Overspent this Christmas?   Kinda wished you could have even gotten a few more gifts for family or friends, but know you just cant?   Is it going to take a while to pay off this Christmas?  While it would be awfully tacky to take back some gifts to even up the Money score, and carry around that guilt no less, there is something you can do to avoid that situation next year.   Thats right, pay off this Christmas as fast as possible.   Maybe New Years will have to be a little less glamourous, the thermostat a little bit lower, and the budget a little tighter for a while.  But once you do, you will then be able to work on saving for next years Christmas.

Most credit unions or banks will let you set up a separate Christmas account to set aside for Christmas.  If they dont, just open up a separate account just for this purpose.  Get one that pays interest if possible.  Save little by little each paycheck and by the time December rolls around you have a nice pile of cash to spend for Christmas.  Sure makes it easier on the budget, and a lot less stressful as there is Money to spend and you know Christmas spending is not putting you into or further into debt.  Isnt is much more fun to spend Money you have versus spending Money that you dont have? 

Here is what to do.   Figure up what you spent on Christmas this year.  Be honest and add up EVERYTHING.   Then divide that total by the number of paychecks you will receive between your starting date and December 1st.  That is about the amount of money you need to be depositing into your savings each paycheck to save the same amount of money that you spent last year.  If Christmas was tight this year, you might want to round up a little bit, so you will have more money to spend in December.

Just remember not to pull out any of that Christmas money till December, or only in emergencies. 

Merry Christmas!

In my last post, I talked about 7 different ways to begin building Wealth.   This gave you the chance to brainstorm and do some long term planning and thinking about goals to set, actions to implement to get out of debt and build long term Wealth.   But what about all those suprises and curve balls that life seems to throw at us?  The unexpected that comes, especially after we think have gotten our plans all set and implemented.

That is exactly what just happened to our family.   This change forced us to make some very tough calls concerning our budget, Money and ultimately our lifestyle.   The situation?  Higher school costs, and higer taxes coupled with a reduction in pay at work forced us to re-evaluate our budget.  There were unpopular decisions that had to be made as we downsized ourselves to cope with less income and still pay for the higher cost of school.  This is happening everywhere - the downsizing of people’s budget is not an uncommon thing, in today’s economy.  Yet, we must deal with reality.

These 5 suggestions will help one downsize effectively and make this process as painless as possible.

1. Let as many areas of your budget "Share the Pain" in your downsizing.  In our family, 7 areas helped absorb the extra costs.  Three people’s weekly allowance, the weekly food allowance, the monthly allowance for the next car, charitable giving, and our retirement savings all took a hit to help us keep the budget balanced AND yet achieve an overall balance in life.

2. Evaluate whether you need to possibly look for more work or Money making activities.  It could be as little as weekend work, or as big as a career move, or starting your own business (home business or otherwise).   Remember one of the three ways to make your finances balance, is to make more Money.  The other two being cutting expenses, or making more income and cutting expenses at the same time.

3. Take responsibility and be determined. Dont start spending more than you earn!  Make the necessary adjustments regardless of how painful.  Lots of people, when faced with higher costs, turn a blind eye and just "hope everything turns out OK".  Wrong!  You cannot assume. You cannot hope for a miracle. You must take action and stick to your budget.  And yes, It can be done!

4. Be sure and look long term.   Our decision this month to cut back was the result of looking down the road (14 months ahead to be exact) and realizing there were higher costs ahead.  Look into your financial future as best and as far as you can and look for situations that might need some advance planning.  The sooner you find out that you need to adjust, the easier it will be to make the actual adjustment.  Wouldn’t you rather have 14 months to save for an upcoming expense versus 2 or 3 months?

5. Budget Master, make sure you have the agreemennt of your spouse. Make sure all other family members understand what is happening and why it is happening.  It is tough to downsize.   It is impossible to downsize without your spouse’s support!

Taking action ahead of time, making the proper adjustments, and sticking to your plan will keep you out of trouble.  Times like these make having a plan and a system to keep your plan all the more critical.  "The Allowance System – Wealth Secrets For Adults" will help you create a good financial plan and give you the system that will consistently allow you to stay on top of your finances. 

Best of Success,

 
David Dickinson
Author, Trainer, Educator, Entrepreneur
"The Allowance System FOR ADULTS"

Most of us couldn’t wait for payday.  Mom or Dad would give the one or two dollars owed and off we would go!  We had Money!  We could buy anything we wanted.  It was great because it was hard earned Money and it was yours. You could do with it what you pleased!

Good things came to an end when the Money was gone, but we knew the following week we would get more. Oh, for the good ‘ol days when all we had to do was wait for our allowance Money!

While you cannot go back and relive the days of your youth, you can still have an allowance!  This one single action may be the best thing you do towards becoming debt-free.  It is a little, but very powerful idea.  It is so easy, that you could implement an allowance system in your home today!

I am here to ask you (and your spouse if you are married), and to strongly encourage you and your family to have an allowance system for each member of your household.  

We have been using an allowance system in our family for almost 15 years now and no matter what things cost, no matter what we might want to buy, we have always used our allowance to pay for those "nice to have"
items.  The great thing is, that regardless of what things cost, we do not break our budget, and we buy without complaints from anyone else as to what we bought! You will not have surprise purchases from your spouse. It may sound childish, but the facts are that they work when you follow the guidelines.

But don’t take it from me, take it from Jay, in Tennessee USA, who has been using The Allowance System for almost 10 years now.  Here is what he said.  

"It has allowed us to take control of our family budget in a way that we never did before. One of the biggest advantages, however, is the ability to know from month to month exactly what your expenditures are going to be and thus, your budget becomes much easier to manage.  I strongly recommend The Allowance System to help take control of your family budget."

Best of Success,

 
David Dickinson
Author, Trainer, Educator, Entrepreneur
"The Allowance System FOR ADULTS"

Regardless of how you manage your Money, there are certain areas where one can save some big bucks.  Over the course of a lifetime they can really add up to substantial savings and make the difference between living an average lifestyle vs. living a great lifestyle.

What is even better about these places is that they are areas where almost every person spends.  These three areas also happen to be the places you spend the most Money as well.  So if you save, you will save a lot. You can use this advice immediately and for years to come.

The 3 Top Places To Save Are:

A. Grocery Store

B. Buying your next Car

C. Purchasing your next Home

Do your best to save in these three areas.  Imagine saving $5,000-$10,000 every time you bought a car.  Imagine if you could save $10-$20 a week on your groceries.  It would be like getting a $500 raise every year.   $25,000 on your house.   These are big numbers that you do not want to overspend on.

Because these are the three biggest areas most people spend their hard earned Money, "The Allowance System FOR ADULTS" could not in good conscience leave these areas untouched without offering strategies to help you save in these major areas.  Each of these three areas has a chapter dedicated to developing and adopting strategies which will allow for a lifetime of savings in these three big and critical areas.

In addition, we show you how to take your budget and simplify it. Budgeting does not have to be hard!  We also show you how an allowance system, designed for Adults, can be of great benefit to you.

Best of Success,

 
David Dickinson
Author, Trainer, Educator, Entrepreneur
"The Allowance System FOR ADULTS"