Yourself! Before you graduate, you will be required to do exit-counseling for your loans. Because of the timing, it’s easy to push the exit counseling to the last minute, rush through it, and…

23Aug 2016 by Women's Money

4 Tips to Getting a Good Job Out of College

Entrepreneurship / Making Money, Money in Your 20s/30s/40s/50s/Retirement

So you just graduated college, and you’re sitting at home staring at your really expensive piece of paper, wondering “Now what?” Leaving college, particularly as a 20-something, can be an intimidating shift. We’re leaving the relative shallow safety of our collegiate reef and swimming off the continental shelf into open ocean, which is full of scary fish like “finding a job”, “student loan debt” and “bills”. In what so often feels like a sink-or-swim situation (okay, I’ll quit with the fish metaphor), it’s easy to feel overwhelmed, but it is not hopeless! Here are a few tips and tricks to facing the job market.1) Repeat after me: “A job is a job is a job.”Not being able to find a job related to your Major is one the most common…

Author: Women's Money