The thought of having to have a budget may worry you. It may even scare you. It is hard to know how much you will spend every month on the things you need to buy and the debts you need to pay. Yet, you may know that having a budget is critically important to maintaining your financial health. It all comes down to creating a budget that is designed well enough to allow you the flexibility you need. So, how do you create a budget that you can actually follow? Consider these steps.
What would happen if your vehicle’s brakes needed to be replaced or your home’s plumbing needed significant repair? Would you have the funds tucked into your savings account to pay for this type of unexpected bill? Many American households have little to no emergency savings for unexpected expenses. That’s frightening especially when individuals use high-rate credit cards and payday loans as a solution.
It’s only $5. It’s only $20. It’s only $100. If you’re like most people, you probably hear yourself or your family members throwing around phrases like that all the time, but the reality is that the value of something really depends on whether or not you can afford it.
There’s lots of ways to assess how much something costs, but instead of just looking at the price tag, you may want to consider how long it takes you to earn it. Let’s take a closer look.
No one wants to be shocked by the amount of debt they racked up during the holiday season. Talk about a way to ruin your New Year’s resolutions!
Yet Americans continue to spend more and more each year during the holidays – especially as kids today are begging Santa for iPhones, tablets, and Xbox One’s… If you can easily pay off your holiday debt in January, this might not be a problem. For everyone else, a few handy tips can help cut down the interest payments.
Let’s face it, most credit unions are not on every corner like many nationwide banks. By nature, credit unions are typically restricted to whom they can serve by geographic area or occupation type. And while you may be getting better loan rates and higher investment yields with the credit union, convenience is still important.
As a result, to help our members have more access to branches, we’re one of many credit unions that joined Shared Branching. This service makes over 5,000 credit union branches across the country available for members to use!