Are you ready to finally put your personal finances in order and save some money in 2010? Or, perhaps you need to streamline some weak areas?
In this post I provide you 10 money tips that anyone can easily act upon. You just need to get started. If you’re ready to make a difference on your financial journey, pick the ones that apply to you and set a date in which they will be accomplished.
No more fooling around folks. Today is your day to get in the drivers seat and start managing your way to true financial freedom!
10 smart money tips
1. Build a plan for your money
With this tip I’m talking about setting up a monthly spending plan. With a monthly spending plan you are telling your money what to do versus the opposite. You can set up a budget in 3 easy steps, or even use the bucket budget method.
2. Get grocery your spending under control
I don’t know about you, but for our family, this area of spending can run wild. I have two tips for you: 1) build a plan for your grocery shopping. A great way is through The Grocery Game in which you use a shopping list full of rock bottom prices. 2) Don’t go to the store hungry. Yep, that’s right. Have a snack before you go, so you’ll avoid buying up all the snacks you can grab. 
3. Perform budget control
You’ve got a budget, now it’s your responsibility to manage it by controlling spending. There are 6 questions you can ask yourself before spending. I’ll be updating this post with a link to my article at Bible Money Matters this week to give you those 6 questions, so stay tuned.
4. Take advantage of tax free savings via your company 401k, Health Care or Dependent Care FSA
They are often discussed and mentioned in personal finance magazines and blogs, but not often taken advantage of. If you’re at the stage of investing for retirements and your employer offers a 401k and contribution match, make sure you’re taking advantage of this free money. Along with a 401k, saving through a Health Care Flexible Spending Account, or Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account reduce your taxable income.
5. Have the right budget allocation
How much should you be spending for groceries, clothing, entertainment, etc? Double check your estimates using a good spending percentage guide to make sure you’re allocating enough, or not allocating too much in each category.
6. Open high yield savings for emergencies and other savings needs
Don’t miss out on this important tip. Open two savings accounts. One account should be for emergencies and the other account should be for short-term savings such as Christmas, vacations, property taxes. Learn more about what I’m doing in my Ally High Yield Savings Review video.
7. Learn more about the Bible & Money
Consider learning what the Bible says about money. I’m currently writing an easy to understand series that will give you a tour through the Bible on subjects such as financial stewardship, debt, saving, giving and more.
8. Identify your next big milestone and insure you’re aligned to achieve them
Where are you on Dave Ramsey’s Baby Steps or the Crown Financial Ministries Money Map? Wherever you are there are clear milestones towards financial peace or freedom. Identify the milestone you’re working on and make sure your monthly plan is aligned with it. For example, are you working to get out of debt? Then make sure you are allocating enough money each month to make forward progress on this goal.
9. Create a will and prepare for difficult times
One of the most important planning moves is to create a will. Typically, this is one of those things people continually say they’ll get around to it and they don’t. But the reality is we will all face death even though we don’t like to talk about it, or plan for it. Passing away without a will can put family members in a difficult situation of trying to figure out estate plans while experiencing a time of pain.
Along the same lines, it’s important to have your financial situation in order for loved ones in case of an emergency. Creating a safety deposit box with important financial information, such as wills and other legal documents, insurance policies and important account information will bring peace of mind and help make sure finances can still be managed in the case of an accident or death.
10. Know and track your net worth
Finally, knowing your net worth helps you get a true picture of your finances. At a glance, you can see your total liabilities such as the home mortgage and other debt as compared to your assets. Many people are quite surprised when they see that their net worth is either very low or negative. Having a lot of assets doesn’t necessarily make you have a large net worth if they are all highly leveraged. Once you measure your initial net worth, you can begin to measure progress against it. If you already know it, see how you’ve been doing.
What do you plan to do in 2010 to save money and set your finances in order?
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