Your Bread & Butter: The Basics of Money!

Get on track in the new year when it comes to your money. You earn it... how do you keep it! What to do if you have bills from the holidays: restructure debt to be more efficient (refi, home equity, 0% credit card, personal loan etc.) set up payment plan (pyramiding payments vs snowballing), prepare for next year (pay yourself first, treat your holiday spending like a bill you are saving for)  Build a Proper Budget! Total "In Go", total "Out Go and if there's not enough money, something's gotta go! Large tax refunds should be changed to be a part of paychecks put towards your expenses and savings Use Excel, paper worksheets,Quicken or Quickbooks, eMoney. Get it all down to review each month or every 2 weeks. Track spending for awareness purposes Most Effective Budget: pay yourself first (auto allocate money towards saving goals) review subscriptions, avoid premium spending, review insurances (health, life, home and auto), review tax withholding. Know your Credit balances, minimum payments, interest costs. Pay higher interest first. Cut out non-essentials and leave room for some fun! Partners need to be informed! Each share ideas and experiences Be open to suggestions as to costs and savings Work as a team, keep mutual goals and individual ones