Controlling your personal finances and warding off recessionary fears

Where you go from here (meaning during a financial slump) is a very important question to answer and one that should be answered definitively.  In this type of climate, no one is immune to the recession’s effects, no matter if you’re working for a company or are self employed.

Saving money in and of itself isn’t an easy thing.  So many of us live paycheck-to-paycheck that it’s difficult to put money aside, but during an economic downturn, it should become a higher priority in the budget.

Start with reassessing your financial priorities:  what is most important at this time is saving, both by putting away money and spending less.

Begin by writing a budget and looking at your expenses versus your income.  Basic stuff, but many consumers simply don’t really know what they’re spending and where.  If you were asked to put a dollar figure on how much you spend every month in groceries, you’d probably tally the last couple of cart-full trips and that’d be your answer.  Now what about those “pick-up a gallon of milk” trips made through the month?  Chances are your food costs are much higher than you think.

Next look to leisure and “extras” spending – leisure being a trip to the park that leads to a quick pop-in to a fast food restaurant and “extras” being all those things added on to entertainment, and utilities, such as phone features (e.g. call waiting, three-way calling, et cetera) or cable upgrades such as HD channels.  This likewise applies to your cell phone bill; take a moment to check out Validas’ FixMyCellBill.com, the average consumer spends 20% too much on their cell phone bill than they ought to and a service such as this is both inexpensive and will save you money month after month.

Credit card bills are a fact of many people’s lives – they don’t have to be.  And this recession is a perfect time to begin ditching the vicious cycle in credit card debt.  Start by stopping – spending that is; using credit cards (even those you typically pay-off each month) is a bad idea in normal economic times, but a road to disaster during a recession, especially now that the federal legislature has passed new regulations.  Begin with the small balance and work your way up from there.

Projects such as putting in a pool or building a deck are best left to wait until later.  While finishing a basement may cost now, if it is for an income stream via renting, completing it while contractors are looking for work is a good idea.

Big ticket items and big-boy toys are also heavy wallet-feeders, do some research, find their value and offload them if possible.  In economic circumstances such as the present one, it’s not prudent to be shelling out dough with absolutely no return.  Take a serious look at car payments and leases, if you can get rid of them, pay cash for a decent pre-owned vehicle and save your money for something other than a thing your park in your driveway.

--Balance for Dads

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