Skip to main content

Personal Finance Review



Even if Benjamin Franklin never actually used the expression "a penny saved is a penny earned", the reality is that it has been a sentiment for frugality for centuries.  He did say: "Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship."  At the end of the day, it is not about how much you make as much as it is about how much you keep.

The first step in a personal finance review is to discover where you are spending your money. It can be very eye-opening to have a detailed accounting of all the money you spend.  Coffee breaks, lunches, entertainment, happy hour, groceries and the myriad of subscription services you have contribute to your spending.

This revelation can lead you to obvious areas where savings can be accomplished.  The next step is to dig a little deeper to see if there are possible savings on essential services.

  • Get comparative quotes on car, home, other insurance.
  • Review and compare utility providers.
  • Review plans on cell phones.
  • Consider eliminating the phone line in your home.
  • Review plans on cable TV, satellite for unused channels and packages or receivers.
  • Consider entertainment alternatives for cable like Hulu or Netflix.
  • Review available discounts on property taxes.
  • Consider refinancing home ... lower rate, shorter term or cash out to payoff higher rate loans.
  • Consider refinancing cars.
  • Call credit card companies to ask for a lower rate. 
  • Consider transferring the balance from one card to a new card with a lower rate and then, pay off the balance as soon as possible.
  • Review all the automatic charges on your credit cards ... do you need or still use the service?
  • Discover late fees that are regularly being paid and eliminate them.
  • Review all bank charges for accounts and debit cards; determine if they can be reduced or eliminated.
  • Pay your bills on time and avoid all late fees.
  • Monitor your bank account and avoid over-draft charges.
  • Some companies have customer retention departments that can lower your rates to retain your business.

A strategy that some people use is to report their credit cards as lost so new cards will be issued.  When they are contacted by the companies to get a valid credit card, they can determine if the service is still needed.

The money you save can ultimately help you in the future for a rainy day, an unanticipated expense, a major life event or retirement.  Cutting back now will give you more later, possibly, when you need it even more.  Tennessee Williams said "You can be young without money, but you can't be old without it."

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cash-Out Refinance

With the rapid appreciation that homes have had in the last two years, most homeowners have equity.   A common way to release part of the equity is to cash-out refinance but some homeowners may not be eligible currently. This type of loan replaces the current mortgage by paying it off and an additional amount of cash for the owner.   Generally, lenders will consider a new mortgage up to a total of 80% of the current value. Typically, the rate on a cash-out refinance will be slightly higher than a traditional purchase money mortgage.   As is in any lending situation, the rate depends on the borrower's credit and income.   The best interest rates are available to borrowers with higher credit scores, usually over 740. Loan-to-value can affect the rate a borrower pays also.   A 70% loan-to-value mortgage could be expected to have a lower interest rate than an 80% LTV because there is a larger amount of equity remaining in the property and therefore, less risk ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Make Your Home Offer the Most Appealing

Sales in February 2023 were up 14.5% month over month and still down 22.6% year over year according to the NAR Housing Snapshot.   The median sales price dipped 0.2% to $363,000 and there are 2.6 months supply of homes on the market compared to 1.7 months a year ago. "Inventory levels are still at historic lows, and consequently, multiple offers are returning on a good number of properties." According to Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist for the National Association of REALTORS�. It is still important to have a strategy for potentially competing with other buyers on the house you want to buy.   The plan should include several available provisions and options, so that at the time of drafting the sales offer, you can consider exactly what to include based on the situation. Unless a person is paying cash, you need to be pre-approved by a trusted mortgage professional long before you start looking at homes.   Include the written pre-approval letter along ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Not Available for All Buyers

Lenders regularly publish mortgage rates but they may not be available for all buyers. Imagine that the mortgage payment based on an advertised rate influenced a buyer to make an offer on a home. After negotiating a binding contract, this buyer makes a loan application and finds out that for any number of possible reasons, that rate isn’t available. Even if the person does financially qualify for a loan at a higher interest rate, it will not be the payment that the buyer expected when the contract was negotiated. Lenders evaluate several factors such as the borrower’s credit score, debt-to-income and loan-to-value ratios. These variables are used to assess the risk associated with the repayment of the loan. While mortgage money is a commodity, it isn’t priced the same way items are that involve cash for goods. The lender puts up the money today based on a promise from the borrower to repay over a long term, possibly up to thirty years. The simple solution ...
Post a Comment
Read more