Goals Archives - Women’s Money

03Jan 2019 by Women's Money No Comments

6 Steps to Getting Your Finances in Order

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“A goal is a dream with a deadline,” stated author Napoleon Hill. The new year provides motivation for setting goals. New Year’s is a time to evaluate where you are on many levels. Resolutions are a firm decision to do or not do something. Many New Year’s resolutions involve money and personal finances. When setting financial goals, people generally want to save more, spend less, or get more finances in order. Whatever your goals may be the process for successfully achieving them has been well researched and can be used by anyone. The six steps below will assist you in reaching your goals. Please note that if you are married, financial goals work much better when both partners are on the same page. 1. Determine what you want to accomplish.…

02Jan 2019 by Women's Money No Comments

Four “Be’s” to be Financially Sound

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After drowning in, then repaying, $77,000 in debt, I guess you could say I’ve learned a thing or two about personal finance.I learned a lot of the ‘textbook info’, like the very real and brutal impact of cash advances.I studied, then mastered the art of budgeting.I learned the horrible consequences of credit card debt.And, I learned how to reduce my expenses and earn more money.But, perhaps more surprising to me was learning, as Angela Duckworth identifies, just how gritty I could be. The most simplistic definition of grit (in my own words) involves the number of times you’ll fall on your face, get up, and try something again. And, let me tell you... I fell on my face.After falling deeply into this massive financial rock bottom, riddled with an incredible…

19May 2017 by Women's Money No Comments

The Life of an Emotional Shopper

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

Let’s be honest. Spending money is emotional. Finding a “bargain” is very emotionally satisfying, and buying things for loved ones feels good - even when it makes more financial sense not to spend. While it is important to train your rational brain to manage your money, you also need to acknowledge the emotional motivations that drive your spending habits. Understanding why you spend helps guide you to the most effective method for you to change that spending habit. Personally, I have always enjoyed shopping. I love poking around in different stores, finding deals, gifts for friends and family, and little splurge items like candles and nail polish for myself. It was never that I needed those things. Often, I would go the store to buy one or two specific items,…

22Apr 2017 by Women's Money No Comments

Double Your Down Payment Savings

Goals / Taking Action, Miscellaneous, Saving & Investing

Buying a home is a big financial goal, however saving for the down payment can be a major roadblock. There are several different routes to achieving this goal. When the lease on the apartment my boyfriend and I rent was nearing expiration, we considered buying a home. In the process, we discovered a savings program, called a ‘matched savings’ program, to help speed up down payment savings.Matched savings programs are also called Individual Development Accounts (IDA) and are generally offered by nonprofits and/or government agencies in local areas. There are three things these programs can be used to fund.Buying a homeOpening a small businessSaving for college/job training.As you probably gathered from the name, when you enroll in one of these programs every dollar you deposit is matched. Depending on the…

30Mar 2017 by Women's Money No Comments

What are You Saving for?

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

We all know that saving a little bit of money here and there throughout the month is one of the best strategies for accumulating savings. However, it can be difficult to keep that in mind while you’re shopping, especially if your goal is generalized to “save money”. Using coupons is a popular method for saving money, and can absolutely be an effective way to generate savings. There is a mental trap that many people, myself included, fall into. When you save $3.00 with a coupon, it becomes very tempting to turn around and use that savings on another item. In other words, you feel like you saved money with the coupon, and want to reward yourself.But really, this means that you didn’t save any money. Yes, it stretched farther, but…

02Jan 2017 by Women's Money No Comments

Three Fun Ways to Reach Your Money Goals #WMWeek17 @patti4weatlh

#WMWeek17, Goals / Taking Action, Women's Money Week

It’s that time of year when everyone is thinking about setting new goals, and money goals are usually at the top of the list.If your New Year’s resolutions include money goals then you’ll love this article where I share three fun ways to make them a reality.A Harvard Business study revealed that those who have goals are ten times more successful than those without goals. But those with goals written down are three times more successful than those who have goals but are not in writing.Obviously, the most crucial key to reaching your money goals is to put them in writing. However, I have found that writing them down and doing nothing else brings minimal results.So what does it really take to reach your money goals?Here are three fun ways I…

04Nov 2016 by Women's Money No Comments

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…