Money Management Basics

One of the most effective ways to avoid any future debt problems is to learn to manage your finances.

The first step in money management is knowing where your money is and where you want it to go. Do you know what your expenditures are? Are you saving money at the end of the month? Do you have high credit card debt? All these questions need to be addressed so that you can get your money in order.

First you need to find ways to help organize your expenditures so you know where your money is going. The next step is to start eliminating debt and start saving. Then work on protecting your money through a combination of planning, preserving, and balancing your finances.

Steps to Better Money Management

1. Plan ahead. Write down your goals and objectives and be realistic. Review your goals and objectives regularly to see if you are on track. Goal setting is an important part of success.

2. Create a budget. Create a plan on how you will spend and save money. Review and update it regularly and evaluate your goals.

3. Keep good records. Keep track of your bills, checks and other financial transactions. Get organized.

4. Stay insured. Purchase insurance to avoid being hard hit by a financial loss due to accident or illness.

5. Save more. Begin by faithfully saving a small amount. Have an emergency fund with at least 3 months expenses set aside for when "murphy" comes to visit.

6. Spend Less. Stay focused and don't be tempted to overspend.

Banking

Be aware of your banking costs and service fees. Banks make billions of dollars annually on various fees. With minimum balance requirements, ATM fees, overdraft charges, even your basic checking and savings accounts might be costing you more than they should. Learn about the different banking features and then pay only for those that you really need.

Sign-up for online banking. Online banking allows you to view your banking transactions , making it easy to update your checkbook register and ensure that you don't forget to record any ATM withdrawls. You must keep track of how much you have in your account, otherwise you risk bouncing a check. The average fee for bouncing a check is $25 per check.

Automated Teller Machines - ATM fees are huge money makers for banks. There are several types of ATM fees. Some banks charge you a fee just to have the use of an ATM card. Others charge ATM access fees, which are weekly, monthly or yearly fees. When you use an ATM that is not owned by your bank, you'll incur a surcharge, which is a fee in addition to fees charged by your own bank. These fees and out-of-network fees can be as high as $5. To minimize ATM fees establish an account at a bank with a large ATM network so you don't get stuck using out-of-network ATM's.

Savings Accounts - Your savings should be separate from your day-to-day spending money so that you're not tempted to dip into your savings. Savings accounts are a good place to park some of your savings, such as your emergency fund. The average savings account earns about 2 percent interest.

Money Market Deposit Accounts - Money market deposit accounts, offered by most banks, are FDIC-insured. They usually require a minimum balance of $1,000 or more, but they pay slightly higher interest rates than traditional savings accounts.

Rule of 72

A rule used to calculate how long it will take to double the money in an investment. It is calculated by dividing the annual interest rate into 72 to give the number of years. It's called the rule of 72 because at 10%, money will double every 7.2 years.