Tag Archives: Saving Money

Saving For An Emergency

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Saving For An Emergency

A great way to get out of debt is to save and pay off your debts.  Right?  Sounds simple enough.  But there is also another step that comes before paying off debts, this is a step that a lot of people do not fully understand and can result in going further into debt.

This is another common principle that a lot of financial experts advise their clients and fan base to pursue.  The principle is establishing an emergency fund prior to paying off your personal debts.  

For some of us, we went into debt in the first place because there was a form of an emergency that we were not prepared or financially equipped to handle at the moment and the way of handling the financial burden was to use a credit card or take out a no-interest loan that later became impossible to pay off in time.

An emergency fund is a great way to, well, prepare for an emergency.  A standard amount that most experts agree on saving is $1,000.  Now this is where things can get a little tricky.

We believe that you should work towards establishing this $1,000 emergency fund BEFORE you begin paying off your debts.  The logic is simple, if you begin paying off your debts and run into an emergency, you will still not be financially equipped to handle the emergency and will go further into debt.  

Despite what your expenses may be or what level your income stands, saving $1,000 into an emergency fund will be enough to handle most issues that may arise in your financial life.  Make sure your emergency fund is located in a liquid form.  You do not want to have the easiest access to your money, unless you have exceptional self-control, but you also need to insure that you have total access in the event there is an emergency.  A savings account is a great example while a CD or stuffing your $1,000 under the mattress may not be the best places to store your money.

Once you have saved the initial $1,000 you can begin paying off your debts little by little.

But the most important aspect to remember is that you are developing a healthier financial intelligence concerning your personal finances.  No matter how difficult it may seem to save the $1,000 remember you can literally do anything you put your time, energy, and thoughts to.  

Here’s to you saving money and paying off debt!

 

The Need For Cash

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There are thousands of blogs, articles, books, and workshops floating around in the world that are all circulated around the same topic; how to get out of debt.

There are differing opinions and views about how to get out of debt, stay out of debt, and better manage your personal finances.  Among the vast majority of those views is the same principle; track your spending.

We live in a world where money is electronic.  today we have credit and debit cards, papal accounts, apple pay, Samsung pay, and Bit Coins.  Money has become numbers on a screen and has lost it’s reality as total value.  Studies show it is easier to spend more money with electronically than it is when you have the cold, hard cash in your hand.

Tracking your spending starts with using cash and leaving your debit card at home.  Let’s say you’re going out to a local electronics store to buy a new television.  You have a budget in mind of $300.  You have done your research at home, you know exactly which model you want to buy and so you go out with the exact amount the television will cost in cash.  You get to the store and begin walking around looking at all of the bigger, brighter, and more defined televisions.  Suddenly the great model you found for $300 seems too small or too dim.  What are you going to do?  If you’re smart, you’ll buy your television for the $300 you planned and you’ll be happy because a $300 television is an upgrade from what you own now.  Maybe you will leave the store without a television and you’ll go home and save for a week or two until you can afford the nicer model.  Now, let’s pretend you are not that smart, which we all know you are.  But let’s say you forgot to leave your credit card at home and guess what?  You have $500 available on that card!  That means you can take your cash and your credit card and buy an $800 television!  Sadly, this is what most of us do on a daily basis.  Maybe we our budget says we have $5 to spend on lunch.  You decide to go to Panera bread for lunch and notice there’s a great lunch special for $10 and it looks delicious.  You have your debit card in hand and decide to double your budget for lunch that day.  Guess what, chances are you’re going to do the same thing 3 days out of the week, spend more money than you budgeted because you decided to leave home with your debit card.

See, this is where tracking your spending and paying with cash will benefit you.  If you track your spending you can see those patterns developing over time and see how much you actually spend over budget each week because of using your credit or debit card instead of sticking to your budget and paying with cash.

FIRMS is an odd debt collection agency.  Why is FIRMS different than most debt collections companies?  Because we don’t want you to go into debt, we want to help you get out of and stay out of debt.

We hope this helps,

 

  • FIRMS

 

Saving Money During The Holiday’s

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    Christmas Day is only ONE WEEK away!  Where has 2015 gone?  While most of you are no doubt almost finished with your holiday and Christmas gift buying there is still time to avoid going into debt and save money and at FIRMS, the premiere debt collection company, we are hoping to help you do just that.

    According to an article written at Daily Mail, 1 in 3 people will go into debt during the holiday season!  We at FIRMS want to make sure we don’t see your name on one of our future contact lists and so we have created a few simple tips and tricks that you can use this holiday season to help you spend less, save more, and avoid going into debt.

    The easiest thing to do at Christmas time is spend money.  With all the Christmas and New Year’s parties to attend, the traveling during the holidays, and the gift buying, there is no doubt that December will be an expensive month for most people.  Follow some of these steps below and you’re guaranteed to save some money.

  1. Make sure and track your spending.  Keeping track of your spending by writing down every purchase you make at the end of the day will help you put into perspective how much money you have going out of your checking account and wallet.  Go out and buy a little notebook and start writing down every purchase you make.  It helps to cut down on those extra purchases that add up in the end.
  2. Pay with cash.  It is all too easy to charge everything on your credit card or your check card.  But studies show that we have a tendency to spend more when we pay with a card over cash.  Go online and do your shopping, then go to the store and buy your gifts suing cash and LEAVE YOUR CARD AT HOME!  If you bring just enough cash and leave your card at the house you will be less likely to buy those extra gifts you can’t afford.
  3. Budget! Budget! Budget!  If you haven’t already set a budget for your monthly expenses and bills GO DO IT NOW.  Seriously, you need to have a handle on the money you have coming in and going out.  Being aware of what you have available in your checking account will prevent you from overspending on gifts and then being cut short on your bills when they are due.
  4. Think outside the box.  When it comes to gifts remember that some of the best gifts you can give is your time and talent.  Maybe you can offer to help a friend clean up their computer?  Or you can offer to babysit for a date night for friends or family in lieu of buying a gift.  Invite friends over for a movie night or have them over for a dinner party.  These are little ways to share more of the spirit of the holiday season and save yourself some money at the same time.

    Remember, the holiday’s are mainly about having time to share love with your friends and family and less about spending exuberant amounts of money on gifts we won’t remember next year.  So this Christmas, leave your credit cards at home and spend some extra hours close to the one’s you love the most and you’ll have priceless memories for years to come.

Happy Holiday’s from the best debt collection agency in the business,

  • FIRMS.