Written by-Kirby Conley

Keeping your personal finances in order is one of the most important things you can do to ensure that you and your family avoid unnecessary trouble. Fortunately, doing so doesn't have to be a chore or an ordeal. This article will give you some tips that will make keeping track of your personal finances a breeze.



You need to meet certain qualifications before you can rent an apartment. Be sure you have verifiable income, acceptable credit, and enough funds for the security deposit and the first month's rent. Don't forget that if you have less than perfect credit, the electric, gas, phone, and cable companies usually ask for a security deposit before they establish service under your name.

If you are not sure if it is the right time to buy or to sell, it is best to do nothing at all. When you are risking your money that you worked hard for, it is always better to be safe then to be sorry and lose your money.

Quite often it is said that if you make more you spend more. The biggest tip I can offer in that case is to try to live below your means. If you can afford that luxury $1000 apartment, don't! Live at on front page and pocket the difference perhaps to use as a down payment on a house.

Whether you keep track of your personal finances online or on paper, it is extremely important to review your general situation every month. Look for any unexpected changes in your bills, shortfalls in your credits, or irregularities in the dates that money changes hands. Noting these changes and accounting for them is a big part of staying on top of your financial situation.

A major indicator of your financial health is your FICO Score so know your score. Creditors use the FICO Scores to decide how risky it is to give you credit. Each of the three major credit bureaus, Transunion, Equifax, and Experian, assigns a score to your credit record. That score goes up and down depending on your credit usage and payment history over time. A good FICO Score makes a huge difference in the interest rates you can get when buying a home or car. Check out your score before any major purchases to make sure it is a true reflection of your credit history.

If you want to repair or improve your credit score, keep the balances on your credit cards as low as possible. Using less of your available credit tells creditors that you aren't in financial difficulties, which translates into an increased credit score. Using about thirty percent of your available credit is the sweet spot.

To keep your personal financial life afloat, you should put a portion of every paycheck into savings. In the current economy, that can be hard to do, but even small amounts add up over time. Interest in a savings account is usually higher than your checking, so there is the added bonus of accruing more money over time.

Burn used cooking oil in your older diesel vehicle! There are entire web pages and forums devoted to doing just that. The first diesel engine, after all, was designed to run on peanut oil. Just make sure you research your options and take the precautions you need to insure you don't damage your engine.

Shopping around when making a big purchase is the best way to guarantee that you are getting the most for your money. It is always a good idea to look at several retailers and brands when considering a purchase. You may even want to wait on a big sale to make a purchase to save yourself sometimes hundreds of dollars!

Discuss financial goals with your partner. This is especially important if you are thinking about getting married. Do you need to have a prenuptial agreement? This may be the case if one of you enters the marriage with a lot of prior assets. What are your mutual financial goals? Should you keep separate bank accounts or pool your funds? What are your retirement goals? These questions should be addressed prior to marriage, so you don't find out at a later date that the two of you have completely different ideas about finances.

Every month, make an attempt to put a few extra dollars toward the principal on your loans. In the end, this means you are paying much less interest to the lender and ultimately are saving yourself a lot of time and money. A one hundred dollar extra principal payment on your very first mortgage payment can knock off three months of payments at the end!

The chances are high that your money will work harder, not in savings, bonds, stocks, etc. but in paying down your credit cards. Generally, credit card debt is the most punishing debt that households have. Credit card interest rates are now so high that paying your card debt is like putting money into a double-digit interest yielding, risk-free account.

A great way to treat your finances better is to not treat them like your life. What that means is that you should avoid spending wildly just because your finances are running low, like a guy with only a few days to live might go jump out of a plane. Don't waste the money. Let what's left be the start of a new savings effort.

Use your favorite credit cards regularly if you don't want to lose them. Credit card companies may close or reduce credit limit on inactive or unprofitable accounts without advance notice, which may negatively affect your finances in the future. Use them regularly and pay off the balances to stay out of debt.

Get you personal finances back on track by making a budget you can stick to. Whether you create a budget with computer software or write it down using a pen and paper, a budget can help you focus on your spending habits so you can adjust as necessary. Having a budget is vital for holding your spending on a short leash.

Sell some of your belongings. This accomplishes two things. First, you are forced to take a look at what you have spent on items that you don't really use. Hopefully, it will prevent you from buying frivolous items. Secondly, you can make some money on those items at a yard sale or through an online auction site.

Stay Organized! Organization can be very helpful in personal finance. Organization usually leads to success and being organized in your personal finance is not very difficult. Keeping track of your bills, due dates, and how much money you have can work wonders. Using a calendar and a specific station for all of your personal finance information can help you keep very organized.

Remember, that no matter how bad you are at math or how much numbers scare you, you can learn to intelligently manage your personal finances. By making the right financial decisions, you can greatly improve your financial situation and protect your money. Carefully read this article , apply the tips to your life, and don't be surprised if the status of your finances quickly improves.