Part 3: Research for Personal Budgeting

"How to Budget Your Money | Budget Planning for My Money." My Money Coach, Credit Counselling Society, www.mymoneycoach.ca/budgeting/how-to-budget-your-money.

- Budgeting is the process of creating a plan to spend your money. This spending plan allows you to determine in advance whether you will have enough money to do the thing you need to do vs the things you would like to do. - When you are facing a reduction in your income, it is important to take some steps to help get through these difficult times or else you will have a financial disaster. - Financial problems and challenges happen to everyone at some point, and the stress and worry can get to you. However, realizing that there is almost always a way out can help improve your mindset.

Fay, Bill. "How to Create and Manage a Budget - Household Finance and Budgeting." Debt.org, Debt.org, www.debt.org/advice/budget/.

- Budgeting shows how much money you have coming in and how those funds are spent. - There are 4 Budgeting Systems: the notebook and pen, the spreadsheet, free online software, and financial software. - Notebook and pen is the oldest and least expensive method where you write down all you sources of income and your expenses - The Spreadsheet is the most popular where templates can be used to organize the information. - Free online software allow uses to create and group your expenses into categories and track spending. - Financial software include Quicken.

Wise, Natalie. "The Best Way To Pay All Your Bills, According To Your Your Money Habits." Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 30 Mar. 2017, www.forbes.com/sites/learnvest/2017/03/30/the-best-way-to-pay-all-your-bills-according-to-your-your-money-habits/#5fee16cf843f.

- By automating paying, paying bills can be made easier. But can be damaging if not taken carefully. - By auto-pay, it is easier to stick to goals and convenient as it implements consistency. "Setting the auto-pay for paying off a credit card or adding money to a savings account means it becomes a permanent line item in the budget" says Jason Preti, CFP®, a financial planner based outside Seattle. - Auto-pay eliminates paperwork, which is not only good for the environment but also ensures that if you travel your bills are still being attended to. - Auto-pay saves money since you would not need to buy stamps and it ensures that you will avoid late payments and subsequent penalty fees.

"Beginner's Guide to Managing Your Money." Money Advice Service, Money Advice Service, www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/beginners-guide-to-managing-your-money.

- By setting a budget, you're less susceptible to end up in debt and more likely to have good credit and be accepted for a mortgage or loan. - To start, you will need your income and expensive. For example how much you spend on bills, living costs, insurance, family and friends, travel, and leisure. - If you're spending more than you make, you must prioritize and work out what you can cut back. - If you have loans or owe money on credit cards, you should pay off the debt that charges the highest rate of interest first. - Set a savings goal in order to have an emergency fund, of which in the future can be used towards personal investments.

"50 Personal Finance Tips That Will Change the Way You Think About Money." Free Career Advice, The Muse, 1 May 2014, www.themuse.com/advice/50-personal-finance-tips-that-will-change-the-way-you-think-about-money.

- Creating a financial calendar will remind you to pay your bills on time. - Track your net worth, your net worth is the difference between holding assets and debt and will keep you on track toward your financial goals. - If you are overspending, consider spending with money only to give yourself more of a visual on how much you are spending - Allocate at least 20% of your income toward financial priorities such as emergency savings, debt, and retirement. - Budget about 30% of your income into lifestyle spending so that you have some money for escapism.

"4 Effective Ways To Manage Your Spending." U.S. News & World Report, U.S. News & World Report, 13 Dec. 2010, money.usnews.com/money/blogs/my-money/2010/12/13/4-effective-ways-to-manage-your-spending.

- Expenses easily pile up, so it is imperative to become disciplined with your finances. - Keep credit card expenses to a minimum. If you want to keep a balance on your credit card, than you have to look for a low interest card to lower your credit card bills. If you consistently pay your balance in full each month, then using a card with a rewards program is a better deal. - Look for alternatives to credit cards such as debit cards in order to learn to work with limited resources and become more disciplined. - Try to use coupons more so that you are not over spending in the expenses category - Learn how to budget which will provide a structure to handle your finances.

Ravenscraft, Eric. "How to Start Managing Your Money, For Those Who Never Learned Growing Up." Life Hacker , 12 May 2015, https://lifehacker.com/how-to-manage-your-money-for-those-who-never-learned-g-1703892260

- Managing finances is a matter of mindset as it is math and ensuring that you make more than you spend. - Spend less money than you earn allows you the freedom to save, prepare for the future, and deal with the inevitable crises that life brings. The bigger the gap the better. - Always plan for the future. This includes retirement and establishing an emergency fund that will allow you to deal with unexpected expenses such as car repairs and medical bills. - Make your money make more money: by properly investing your money will earn more money over time.

Caldwell, Miriam. "How to Pay Your Bills Online." The Balance, 13 Oct. 2017, www.thebalance.com/how-to-pay-your-bills-online-2385977.

- Paying bills online can free up time and save you money. - There are 3 types of bills: 1) Bills that are the same amount each month like loan payments or the cable bill 2) Bills that vary from month to month like the power bill or credit card bill 3) Bills that are not payed on a regular basis. - Setting up automatic drafts will allow you to pay bills that are a set amount each month. This should only be done when they are consistently the same each month. To set up a recurring payment with your banking account you need to visit the Bill Pay section of your online banking page. You will set up a profile for the bill that you want to pay online that include the account number and the address the payment will be sent to and the company's name.

"The Best Ways to Pay Bills." Money Advice Service, Money Advice Service, www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/the-best-ways-to-pay-bills.

- Paying your bills on time is an essential skill to learn as lacking such skill can result in falling behind in payments which can leave you in debt and negatively affect your credit rating which can inhibit you from buying a home. - Getting organized to that you can keep track of when they need to be paid. - Choose a payment method that suits you: Direct debit is usually the cheapest and easiest way to pay bills. - Check your bills regularly in order to be able to spot mistakes. - Do not let bills pile up by ignoring the problem. - Make sure you are not paying too much.

Lewis, Michael R. "How to Pay Your Bills." WikiHow, WikiHow, 22 Nov. 2017, www.wikihow.com/Pay-Your-Bills.

1) Keep track of your bills: Open your bills immediately so that you know when payments are due and are not left in the dark about a late payment. 2) Pay bills as you go, then you never need to worry about paying bills late, and you never have to worry about overspending on non-essentials. 3) Divide your bills into sections based on whether they are due in the first half of the month vs the latter half, so you can prioritize which bills to pay first. 4) Set two dates for bill payments in order to sit down and pay each set of bills.