My HR Buddy

It’s just a matter of time before it happens. Your car engine begins to have a mind of its own just around that time your adorable little girl falls ill and your washing machine decides to call it quits. All of these are unexpected expenses and something we need to deal with throughout life. Being prepared as much as you can is your best bet when life throws you a financial curve ball. Do your best to anticipate upcoming expenses? If you’re driving an older car, or your television set has seen better days, start saving up to replace them. You may also want to start keeping an eye out for good deals on the replacement. An even better strategy is to have an emergency savings fund. Set up a savings account and add to it monthly. Use it only for completely unexpected expenses . Make sure you know what’s in the account. And once you have to take money out of it, replace it as quickly as possible. This brings us to a good point. Here’s how to recover quickly after that purchas...

Putting a little money away for a rainy day isn’t always easy. You may have some good intentions, but at the end of the day, there just isn’t any money left. Somehow, whatever you make is spent before you make it to the next paycheck. Start by making a  budget . Take a look at what you bring in each month. Next, write down your fixed expenses. These are things like rent, car payments, utilities etc. Figure out how much you need each month for groceries and other essentials. This is your bare bones budget. It’s good to know what you need to get by each month. Next, it’s time for a little bit of math. Start with what you bring in each month and subtract all your core expenses. What you’re left with is your discretional income. This will pay for entertainment, clothes, getting your nails done etc. And from here on out, part of that discretional income will go into a savings account. Pick a number you’re comfortable with. Maybe that’s just $20 per month, mayb...

We work hard to earn a living. We should make sure we spend the money we bring home wisely. That’s where a household budget comes in. It is a good tool to see at a glance what we have coming in, what is going out (essentially, what that money is paying for) and if there’s anything left at the end of the month. Before we dive into exactly what a budget can do for us, let’s consider for a minute what will happen if we’re not tracking income and expenses. We may end up spending more than we are making in a given month. Over time, that can put us into some pretty hot water financially. We may also spend a lot more than we’d like to believe on things like eating out, going to the movies or new clothes. Having a budget gives us more control over where we want to really spend our hard earned cash. Maybe that’s dinner and a movie, but maybe it isn’t. Wouldn’t it be nice to have an actual choice? So why do do need to keep a household budget? It Tracks Where Your M...