Have you ever made a bill payment late simply because you were busy and forgot it was due? You had the money available to pay it, but you lost track of time and by the time you sat down to pay your bills you realized one of your credit cards or loan repayments was already a couple days late? Most creditors offer automatic payments, and for those that don’t – many bank checking accounts make it possible to set up bill payments automatically. It’s a double-edged sword for consumers – while you don’t have to remember to make the manually make the payments, you do have to keep track of the outgoing money and ensure you always have enough money available to make the payments.

For anyone who gets paid on a schedule other than weekly, you may find it difficult to set up a guaranteed day each month from which your creditors can withdraw their payment from your checking account unless you have a reasonable amount of extra money available in between pay periods. Bi-weekly and monthly pay schedules typically means your paycheck dates vary, and can make it difficult to know which day of the month will work for an automatic bill payment.

If your current bill due date seems to fall outside the ideal time of the month to set up an automated payment, call the creditor and ask if you can move the due date to a better time. Let them know you want to set up an automatic payment, and it would work out better if the due date was a week later than it currently was scheduled. Credit cards are often fine with moving due dates while you may experience troubles trying to change a car loan or mortgage payment due date.

Here are a few ways to automate your finances:

Use your bank’s auto bill payment feature

Most banks make it possible to set up bill payments from your checking account. You can select which day of the month to have the money withdrawn, enter your creditor information for payment and away you go! This is a free feature of many banks, but check with your current bank to make sure they don’t charge a fee for this service before signing up. Using your bank to make your payments automatically is a good option for people who have a number of accounts to set up for auto-payments. You can log into one place to make changes to pay date instantly, rather than logging into individual credit card and bill payment websites for each of your individual creditors whenever you need to make a change to payment dates.

Deposit your paychecks automatically

If there is an option to have your paychecks automatically deposited into your bank account, you should take advantage of this feature. Most employers can arrange it so you deposit a portion of every check into a savings account with the rest going into a checking account. This helps you save automatically as well as gain access to your money for bill payments faster than if you deposited a physical check.

Set up automatic investments

Similar to using your employers direct deposit feature, you can also set up investments to work automatically. There are money market accounts and mutual funds, and a variety of other investments, that allow you to designate a specific dollar amount per week or per month. This money is automatically moved into your investment. One popular option is a 401k program through your employer, since the funds are moved pre-tax to the investment and are deducted before you ever get paid (making it easier to contribute). But, do not stop there. Try setting up money market or mutual fund investments and have a few dollars deducted from your checking account regularly just as you do your other savings and expense payments.

Putting your finances on auto-pilot makes it easier to keep your payments on time, set up and keep to savings and investments. It’s better than having a personal finance expert working full-time for you!

Elizabeth Williams, Editor-in-Chief for CreditCardFlyers.com

CreditCardFlyers.com makes it easy to compare and apply for a variety of credit card offers featuring low balance transfer rates. We are the leading source for searching 0 apr balance transfer offers online.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/personal-finance-articles/how-to-automate-your-finances-851356.html

If you’re finding it tough to make ends meet in this economy, have lost your job or taken a pay cut – it’s time to get serious about creating a budget and sticking to it. Everyone is forced to make some tough decisions regarding their finances in order to ride out this economic downturn – from their credit card usage to their savings plans – here are several tips for staying on budget to help you weather out the storm:

How much money do you need?

First, figure out how much you pay each month in necessary expenses – living expenses, debt repayments, bills. Factor in savings and some money for entertainment. This will tell you how much income you need to cover each month. If you aren’t making enough, eliminate more from your expenses (get rid of cable tv, cell phone, use less energy, etc) or make more money. You can’t stay on a budget if you don’t earn enough to cover your expenses.

Stick to the budget

Once you know what you must pay for each month, and have given yourself a small allowance for entertainment (hey, all work and no play is never good!), stick to it. Don’t buy anything that puts you over budget during the month. Write down all purchases and bill payments and keep a close eye on the finances to be sure you’re staying the course.

Avoid large purchases or delay them if possible

Before buying anything that is outside the budget but you feel you must have, give yourself a 24 hour cooling off period before buying. Think about the purchase. Determine whether or not you absolutely need it, or could do without it. If after 24 hours you still think you need the purchase, figure out how to pay cash for it by adjusting your budget temporarily to get the money for it. Don’t buy with credit or you defeat the purpose of working so hard. Often, you’ll find that you don’t feel as strongly about the item if you wait 24 hours instead of making an impulse buy. If you rely solely on emotions to make a purchase you stand a higher chance of making the wrong one. Waiting 24 hours gives you time to make practical decisions about the purchase.

It’s a family effort

It’s not possible for one person of a partnership to create and stick to the budget, it has to be a team effort. Both must be on the same page financially and both must agree to stick to the budget. It’s important that everyone has equal rights and say in the financial decisions, but expect some heated discussions if you have differing views on money management! For children and teenagers, you can start teaching them valuable financial lessons by giving them a set allowance and helping them learn how to manage their money. Older teenagers should think about a part time job and begin taking more responsibility for their own care and needs.

Debt repayment

One of the major reasons people should budget and stay within that budget is to pay off existing debts. Think about it – if you didn’t have debt repayments your income would go a lot further, wouldn’t it? Make paying off debt a priority, especially of those smaller nagging debts that keep hanging around. Once your debts are paid off, you can relax the budget a bit and give yourself more money for entertainment and save more to avoid having to go into debt again in the future.

These tips will help you stay on your budget and weather tough economic storms for long periods of time. Once you make these slight adjustments in your financial habits, you may find you don’t mind living frugally!

Elizabeth Williams, Editor-in-Chief for CreditCardFlyers.com

CreditCardFlyers.com makes it easy to compare and apply for a variety of credit card offers featuring low balance transfer rates. We are the leading source for searching 0 apr balance transfer offers online.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/personal-finance-articles/tips-for-staying-on-budget-851354.html

“The ability to concentrate and to use time well is everything.” – Lee Iococca

You have heard it over and repeatedly “He who fails to plan plans to fail.” Yet without fail most person are experiencing this fate because they simply refuse to plan.

In these challenging economic times there is no question that the key to developing real sustainable wealth comes only through using your money to prudently invest- in assets; in yourself; or a business.  But the questions are:

1. What are you doing about your personal wealth creation today?
2. What changes do you need to make to your lifestyle today that will allow you to enjoy the future you want?

Now would be a good time to sit down and take a look at how you have handle your finances and answer some very important questions that will allow you to review your efforts and make any needed adjustments. Allowing you to continue doing what works and get rid of what’s not working.  

Because if you do not take control of your money, you will never become financially free, no matter how much money you earn. The truth is you either control your money, or it will control you and to control your money, you must manage it and you cannot manage it without a plan.

So here are some questions to ask yourself:
1. What working best about your financial plans right now?
2. Is there something you know that is definitely NOT working?
3. What was your most positive result from your efforts?
4. Are there any new ideas you’d like to add to your plan?
5. Is your plan allowing you to accomplish both you long & short term savings goals?
6. Have there been any changes in your income or expenses?
7. Have you been able to reduce your debt since you last reviewed your plan?
8. Will the money (cash) be there to pay for your summer vacation, buy school clothes and school fees or Christmas presents?
9. Is there any way you can further cut your expenses?

These questions allows you to reflect on your progress to find what is working for you so that you won’t waste valuable time on ineffective and useless practices.

To help you to keep going you must appreciate that your plan must be in writing. If it’s not then you won’t be able to carry out the vital steps of reviewing and adjusting that’s needed for you to achieve your goals.

Your written financial plan should be designed to cover your current and future needs and should also incorporate ways to reduce your debt. So if you don’t have a written plan you need to develop one now.

You may feel that you don’t need a plan because you don’t have enough money. But the only way to solve your money problem is to have a financial plan.

Most people believe that earning and having more money would solve their problems but this is rarely the case.  As it is proven that once you do have more money you tend to spend more instead of applying the extra money to fixing any problems you are having with your finances. That is why it is so important to have a plan that helps you manage your money.

Remember that “Nobody plans to fail, but they achieve the same result by failing to plan.”   If you aren’t setting specific financial objectives and implementing a workable plan in writing then you are setting yourself up for disappointment.

Harvard Business School published a study on goal setting and found:
1. 83% of the group did not have clearly defined goals
2. 14% had goals but they were not in writing.
3. Only 3% of the group had goals committed in writing.  

Some 30 years later they revisited the surveyed group and found that the 3% of persons with written goals had earned an astounding 10 times the amount of the 83% group that did not have clearly defined goals.
1. What’s stopping you from having a plan?
2. Are your financial goals in writing?
3. Do you have a step-by-step action plan that will lead to your financial success?

No mattter whether you believe it or not the truth is you are where you are today financially because of the plan you have been following.  And even if you think you don’t have a plan, you have been following the “No-Plan” plan.  

Here are nine essential thing that your financial plan should include:    

1. Paying yourself first – Apart of all you earn should be yours to keep
2. A monthly spending plan – Helps you control your expenses
3. Investments – Helps your money to grow    
4. Homeownership – You really can’t enjoy life without your own home.
5. Retirement Funding – You need to provide now for when you’re older and cannot work
6. Personal Development -You need to increase your ability to earn money!
7. Protection -You and your family need adequate and appropriate insurance.
8. Estate Planning (Wills & Trust) -You need to control your labour
9. Professional Help- getting your plan right may require getting some help.

By having a financial plan you will have a tool to help you stay on top of your finances and for measuring your progress to the future you want.

“Poor people stay poor because no matter how much money they earn they spend every penny!” – A Wise Man

Copyright © 2001 – 2009 – Glenn S. Ferguson

Glenn Ferguson is a Financial Speaker, Coach and Syndicated Writer, – Helping you to painlessly take control of your money to create wealth for you and your family. Email to:glenn@financialcoachingwithglenn.com Website:www.financialcoachingwithglenn.com

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/personal-finance-articles/financial-plan-a-tool-you-should-have-in-order-to-achieve-financial-freedom-851681.html