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- Two management tools work for me. (1) a calendar. And, (2) a diary. Calendars are the future and diaries are the past that I want to hold onto. Business cards, contacts, events, decisions made, ……….. The rest I as soon as forget.
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-. To do more study of planning you need to take a test. Let’s restrict this one to “financial planning” . In financial planning the calendar and the diary go by the name of a budget.
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-. To get a budget you first need to know your “net worth“. You have to know where you are before you can know how to get to where you're going. If I asked my wife I get “not worth a damn“. But, technically that does not correspond to “net worth“.
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-. Net Worth equals Assets minus Liabilities. NW = A - L
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-. Next, you need to know “cash flow“. Goes into’s and goes out of's. Monthly salary, interest, dividends …….. minus expenses, bills, savings ……………...
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-. Next, plan for major expenses like college, marriage, deaths, earthquakes, flashfloods, ……………. . build a 3 to 6 month living expense reserve as your safety net.
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-. There are software tools to help in this budgeting. (USAAmoneymanager.org)
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-. Study your diary. Do a best practices review, or, post mortems review, what went wrong, and, and what worked and permanently change more spending habits to better match your budget to your goals.
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- Try calling service providers and asking for discounts so you can save more money. Cell phones, cable, PG&E, alarms, subscriptions, Starbucks,………….. routine monthly expenses can really add up.
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-. Next, keep credit card balances under control. Don't get behind the interest wall. Refinance your debt if necessary to get it under control to one monthly expense.
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-. Manage your savings. Use raises and windfalls as an opportunity to reach your savings goals. Don't squander opportunities for short lived gratifications.
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-. Next, invest at least 10 % in your future. You don't want to work all the way to your grave. Plan ahead.
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-. Take advantage of employers contributions to 401(k) plans.
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-. Keep a good credit score. See (USAA creditscorequiz.org).
-. Plan for big-ticket items, cars vacations, houses, tuitions, ……… by saving for them. (USAA 800-531-8722) offers free financial advice if you ever have questions. Don't try to fix everything at once. Look longer-term , keep things bite-size.
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- Where there's a will there's a way.
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RSVP, with comments, suggestions, corrections. Index of reviews available ---
--- Some reviews are at: -------------------- http://jdetrick.blogspot.com -----
---- email request for copies to: ------- jamesdetrick@comcast.net ---------
---- https://plus.google.com/u/0/ , “Jim Detrick” ----- www.facebook.com ---
---- www.twitter.com , --- 707-536-3272 ---- Friday, March 7, 2014 ---
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