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To Get Out of Debt, Start Small

The bills are piling up in the corner of your desk, and it seems that every day the mail brings a new stack to deal with. Although the collection agencies haven’t started calling yet, you know that it is only a matter of time before they do. You want to get out of debt and get back on track, but the whole thing seems so overwhelming. Fortunately, it really doesn’t have to be. Just start small and go from there. Most financial advice about debt will guide you toward paying off the debt with the highest interest rate first. This … Continue reading →

Budgeting For Those With Irregular Incomes

Everybody knows the importance of creating a budget to keep your finances on track. There are some situations that make creating and sticking to a budget difficult. Irregular income is certainly one of these. If one or both wage-earners in a family are self-employed or work at jobs that do not pay on a traditional regularly-timed, predictable earning schedule it is hard to know how much money is going to come through the door each month. Unfortunately, the world does not provide exceptions for those of us with irregular incomes. Your bills are due on the same day every month … Continue reading →

Activity Days-Budgeting Activity

Yesterday we had a great activity all about budgeting for the girls. I was afraid this activity was going to be boring, but they actually loved it. And, it helped them get something passed off in their Faith in God award, so that always makes a leader feel good! I started by having the girls pretend for a moment that they all just graduated from high school, and shared an apartment together. I only have 4 girls, but you could divide up into smaller groups if you have more girls. I told them they made minimum wage, working a part … Continue reading →

Single Parents and Birthday Party Budgeting

Having a birthday party can take a chunk out of your wallet. Having more than a couple of kids to give a party for can lead us to the poorhouse if we are not careful. This is true for parents everywhere, but a single parent or families with one income can feel the pinch that much worse. With the faltering economy being what it is most of us are leery about spending money unnecessarily. Just about every kid’s place in town now offers to “host” your child’s birthday party. This is great because that leaves the parents with one very … Continue reading →

Budgeting on a Limited Income

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Whether you are a single parent, a student, retired or have other income situations, learning to live on a limited income can take some serious hard work. We should all have a budget, but if your income is tight… it is even more of an urgent need. When budgeting on a limited income, the key is to prioritize first. You simply might not have enough money to pay for all the standard budgeting categories. The first step will be to make a short list of your top necessities. Good examples are housing, food, utilities and transportation. There may be more, … Continue reading →

Budgeting is NOT the Same as Counting Your Chickens Before They Hatch

Some small, home business owners are afraid of budgeting—they think that if they write down a budget, they will be trapped, stuck, or are strapping them to something that is written in stone. Other people just get nervous when it comes to sorting out financial matters and would love to focus on other parts of the business operations instead. Still others worry that by budgeting, we are actually “counting our chickens before they are hatched” and putting our business in a precarious position. None of these are true—budgeting is a way of planning for the future of our businesses—not a … Continue reading →

Budgeting a Small Income

One excuse for not having a budget is that you do not have enough money to bother budgeting. It can be difficult to make ends meet on any income, but especially on smaller incomes. There are many reasons that people with smaller incomes resist writing down a budget. One is that it is difficult to see how you will be able to meet your monthly obligations. Another is that your wants may be pushed aside by your needs. It is possible to live comfortably on a small amount of money, but you may need to redefine what you consider comfortably. … Continue reading →

Home-Based Business Finance 101

Many home-based professionals own their own businesses. Whether your business is a lawn care and snow removal operation, a freelance web design service, or something else entirely, if you own and operate your own business there is a good chance that you are responsible for the financial affairs of your business. While you can choose to outsource this work to a small business accounting firm, that costs money and it may be more than you are willing or able to pay. Do not despair, though, you are capable of learning how to take care of your business’s financial affairs. Here … Continue reading →

Determining Where to Spend Your Money

We all know the importance of setting up a budget and sticking with it. We set aside a certain amount for food, clothing, shelter, etc. and we do our best not to go over those limits. There are times, though, when we need to allow ourselves to spend certain amounts of money in some areas, and less in others. Take, for instance, at the grocery store. My kids don’t care what brand of cold cereal I get, so I get the store brand. I do the same with milk, cheese, etc. But I have one little boy who has allergies, … Continue reading →

Math Skills for a Single Parent

Strangely enough, I think I use more math in my every day life as a single parent than I did when I was partnered. Even though I paid most of the bills when there were two of us, we also had two incomes and two people spending money. As a single parent, I have become completely independent with my finances, but I have also had to learn about investing, retirement and as a small business owner, there has been a boost in the need for math there. I truly believe that every single parent needs to make sure that he … Continue reading →