Miscellaneous Archives - Page 3 of 4

26Jan 2017 by Women's Money

Follow Your Funds

Budgeting, Goals / Taking Action, Miscellaneous, Take Action

There’s always pressure to make changes around the new year. Aside from my annual resolution to exercise more, this year I decided to track of my spending. Unlike exercise, it’s an easy habit to maintain, and like exercise it improves my long term well-being.The last time that anyone stressed the value of tracking your spending to me was in middle school when we learned about balancing checkbooks. I occasionally started a log in high school but never maintained it. In college, I didn’t even attempt to keep track, I would just periodically check my bank account balance online. As years went by, this system became less and less sustainable. I decided to make two big changes to the way I spend. 1) I use cash for most of my daily…

23Jan 2017 by Women's Money

Stop Letting Your Money Manage You

Budgeting, Goals / Taking Action, Miscellaneous, Take Action

Confession time… I have never had a formal budget. I would put money aside for my bills, but as far as groceries, gas, and all my other spending, it was a free for all. Honestly, I was scared of writing a budget because it meant I would have to face up to my bad spending habits. The issue with not taking time to budget and actually plan how to spend your money, is that you put yourself at the mercy of your own fear and bad habits. It wasn’t a sustainable life style and I felt perpetually broke and stressed.I was doing it to myself, of course. Although I didn’t realize it then, by not writing a budget and taking control of my money, I was choosing to be stressed,…

03Jan 2017 by Women's Money

You’re worth more than you know #WMWeek17 @SDMInvest

#WMWeek17, Miscellaneous, Money in Your 20s/30s/40s/50s/Retirement, Relationships & Money, Women's Money Week

This time of year can bring about a lot of anxiety and feelings of earning inadequacies. When we look back over our previous year, we may feel that we didn’t make as much money based on our perceived worth. Your feelings are very real and you shouldn’t go about the new year being unhappy, angry or frustrated about your earnings. Making more money in 2017 can be as simple as 1-2-3, if you understand how you earn your money. Imagine if you lost your job and your income suddenly stopped. How would you generate income? While the well may have run dry from your labor (job), your “assets”, “resources”, and your “potential income” are still there. Most people focus on the “labor” they provided at a job, but forget they got…

26Nov 2016 by Women's Money

First Step to Overcoming Financial Stress

#WMWeek17, Credit, Debt, Goals / Taking Action, Miscellaneous, Money in Your 20s/30s/40s/50s/Retirement, Relationships & Money, Take Action

It’s easy to despair over your finances, whether it’s your debt load, learning poor spending habits left you broke, or simply realizing you don’t know squat about doing your taxes. And it’s okay to have a cry once in a while. Crying is a normal reaction to stress. But when tears and despair become the norm when you think about your finances, you’ve got a problem. The more you despair, the more you lose hope and feel powerless to make any meaningful changes. News flash: this is your life, and you’re the only one who can improve it. And the first step to creating change and hope is gratitude. Feel free to roll your eyes at me. I know this answer sounds somewhere between “too good to be true” and…

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,…

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…

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…

23Mar 2016 by Women's Money

It’s time to give your finances a spring cleaning. Start with a #FinancialSelfie #WomensMoney

Budgeting, Credit, Debt, Entrepreneurship / Making Money, Goals / Taking Action, Miscellaneous, Money in Your 20s/30s/40s/50s/Retirement, Popular, Relationships & Money, Saving & Investing, Take Action

It's been almost three months since New Year's Eve. The first day of spring has passed, and holidays celebrating reflection and renewal are coming up. It's the time of "spring cleaning". It's also time to get an honest picture of your personal financial condition. Here are some quick, cool, and fairly painless ways to get your financial status reviewed:The Quickie Selfie - Takes like two minutes tops, and you instantly get a general pulse of your financial health.The Full Financial Selfie - Takes maybe five minutes, and again gives you a general (more in-depth than the quickie) pulse of where you're at financially.Financial Freedom Evaluators - If you want the real deal, in-depth experience then you want to try out the Women's Money Financial Freedom Evaluators. This gives you a more in-depth…

Category: Miscellaneous