How’d your week go? Did you prioritize your debts? How did you decide which one to pay off first or last? Did you think about why you’re doing it that way?

When my husband and I were in the throes of paying off our consumer debt, we would battle back and forth about which debt to pay last—the home loan or the car. Each one had its own pros and cons and eventually, we decided to go with paying off the car last. We did this for two reasons: 1) we’re planning on selling our house and having the home loan would not be beneficial and 2) we were going to take the car with us when we moved; we wanted to pay off everything that was staying.

As far as deciding what to pay first, we opted for the smallest balance. We needed those psychological victories to keep us going (plus, that’s what Dave Ramsey said to do).  What also helped was having a spreadsheet that I updated each month with the new balance totals, plus a calculation of the total amount of debt paid off. When we would have a slow month, it would help to look at the overall picture for a little boost.  This worked, too, because about $60K later, we’re consumer debt free!

Finding money

This week we’re going to talk about ways that we paid off our debt. I’m not talking about cutting back on luxuries or getting part-time jobs or having a budget (which we did); I’m talking about methods we used to apply that extra money to our debt. The methods are pretty simple. Seriously, if we were able to use them then anyone can. It’s that easy.

Here’s what we did:

  • Snowballed payments. Made famous by Dave Ramsey, this is where you pay off one debt and roll the amount you were paying on that debt into the next debt, creating a larger payment for that next debt. This goes on and on. This was extremely effective for us in the beginning, before we had part-time jobs. It was an easy way to come up with more money to pay on a larger debt.
  • Rounded up. This was also an effective method for coming up with more money in the beginning. Basically, if we had a bill that was $257.58, we would pay $260. It wasn’t much toward the overall balance but at least it was something. And, it made us feel like we were tackling all of our debt at once. Even as the balance would go down, we would stick to the same rounded up payment (especially for our car. We kept the payment at $330 every month even if the minimum payment due was $288.42 or whatever).
  • Made lump sum payments. Sometimes it was fun to make a minimum payment while stockpiling cash to make one giant payment. We found there was something satisfying about making a $12000 payment on a debt all at once. It was also fun to watch our savings grow because, although we knew it was going towards debt repayment, it taught us that we could save large amounts of money.
  • Snowflaked our debt. Every time we came into a little extra money, whether through odd jobs or unexpected money in our paychecks, we added that money to our debt. Sometimes it was just a few dollars but it felt good to make an extra payment, knowing that even that little bit of money was making a difference.

Task for this week

For this week, I want you to determine what method you want to use to apply money towards your debt. It doesn’t have to be something listed here. It can be something you come up with on your own.  It can be a combination of methods.

It’s important that you know how you’re going to pay down your debt. Having that plan ahead of time makes it easier to implement.

If you are in debt, you may be looking for a way to manage your debts.  If this is you, it is important that you look for real debt management, and not just what some sales rep has to offer.  This means taking a real hard look at your debt, and looking for solutions on getting out.

Why Are You In Debt?

The first phase of real debt management is figuring out why are you in debt to being with?  Is it poor money management habits?  It is because of something life changing such as an unexpected medical event?  Whatever the case may be, it is essential to figure out why you are in debt, so that you can look for solutions to get out.

Developing a Plan

Once you have identified the root cause of your debt, you can develop a plan to get out.  This plan could cover many facets, but it really should go after your root cause.

First, if you have poor financial habits, you need to figure out how to overcome these.  It could be by tracking your money more closely and see where you are spending the most.  It could be by getting an accountability partner that can help you when you think you may be spending inappropriately.

If your debt is from something unexpected, you may look for resources that can help your individual situation.

Action Steps

The most important part of any plan is acting on the plan.  Even the best laid out plans will fail if they are not implemented.

So, ask yourself, is my plan really actionable?  Will I actually do the steps involved?  If there is even a hint of hesitation, you need to go back to your plan, and re-work it so that you can follow through.  Maybe you need to share your plan and get help from that accountability partner from the start?  Maybe you have a friend that can help you setup a monitoring system for your money, such as using Mint or Quicken.  Either way, make sure that you plan it out, and work your plan.

It’s week 4! Can you believe there’s only 48 weeks left?

This week provided some challenges for me. I was a bit worried about my bill paying schedule since my husband started a new job. We’ve been working for the same company (our state) for years so our paydays have always been the same. It’s why I’ve been able to develop the schedule that I have. But with his new job, we were unsure if he was going to be on the same pay schedule or a different one. Fortunately, our paydays are still the same so I didn’t have to make any major revisions. That was a huge relief!

I did work on a schedule for my writing. In addition to this site, I own and operate my own site and write for several others. It’s been hard balancing all of the writing jobs with my full-time job so one day, I sat down with my calendar, looked at my agreed upon deadlines for the other site owners and crafted a schedule so I never again miss a deadline (I hate missing deadlines. To me, it’s like not fulfilling a promise). I even had to renegotiate with some site owners regarding deadlines. And you know what? It worked! Now I can meet my deadlines and the site owners get their content. Everyone wins!

So, how’d you do on creating a schedule? What worked for you? What didn’t?

The next steps

Now that we’re organized, have a system and a schedule, what do we do next? Well, now we’re actually going to dive into looking at our money in-depth. Over the next five weeks, we’re going to pour over the nasty details of our finances and figure out what do with all of it. This week, we’re going to talk about prioritizing our debt payoff.  Next week, we’ll discuss ways to pay off our debts (think snowflaking, lump sum payments, etc). The following week, we’ll talk about scouring our bills and paychecks for charges, fees, and assorted other variables that cost us money every month. The week after that, we’ll look at ways to most effectively use our paychecks and find extra income. And during the fifth week, we’ll talk about creating a budget and why it’s important.

Prioritizing our debts

When we got organized, we tallied all of our debts and listed them out according balance, creditor, interest rate or whatever detail you chose. Now that we have that information in front of us, we can now devise a plan to deal with them. Clearly, the ultimate goal is to not have any. But we have to start small.  Pick one debt that bothers you the most and focus on that.

Dave Ramsey, and many others, advocates picking the debt with the smallest balance, tackling it and, when it’s paid, rolling that payment into paying down the next smallest. It’s most commonly known as the snowball method. It’s the method I used to pay off my debt and it works! Psychologically, it was nice to see some progress right away and it was an easy way to find extra money for all the other debts. But what if you have a debt that’s pretty large and nagging at you? What if you have a debt that’s preventing you from being able to sell your house or one that’s just been an albatross around your neck for years?

I say—go for that one. This is your debt repayment plan. You get to determine how you pay off your debts, at what pace you want to pay them off, and, most importantly, in what order. Dave Ramsey provides excellent guidance and a terrific framework but you don’t have to listen to him. This is your path to prosperity and it’s fine to play by your own rules. I only suggest that whatever order you develop, stick to it. Try not to let yourself get derailed in the middle. Set concrete goals, target payoff dates, and stay with the order you set.

If you’re in a relationship, make sure that your partner is on board with your priority plan (married or dating, if you’re part of a couple, the other half is going to be affected by your debt repayment. Make sure you share and that you’re on the same page). Discuss the plan with your partner and if there’s a disagreement about the priority order, stay calm. Don’t yell, listen to each other and come to an agreement (or compromise).

Task for this week

For this week, I want you to think about your debts and prioritize them. Which one do you want to pay first? Which one are you OK with paying last? While you’re doing it, think about why you’re putting them in that order.  The why is often just as important as the when and how.

Once you sign a financial agreement, you are legally bound to its terms. Your signature indicates you accepted

all limits, fees, penalties, interest rates and all charges associated with the financial product. While some of the terms are obvious and easy to read, such as your payment due date, other terms are not so clear. The “fine print” is the terms of an agreement that is printed smaller on purpose. Fine print often is designed not to attract
the customer’s attention. All of your
current accounts, for example, had fine print and if you didn’t read those terms, it may cost you.

Hidden Fees

Financial products, such as credit cards and personal loans, may have fees tucked away in the fine print.
These charges are commonly called “hidden fees” because most customers don’t read the fine print and don’t realize the fees apply until the charge appears on a billing statement.

Hidden fees include late payment charges, over the limit fees and other specific fees related to the financial
product type. For example, a person transferring a credit card account balance to a new card may incur transfer fees. Service fees may apply to payment methods, such as a fee for making payments by telephone and rush payment fees. Credit cards with a cash advance option usually have cash advance fees. The fee is calculated as a percentage of the total
money advanced. Creditors may charge a fee for transactions made in a foreign county, a particular concern if you’re planning a trip.

Protect Yourself

Before you sign a financial agreement, check the fine print for hidden fees. The print may be found at the
end of the agreement or appear right before you sign if you’re applying online. A credit product with various extra fees or service charges may not be the best deal for you, even if the interest rate is low. Compare credit offers by the clear terms and the fine print to find the less expensive option. If you decide to take the credit product,
make note of the terms you read in the fine print.

Pay special attention to the fine print for a credit product with an introductory interest rate period. Credit
cards and loans with an initial low interest rate often have terms that allow the creditor to apply the maximum interest rate if you are late on payment or violate another term. The maximum rate may be in the fine print, so make sure you can afford the interest hike before you agree to the terms.

Check the agreements for all your current accounts to avoid incurring extra fees. You may have already been charged
fees you didn’t know about. Take note of all the fine print on your current accounts to save yourself money and unexpected charges.

It’s now Week 3 of the Revamped and Revised 52 Week Prosperity Plan! It’s amazing how we’re just rolling along!

During week 2, we talked about the importance of having a system in place. Systems help us keep organized and on track. What’s nice about systems is that they don’t live in a vacuum; they can change and grow with our needs and priorities. But the most crucial part is that you just have a system in place, regardless of what it looks like.

I’m not going to lie to you. I didn’t create a new system. I already have a system in place to pay bills that I’m very happy with and it’s been working quite well for me for the last 5 years. Essentially, I write my monthly bills on a page in my budget notebook (yes, I still use pen and paper for this) and make 2 columns—1 for each payday. I then list which bills get paid on which payday, along with the amount of cash I’m going to need for the next 2 weeks. I also balance my checkbook and submit all Dependent Care paperwork on payday.

This system didn’t materialize overnight. I had to refine it over time until it fit my needs and my payday schedule.  I’ve even contacted a creditor or utility company to request a change in due date to ensure that nothing was paid late. I decided I wanted them to work my system, not the other way around. It was easy to do, too. I just made a phone call or put in an online request and like magic, I had a new due date! This doesn’t always work (ex., my electric/gas provider) but it’s always worth a shot.

So how’d your Week 2 go? Did you create a system? What worked for you? What didn’t work for you in your system creation?

What’s next?

Now that we’re organized and have a system in place, it’s time to start thinking about creating a schedule. What’s the difference between a system and a schedule? In my world, a system is how we do something; a schedule is when we do it. For instance, my system for bill paying is writing a list, breaking down the list, going to the bank and completing paperwork. The schedule for paying bills is every other week, on payday Friday, in the morning.

Why in the morning? I take care of bills in the morning because that way, if I notice a problem, I have the day to deal with it. Since I get paid on Fridays, I don’t want to notice an error and then be stuck, stewing in impatience, until Monday morning. I’m also the most alert first thing in the morning and make less math errors during that time of day.  That’s just what works for me. A different time may work for you. For instance, when I was a kid, I remember my father balancing the checkbook every Sunday night. I know someone else who does it every Friday night while she’s doing laundry. Like a system,  you need to pick a schedule that works for you.

Having a schedule, like having a system, helps us stay organized. Remember how hard it was to get organized during Week 1? It took a lot of time and energy and work. We don’t want to have to do that again. By implementing a schedule, we won’t undo that hard work.

Creating a schedule

If you’re creating a schedule for money management, I suggest you start by writing down in a calendar (either paper or electronic) your paydays. Think about when you are most alert and have the time to deal with writing checks (do people still do that?) or accessing your accounts. Balance that with the rest of your activities—work, kids, exercise, etc. Paying bills is serious business and you want to give it your full attention. When do you have the most undivided time to pay attention and get it done? Note that day or time and write it down. Make it an appointment, just like you would the dentist or a haircut. Set a reminder for yourself for that time. Keep it consistent and eventually, it will become part of your routine.

Good luck creating your schedule this week! If you already have a schedule, reexamine it. Is it still working for you or can it be revised? If it needs work, take some time this week to change it up so that it works for you. If you have a solid schedule, please share what you’re doing in the comments.  Maybe you’ll provide a helpful hint!

 

Keeping track of your money and accounts is essential to maintaining a healthy financial life. Your financial life could include checking and savings accounts, credit cards, investment accounts, and retirement accounts. Once you have been working for a few years, you could be surprised to discover you have over 10 accounts or more. It is essential that you keep accurate records of everything so you are always aware of what’s going on.

The Manual Way

Many people prefer to manually keep track of all their accounts. They do this by maintaining a file system with all of their statements.

Many people take it one step farther and put everything on a spreadsheet to keep it organized. They will then update the spreadsheet monthly or quarterly as their statements come in. This is time consuming, and could be tedious if you have a lot of accounts, but it does allow you to keep everything organized in one place.

The Computerized Way

The next step up in keeping track of your money is using a software program such as Quicken or Money to keep track of all your accounts. This takes spreadsheets to the next level by keeping everything computerized. You can also run reports and keep track of investment gains and losses over time.

Many software programs also offer automatic update options, that will pull information from your accounts automatically to keep your program up to date. This is especially helpful and eliminates the need to manually enter everything. It is also very handy for investments, as it usually updates with live quotes as well.

The Cloud Way

The newest form of keeping track of your finances has emerged in the last couple years, and it involves the cloud. This is keeping everything 100% online, so you can access it from anywhere. A few companies have started this, including Mint, which automatically update your accounts and present them to you when you log in. The beauty of this is the anywhere access, which is why it is the next step up in keeping track of your money.

Welcome to Week #2 of the Revamped and Revised 52 Week Prosperity Plan!

Last week, we talked about taking the first step—getting organized. We went through steps we could take to get our paperwork in order (including shredding all of our old stuff), figured out the grand totals of our total debt, listed our bills and due dates, and did whatever else was necessary to get ourselves organized.  So how’d you do?

I’m somewhat pleased with my week. I listed out all of my bills that are due in January, balanced my checkbook, figured out what paperwork I still need to complete this year (life insurance and will), and my husband got everything together to prequalify for our next mortgage. The one place I failed—and I knew I was going to fail here—was in cleaning up my paperwork.

I am a mess. I have papers everywhere. My desk, my purse, my coffee table, and my writing notebook is filled with paper clips, post its, and a variety of lists. The harder I try to organize them, the more paperwork appears. It’s like Gremlins only I’m positive I didn’t throw water on it or feed it after midnight.  In order to get this taken care of, I’m going to need a system. Fortunately, creating a system is the task for week #2.

Why a system?

Systems are important because they help keep us on track with staying organized. Systems are a way of establishing a routine, consistent method to keep us focused and on target. And once in place and perfected, a system keeps everything running smoothly. However, it’s important to note that systems are fluid and need to change as our needs change. If you find that a system you’ve created isn’t working for you anymore, change it. Change it to one that suits your needs, schedule, and budget.

Systems are also important because they help us find balance. If you’re like me, you’re juggling more things than you can handle and most days, you feel like you’re screwing up at least one thing. If I do well with keeping up with blogging, I’ve let my house fall into disarray. If I finish all my household chores, my blogging suffers. And let’s not even discuss the disaster that is my full-time job.  But over the last few months, I’ve begun developing a system to manage all of these things.

Creating a system

For an excellent example of creating system, visit The Flylady. I don’t personally use her system, but many people do and they often sing her praises.  Although it’s primarily focused on creating a system for housecleaning/housework, the basic tenets apply to creating other types of systems. For instance, she advocates starting one step at a time, and jumping in where you are. That’s extremely important. You need to start where you are.  If you start comparing yourself to someone who’s been working a system for months or years, you’re going to feel inadequate (believe me, I know. I do it. All the time).

Your job this week is to focus on one area of your life that needs a system. Is it in striking a balance between work and family? Do you need a system for working in exercise? How about a system for ensure your bills are paid on time? Figure out where you are floundering the most, focus on that area, and create a system.

Some steps to help get you started:

  • Make one small change. For instance, set aside 1 hour a week to deal with your bills.
  • Write it down.  Using the same example, once you decide on which hour per week you’re going to deal with your bills, write it in your calendar. Make it a scheduled appointment, just like you would a haircut or doctor appointment.
  • Tell someone. If you are married or have a roommate, tell that person what you’re doing. If you live alone, find a friend or co-worker.  Ask him or her to help hold you accountable. By saying out loud that you want to change your habit, you’re more apt to do it.

That’s it. That’s what you need to do this week. Create a system. Good luck!

Getting and maintaining a good credit score is something that is essential for any American who wants to participate in the financial system. Credit scores are used for everything from determining if a person is eligible to take out a mortgage to determining who the right candidate for an open job position is. Unfortunately, few people understand exactly what information is used to determine their credit score. The key to improving your credit rating is to understand how your credit score is determined.

The most common advice given to people who want or need to improve their credit score is to make sure that their bills are paid on time. While paying bills on time can help towards improving credit rating, it can usually only help improve a score by about twenty points. Fortunately, there are many other ways to increase a score.

Believe it or not, one of the easiest ways to improve a credit score is to open new credit cards. The reason for this is that the ratio of credit extended to amount owed can account for about 30% of a credit score. The more credit that a person has extended to them, the higher their credit score; provided that they’re actually using very little of this credit. In order to get more credit extended without actually having to borrow money, many people have turned to credit cards.

Credit cards are typically issued with a credit limit. Customers are essentially allowed to charge up to this limit. If a customer reaches this limit or maxes out his or her credit card, then their credit extended to credit used ratio is equal to one. By taking out credit cards then not charging up a balance on them, however, a person could improve their credit extended to credit used ratio, and thereby improve their credit rating. In addition to taking out new cards, a consumer should also ask their current credit card company for their current credit limits on any credit cards they currently hold to be increased. In many cases, doubling a person’s total credit limit can increase their credit score by about thirty to fifty points.

In addition to increasing the ratio of credit extended to credit used, starting a new credit card account can also help a consumer establish his or her credit history. This is especially helpful for younger consumers whose credit scores are most likely low because of a short credit history. Length of credit history, that is, the amount of time that a consumer has used credit, account for about ten to twenty percent of a credit score. While many young consumers will not be ready to take out a mortgage for several years, having and occasionally using a small credit card now will aid them in establishing a credit history that can improve their credit score in the future.

A consumer with an extremely low credit score, however, will probably have problems getting a new credit card. In this case, the consumer will need to focus on other ways to improve his or her score before trying to improve his or her credit extended to credit used ratio. A consumer in this situation should start by getting a recent copy of their credit report, then read through this report and look for any errors. It has been estimated by a leading consumer group that nearly eighty percent of all credit reports contain mistakes. Correcting a mistake or having incorrect information removed from a credit report can improve a person’s credit score significantly.

Improving a credit score can be tricky, but it is much easier to do if a consumer is willing to open a new credit card account. A person can improve several different aspects of his or her credit score if he or she starts a new credit card, making this one of the quickest ways to improve a credit score available in today’s market.

 

Owning a rental property can be a great investment, but it is important to remember that there are a lot of costs involved.  If you are considering owning one, you should look at your potential costs involved, such as a mortgage (use a mortgage payments calculator to figure out your costs), property taxes (check with your local tax assessor), and even utilities.   It also depends on the type of rental you are considering – a duplex where you rent out half will be different than a property that is a 100% investment. 

The Mortgage

The mortgage is most likely your biggest expense if you own a rental property.  However, a rental property mortgage is a little different than a regular home mortgage.  Most 100% rental properties usually have a buy to let mortgage, which the bank relies on the potential income of the property, versus the home owner’s income, to see if they will lend. 

Since the costs are a bit different, you may want to rely on a buy to let mortgage calculator to see a better cost comparison compared to a traditional mortgage. 

Taxes and More

The next largest expense on any property will usually be taxes.  You can usually refer to your local tax assessor to get the most recent tax statement on a property.  You may want to be sure the property isn’t going to be reassessed soon, but past taxes are usually a good estimate.

Utilities are harder to estimate, which is why landlords usually make tenants pay the costs.  However, there are some common fixed costs that you may pay – such as yard maintenance, trash service, or other services.  However, since they are fixed, they are usually easy to budget.

Finally, you should always bank a little for maintenance each month, since repairs are inevitable. 

Once you have an idea of costs, you need to balance it out with the income you will receive.  And remember, it is a business, so you will be more successful if you treat it as such.

In April 2011, the original owner of this site started a 52 Week Prosperity Plan.  In his words, the intent of the plan was to “map out 52 different concepts aimed at improving your life, one for every week of the year. These concepts will challenge the way you think and the way you view the world, those around you, and most importantly, how you view yourself. In the process, you’ll become a more successful, productive, and all-around better person.”  I think this is a fantastic idea. So fantastic, in fact, that I’m bringing it back. Revamped, Jana style.

New and improved

The original prosperity plan began with working on inner skills: forgetting your weakness, not making excuses, kindness.  While it’s important to focus on these, for the newly revised plan, we’re going to work on our finances first. Once we have those in order, we can move on to the others. I believe that improving ourselves is just as important as improving our finances. We’re just going to get our money straight first.

Following in the footsteps of the original owner, every week I’m going to post a different skill or issue a different challenge. These will encourage you to focus on one aspect of your finances at a time. It’s overwhelming to think about the totality of our finances, especially when we’re deficient or ill-prepared. Doing it in smaller bites makes it more manageable and less intimidating. And, like with reading skills or math skills, each skill will build upon the previous week’s (or weeks’), until we’re more financial secure.

Staying focused

It’s hard to stay focused, especially during the work week. If you’re anything like me, you start off strong on Sunday but by Wednesday, you’re exhausted. You lose focus and start to drift into the abyss of failure. I’m not going to let that happen to you. Instead, we’re going to start our weeks on Wednesday. This way, the middle of the “week” is actually the weekend, which will give you a chance to refresh and regroup to make it through the last 2 days of the “week”.

Additionally, I’m going to give you a few hints to help keep you on track. Some of the hints are modeled off of the original 52 Week Plan, some of them are my own. Use the tips as you need to. If you have any tips that you find helpful, please share them in the comments!

Here are some tips to help you get started:

  1. Write the week’s task somewhere you can see it. Put it on a post-it in your planner or on your fridge or as a reminder on your phone.
  2. Make a list of what you need to do to accomplish the task.
  3. In the morning, take a moment to think about the weekly task and come up with one thing you can do today to finish the task. At night, take a moment to think about the weekly task and praise yourself for one thing you did that day to work towards completing the task.
  4. Don’t be too hard on yourself.  Just do the best you can.

Week #1: Getting organized

This week we’re going to focus on getting organized.  It’s hard to know where to start if we don’t know what we’re working with. To get organized, we need to assemble the following information (if you don’t have them on hand, they can all be bought at the dollar store):

  • Your debts, including total balance, interest rates, minimum payments, and due dates
  • Your paperwork, including insurance policies, pending rebates, bills, etc.
  • Trash bags
  • Pens
  • Folders

What I want you to do it label the folders with words such as “bills due”, “insurance policies”, “credit cards”, “warranties”, etc and place the appropriate paperwork in each folder. Then I want you to create a list or a spreadsheet with your debts and the rest of the information listed above. Next, I want you to total those balances to get a grand total. Finally, I want you to toss/shred any old, irrelevant or unnecessary paperwork.

After all this is done, put the organized files in a drawer or in a multi-pocket folder (just make sure that it’s also labeled). For the “bills due” (this is assuming you still receive paper statements; if you don’t, create a folder in your email with the same label), keep it somewhere conspicuous so you don’t forget it.

That’s it. That’s all I want you to do this week. Next week, we’ll talk about how we did and how we can create a system to stay organized.