Money Tips

Create a budget. You've heard it before but it is so true. A budget can help keep you on track money by categorizing your expenses and making them more visible. When you physically see your tallied expenditures, you'll be more likely to save.

Start saving and investing while you're young. The more time you have to save money and invest, the more your investments will mature and make money for you.

Stay away from luxuries until you're rich. Unless they're investments, large ticket items just drain your wallet. Avoid the temptation.

Keeping your residence neat and organized will help highlight the various features of your home. Unwanted clutter can make a house seem smaller and less engaging to the buyer.

Avoid extended life insurance policies. You'll just be throwing your money away.

Pay yourself first. Have a portion of your paycheck automatically deducted so that you don't see it. There's an old saying, "Out of Sight, Out of Mind." If you can't see it, you'll be less likely to spend it.

Get rid of all your credit cards but one. Eliminate the temptation of spending money.

Pay off your bills. - Period! Do not acquire great debt.

Avoid wasting time. Trips to the beach or to Vegas are nice but are you earning money? Be sure you balance your vacation time with your work time. Nobody wants you to be a workaholic but you also must understand that some people don't work hard enough. They spend way too much time on vacation.

Learn new "money habits". Buy a piggy bank and develop a daily routine of putting money in there. You must be smart about spending as well as smart about investing. This takes a little education and developing good habits. Practice with small investments and work your way up to larger ones like stocks and bonds.

Grandma and Grandpa had the right idea when they threw their change into a cigar box and took it to the bank when the box was full! These days, you don't have to sit down and roll coins into those annoying little paper tubes Grandma and Grandpa used to use. Many banks now have machines that sort out your collected change and give you a receipt which you can take to a bank teller along with your deposit slip so all that loose change goes right into your checking or savings account.

Do NOT confuse this feature with the coin-collecting machines (such as Coinstar) found in supermarkets, discount stores and other commercial locations. These machines take a portion of your coinage (usually 3 to 8 cents on the dollar) as a service fee. Bank machines do the work for free if you have an account with the bank.

If you have a savings account, keep it just that... for savings. Some people are tempted to dip into their savings when they want to make a luxury purchase, but that defeats the purpose of having a savings. You should use your savings for building towards the future and actual emergencies.