5 Reasons Why You Struggle Financially

Five Reasons Why You Struggle Financially
By Nadege Lewis

Many of us struggle to put our financial lives in order. Our money situation only seems to get worse with each passing day. The financial strain is unbearable and you finally decide that you are no longer desire to accept your circumstance as reality. Understanding the root causes of the problem is the first step towards improving. Here are the main reasons why your financial situation is not where it should be.

You have no idea where your money is going

The main reason why your paycheck has a lifespan of a fruit fly is not because of the amount of money you earn. A person can earn $10,000 a month but if they spend $10,100 a month, that person will be broke. This is the why we often hear the accounts of lottery winners losing all of their money in a relatively short amount of time. If you can not account for every dollar spent from your last paycheck, you are at risk of losing your hard earned cash on frivolous spending without even knowing what happened.

You do not put your money to work

Your money can work harder for you than you can work for your money. Unless you understand the way money works, you will continue to wonder why you can not accumulate wealth. Saving is a good thing, but investing your money is better. The absolute best thing you can do for your financial health is think your money as employees and make them work as hard as possible to bring more income for you.

You buy things you can not afford

When you make purchases with your credit card and fail to pay off the balance when it becomes due, you bought beyond what you could afford. The math is simple. One minus two equals to negative one. Financially sound people seek to obtain a positive net worth. As long as you continue to spend in a way that maintains your negative worth, you will struggle in your finances.

You do not plan for the future

Part of the reason we use credit cards is because we did not save for a rainy day or expected emergencies. Looking ahead is an important aspect of your financial health. A portion of the income you receive today should be allocated towards your future. Planning for your future will ensure that you do not have to struggle during your retirement. Planning for your future will ensure that you will even be able to retire.

You do have not financial goals

Without financial goals many of us remain in a cycle of struggling. Months, even years pass and we wonder why our money situation has not magically improved on its own. Goals are a key aspect of evolving financially. Your first goal should be write out measurable short and long-term objectives which will bring your finances to the next level. Goals keep us motivated. Without them, we wander aimlessly paycheck after paycheck without putting a purpose to our money. If our money does not have a purpose, we suffer the fate of having an ailing financial life.

These are five simple things that you should avoid doing when it comes to your money. If you are diligent to making sure that you abstain from committing these financial faux pas, you will begin to create new money habits. These habits are the foundation of wealth building that will positively impact your financial resources.

Nadege Lewis is dedicated to helping people learn fundamental principles that bring about financial freedom. Decide today to create Wealthy Habits that lead to financial freedom. Visit http://www.wealthyhabitsnow.com for free information that will change your financial life.

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Wealth Building Tips

Wealth Building- Formula to Wealth
By Luke Blaise

There are lots of formulas to wealth. Just by looking in the newspaper or magazines we see that there are lots of ways that people have gotten rich. If you recognize what these people did and how they did it you can find your own formula to wealth.

For the average American their formula for wealth is to save money and budget, which is one of the worst ways to get wealthy. For most people, they will never get truly wealthy in their lifetimes.

In order to get wealthy, look at the newspapers and magazines. Are the wealthy people featured in these articles rich because they saved and budgeted their way there? Probably not, they got their wealth by creating, and that is what you need to do is create.

By creating extra income through a business or other cash generating machine you are able to quickly increase your net worth. This is the way to get wealthy.

So is there a perfect wealth formula out there? The wealthy are not hiding any secret to becoming wealthy; there is no perfect wealth formula. If there is any secret to becoming wealthy is that it is to take action, and lots of it.

Look around you, you probably know people who are wealthier than you, but who you consider not as intelligent as you are. So how did these people become wealthy? Through action.

Start today, by picking out a business that you can do part-time on the side that will allow you to start generating extra cash.

Let's get rich together: Fierce Personal Finance

Its not crowded at the top, climb over the masses.

Visit my money making blog.

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Start Building Your Savings

Where To Start With Building Savings
By Jennifer Tannehill

When I began getting my finances in order, I couldn't wait to get started but I was perplexed. Where should I start? Some experts say, "Pay yourself first" meaning retirement, some say get your debt paid down, while other suggested beginning with an emergency fund. And, those are just the top three, there are many other schools of thought. I asked around. No one agreed on any one method. I read Suze Orman's new book Women and Money. It was a great book, but it could not answer this question to my satisfaction.

I did a lot of research on the net and I came up with my own plan. Here are the steps and my reason for putting them in the order that I did.

1. Start a small emergency fund. I will start by paying the minimums on my credit cards until I have socked away around $500 to $1000. I think this is the best first step because without some free flowing cash I will have no choice but to use plastic if I have any unexpected expenses. I am limiting it to just $1000 at most because I figure that would cover an ER visit, a replacement appliance, or car problems. I just hope I don't ever have all three at once!

2. Begin paying off the credit card debt. One note here, if you are already paying into retirement keep doing so unless you are not able to pay off your existing debt. In paying off debt, almost everyone agrees- you must pay more than the minimum balance due on your cards. However, there are two methods to choose from. The first is to pay off the card with the highest interest rate first. This makes sense because that is the one that will end up costing the most in finance charges. But, if you are anything like me, you like to see progress. Another way to go is to throw the most money at your smallest debt first. That way you see $0 balances sooner giving you a little pick-me-up on the long road to debt repayment. Whichever you choose, pay the minimums on all but the card you are trying to pay down first. Put more money toward that card, but once it is paid off keep putting the same amount toward your debt. In other words, if I am paying $200 on my high rate card and I pay it off, I am to put that money toward the next card. Then repeat the same process until all the debt is paid.

3. SAVE. It is a good rule of thumb to have several months of income saved up in the event that you are laid off, become ill, or cannot work for one reason or another. At this point you can start putting more money into your emergency fund. Once you have that built up, begin saving for retirement if you are not already doing so. How you choose to save is up to you. Step three really requires its own article. Briefly, if you get an employer match on your 401K at work fund it to get the full match, hey, that is FREE money. If you don't get a match or once you have funded up to the match, try to max out an IRA. The type and amount you can invest depend on your income and your age respectively.

I hope this has given you a starting point in getting your finances in order. When I began looking I just wanted a simple plan to follow. I ended up having to make my own. Try it, tweak it, but do something. The worst mistake you can make is to do nothing. Know that no matter where you begin, taking small steps toward dealing with debt and saving will eventually turn into a change for the good.

Jennifer Tannehill maintains a personal finance blog at http://picturewealth.blogspot.com
Please check it out!

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