7 Tips To Help You Manage Your Finances, Plus a Free Finance E-Guide

1.3K

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Kmart Share the Word for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine. I can think of a time in my life when I did think I was ever going to take control of my finances.  I was young, dumb, and did not realize what I was doing.  Before I knew it, I was in serious debt.  It was horrible, and took me years to crawl out of the financial debt.  After a lot of planning, and discipline I was able to take control of my finances, and I will never let my finances control me again.  Managing your personal finances means that you think about your finances rather than stress and worry about them.  If you are in debt, it’s time to make a plan and stop letting your finances control your life, and get out of debt.  Worrying about money is stressful, we have to have a certain amount to pay bills, eat, feed our family, and everything else in between.  Here are a few things I did to help get my finances under control, and I hope they can help you as well. 

7 Tips To Help You Manage Your Finances, Plus a Free Finance E-Guide

Goals

Everything start with a goal.  Spend some time writing down your goals.  When I write things down I am more likely to stick to it, and if I ever need to I can go back and look at my goals.  Brainstorm what you want to accomplish in the next 6 months, 1, 5, 10 years.  Setting long term goals helps me stay on track on those days that I just want to run out and buy 12 pairs of shoes because I had bad day. 

Get organized

Sit down and figure out how much money you have coming in, going out, and where any extra money is spent.  My husband was buying lunch daily, which I knew he was, but WOW I had no idea how much it was costing us in the long haul.  My husband spent about $10 a day on lunch, by buying making him lunch we are saving about $200 a month, which is $6000 a year!  That’s a nice vacation for my family we were spending on lunch, and didn’t even realize it.  Be sure to sit down and look at everything you are spending money on, you can find savings all over.  Whether its lunch for your spouse, or shopping at a different store those few dollars add up.  It’s worth looking into if you want extra money to pay down debt, or start a savings. 

Have a system

I have a notebook, I write down all my monthly bills, when they are due, how much they are, and if there are credit cards or things of that nature how much I own.  Find a system that works for you, so you are never late making payments.  Late fees add up, if you don’t know what is due or when it is due, it’s likely you know how badly late fees sting.

Start a savings account

Even if you are only able to save $20 a month, open a savings account and start savings for an emergency.  Life happens, plan for the unexpected the best you can.  It is okay to start small, do what you can and increase as you are able.  When you are able look into some type of retirement plan. 

Pay down debt

This is hard, naturally we want to pay everything off, but be realistic about it.  Rather than trying to pay everything off at once, choose one thing at a time, and pay it off.  This was less stressful for me, plus it lifted my spirits when I would see one of my credit card bills decreasing each month.  Something else might work better for you, and that is okay, just start paying down your debt with a goal of paying everything off.

Spending

If you share a checking account, you might know how it feels to be hit with overdraft fees, or have an important bill returned due to over spending.  This might or might not be a system that works for you, but it’s worked for us so I am going to share.  Rather than both of account owners using debit cards, get cash.  My husband is horrible with plastic, but he doesn’t manage our finances.  He doesn’t realize how much he spends, or what he is spending it on, nor does he remember to tell me at the end of the day about that extra $50.  Which has caused us to overdraft!  Now I give him cash every two weeks, we have sat down and figured out how much he needs daily while he is at work, and that is what he gets.  Of course if he needs more, or something comes up we can take more out, or use the card, but for the most part he has cash.  Which he likes.  He tells me it’s easier for him to track how much he has spent, and how much he has left.  It may or may not work for you, but it is an option.

Shopping

There is no avoiding shopping, we have to eat, kids have birthday, holidays roll around once a year, you are going to shop so be smart about it.  Shop at places that offer you rewards, cash back, look for the good deals, coupons, and anything else that you can find to save money.  I shop online, because I can almost always find a coupon, shop through a cash back site, and my favorite site Shop Your Way to earn rewards.  By the time it is all said and done I earned cash back from a site, used coupons and took advantage of savings on Shop Your Way, and earned rewards.  Not bad right! 

You can also check out The Share the Word Financial Empowerment platform which is created to honor the African American legacy and provide valuable resources to enhance the lives of Kmart customers.  Which if you shop using Shop Your Way you will earn rewards from Kmart, and other trusted retailers.  In celebration of Black History Month, Kmart has teamed up with Glinda Bridgforth, the amazing author of Girl, Get Your Money Straight, to create a free downloadable family finance e-guide. 

From family budgeting and savings tips to templates and money saving advice, Glinda’s guide has tons of useful information to help you take control of your finances.  She will also help make your money go further by sharing great programs and their benefits like Kmart’s layaway and Shop Your Way Rewards.  So what do you say, are you ready to take your budget by the reigns?  The first step to becoming a Kmart Smart and financially savvy shopper is to download the guide on the Share the Word..

What’s information will you find on the Share the Word platform?

If you are ready to take control of your finances, you will find Financial Empowerment, along with tons of great tips to help you get on the right track.  It will help you take control of you money, rather than allowing your money to take control over you.  My favorite part of the platform is the “Get Savvy” section.  This section teaches you about wise money management, planning and taking advantage of programs, personalized deals, and more.  The way I see it, if you are going to be shopping anyway, why not earn a little something for it.  I love my rewards, I not only have Shop Your Way Rewards, but rewards on my credit cards, and it’s like double earning.  Be sure to check the Share the Word platform weekly to find new information posted to help you create financial peace of mind for you and your family.