Forbes Advisor has compiled a list of the best budgeting apps of 2023. This list includes 15 different apps that have been compared based on their features, ease of use, and user reviews. From these apps, users can find the best mobile app to manage their budgets, savings, and expenses. Additionally, Finder UK has also published a list of the best budgeting apps of 2023, which provides a detailed review of each app’s features, fees, and benefits.

Whether users are looking for hands-on budgeting or simple zero-based budgeting, there is an app that can meet their needs. With the help of budgeting apps, users can take control of their finances and achieve their financial goals. This article will explore the top budgeting apps of 2023 and provide a comprehensive review of their features, benefits, and drawbacks.

Top 6 Budgeting Apps

Managing personal finances can be a daunting task, but with the right budgeting app, it can become much easier. Here are the top 6 budgeting apps for 2023:

1. Mint

Mint is a free budgeting app that allows users to track their spending, set budgets, and view their credit score. With its user-friendly interface and automatic categorization of transactions, Mint makes it easy for users to stay on top of their finances. Mint also offers personalized financial advice and alerts to help users save money and avoid fees.

2. PocketGuard

PocketGuard is another free budgeting app that provides users with a snapshot of their finances. It tracks spending, bills, and income and alerts users when they are in danger of overspending. PocketGuard also offers a feature that helps users find better deals on their bills and subscriptions.

3. YNAB

You Need a Budget, or YNAB, is a popular budgeting app that uses a zero-based budgeting system. This means that every dollar is assigned a job, whether it’s for bills, savings, or spending. YNAB also offers personalized coaching and support to help users achieve their financial goals.

4. Empower

Empower (previously Personal Capital is a budgeting app that offers a comprehensive view of a user’s finances. It tracks investments, retirement accounts, and net worth in addition to spending and bills. Empower also offers financial planning services and investment advice.

5. EveryDollar

EveryDollar is a budgeting app created by financial expert Dave Ramsey. It uses a zero-based budgeting system and allows users to track their spending and savings goals. EveryDollar also offers a paid version that provides additional features and personalized coaching.

6. Simplifi Money

Simplifi Money is a budgeting app created by Quicken, a popular personal finance software. It offers a comprehensive view of a user’s finances, including spending, bills, and investments. Simplifi Money also offers personalized insights and alerts to help users save money and avoid fees.

Other Budgeting Apps Worth Mentioning

1. Goodbudget

Goodbudget is a great app for those who prefer the envelope budgeting method. With Goodbudget, users can create virtual envelopes for different spending categories and allocate funds accordingly. The app syncs across multiple devices, making it easy to track spending on-the-go. Goodbudget also offers a free version with limited features, as well as a paid version with more advanced features.

2. Honeydue

Honeydue is a budgeting app designed specifically for couples. It allows couples to link their accounts and track their spending and budgeting goals together. Honeydue also offers features such as bill reminders, shared savings goals, and the ability to split expenses. The app is free to use, but offers a premium version with additional features.

3. Wally

Wally is a budgeting app that offers a simple, user-friendly interface. It allows users to track their expenses and income, set savings goals, and monitor their spending habits. Wally also offers features such as receipt scanning and bill reminders. The app is free to use, but offers a premium version with additional features.

4. Marcus Insights

Marcus Insights is a budgeting app that offers a variety of features to help users manage their finances. It allows users to track their spending, set savings goals, and monitor their credit score. The app is free to use.

5. Albert

Albert is a budgeting app that offers a variety of features to help users save money and manage their finances. It allows users to track their spending, set savings goals, and monitor their credit score. Albert also offers features such as bill negotiation, savings account management, and the ability to invest spare change. The app is free to use, but offers a premium version with additional features.

Factors to Consider When Choosing a Budgeting App

Choosing the right budgeting app can be a daunting task, especially with so many options available in the market. However, there are certain factors that one should consider before making a final decision. Here are some of the most important factors to consider when choosing a budgeting app:

1. User Interface and Experience

The user interface and experience of a budgeting app play a crucial role in its usability. A good budgeting app should have a clean and intuitive interface that is easy to navigate. It should also have a well-designed user experience that makes it easy to input and track expenses.

Some budgeting apps offer customizable dashboards that allow users to view their financial data in a way that makes sense to them. This can be especially helpful for users who have specific financial goals or who want to track their spending in a particular way.

2. Features and Functionality

The features and functionality of a budgeting app are also important factors to consider. A good budgeting app should offer a range of features that help users track their expenses, set and achieve financial goals, and manage their finances effectively.

Some of the most important features to look for in a budgeting app include expense tracking, budget creation and management, bill reminders, and goal setting and tracking. Some apps also offer additional features such as investment tracking, credit score monitoring, and financial education resources.

3. Security and Privacy

When it comes to financial data, security and privacy are of utmost importance. A good budgeting app should have strong security measures in place to protect users’ personal and financial information.

Look for budgeting apps that use encryption to protect data in transit and at rest. Additionally, make sure the app has a clear privacy policy that outlines how user data is collected, stored, and shared.

4. Cost and Value

The cost and value of a budgeting app is another important factor to consider. While some budgeting apps are free, others require a monthly or annual subscription fee.

Consider the features and functionality offered by the app and whether they justify the cost. Additionally, look for apps that offer a free trial period or a money-back guarantee so you can try the app before committing to a subscription.

5. Customer Support

Finally, customer support is an important factor to consider when choosing a budgeting app. Look for apps that offer multiple channels of support, such as email, phone, and chat support.

Additionally, consider the quality of the app’s customer support. Are support representatives knowledgeable and responsive? Do they provide helpful and timely solutions to user issues?

The post Top 6 Best Budgeting Apps for 2023: Time to Get Your Finances In Check! appeared first on Wealth Bytes, the content owner.

You don’t make a lot of money and you’ve worked hard to get out of debt. Now that you have the taste of what it’s like to not have a monthly interest payment for maybe the first time ever as an adult, the last thing you want to do is go back into debt. But, what’s the best way to stay out of debt with a low income?

These tips can help you make a financial game plan to make you build wealth while staying out of the poorhouse.

While you won’t become an “instant millionaire” you can still pay your bills, go on vacation, and save for the future—three activities that probably caused you to lose sleep when you were still in debt.

Keep Your Discretionary Spending to a Minimum

If you’re like most people with a small income, one of the only ways to find extra money each month is to reduce your monthly spending to the bone. That might mean not going out to eat, having a “staycation” instead of a vacation this summer, and canceling your monthly subscriptions.

The only problem is that for most us is that we can only suppress our wants for so long. When you’re debt-free and no longer sending your disposable income to make extra debt payments, the money in your pocket suddenly feels warmer than it did a month ago.

While you shouldn’t go back to your old spending habits and “keeping up with the Joneses,” it’s expected to have some lifestyle inflation. As with every aspect of life, remember the mantra, “Everything in moderation.”

It’s okay to increase some of your monthly subscription spending again, but don’t overpay.

Some of the ways you can save money on the finer things in life include:

• Streaming cable tv online for only $20 a month
• Get cashback on your monthly online purchases with Ebates
• Buy generic products and medicine prescriptions when possible

While you should never pay more than absolutely necessary, the three recommendations above are the easiest ways to get the same products you use now for less.

Invest At Least 10% of Your Income

When you tackle your high-interest credit card debt, one of the next places you’ll cut is your monthly investments.

At a minimum, you should invest at least 10% of your income. But, to get a more accurate number, you should use a retirement calculator to see if you can afford to retire. It only takes a minute to plug in your current financial vitals and your retirement goals to see if you’re on track. If you need to invest more, the calculator will recommend how much you need to invest to retire on time.

Hopefully, your employer offers matching 401k contributions and you’ve been maximizing that opportunity to make “free money.” Most employers offering matching contributions match a percentage of the first 6% of your monthly salary. If you make $3,000 a month before taxes, they will might contribute $180 per month; think of it as an instant $2,160 annual raise.

Retirement Account vs. Non-Retirement Account Contributions

After maximizing your 401k match, you should split your remaining monthly investments into a tax-advantaged retirement account and taxable brokerage account.

Splitting your investments between the two ensures you invest for retirement, but you still have immediate penalty-free access to investments in your taxable non-retirement brokerage account.

When to Invest in a Taxable Brokerage Account

You will still want to keep your emergency fund savings and additional cash savings in an interest-bearing bank account and invest money you don’t plan on spending within the next two years in a taxable brokerage account. You invest the money you need a few years from now so it can appreciate faster than your bank deposits and you don’t have to pay the 10% early withdrawal penalty the 401k and IRA accounts charge.

Because the stock market is unpredictable, remember only to invest money in your taxable account that you don’t plan on withdrawing at least one year from now. Historically, the overall market yields a profit long-term, but you can lose money in the short-term.

For example, you can invest $1,000 today and if the market declines 10% a month from now, your investment is only worth $900 and can potentially take a year to regain the losses and begin appreciating. Volatility is why investors near retirement invest in fixed income assets so they don’t have to delay retirement because of an unexpected market correction.

The money sitting in your bank account only earns slightly more than 1% interest at best. If your investments earn 6% annually on average, you’re making six times the profit compared to keeping it at your bank.

The secret to becoming a millionaire is earning more passive income than the month before. It’s challenging to do this when the money in your savings account is only earning a few pennies each month. This is why it’s so important to invest your extra income.

When to Invest in a Retirement Account

Any money you don’t plan on spending until you retire needs to be put into your tax-advantaged retirement account. If you have a decent 401k plan with solid investment options and minimal fees, it can be easier to make all your additional retirement contributions there.

If not, invest any additional monthly contributions in either a Traditional IRA or Roth IRA. Open a Traditional IRA when you want to lower your taxable income now but pay taxes on your contributions in retirement, otherwise contribute your post-tax income to a Roth IRA so your contributions grow 100% tax-free.

Keep All Your Investments At One Brokerage

You don’t have a choice where your employer hosts their 401k plan, but you can control where you keep your personal investments. It’s almost always easier to keep your IRA and taxable brokerage accounts at the same brokerage.

If you prefer fully-automated investing, Betterment offers both account types and their complimentary portfolio rebalancing and tax harvesting tools optimize your return.

DIY investors should choose an online broker with low trade fees. It’s not hard to find a brokerage that only charges $4.95 per trade, but they usually offer many commission-free ETFs too so you get instant portfolio diversification with every single trade.

Say No to Instant Gratification for Large Purchases

Another money habit that separates the rich from the poor is delaying instant gratification. Too many people think being in debt is a fact of life. Guess what? It’s not!

You will need to make your own household rule for this suggestion, but you might say that you have to discuss with your spouse or wait at least 24 hours before you spend more than $100 on any unnecessary expense.

Whether you want to buy a stereo surround system for $300 that you can pay for with cash or a new $20,000 car that requires a car loan, these one-off purchases can quickly put you back into debt.

By waiting at least one day to say yes or no, you can decide if you actually need to make the purchase or if it can wait. In many cases, you’ll find yourself passing on the offer until your current product finally bites the dust.

Save for Large Purchases Instead

Saying “No” doesn’t mean you shouldn’t plan ever to make a large purchase again. For example, the car you’re driving now might only have a few good years left before it’s no longer cost-effective to keep owning the vehicle. Buying a replacement vehicle is a known expense and by making it a goal to have enough money set aside in three years to replace your car, you can pay for the entire car with cash for the first time ever!

With a little foresight, you can avoid going into debt in the future because you save your money for the future instead of spending it on today’s whims. If you always give into instant gratification, it gets a lot harder to accomplish your future savings goals.

Besides cars, some of the other large expenses you should plan for include vacations, home repairs and remodeling, and your child’s college education.

Use Cash Instead of Credit

Another financial pitfall for many households is using credit cards irresponsibly. Credit cards also increase the odds that you’ll spend more than with cash or debit even if you pay your balance in full each month.

On the flipside, responsible credit card use means you build your credit score without borrowing money and you can get rewards points that help you travel for free or get cash back each month.

What if you can combine the benefits of credit cards with cash to earn rewards while still being encouraged to live within your means?

With a free program like Debx, your credit card acts like a debit card. Each day, Debx withdraws the cash from your checking account to cover your daily purchases–so you never carry a card balance–while you earn rewards points and improve your credit score.

Make a New Budget

Why save this step for last?

Because you need to figure out how you want to spend all that extra money first.

Making your first debt-free budget can be challenging because you have fewer bills that need to be paid. It can be really easy to go on a spending spree and still be living paycheck to paycheck even though you’re debt-free.

By walking through the steps above you realize that putting your money in a bank account, retirement account, and increasing your discretionary spending a little bit will give you a clearer idea of how much money you will realistically spend now that you’re not forced to make a minimum monthly payment.

Once you have an idea how much you want to save, spend, and give to charity, you can see if you can still live within your means with your current income.

If not, you will need to trim your immediate and future spending so you can still accomplish your savings goals. For example, you might decide to save for a $10,000 car instead of a $15,000 car to have an extra $50 to put invest in your retirement account.

Just like you should keep all your cash at one bank and investments at one brokerage, you should also use Personal Capital to track your monthly spending for free. You can also use Personal Capital to track your investments and savings goals progress to see if you need to increase your monthly contributions.

Summary

Your first paycheck after you become debt-free can feel a lot like winning the lottery. Instead of squandering your windfall and becoming the next reality tv star for all the wrong reasons, following the steps above will help you maximize your small income so you can still retire on-time and live a life where you don’t worry about money anymore!

The post How to Stay Out of Debt With a Low Income appeared first on Wealth Bytes, the content owner.

Paying off debt is hard for anyone. It’s always on your mind until it’s gone and wiped clean. Debt hovers over you like a dark cloud just waiting to storm. Those clouds seem to be even darker when you have a low income. Without the necessary funds to pay down debt quickly, it can feel like an eternity working off debt.

When you have a small income, it feels like climbing Mt. Everest is easier than getting out of debt. I know because I’ve been there myself, and while paying off debt with a low income isn’t the easiest thing in the world, it’s still very possible. These steps will help you make a plan to pay off your bills sooner than later.

Our annual household income is around $35,000 and we have a family of four, we use the tips below on a monthly basis to keep us on track with paying off our own debt.

Keep a Positive Attitude

Above anything else, you need to keep a positive attitude. Looking at life optimistically can truly mean the difference between getting out of debt and remaining in debt.

Think how hard you’ve tried to accomplish something in your life. Maybe it was being able to bench press 150 pounds, getting a promotion at work, or starting a family. It doesn’t necessarily matter why you moved mountains to accomplish a goal, you did it because you believed in yourself.

Whether you lost motivation from your New Year’s Resolution to pay off debt or you’re just now deciding that being in debt isn’t fun and you want out, never forget to believe in yourself.

Track Your Spending

Are you ready to hear the secret about how to get out of debt and stay out of debt?

Spend less than you earn each month.

Knowing how you spend your money each month is the first step. There are a few different ways you can track your spending:

• Write down each expense with pen and paper
• Use the free budgeting app like Personal Capital to track your income and expenses
• Pay for a budgeting app like You Need a Budget when you need help making a plan

This exercise feels tedious at first, but it’s essential when you’re serious about getting out of debt. You need to have a good idea of knowing how much you spend on the following categories:

• Insurance
• Rent and Utilities
• Current minimum monthly loan payments
• Groceries and Restaurant dining
• Commuting costs
• Entertainment including cable tv and going out with friends

Your goal is to have fewer expenses than income. Assuming you bring home $3000, your expenses need to be $2999 or less to make more than you earn. If you’re not there yet, look at where you can reduce your spending to avoid living paycheck to paycheck.

You might consider downgrading to a cheaper phone plan or cable tv subscription or packing your lunch instead of going out to eat with the guys or using Trim Financial Manager (it’s free!) to renegotiate or cancel your monthly subscriptions so you pay less each month.

Cutting your spending is the easiest way to get an instant pay raise!

As you can only cut your expenses so far, making more money in your free time is another way to earn more than you spend. Here are 101 ways to make extra money to get out of debt.

At the end of each month, continue comparing your spending to your income to make sure you’re still on track.

Set Aside $1,000 for Emergencies

After you know how much you currently earn and spend in a typical month, you now know how much extra money you have each month. While you could set this money aside to pay for a Hawaiian vacation, it’s better to focus on building an emergency fund first and then focusing on getting out of debt.

Why shouldn’t you skip the emergency fund and pour all your extra dollars into debt payments?

Because 40% of Americans can’t afford a surprise $1,000 expense.

If you don’t have at least $1,000 set aside to cover life’s surprises, use your extra monthly income for this first. I’d hate to see your debt repayment progress undone because you need to borrow $1,000 to pay a bill because you didn’t have enough in savings to cover it.

Continue making the minimum monthly payment on your current loans and use your extra income to build a $1,000 emergency fund. I suggest keeping your money in a high-yield online bank account that you don’t pay your bills with so you remove the temptation of pulling from your emergency fund to pay for life’s non-financial emergencies.

Also, consider stuff you no longer need to raise the cash quickly. Maybe, you can sell an extra vehicle or boat that you don’t really need and depreciates in value each day. And, it can be an easy way to lower your monthly insurance premium besides getting some extra cash in your wallet and paying off a loan if you’re still making payments on it.

Make a Debt Repayment Plan

This is when the fun begins! You have $1,000 is a separate “no touch” account to hedge against life’s unexpected surprises so you can plug away at your debt payments uninterrupted.

You’ll need to choose the option that works best for you, but the two best debt repayment plans are the debt snowball and debt avalanche.  Either choice is excellent, but you might prefer the debt snowball where you pay your smallest loan balance first to score regular emotional victories that make it easier to maintain your positive, “can-do” attitude.

How to Start a Debt Snowball

Here are the three simple steps to start your very own debt snowball:

• List your debts in order from the smallest to largest balance
• If two balances are the same amount, prioritize the one with the highest interest rate first
• Make extra monthly payments on the smallest debt balance first

Put any extra money each month to the smallest loan balance with the highest interest rate. Continue making the minimum monthly payment on your other loans so you don’t incur any late charges. After your first loan is paid in full, give yourself a high five and focus on the next smallest balance.

To supercharge your debt payoff plan, combine the money you spent on your old monthly payment plus your extra disposable income for each consecutive loan. You’re already in the habit of setting aside the money for a monthly payment so why stop now?

You might only be able to contribute an extra $100 now, but as you pay off your smaller loans that extra monthly payment will “snowball” into a $500 additional payment in time.

Once all your loans are paid off, imagine what you can do with all the extra money that used to make a monthly payment. For some motivation, we’ll have an extra $1,000 a month when we finally pay off our mortgage; that’s an instant $12,000 increase to our disposable income for the year!

Continue to Live Within Your Means

How soon you’ll repay your loans depends on several factors:

• Total amount owed
• The interest rate for each loan
• The size of your extra payment
• Are you still borrowing money?

Cutting spending and increasing your income are two methods of having extra money each month to repay your loans, but you also need to stop borrowing. Others you’ll only continue to “break even” and never escape the debt cycle.

If you anticipate having to borrow money while you’re still paying off your existing debt, reduce the size of your extra payment and set aside the difference until you have enough to pay for the purchase with cash instead of credit.

It can take some mental adjustments as you change your focus to getting out of debt instead of continually having to make a monthly payment, but the reward is well worth the effort.

The post How to Pay Off Debt with a Low Income and Start Saving for the Future. appeared first on Wealth Bytes, the content owner.

The new year is here and I’m sure you’re ready to get started on your resolutions. Typically people are focusing on their weight, especially after two holidays of eating good food. I know I could lose a few pounds after this holiday break. More importantly, some are focusing their goals on their finances and I applaud those people. A new year is a great time to look over your finances and see where you can improve. You might even start a nice budget to rock this new year!

If you’re in debt, this could be the year you get out of it. You might not be able to pay it all off, but set a goal to pay off 10%, 20%, or more. Do what is reasonable for you and your situation, but create a goal to kill your debt in the new year.

If you’re on a savings kick (like me), then see what you can do in order to save more this upcoming year. I’ve always had a goal to get to 50% saving rate, but I’m not sure how I’m going to get there. No matter what, saving money is extremely important. It’s hard to survive if you’re not saving any money. Trust me, I used to be in over $75,000 of debt and I didn’t save a dime. Luckily I paid it off and saved over time. I’m now a saver who loves it. Join the club this year!

Ever since I started this blog, I gathered some of the best personal finance bloggers together at the end of the year to share some awesome personal finance tips with you. Some have been in debt. Others invest like champions, and some grow their wealth like the best of them. I followed many of these bloggers when I was in debt and looking for tips to get out.

Today, I’m sharing 39 tips from other personal finance bloggers to help you get in the right mindset for the new year. These tips will revolve around a few topics I hold near and dear. We will focus on credit, debt, investing, making money, saving money, and wealth management. There are some tips which don’t fit in these categories, so I also created an “other” category as the tips are great and can help you.

My Financial Tip

Before we get to the other tips, I wanted to share my own, which is actually from my father. When I quit my job earlier this year to run my WordPress support company and this blog, this is what he told me to get me to take the leap.

You can either be an entrepreneur or you can work for one

That little phrase was powerful and got right to the point. My father was the one who said it to me in hopes to push me over the fence when I couldn’t do it myself. It helped me understand that I could do this. The people we work for all started their businesses, so why can’t I? Yes, it’s scary, but it can also be very worth it. If you’re on the fence in the upcoming year about going out on your own, I hope this little tip helps you get onto the side of the fence which benefits you.  Do you want to own your business or do you just want to work for someone? Answer this question before you take the leap. Trust me, it helps!

Credit | Debt | Investing | Making Money | Saving Money | Wealth Management | Other

One thing I’ve learned over the years is how important credit can be to your finances. While some thing having a good credit score and report is only applicable when buying something, that is no longer the case. Landlords can look at your credit, so can potential employers. You might not be able to get a cell phone contract and much more with poor credit. Yes, having a good credit score is very helpful in the long run. If you need to get a loan, having a good score will ensure you pay the cheapest rate over time. You can get low rates on car loans, home loans, and much more.
Related: Get your free credit score with Credit Sesame
Your credit score/report is very important and something you should follow. Beyond your credit profile, these tips will talk about credit cards. Yes, I used to have credit card debt, but I use my credit cards for every purchase. I pay them off each month and enjoy the rewards. I’ve traveled for free with credit cards. It works, but only if you’re responsible!
Lee Huffman of Bald Thoughts said:

Take advantage of all the benefits your credit cards have to offer. There are often great perks which make it easier to earn miles and points faster so you can travel better, more often.

Read more on Bald Thoughts

Follow Lee on Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest

Jim Wang of Wallet Hacks said:

Remember to check your credit reports every year. Ideally, stagger your checks at each of the three bureaus so you get a snapshot throughout the year. I call it the Waterfall Method and I check my Experian credit report in January, my Equifax sometime in May, and my TransUnion report around October.

Read more on Wallet Hacks

Follow Jim on Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest

As noted, I clawed my way out of $75,000 of debt. There was more than $50,000 of credit card debt alone, so when I talk about debt, it’s very personal. I know what it’s like to be in debt and how i affects you emotionally. Trust me, debt sucks the big one!

If you’re looking to fight debt, please check out some of the articles I have around the topic. These can help you understand more about your situation and how you react to debt. Don’t be like me and turn a blind eye to it. It only makes the problem worse. I only woke up after I realized my minimum monthly payments were as much as my mortgage. That was eye opening for me. It hurt, but it was the wake up call I needed to make a change. Hopefully one of these tips can be your wake up call.

Joseph of Peer Finance 101 said:

Don’t wait to be debt-free before you start investing for your future. Pay off your high-interest debt but start putting a little away for retirement as soon as possible. Your contributions to retirement accounts are tax-deductible so worth more than you may think, especially if you start early.

Read more on Peer Finance 101

Follow Joseph on Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest

Jeffrey Trull of Student Loan Hero said:

Paying off your student loans early has many benefits, including saving money and being able to focus on other financial goals. But simply making extra payments isn’t the only strategy you can use to pay off student loans faster. Here are 14 different strategies, which I’ve rated on how effective each are. Pick and choose which work for you, and watch your student loan debt disappear!

Read more on Student Loan Hero

Follow Jeffrey on Twitter | Facebook

Brian Brandow of Debt Discipline said:

I think the biggest challenge people face when trying to get out of debt is the mental piece. You have to prepare yourself mentally and emotionally for the change in your money behavior and habits to be successful. Once you get over that hurdle figuring out the math is easy, most of personal finance is common sense. Focus on a goal, a “why” for making the change and it will become easier to make the short term sacrifice for the long term goal of being debt free.

Read more on Debt Discipline

Follow Brian on Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest

Jackie Beck of The Debt Myth said:

If you want to get out of debt, the #1 thing you can do is to stop borrowing. That sounds a little captain obvious, but it’s a critical step that so many people miss, and it was key to us paying off over $147,000 in debt.

Read more on The Debt Myth

Follow Jackie on Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest

Natalie Bacon of Financegirl said:

If you are in student loan debt, commit to getting out of debt as fast as possible. Create a plan — in writing — where you pay off your student loans. Saving and investing won’t solve your financial problems if you’re in debt. Make debt repayment your priority.

Read more on Financegirl

Follow Natalie on Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest

Candice Marie of Young Yet Wise said:

If your debt isn’t moving it could be because you’re only paying the minimum amount. When you only pay the minimum amount it’s hard to see any progress. You could also have too many money goals that you’re trying to accomplish at once. So you’re trying to put a few drops of water over 7 different buckets instead of pouring a whole gallon of water over 1-2 buckets at a time.

Read more on Young Yet Wise

Follow Candice on Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest

Jason Butler of My Money Chronicles said:

If you have a lot of debt please make a payment even if it is small. Every payment counts. In time they add up. Your debt will eventually get smaller.

Follow Jason on Twitter | Facebook

For years, I only invested in my 401(k) through my employer. I didn’t know much about investing and didn’t focus on it until I was out of debt. That was a huge mistake. I missed out on some good returns during the 4 years it took to pay off my debt. I’m still kicking myself to this day. It wasn’t until I got a Betterment account when I started to take investing a little more seriously. Now, I have a Betterment account, and a few accounts at other online brokerages.

Investing can be scary for some who don’t understand it, but it’s basically using the power of compound interest to your advantage. Yes, you can lose money when you invest, but the market has a good, positive return on average over the last 30 years. Focus on the long term and don’t get flustered with short term dips. Also, never put all your eggs in one basket.

Hopefully, these investing tips will help you make the decision to start investing for yourself in the new year. It’s a great time to start and you can do it with less than $250!

Julie Rains of Investing to Thrive said:

Learn how to use financial functions of spreadsheets — so you can do your own calculations instead of relying on other people to figure stuff out for you. Start small, learning how to calculate your monthly payment on a loan and then move to projecting the future value of your retirement account contributions.

Read more on Investing to Thrive

Follow Julie on Twitter | Pinterest

Joseph Hogue of Peer Finance 101 said:

Don’t try to ‘beat’ the stock market by playing the trading game. Trading in and out of stocks will only lose your money in fees and taxes. Playing the amateurs’ game and avoid making the big mistakes will put you ahead of the average investor every year.

Read more on Peer Finance 101

Follow Joseph on Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest

Doug Nordman of The Military Guide said:

I hate to have to say this, but fewer than half of the servicemembers in the U.S. military have even signed up for a Thrift Savings Plan account (the military version of a 401(k))– let alone contributed to it.
An awesome personal finance tip for more than half of the military would be:
Sign up for the TSP and contribute to the L2050 fund! After your service, you can still access the funds penalty-free with a little advance planning.

Read more on The Military Guide

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Rachel Hernandez of Adventures in Mobile Homes said:

When it comes to real estate investing, you make money when you buy—not when you sell.

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Those who read this blog know that I quit my job this year. I had a good job for almost nine years and I got up and left it. Why? I wanted to focus on something I built and this blog and my service business were came out of me wanting to make more money. I’m a huge fan of earning more money with side hustles and building something for yourself.

While it was scary to quit my job after so long, it was time for me to move on and try my hand at entrepreneurship. While owning a business is not for everyone, that doesn’t mean you can’t work on the side to earn more and pad your existing income. Making money can change your life as it certainly has mine. I started out small, but then tried more and more things to earn more. Yes, you can try to get a raise, but those increases are finite. I want ways to make more that have no ceiling. That’s what I like to do!

Take some time to read over our great articles on making more money. You can start earning in just one weekend. The amount you make is up to how much effort you put in. If you want to make money with blogging (like I do), then head over to my very detailed “how to start a blog” guide and get to it!

Remember, you can either be an entrepreneur or you can work for one!

Kate Dore of Cashville Skyline said:

Not expecting a raise in the New Year? Maybe it’s time to consider picking up a side hustle. There are countless ways to earn extra money from the comfort of your home. And your side hustle may even turn into a new full-time career!

Read more on Cashville Skyline

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Kylie Travers of The Thrifty Issue said:

Stop with the excuses. Anyone can make extra money. Don’t focus on what you lack, instead look at all the ways you can make extra money either from home, doing what you already do or in odd hours. Life isn’t so 9 – 5 anymore. Find a need and fill it!

Read more on The Thrifty Issue

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Tai Stewart of Saidia Financial said:

Mystery shopping is a great way to not only make a little extra money on the side, but get services that you use regularly for FREE! Oil changes, lunches, dinners, banking services and more can be paid for through mystery shopping, and you can also receive income from it.

Read more on Saidia Financial

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Stefanie O’Connell of Stefanie O’Connell.com said:

Increase your income. You can only save so much, but your earning potential is UNLIMITED!

Read more on Stefanie O’Connell.com

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Louis DeNicola of Saveful said:

Don’t worry if more money than you expect is withheld from your bonus, it isn’t taxed any more than your standard pay. Special withholding rules might mean you don’t receive as much of the bonus as you’d like right away, but you’ll get what’s owed to you when you file your tax return.

Read more on Saveful

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Zina Kumok of Debt Free After Three said:

Saving and investing is great, but creating passive forms of income is an important – and underutilized – tool. This year I’ve started to think about ways to make money passively, which too few people consider a possibility. Whether it’s launching a product or buying a rental property, find some way to incorporate passive income in your life.

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Who doesn’t want to save more money this new year? I know I do. I love seeing money flowing into my saving and investment accounts. It’s a great feeling considering back in 2012, the money was still flowing out of my accounts into the banks hands for my credit card repayments.

I’m a saving addict and I think it’s a good thing. No, I’m not a cheapskate, but I do appreciate how I use my money more than I ever have before. Ever since I’ve jumped into blogging, I’ve learned about saving methods like using a savings bucket system. That was cool, but what changed my savings was when I found Digit. This is a free service that will save for you based on your spending habits. It’s awesome and I recommend it to anyone who wants to save more, but aren’t sure how. Try it out, it’s free!

Saving money isn’t just about putting money in your bank account, but also finding ways to reduce your expenses. I’ve switched away from Verizon in order to save. I cancelled cable years ago and haven’t looked back. These are simple things you can do in order to save money. Look over some of our articles on more ways to save money each and every day. You might be stunned on how much you’re leaving on the table!

Aaron Crowe of Add Vodka said:

Start college savings fund for child at birth. Contributing automatically each month is the easiest way to amass enough money to help your child to go to college.

Read more on Add Vodka

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Jacob Wade of I Heart Budgets said:

Clothing too expensive?

Solution: Plan a “Clothing Swap”. Invite your friends over to bring in clothes they want to get rid of. All clothes are setup in the home like a clothing store, and for every item you donate, you can pick out an item to bring home. Get everyone together to “shop” the clothes they want. Free wardrobe update for everyone. Do this every 6 months to keep your style fresh.

Read more on I Heart Budgets

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Kate Horrell of KateHorrell.com said:

Look into vision insurance if you wear glasses or contacts. I just purchased vision insurance for my family and it saved me $400.

Read more on KateHorrell.com

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Lance Cothern of Money Manifesto said:

My favorite way to save money is to do so in a way that saves me money every month. Personally, that meant switching our cell phone providers from a big name to a discount provider. We chose Republic Wireless, but there are many options out there depending on your needs. Most will save you a decent amount of money every month over the big four major cell phone companies, some up to hundreds of dollars per year.

Read more on Money Manifesto

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Aja McClanahan of Principles of Increase said:

64% of American’s don’t have $1,000 for an emergency. I would say that your first order of business should be saving. Don’t just save money, develop a habit of what I call “aggressive saving.” Learn to make saving second nature and watch your financial situation change for the better!

Read more on Principles of Increase

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Elizabeth Colegrove of Reluctant Landlord said:

Make your every day housing expenses a side hustle. 1) Rent out your spare rooms. 2) Rent out you house instead of selling it when you transfer or trade up. 3) By a multi-plex live in one unit and rent out the others. 4) By house with a in law suite and rent it out. 5) Turn any of the units from a standard rental into a vacation or executive rental.

Read more on Reluctant Landlord

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Jackie Cummings Koski of Money Letters said:

Shop around for the best prices on RX medications. This has become a very competitive market in the past year or so. Don’t assume that using the prescription plan with your health insurance is always the cheapest. Use generics, use coupons (I’ve seen some as much as $25 in savings) and take advantage of free medications when possible. Grocery stores Meijer (Midwest) and Publix (Southeast) both offer free antibiotics.

Follow Jackie on Twitter

Le’Chester Williams of Investing Dollars and Cents said:

Find ways to make your money work more for you. To cut down on entertainment costs I join organizations at nominal costs usually under $100 that provide me with hundreds of dollars worth of entertainment for the year. Choose not to pay for access to your money, by finding a bank or credit union with atm reimbursements and interest payments. Also if you are able to delay the gratification of making purchases you can invest your funds and pay for things with your earnings.

Follow Le’Chester on Twitter | Facebook

This is definitely an area where I need to do better and I’m going to use the new year to set up goals to do better here. Wealth management is so important and encompasses more than just money. It includes all of your assets as well.

If you’re not sure how to handle your wealth, then it might be good to check out a financial advisor to assist you. Look at the XY Planning Network to find a fee-only advisor to help. I’d also suggest you set up a free Personal Capital account in order to get a bigger picture of your money and financial situation. I’m a huge fan and started using Personal Capital years ago. It’s my go-to tool when looking over all of my finances and seeing how my wealth is doing. The best part is it’s completely free to use.

Look over these tips and start working on your overall wealth management as I plan to do in the new year! Let’s do this together.

Valerie Rind of ValerieRind.com said:

Sign a will and other end-of-life documents. Don’t leave your grieving family with a financial mess to clean up if you die intestate (without a will).

Read more on ValerieRind.com

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Christine Odle of Rockin Beeby said:

Anytime you have the opportunity to physically swipe a plastic card, switch to paper money! This reduces over spending dramatically. Long term you will save more money for the rest of your life.

Read more on Rockin Beeby

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Aaron Hatch, CFP® of Woven Capital said:

Stock picking might be exciting, but the line between exciting and scary is very narrow. There’s a huge downside if today’s hot stock turns out to be tomorrow’s bad buy. For a sound financial future, keep investments a little boring — in other words invest in a well diversified portfolio of low-cost investments.

Read more on Woven Capital

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Cliff Pendell of JRC Insurance Group said:

Layering life insurance coverage can save you thousands of dollars. For example, let’s say you have a $600,000 mortgage for 30 years. Your mortgage balance will decrease overtime, decreasing the amount of life insurance you need as you get older. To save money, you can purchase two $300,000 policies for 20 and 30 years and your mortgage will still be protected.

Read more on JRC Insurance Group

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Natalie Bacon of Financegirl said:

Before you can build wealth and create the financial freedom you want for yourself, you need to get on a written financial plan. Set financial goals and commit to a specific financial plan whereby you track your progress over time. Without a written plan, it will be very hard to achieve financial success.

Follow Natalie on Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest

Not every financial tip I got fit into the the categories above, but instead of just dropping them, I wanted to place them in an encompassing “other” category. These aren’t specific to the other categories, but they are still important for you to read over. There is even a great tip in there about not loaning your parents money. It’s quick and painless, but makes a good point. Unless you’re very careful, loaning money to family members can get nasty really quick!

Hui-chin Chen of Money Matters for Globetrotters said:

If you have scouted all the great personal finance tips year after year, but never really were able to implement any of them and turn you life around, you should know that you don’t need more information. What you need is a coach that can knows what tips work on you and keep you accountable.

Read more on Money Matters for Globetrotters

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Valerie Rind of ValerieRind.com said:

Don’t loan money to your parents.

Read more on ValerieRind.com

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Thomas Nitzsche of Clear Point Credit Counseling said:

When facing a major home repair, understand and exhaust all your options – especially if you have poor credit or a tight budget. This can include non-loan options such as grant and IDA programs as well as financing options like credit unions and peer lending.

Read more on Clear Point Credit Counseling

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Chris Huntley of Huntley Wealth said:

While just about every personal finance expert in the U.S. agrees you should avoid whole life insurance and buy term instead (and invest the difference), a staggering 66% of all individual insurance policies purchased per year are whole life. The problem with whole life, from a consumer’s perspective, is it’s confusing. It has two benefits, life insurance and supplemental retirement income, which makes it difficult for consumers to separate the benefits to see if they are getting a “good deal” on both. Therefore, if you’re shopping for life insurance and being pitched whole life (or currently have a whole life policy), compare the cost to a 20 or 30 year term policy, and discuss your decision with a financial planner, rather than just your insurance agent.

Read more on Huntley Wealth

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Jason Dana of Term Life Advice said:

When shopping for life insurance, beware of only getting quotes from captive agents (agents who work exclusively for one insurance carrier such as State Farm or New York Life agents). An experienced, independent life insurance agent can literally save an insured hundreds or thousands per year, since they are able to “shop the market” to get you the best deal.

Valerie Rind of ValerieRind.com said:

Forget about New Year’s Resolutions to pay off debt or invest more or stick to a budget. It’s too overwhelming and you’re likely setting yourself up for failure. Instead, focus on one small thing you can do in January 2016 to improve your finances.

Follow Valerie on Twitter | Facebook

The post 39 of the Best Financial Tips to Start the New Year in 2023 appeared first on Wealth Bytes, the content owner.

If you are even halfway serious about trying to get out of debt or simply want to spend $100 less a month, one of the first steps you need to take is monitoring your monthly spending. Before you think that the only way to track how much you spend is to pay for a monthly app– so you go further into debt before getting out of debt– think again! There several options available that help you monitor your finances for free.

Pen and Paper

The “old-fashioned” way might be the best way to track your spending. All you need is a piece of paper and your favorite pen or pencil. At the end of each day, write down every purchase you made from the $1 coffee on the drive to work to the $100 electric bill you pay once a month.

After tracking your spending for 30 days, you should have an accurate estimate on how much you spend in a regular month. Take a few minutes to categorize your spending so you know how much you will spend for your utilities, cell phone, cable tv, savings, and dining. You might even catch yourself asking, “We spend that much?”

DIY Spreadsheets

If you want to upgrade to the 21st century, you can also make a free spreadsheet with Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel. Both programs also offer premade templates that are free to use and are already built to track your spending. All you must do is choose the style you like best.

Google Sheets might be the better option for making your own spreadsheet because it’s free, and you can update date with any device that has an internet connection. Microsoft Excel has more capabilities but, you must have Microsoft Office installed to use Excel which can cost $70 a year to install on one device.

Personal Capital

Personal Capital is probably the most user-friendly app when it comes to tracking your spending and calculating your net worth. In a matter of seconds, you can connect your bank and investment accounts. You can also manually input information including the value of your house, cars, and any cash spending you do on a monthly basis.

After linking your accounts, Personal Capital will track your spending and income in real-time. They present all their information in easy-to-read graphs, will send email weekly spending reports, and, you can even create savings goals to calculate how much money you need to set aside every month to accomplish your financial dreams.

Another reason I like Personal Capital is that they don’t make their money from credit card, bank account, or loan applications. Yes, you can pay Personal Capital to invest for retirement, but, this service is optional and their financial monitoring tools are completely free!

Mint

Another popular free financial program is Mint. It’s produced by Intuit, the developers of the premium Quicken budgeting software. If you want to use a program that can also double as a tool to make a monthly budget because you don’t even know where to cut your spending (even if you already track your spending), Mint is probably your best option. Also, you can use Mint for free monthly bill pay.

To use Mint, the app must be able to connect to your bank account or investment account. You cannot manually input any information as you can with Personal Capital.

Exact

Exact Finance is a brand-new free money management tool that will be launching in the very near future. You can expect Exact to be a mixture between Personal Capital and Mint in terms of capability. Your transactions from your linked financial accounts will upload to Exact and you will be able to access reports that track your spending and saving history.

The real value in Exact can be the ability to project your future spending and saving trends. If you want to get out of debt and want a plan, Exact makes it possible to exactly predict how soon you will repay a specific loan (or all your loans) based on your current financial habits. Exact also lets you enter hypothetical variables to see how an increased savings rate or salary increase, as two examples, can affect your debt payoff plans.

Wally

Wally is a 100% mobile-based app and is only accessible through your iOS or Android cell phone or tablet. Since more households are increasingly ditching their desktops and laptops, the mobile device requirement might not be a restriction. Here are four reasons you might choose Wally:

• Compare your income to expenses
• Create spending and savings goals
• Snap pictures of receipts to remember “why” you made a purchase
• No in-app advertisements

Wally is potentially the most comprehensive app available if you want the “complete picture” of how you spend your money. The ability to take pictures of your receipts is also a nice touch as we have all had to scratch our head from time-to-time after looking at our credit card or debit card statement a month later and trying to remember what we purchased.

YNAB

One of the best paid budgeting programs is You Need A Budget (YNAB), and, it’s free for college students. You read that right! Students can enjoy YNAB for free for their first 12 months. After that, they receive a one-time 10% coupon and then pay the regular subscription price ($50 annually) for subsequent years.

Even if you are not a student, you can get a full-access 34-day free trial to YNAB. This can be enough time to help you make some basic adjustments to your spending and to determine if you can monitor your finances with a free app or need the extra assistance of a premium program like YNAB. Even if you do decide to go with YNAB for even your first year and can gradually transition to a free app like Personal Capital once you get a handle on managing your money, that’s great too as you now have more control over your money.

Summary

To improve your financial quality of life, you might not know how to take the first step. Tracking your spending is an excellent starting place, and several excellent programs let you begin your journey to financial freedom FOR FREE! Since there are several free apps to choose from, you should have no problem finding one that makes improving your financial situation enjoyable and possible.

The post 7 Free Ways to Monitor Your Money appeared first on Wealth Bytes, the content owner.

You have finally reached the light at the end of the tunnel! It’s time to retire and enjoy the fruits of your labor. As you near retirement, there is another batch of money mistakes to avoid so you can afford to remain retired. By using your experience from your working years, you should be able to avoid these common money pitfalls.

Those in your 60s and near or in retirement have to be a little more careful than those who are younger. Money can’t be used so aggressively without consequences unless you’ve planned well in the younger years. Money mistakes are common when you get older, just as they are for those in their 20s, 3os, 40s, and 50s.

Let’s hope you’ve planned well enough to reach retirement with your savings intact and your wealth growing. If not, maybe we can help you with a solution to the common money mistakes that can happen in your 60s and during retirement.

Aggressive Investing

Pitfall: You invest like a 20-year-old with aggressive stock investments. One sharp downturn can erase years of investment gains you plan to live on soon.

In your final working years and retirement years, it is important to switch to a balanced investment strategy that holds no more than 60% stocks. As you near your 70s, you might even consider holding up to 70% of your investments in bonds and fixed income assets that are less volatile.

Solution: A general rule of thumb for determining your asset allocation is to subtract your current age from 120. That number is the percentage of stocks you should hold. For example, if you are 65, you would hold 55% stocks following the “120 rule.”

You can also speak with a financial advisor at Betterment or Personal Capital and they will automatically rebalance your asset allocation to match your age and risk tolerance too.

Miscalculating Monthly Expenses

Pitfall: Retirees do not realize their monthly expenses can rise in retirement as employee benefits cease.

When you are still working, your employer pays for a portion of your monthly health care premiums, life insurance, and other benefits. Your share of the healthcare premiums is pre-tax in addition to your 401k contributions and lower your taxable income.

After you retire, you can be hit with a double-whammy of very few tax deductions and increased insurance payments. And, you will also have to begin paying taxes on your tax-deferred 401k and IRA withdrawals.

Depending on your state of residence, your pension and Social Security benefits can also be taxed as regular income.

Solution: Your HR department might offer a retirement planning workshop that you can attend. Otherwise, it can be worth your time to use a retirement planner with Personal Capital or your brokerage.

Spending Too Much

Pitfall: Retirees go on a “spending spree” because they are used to being able to work to rebuild their bank account balance. In retirement, your primary income is passive income. Overspending can ultimately lead to outliving your retirement savings.

It can be easy to overspend if you plan on extensive traveling, currently live paycheck to paycheck, or have credit card debt. Retiring debt-free can also help reduce your monthly expenses in retirement.

You might also consider trimming your current monthly subscriptions by switching your cable plan to DirecTV Now or Sling TV. And, Trim can also analyze your spending and cancel subscriptions you no longer use.

Solution: To avoid burning through your retirement cash, you can adopt the 4% retirement rule. By only spending 4% of your retirement savings each year, studies have shown that many retirees will not outlive their retirement nest egg.

Drawing Social Security Too Soon

Pitfall: It is possible to begin receiving Social Security payments at age 62. Your payment can increase if your delay your draw date and reduce how much you withdraw.

If you can retire before the full Social Security retirement age of 66 years and two months, it is possible to begin receiving early payments. The downside is that your payments can be several hundred dollars less each month. By transitioning to a part-time job or living off your pension and 401k/IRA contributions until you turn 66, can yield a large payment that can make it easier to make ends meet in retirement.

Solution: Wait as long as possible to start withdrawing Social Security to maximize your monthly payment. In the meantime, try to max out your 401k and IRA contributions and don’t forget about the catch-up contributions.

Required Minimum Distributions

Pitfall: When you turn 70 1/2, you will need to begin making Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) on your tax-deferred 401k and IRA contributions. Even if you are not ready to withdraw the money.

Whether you have started to withdraw from your 401k or IRA accounts yet or not, federal law requires you to begin withdrawing money when you turn 70 ½. Your brokerage will send you a notice stating the withdrawal amount. You need also be responsible for paying any capital gains taxes on these withdrawals.

Solution: To avoid these RMDs, contribute to a Roth 401k or Roth IRA in your remaining working years as these types of retirement accounts are funded with post-income tax dollars. Uncle Sam has already claimed his share and isn’t concerned when you withdraw your Roth dollars.

You can also use an RMD calculator to project your minimum distribution amount. Talking with your tax professional can help you determine how these distributions will affect your tax bill.

Not Having a Hobby

Pitfall: After working long hours for several decades, retirees suddenly stop working and do not enjoy retirement due to a lack of activity.

One benefit of retirement is that you are no longer required to work because you can afford not to. But, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do anything at all. Retirement is meant to be fun and enjoyable. Keeping busy doing the things you love will keep you happy and potentially add years to your life.

Solution: If you don’t have one already, find a hobby. A hobby can be as frugal or expensive as you make it. You might even consider getting a hobby that makes money.

Summary

Retirement is exciting and nerve wracking at the same time because of the transition. By planning for retirement, financially and mentally, you will be able to avoid the money mistakes encountered by others in their 60s. The transition to retirement is much easier if you can retire debt-free, minimize your monthly expenses, and save as much as possible in tax-advantaged retirement accounts.

The post 6 Money Mistakes You Need to Avoid in Your 60s and Retirement appeared first on Wealth Bytes, the content owner.

Five years ago, we were able to pay off the last of our credit card debt. I can’t believe it’s been 5 years since that last payment was sent and we were credit card debt free! Really, time has been flying by. We’ve done a lot of stuff since breaking the chains of debt, and I’m excited that we’ve been able to do it.

My wife and I are living a much better life sans consumer debt (minus our mortgage). In fact, we’ve been able to save over $180,000 in cash since then. BOOM!

It took four years of our life, but we were able to prevail. I stand in front of you today completely credit card debt free. Yes, I was someone who racked up a lot of credit card debt (add on top the over $25,000 in consumer loans) and only paid attention to the minimum monthly payment.

My head was in the clouds and I was just enjoying the ride. Credit cards made spending easy and a little fun. I didn’t have to worry about paying it all back. It was someone else’s money, right?

It wasn’t until I realized our minimum monthly payments were higher than my mortgage payment. That’s when it was time to get serious. It was time to smack back that debt and live a more financially sound lifestyle. The game was on and the debt was going to lose!

How We paid Off $50,000 of Credit Card Debt

There are many others that might have more or less credit card debt, but we all got into it for one reason.  We spent way more than we made.  Simple and to the point.  There might be many “reasons” why we get into debt, but it all boils down to spending more than one makes.  It doesn’t matter if it is due to compulsive spending, medical bills, emergencies, or anything else.  If you spend more than you make, then you will be in debt.

I have written a few times about why we got into debt.  There were many reasons, but it all boiled down to spending more than we were bringing in.  I built a business, funded it with credit cards, bought a Jetski, and funded vacations on credit. The business failed and the Jetski broke down. All I had to show for those were the monthly payments of debt.

I loved credit and it loved me. Unfortunately, our relationship was destined to fail.  Credit cards allowed me to get things that I couldn’t afford and charge it to my future self.  If I had known what I know now, I wouldn’t have gotten my first credit card in college.  I would have taken the time to learn more about credit and use it in a wiser fashion.  I can’t take back what I did with credit, but I can use that failure to teach me what not to do.

Luckily I learned from my mistakes and am not scared of credit at all. In fact, I use it regularly, but in a wiser fashion. I know what I’m doing now and haven’t paid a dime in interest since paying off the credit card debt.

Here are the steps we used to pay off the $50,000 and the $25,000 in consumer loans. Yes, over $75,000 in debt we crushed in four years. It’s possible and hopefully these steps will help you get there.

Step 1 – STOP Spending Money Without Thinking

This one may sound easy, but it is by far the hardest.  You have to figure out why you are spending so much money.  I was spending in order to fund my business, along with just buying things that I didn’t need.  I was purchasing to satisfy my wants.  It is time to figure out the difference between wants and needs.  I took a hard look at my finances and realized that I needed a change.  I shut down my profitable online business, stopped eating out, cut our cable, and created detailed grocery lists.  I took my lunch to work every day as a way to eat better and save a lot of money.  These are the things that I did to stop spending money.  Beyond paying your regular bills, you need to figure out where the rest of your money is going and cut off the spending.  It may be harsh, but it is important.

If you haven’t done so already, I highly recommend signing up for a service like Personal Capital or Mint.com. Seriously, both of them changed my financial life. While I started out on Mint, I moved to Personal Capital because it was easier to use and didn’t have all these ads irritating me. It even did a much better job at bringing in my investments (yes, I had them even while in debt!).

Step 2 – Pick Your Debt Payoff Method

Once you figure out how to stop spending money, then you need to choose a debt payoff method.  There are quite a few to choose from, but the two main ones are the Debt Snowball and the Debt Avalanche.  If you want to know the difference, then check out my snowball versus avalanche breakdown.  I chose the Avalanche method because it made mathematical sense for me (key note there!).  I used my emotions to get into debt, but I wanted to take them out of the equation.  By using the Avalanche method, I was able to save thousands of dollars worth of interest payments.  That was my emotional win.

[clickToTweet tweet=”My emotions got me into debt, which is why I used math to get me out! #debtavalanche” quote=”My emotions got me into debt, which is why I used math to get me out! #debtavalanche” theme=”style6″]

To be very honest, it doesn’t matter which method you choose. The only way you will get out of debt is if you choose a method. There are no winners here by choosing one over the other. If you choose something, you’re a winner! Remember that and move forward. I’ve even seen people start out with one method and switch. You can do it month by month. Just start today!

Step 3 – Stay on Target and Focused

Welcome to the next hardest step.  Paying down debt is not easy and it will usually take some time.  We all don’t have the luxuries to just pay off our debt in a couple of months.  It will most likely take years.  It took me 4 years to pay off my credit card and consumer debt (around $75,000).  It took longer than some, because we saved along with paying down the debt.  We worked hard to make sure we stayed on target.  There are so many temptations that occur in everyday life, but you have to understand your goal.

Do you want to be buried in debt or would you rather have financial freedom?  I chose financial freedom.  Don’t be afraid to tell your friends or family that you can’t do something because you can’t afford it.  You may not want to irritate your friends or family, but these are necessary changes.    If they love and respect you , they will understand. Paying off debt is about you becoming a better person and more financially stable.  You have to do what ever you can to stay on target.  I made some simple changes along with harder changes to make sure I stayed on my debt payment plan.

Step 4 – Make More Money

You can only save so much, so there might be many times where you just don’t make enough money to accelerate your debt repayment.  There are quite a few ways to make more money besides your full time job.  I made money by selling things on Craigslist, selling on eBay, taking surveys (yes, this can work), starting a blog, and freelancing on certain projects via Upwork.  I worked hard each and every night to make a little extra cash that I could throw on my credit card payments.  You have to think outside of the box when you are paying down debt.  Think of something that you are good at and go see if you can make money from it.  Don’t spend money to start a side business though.  That would be unwise.

If you can’t think of ways to make extra money, then check out our making money section. This has articles about different ways to earn extra money. Here is our best and biggest money making post with over 100 ways to make extra money.

We can break a few of these ideas down for you as well into these great money making articles…

• 6 side hustles you can start for free
• 10 ways to earn extra cash in college
• 7 simple ways to make money in one day
• 7 unusual ways to make easy money
• 7 interesting ways to pay down your student loan debt
• 5 innovative ways to make money with your car

Step 5 – Learn How to Save More Money

As you can probably imagine, I wasn’t much of a saver when I was in credit card debt. Actually, that mindset happened before, but credit cards and spending just pushed savings to the back burner. I didn’t care about saving money. I was having the time of my life. I really wish I knew then what I know now. It hurts to realize what you did to yourself with your needless spending.

Just look at the power of compound interest. Goodness that’s some powerful stuff. I realized I was leaving money off the table for  myself later down the road and for emergencies in general. I wasn’t saving much for retirement, wasn’t investing, and wasn’t socking away cash for emergencies. I was doing it all wrong. I had to teach myself how to save money.

Fast forward some years, I’m still stashing cash for emergencies, I’m investing, and saving for retirement. I brushed off the “scared of investing” vibe and opened an Betterment account in 2012, a month after the credit card debt was gone. It was the best decision I’ve made with regards to investing. They make it so easy a caveman can do it (haha, Geico!). I’ve recommended that service to anyone that will listen. You can also check out WealthFront as they are a great alternative to Betterment.

It seems we really make saving money much harder than it needs to be. I have an entire section on this site dedicated to it. Saving money is really not that hard. We just have messed up priorities. We can’t differentiate between wants and needs and that needs to stop. Once I stopped using “need” for everything, I realized I could do without so much more and keep more money in my pocket. It’s all a mindset people. Change it and your financial freedom will follow!

Step 6 – Celebrate Your Successes

Here was my most important step and one I think everyone should partake in.  Since we know that spending money is very emotional, then we have to create celebration moments.  I took the emotional aspect out by using the Avalanche method, but you can’t take it out entirely.  So, in order to make sure that I stayed on my target, I created celebration steps.  During times in my debt repayment, I would celebrate when I paid off debt to reach a certain level.  If I paid off $5,000, I would go out and celebrate with my wife.  Now, I wouldn’t go on a spending binge, but I would go out to eat and have a beer.  I paid for that in cash, so I wouldn’t add it to my credit card debt, but it was important.  Any time I would reach a new milestone, I would celebrate.  This step kept me so motivated and allowed me to keep my head up.  Debt likes to keep you down, so you have to make sure you figure out ways to keep your head up.

Step 7 – Continue Your Financial Education

One of the biggest motivational wins for me was when I started branching out and learning more about money. Before, I know how to make money and I surely knew how to spend it, but it wasn’t until I dug deep and learned how money affected me that I changed my financial life. It’s been three years since I paid off my last credit card, but I’m still learning. I have learned how to start investing and found some cool brokerages to use. I’ve found new tools to help me save (like Digit) and keep me abreast of my money (Personal Capital). I’ve found better savings products than just the typical bank.

Related: Hate bank fees? Here are 12 banks offering free checking accounts.

The key is to never stop learning. While the concept of money is pretty cut and dry, there is always something out there to learn. Heck, there are over 800 articles on this site going through the different aspects of money. I will never stop learning and if I think I’ve learned it all, then I know I’m doing something wrong. If you don’t know something about a financial product you are seeking, then take the time to sit down and educate yourself. That’s the only way we can change our financial future. Knowledge will always be power!

Alright everyone, now you have seen how we paid off my $50,000 worth of credit card debt, plus another $25,000 in consumer loans.  It was a long journey and a very hard one at that.  I don’t wish debt on anyone, but it has taught me a lot about myself and how I handle problems.  We took the debt by the horns and rode it right out of our life.

One thing that makes me different is I’m not afraid of credit cards anymore and in fact, I use one for all of my purchases. It’s not about being scared to use credit, but knowing how to use it wisely. It wasn’t the credit card’s fault that I used it, it was my own. I picked it up, I swiped it, and I didn’t pay it off. This debt was on me, but I fixed the problem.  I know you can as well.

Do you have debt? If so, what is a step that you think is important to get out?

The post 7 Easy Steps We Used to Crush Credit Card Debt appeared first on Wealth Bytes, the content owner.

As you enter your 30s, you have probably experienced the transition in life from a single, carefree college grad to getting serious about your future by “settling down” to start a family and paying your dues at work to get the next promotion. While you hopefully avoided these money pitfalls in your 20s, there is another batch of money mistakes to dodge in your 30s!

Sound money management is not always easy when you want to start a family, grow in your career, and still enjoy the money you work so hard for. There will be choices you need to make that can affect the short term and long term viability of your money. While these aren’t comprehensive, here are six money mistakes you need to avoid when you’re in your 30s.

Not Saving For Emergencies

Pitfall: Too many Americans, regardless of age, can barely afford a small emergency.

During your 20s, you might have focused on paying off your student loans or maintaining a social life. If you changed jobs recently, you probably had to dip into your savings to pay the bills during the transition. The adage that life is full surprises still rings true. Do your best to prepare for life’s curveballs.

Solution: Make a plan to save at least $500 in a separate bank account that you only use for unexpected emergencies. BBVA is a good place to open a fee-free bank account. If you already have $500 saved, great, try to bank up six months of monthly expenses. After you have built your emergency fund, invest your extra income.

Not Saving Enough for Retirement

Pitfall: Studies show only 58% of Millennials are saving enough for retirement.

Millennials, the age group now entering their 30s, are a mixed bag when it comes to investing. Those who have started saving for retirement started at age 23 and others that have delayed saving stated they plan to start at age 33. And, 60% of Millennials have less than $10,000 saved so far.

Solution: When it comes to investing, your greatest asset is time. Take small steps like matching your employer 401k contribution or contributing 10% of your income to an IRA if you do not have access to a 401k plan. Using a service like Personal Capital makes it easy to track your net worth and calculate exactly how much you need to contribute every month to reach your retirement and non-retirement goals.

If you need to start investing, but aren’t sure how to do it, check out services like Betterment or WealthFront. These investment services make it much easier and easy for those who don’t want to worry about all the lingo and just want to invest.

Overemphasizing Graduate School

Pitfall: More and more young professionals are pursuing a graduate degree when the advanced degree isn’t required.

Millennials are the most educated generation in American history as an increasing number earn undergraduate and graduate school. What many might not realize is their graduate degree might be focused on the wrong specialty for their long-term career aspirations. Or, a graduate degree only yields a small salary increase despite costing as much as $100,000.

Solution: Advanced degrees are required for certain career fields like law, medicine, and science. It can even be required for certain business and technology positions. Know why you want to go to graduate school. Contemplate if the career rewards are worth the investment of time and money. Can you continue working and earn a similar salary without having to go back to school?

Not Talking About Money with Your Spouse

Pitfall: Couples get married and know very little about financial habits.

This money mistake applies to all generations entering a relationship. Before you tie the knot, take the time to talk money goals and spending habits with your loved one. Money issues are the third leading cause of divorce.

Solution: Having a successful marriage is more complex than money management, but, merging finances can be a challenge at times in the early years of a relationship. Make financial goals together and have regular conversations about monthly spending and bills. Managing joint finances can take years to perfect, so be patient and be willing to make compromises if you both view money differently.

Not Having Life Insurance

Pitfall: While most adults live a long, decade-spanning life, surprises do happen that take away a parent unexpectedly.

While nobody plans to die early, you need to prepare for the unexpected. If you are the primary income earner and were not to come home tonight, could your family survive the transition financially? If not, you might consider purchasing a low-cost term life insurance policy to help your family in this time of mourning. The best insurance policy is the one you never have to use and term life is an affordable “financial hedge” for your family if the unexpected happens.

Solution: Purchase a term life policy for you and your wife. Policies can start at $20 a month for $50,000 worth of coverage for a 20-year term. You can purchase additional coverage for a slightly higher monthly premium. Ensure you have enough coverage to cover any outstanding loans (i.e. mortgage, student loans) and money to cover several months living expenses if your wife needs to find a new job to fill the income gap.

Check out Haven Life or Policy Genius for great places to find insurance. Both offer the ability to apply right online and they streamline the process for you.

Keeping Up With the Joneses

Pitfall: Many households have high amounts of consumer debt and live outside their means.

Maybe you grew tired of living like a poor college student even after you landed a full-time job. After repaying your student loans, you decided it was time to finally splurge on yourself by buying your dream car, a sports boat, or taking exotic vacations every year. If you are like most people, you have to borrow money to “keep up with the Joneses” and most, or all, of your disposable income goes directly to the bill collectors.

Solution: Make it a goal to be free of consumer debt by 40. It’s possible by living within your means and saving for large purchases instead of immediately walking into the finance office to fill out a loan application. You will be much happier and less stressed knowing you don’t have to keep working a monotonous job because it is the only one that pays you enough to pay the bills every month.

If you have a home mortgage, this one change can save you $22,000 in house payments! Think of all the other things you can do with $22,000 besides giving it to the loan company because you keep doing what’s “normal.”

Summary

Life starts to get a little more serious in your 30s as you have more responsibility placed on your shoulders at home and work. By focusing on living within your means and having a plan for the future, you can accomplish anything, financially and mentally. Just remember that the single greatest asset you have is time. You still have decades to make up for any pitfalls you might step into on the journey known as life.

The post 6 Money Mistakes You Need to Avoid in Your 30s appeared first on Wealth Bytes, the content owner.

This blog post is part of the Pay Down My Debt (PDMD) blog tour, sponsored by US Equity Advantage. PDMD is a solution that accelerates debt payoff and helps consumers monitor their credit and make smarter purchasing decisions. If you’re looking to pay off debt find out how they can help.

I still have a hard time comprehending how far we’ve come since being in over $75,000 of debt back in 2008. In the midst of the huge financial crisis and recession, my wife and I found ourselves looking for ways to get out of the debt that I racked up while starting/running a business. One that I eventually shut down for my own well-being.

It’s going on 5 years this July that we paid off the last credit card and the massive pile of debt was lifted off our shoulders. The four years it took to pay down the debt was tough. It was grueling. It took a lot of sacrifice on our part.

A lot of discipline.

No matter who you are, paying down debt takes work. There is no magic bullet. Heck, not even bankruptcy is that magic bullet (and one I would never recommend to anyone unless it was a last resort). When it came to our debt, I looked to see if there were better options for us to pay down the debt faster and keep more money in our pocket. For our circumstance, I found the debt avalanche did better for us mathematically than the snowball. In the end, I’m glad I went with that method. It saved us over $5,000 in interest payments to the bank. Little victory!

Don’t forget that changing your financial outcome requires a lot of change. You need to learn how to make more money, save more, start investing, and continue to pay off debt. These are the aspects of money that we can control the most. These and understanding wants versus needs.

Now that we’re out of that debt hole, we are working on tackling just one more…

Our Last Debt on the Books

Some people have asked me if I included our mortgage in the $75,000 we paid off. The answer is no. I wish I had a mortgage for that low.

We bought our first house right before the market crash, but luckily I was smart enough to not accept what the bank “thought” we could afford. We went with a payment we could manage on our salary and it worked for us. When houses around us were going into foreclosure, we stayed put and made all our payments.

We stayed in our first house for 7 years and most of those were waiting for the financial crisis and housing market to stabilize. We wanted to get out of the area, have kids, and be in a better school district. In order to do that, we needed to sell. We ended up timing it just right and sold our house quickly.

Our current house was purchased back in 2014 with more than 20% down and we love it. We really do. Having said that, the mortgage debt is looming over our heads. We can easily afford the payment each month, but after going through four years of aggressively paying down debt, the mortgage just stayed there.

Now, it’s the last debt we have on the books and it’s time to tackle it head on.

Good thing is I have a little trick to save us some money over the life of the loan and it’s something everyone can do.

How We’re Slashing $22,000 Off Our Mortgage Interest

OK, as you can see, it’s not really $22,000, but that’s such a cleaner way than doing $21,885.46. But, how are we going this?

Bi-weekly payments baby!

As you can see, we have $210,000 left on our mortgage at a 4.25% interest rate. For the past three years, we’ve just made the regular monthly payments as we had focus on building out our basement and using cash to build my business. We’ve been successful in both of those areas, so now it’s time to get laser focused on the mortgage.

Before I go on, there are some people that say you should not pay off your mortgage due to the low interest rate compared to investing. Invest for retirement first, then pay down debt. I don’t agree with that. I say do both!

OK, so back to our plan here. We are using a little trick that is called bi-weekly payments.

Instead of just making one payment per month, you end up making a payment every two weeks. These payments are your monthly payment divided by two. Over the course of the year, you end up making two extra half payments. This accounts to one extra full monthly payment per year.

Now, how does this save so much money? Wouldn’t you rather keep $22,000 instead of giving it away to the bank? I know I would.

Bi-weekly payments has a benefit because it shortens our mortgage loan (in our case it shortens it by nearly 4 years), but due to how interest is calculated on mortgage loans, the bi-weekly payments help cut it down.

It’s really a win-win situation here and one I plan on implementing very shortly.

You see, it’s not always complicated to save more money when you’re dealing with debt. Sometimes you just have to look for more efficient ways to pay down debt and the bi-weekly payments are just one way to do that.

How to Setup Bi-Weekly Payments

There are a few ways you can setup bi-weekly payments and the best part is this method works for really any debt. It’s not just for your mortgage! You can really apply bi-weekly payments to almost any loan, even credit cards.

The first step is to check with your loan servicing company (where you make your payments) to see if they allow or accept bi-weekly payments. Some will charge you a fee to do this, but generally the fee is quite small compared to the overall savings. So, check before you do anything.

If the company holding your debt allows for bi-weekly payments, ask if they have a system setup for it. Can you just set automatic payments every two weeks or do you have to create a schedule?

What if your bank/loan servicing company doesn’t provide you with a way to make accelerated payments? No problem, there is a service for that.

Pay Down My Debt is an accelerated debt payment service that helps you setup bi-weekly/bi-monthly payments to help you pay down your debts. You can pay down mortgages, car loans, student loans, or even high-interest credit cards with this program. The caveat is they charge $9.99 per month. While you might not want to pay that fee, just think how much you can save by using a service like this?

If I were to setup my mortgage through PDMD, I would pay a $3,240 over the course of the mortgage, but doing so would save me nearly $22,000. That’s a net savings of nearly $19,000. I’ll take those wins any day.

You might be asking yourself why would someone pay for a service that they could probably do for free?

Simple answer, habits.

We are creature of habit and when it comes to changing up our thinking and sticking with a plan that is long term, it becomes very hard to stay on track. I’m not saying that you can’t setup a bi-weekly payment schedule of your own and slay those interest payments, but most people won’t stick with the plan long term or even actually follow through with it.

If you have the discipline, then do it (that’s what my plan is), but if you know you might not keep up with the new payment schedule, then a paid service like Pay Down My Debt could be a good alternative.

You have to do what’s best for you.

So, there you have it. With just switching up our payment schedule from monthly to bi-weekly, we are going to save nearly $22,000 on mortgage interest and save nearly 4 years off the life of the loan. If we add any extra principle payments, we’ll drop it even more.

The post The One Change That Will Save Us $22,000 appeared first on Wealth Bytes, the content owner.

You see, this time of year gets me thinking. It’s summer time and many are enjoying their vacations, time off from school, and just all-around outdoor lifestyle. I like the summer time (minus the NC humidity), but the reason why it gets me thinking was due to what happened back in summer of 2006. It was not only the year I graduated college, but also when I transitioned to being an “adult.” Too bad my spending didn’t get the memo.

Fresh Out of College and Big Paychecks

When I was fresh out of college, I already had a job lined up.  I got an internship prior to graduating and was offered a job when I got out.  That was awesome for me and I enjoyed that first job.  It taught me a lot about the professional world and how college really doesn’t get you ready for it.

Either way, I was really enjoying getting those steady paychecks.  The one problem is that this job only paid me once a month.  I had never been paid that way before, so it was new for me.  I never budgeted a day in my life and was never ready to deal with a monthly paycheck. Heck, I wasn’t ready to deal with earning five figures.

When you get out of college and you start getting four figure paychecks each month, your mind might start to wander. Mine surely did and it ended up being one of my biggest money mistakes to date.

A Random Radio Ad and My Wandering Mind

One morning on my way to work, I heard a radio ad for a huge sale at a local motor sports dealership.  One dream (so I thought) of mine was to own a Jetski.  I have ridden a few in my years and loved being on the water and having the power.  Well, for some reason, this radio ad spoke to me.  You want to know why?  Of course you do…..

The only thing that I heard in the entire radio ad was the low monthly payment of only $69 and I could own a Jetski.  It would be mine and I could take it to the lake each and every weekend.  How exciting this could be?  This is what was going on in my head.  I mean, I was making big money right out of college, right?

When I got to work, I jumped online and started researching the deal and the Jetski that I wanted.  I probably didn’t work much that day, but it was a Friday.  I was super excited.  All of the cool bells and whistles for only $69!!

I was going to get my dream and only a month out of college.  Welcome to the American Dream!  I even called my wife and told her.   She really didn’t seem to care much, but she was a little hesitant.  Oh well, she would love it once I brought it home, right?

The Deal and the Excitement

I left work that day and drove over to the motor sports dealership.  I walked around in there for about an hour just admiring all of the toys. I was like a little kid in a candy store.  I love anything with an engine.  It has been this way for years and that is one reason why I have a Jeep in my garage.

After the hour, I found the watercraft that I wanted to bring home with me. The salesman approached to see if I needed help and of course I said yes.  Here comes the sales process and I was ready!

Related Read: This salesman caused me to bite!

The salesman was a really nice person and asked all of the right questions to which I thought I had all the right answers.  I knew how much I was making and knew that I could easily afford the $69 a month.  That was nothing in my eyes.  We started working on the paperwork and after an hour, I was ready to sign the paperwork.

$10,500

Do you see that number there?  Yeah, that is how much a new Jetski costs with a trailer.  But, does that matter when you only have to pay $69 a month?  Hell no, wait,  yes it does.  It makes all the difference in the world.  The salesman explained the deal to me and apparently I didn’t really want to listen.

I fixated on the low monthly payment. What’s another low payment when you’re making good money?

The $69/month promo was only the minimum payment.  That is the least amount they allowed you to pay on the loan.  This minimum payment was only good for 3 years.  Once that time was up, then you would be assessed a minimum payment that is calculated on how much you owe, kind of like a credit cards.  I was so excited about the Jetski that I didn’t listen to this man.  I knew that I could pay off the $10,500 in 3 years.  That was easy…..or so I thought!

The Hell

In the beginning of the purchase, I was loving my Jetski. I thought I was the cool kid on the block.  I was just out of college and had one of the coolest toys.  All of my friends wanted to go to the lake each weekend and ride it.  So cool….

I really enjoyed those times out on the lake and when we took it to the beach.  I had some good times on that Jetski.  That all ended when the 3 year promo deal expired.  The 3 years came and went and I only paid the $69 each and every month.  In the 3 years, I had only paid off $2,484.  Yep, I still owed over $7,500 after paying toward the loan for 3 years.  How depressing.

The next day of the 3 year mark, I received an email telling me that my promo was over.  Now, I was going to have to pay a larger minimum payment and interest on the loan.  Crap!  My minimum payment jumped to nearly $200 a month and I wasn’t prepared.

You remember that I wasn’t running a budget and it was catching up to me.  I had started racking up major charges on my credit card to fund my e-commerce business and I was only paying attention to the minimum payments.  Stupid, just plain stupid.

I was in trouble. Big trouble. My minimum payments reached the amount of my mortgage payment each month.

Another issue was I slowly stopped using the Jetski.  I used it a lot during the first few years, but then that usage started to go down.  It sat in my garage and didn’t get turned on much.  I just didn’t have time because of my business.  I still owed money on the loan and I was getting tired of paying that money.

Time to Sell

I realized that time had come to sell the Jetski.  It just wasn’t a good investment and I needed to get the loan off of my back.  Unfortunately for me and most people, you can’t just sell a vehicle (Jetski included) without having a clear title. This meant we would need to pay off the loan. In order to do that, we had to do something I still regret to this day. We raided the only savings we had left to break free of the loan.

Once we had paid off the Jetski, we wanted to see if we could get any money back with a sale. It wasn’t an ideal situation, but I wanted nothing to do with the stupid thing. It had to go!

Luckily for me, I have a brother that lives down near the beach and that is a great place to sell a Jetski.  I called up my brother and asked him for help.  He said he would be happy to.  I then took my Jetski down to the beach and just waited to hear back from my brother.

Months passed and I heard nothing.  Many people had looked at it, but no one wanted to purchase it.  I guess in 2009, it just wasn’t a good time to sell something like a personal watercraft.  Something with the economy or something ;).

I finally received a call from my brother when I was in West Virginia camping.  I couldn’t answer it because I didn’t have service, but he left a message.  I got it once we got to a place that had service.  He told me that the Jetski was not running properly.  It was broken.  Double Crap!

I told my brother to give it to a person he knew that was good with fixing this watercraft.  His buddy then passed it on to another person that was a specialist for my brand.  After hearing that it was going to cost $800 to fix the craft and I approved, I heard nothing else.  The person had my watercraft for well over a year.

He was one of those shifty business people that just takes money and doesn’t provide a service.  After emails and calls were exchanged, my brother and I drove to his business.  We knew we were going to be in for some trouble once we got there.  This man was just uneducated and created terrible stories about why he didn’t fix the problems.

This man was just terrible.  I asked him for a refund because he didn’t fix the problem and it appears he didn’t even work on the Jetski.  He just kept it outside, uncovered and let it rust.  He then blamed me for the rust problems and I told him sternly that I only kept it in the garage and my brother did as well.  Just more stories.

The man ended up forcing us to leave his property, but I made sure to take the Jetski with me.  It was still broken and there were parts missing.  It just ended poorly.

Long Story with a Crappy Ending

If you have stuck around to the end of this post, then I want to let you know what happened.  After trying unsuccessfully to sue the man and realizing that he had nothing to his name and his business wasn’t even licensed, I realized that I wasn’t getting my $800 back.

Now I have a broken and rusty Jetski that used to be worth thousands.  Now, it is worth nothing.  I was pissed and I still owed about $5,000 on the loan because of how long it took to get it back.  My only option after looking to see how much it would cost to fix was to sell it for what I could.

We raided our savings account to pay off the rest of the loan just in order to get a clean title. We had to get that before we could even put it up for sale in our state.

I put the Jetski up on Craigslist and had it sold in less than 4 hours.  Yes, just 4 hours and you know why?

I sold it for only $800!

Yep, I had multiple people ask about it and come see it in the same day that I posted it.  It was crazy, but people were only offering me about $300 for it.  I mean,it didn’t work and no one knew what the problem was.  It was also missing some key components.  Then a man came and offered me $700.  I told him that if he could do $800 and if so, then he could have it.  Done and Done!

Related Read: How to sell you car on Craigslist quickly and safely

The man took that huge money mistake off my hands and then I had to come to the realization that I would have to pay off the loan over time and have nothing to show for it.  What a way to go.

I felt like an idiot after I sold my Jetski.  It was a purchase that never should have happened.  I saw money coming in and I was partaking in lifestyle inflation.  I was being a stupid consumer and the only thing I had to show for it was a bruised ego and a nice loan. Terrible.

Buying the Jetski was one of my biggest money mistakes that I will always remember.  My wife and I still joke about it to this day.  She makes fun of me for getting it and I laugh, because that is all that I can do.

My Jetski Was a Life Changing Mistake

While I still think about that stupid purchase, I really can’t be too harsh. The reason being going through all of that and coming out on the other side, I realize I learned so much from it. I learned how I was using my money, where it was going, and my money mentality. My thinking was incredibly flawed. I didn’t budget, I didn’t track my money, and I didn’t care.

I do all of those things now and my financial life is much better because of it. I don’t have any debt outside of a mortgage. I own a business and work from home. I have a positive net worth that climbs every month. I track my money closely (I use Personal Capital). I’m going all the right things and that makes the difference.

So, what is one of your biggest money mistakes?

The post I Still Can’t Believe I Made This Money Mistake appeared first on Wealth Bytes, the content owner.