“The Dollar Stretcher” newsletter editor, Gary Foreman, used to be a financial planner, and now he gives consumers some tips to bring their financial machine back to the right track. Here are some extracts from the interview with G. Foreman:
“The last decade has shown that the debts taken by people are surpassing the amount of savings. As a result, most people give up their ‘wants’ and do not afford themselves any pleasures. But still there are steps to do and measures to take in order to amend financial climate in the family”
Ideas to consider for Financial Improvement:
Write down all your outlays and get a list of monthly spending. This way you’ll be able to monitor your money flow
Look for “sharp edges” – avoid unnecessary spending: from dinning at fancy restaurants to drinking only premium coffee
Try to make considerable savings. For example, one can reduce premiums by hundreds of dollars by raising deductibles on home and auto insurance
While it is rather hard to cut expenses on transportation and housing, food bills are the ones to be reduced. To mention a few ways: do not eat out a lot, take leftovers to work for lunch, try cooking food in batches, so that you can eat it in future
Try to make monthly payments larger than minimum in order to decrease credit card balances
Think over a “emergency deposit” or a “rainy day” fund. Want to sleep tight at night? Make the fund six times bigger than your monthly expenses
Take an active position in life. Do not wait for the work to become boring and unpleasant –look for new job opportunities. If necessary, devote time to additional education and professional growth
