Budgeting 101

Many of my followers have requested my assistance in developing a budget crash course and what better time than in the beginning of the year. A while back I did a "Money Challenge" blog to encourage people to save money (a passion of mine). This blog I will layout a simple budgeting template that will guide anyone in planning a secure financial future. 

Let the budget planning begin.........................................................................

Plan 1: List Income and Expenses

Go through all of your income sources and bills and list each and every item receive/pay  (including quarterly, semiannually, and annual items). Notate the due date of each bill. 

For other than monthly bills, convert total due into a monthly figure (for example: if your insurance bill is due every 6 months. Take the total bill amount and divide by 6, place this figure in the amount column. This method allows you to include this bill within your monthly budget even though a payment is not made each month. Once you have listed all your bills compare the total to your monthly income. {INCOME - EXPENSES = Net Income/(Loss)}

Plan 2: Set financial goals

Why wait til your retired or worse become ill to state you wished you had traveled or tried new things or better yet enjoyed your life. 

Plan to do them now, while you still can!!! 

List your goals for life whether it be travelling, going back to school, trying out different restaurants or just pampering yourself every month. Shop around to find the best price that can fit within your budget and add them to it by specifically stating goal as a line item. 

Plan 3: Start saving

Saving should be looked at as a bill, money to pay for something that you need or want. For instance, you pay your phone bill each month. Look at saving just like that, a monthly bill. Once paid it's gone. That is until you need it. 

Let's say you decide you want to by a new computer, you've created you "New Computer" bill line item and you've been applying $100/month towards this goal. After 10 months, you've saved $1,000, you can now purchase a laptop without having to scramble funds from every and anywhere. 

Budgeting B*B*J*B

Are you ready?

One thing I love to do is help people gain financial success. The holidays are here and people are shopping away, believe me I know!!! (I don't even celebrate Christmas but I am surely enjoying the shopping experience). But a lot people always say "Berenice, why didn't you tell me about this or that before?!?". So as this upcoming tax season draws closer, I am going to provide you some tools to help you get the refund you deserve.

First step is to be sure you have kept all of your receipts and records for anything you will be claiming an exemption or deduction for. I usually provide this checklist to my clients:

-W2(s)
-1009-Misc (other income)
-1099-INT (Bank Interest Stmt)
-1098-E (student interest stmt)
-1098-T (tuition stmt)
-Tithe/Offering receipt
-Volunteer expenses log (churches & nonprofit organizations)
-Unreimbursed job expenses (uniforms, etc.)
-Professional Dues and Subscriptions
-Major purchases receipts (car, equipment, home upgrades, etc.)
-Moving expenses receipts

Second step is to research what deductions you may qualify for. For example: most people that I know are involved with a non profit organization in some way shape or form and don't know that their of your out of pocket expenses are deductible. Here are deductible expenses:

• the cost of hosting a party or fundraiser for the organization
• advertising that you buy on behalf of the organization
• supplies you purchase to be used in volunteer work, such as stamps and stationery
• the cost of a required uniform (and the cost of keeping it clean), and
• telephone expenses.

Third step find a qualified tax accountant to do your taxes. It seems cheaper to do them yourself,  I know all about cheap.  But you could be missing out on a higher refund because you don't know tax law and what you could be entitled to. Tax professionals are constantly on top of new tax laws and even after paying them you could still get a higher refund. 

Last step is to try and save your refund. One of my new goals is to encourage saving to everyone I come in contact with more info can be found on my Money Challenge blog . Don't depend on your tax refund to pay your monthly bills but watch your savings grow each year by putting your refund away. This can allow for that vacation you can never afford or that new car you've been dying to drive.

I hope this has helped you to get ready for tax season and should you have any questions please let me know. Stayed tuned this tax season for Ask the Auditor segment.

Ready B*B*J*B

Credit Check.............

Well here it is.......How to get your credit in check Part 1!!!!!!!

Many of you have asked how to start or repair your credit so that you can be financially stable. First step will be to double check your report and make sure what is showing on your report is a reflection of the actual decisions you have made. So don't be fooled by the "freecreditreport" commercials or ads. And go to the only website that gives you your report:

www.annualcreditreport.com

This site will access all three credit bureaus that you need to know about:

Experian--http://www.experian.com/

Equifax--http://www.equifax.com/

Transunion--http://www.transunion.com/

You are allowed to see your report once a year per bureau.  So I recommend that you request a report from one bureau every 4 months. This way you see what each bureau is reporting and what changes are being made throughout the year.

I know you may also want to know what your score is but I do not think that's important when your trying to repair your credit.  The score is a direct reflection of what your creditors are reporting to the credit bureaus. So once you fix any disputes the score will self adjust (with time of course).

So you go to the site, you choose the bureau you want to start with, you pull your report, print it.......now review it!!!! Look for errors, if you don't find any good for you!!!! If you find some it's time to get to work.....Are you ready? I hope so, breathe its not the end of the world but it might be the beginning of a battle.

You will need to begin the dispute process through the bureau that is reporting the error so look at the bottom of your report for their contact information.  Draft a letter, with your account information and anything the bureau may need to identify you correctly. In the body of the letter state what the error you noted is and provide any information you have to support your issue. If you need some guidance here is a sample letter.

Stay tuned for Part II as I help you get your credit in check!!!!!


B*B*J*B Credit Rep