budget

5 Financial Tips for Starting 2019 On The Right Foot

A happy 2019 to you all.

I hope last year was a great one for you, and that you’re looking forward to this new year, with the chance for new beginnings. I love starting fresh with the opportunity to set new goals and priorities.

To that end, I’d like to share 5 financial tips worth considering as you think about how you might want to tune-up your financial life this year. These are just suggestions, but in the many financial conversations I’ve had with others, these five points hit on resolving some of the biggest financial concerns I hear when I talk with others.

I hope you enjoy my latest (and first!) post of 2019.

An Inside Look at My Budget Last Month

I’ve written a lot about budgeting, so any regular of my blog has heard a little about why I feel it’s important and how to do it (without pulling your hair out). And while I certainly enjoy budgeting more than the average person, I think it can be a really easy, non-threatening experience for most families.

I thought it might be helpful to share a sneak peek into my own budget from last month. I love doing this sort of thing. It helps me see my budget from a different point of view, and you might find it helpful as you put your own budget together.

3 Ways to Improve Your Financial Health in 30 Minutes

Last week I gave a presentation on 3 ways to improve your financial health. I love getting down to the nuts and bolts of personal finance! We (including financial planners) often make the topic more complicated than it needs to be. When you really gets down to it, you can address 80% of your financial management problems with three things: a budget, a savings plan, and a debt payoff plan.

In this article I’ll explain these 3 points, and for each I’ll give you a simple exercise you can implement this weekend--each one taking about 30 minutes.

Budgeting Is Too Complicated. Here's a Better and Easier Way.

Everyone needs a budget, but in my experience most online budgeting tools are focused on helping fix poor spending habits--something not every family needs. They’re also overly detailed, providing dozens of spending buckets to allocate each and every dollar.

While a "nickel and dime" approach to budgeting may be necessary for some who have spending habits to change, a lot of families don’t need it.