Pantsuit conversion 2 — Nadirra


Image by Harper Ganesvoort
Why go broke every week? Stretch your budget by taking off your prim skirt, and just wear the top and glitch pants!

Suit by Ginny Talamasca; shoes by Maitreya; hair by ETD.

Managing Your Finances With A Personal Finance Manager

Anyone who lives within their means lack imagination’…. Oscar Wilde could not have put it in a better way that he lives outside his means and this is true to everyone who faces scarcity of funds to get going. The dramatist said this as at that time there were no tools to manager your personal finances. Though not a spendthrift, an average individual struggles to keep up with the pressure the present day life style imposes upon him. Simplify your investments and personal finance to tide over the crisis. Many end up in bankruptcy without knowing about the opportunities, begging door to door without any response. Use a personal finance manager as your aid to stay clear off all unwanted expenditures that may drain away your wallet. The paucity of money that grips one in between paydays can upset the apple cart. Take leverage of a personal finance manager and see the difference. Cash in the benefits extended by the expertise of a skilled and powerful tool. Don’t sulk even if you are a person with bad credit. The proficiency of an accounting software can lead you through these troubled times. The haphazard way of investment can counter produce at times and you plunge yourself in deep waters. Here in comes the expertise of a tool who can help you play well without capsizing the boat. Any bad decision can cost you dear, so it is best advised to act prudently lest you are lost with no chance of recovery. Personal finance is the way you apply financial principles to your e everyday budget. It is the method you adopt in handling your budget in relation to your income, spending and saving patterns. A right decision at the right time can perhaps avert a tragedy of immense measure. So why hesitate to take a right step at the right direction. Drive away your financial blues by using a reliable personal finance manager.

Many young professionals in their twenties are dealing with debt from credit cards and unpaid student loans. Managing personal finances can be difficult when you must handle expenses like insurance, business clothes, transportation, car payments, and more while still trying to have savings to meet your long-term goals such as buying a house or planning for retirement. For more personal finance tips, please visit www.usnews.com

Up Close with Personal Finances

It should not be surprising if the news would announce that personal bankruptcy had broken the record and reached an all-time high. Nowadays, personal budget and keeping with it have become more of an exception rather than a rule. Very few people practice self-control in terms of spending habits which then later on find themselves deeply entrenched in their own web of loans and debts.

To manage personal finances properly, it is best to come up with a personal budget. Through this simple financial planning, one can analyze on paper what he can purchase with his resources and how much resources he can earn over a period of time.

To start making his personal budget, he must first list down all his current accountabilities. These may include the debts he owes, bills that come regularly and expectantly, and routine expenses that he cannot get away with if he has to continue living with peace of mind. Afterwards,  he must list down the resources of finances that can offset partially or fully the accountabilities that he has already noted down.  If there is a deficit on the available finances, he must make a crucial decision on how his current funds will be allocated among the competing items that he must settle. For the remaining unresolved red figures on the list, he must decide on how to cover these soon before they bloat further.

There are two ways how one can clear out his credit list. It is either he pays off his creditors little by little, assuming the lenders or the banks would agree on such payment restructuring, until he has them  all settled for good. There are more affordable consumer loans which provide lower interest rates for even a longer repayment schedule. It is also wise to consider the offer of some credit card companies for balance transfer programs where the installment rates are lower.  If all else fails, he has to expand his revenue source in order to get more cash. In short, he has to get a second job.

Managing one’s personal finances entails anticipating future needs as well. There will be unaccounted for situations where the savings or current cash on hand might not be enough to see through the day. That is why it is also important that a person looks at good financial investments and banking instruments.

He may consider depositing a fixed amount regularly in a bank savings account.  There are time deposit accounts that provide better yield for the money deposited.  However, be wary of the bank’s reputation and its possibility of bankruptcy. He will be better off spending time to scout for banks which are more stable and have larger coverage of branches network.  It is best to shop around and compare rates and benefits among the banks in the area.

Another option for him to consider is investing his money on assets that appreciate or depreciate returns over time like stocks, bonds, securities, paper assets in money market, to name a few.  As opposed to savings in banks that earn a fixed amount of value over a length of time, investments are assets where returns can fluctuate.

There are also safer investments that can be made part of one’s personal financial planning. This can take the form of insurance, retirement plans or even real estate ventures. Depending on how wide his funding source base is, he can allocate and distribute his assets among the many financial instruments out there than put all his eggs in one basket.

Personal finance management is indeed a chore not too difficult if one has the discipline to follow the appointed personal budget or just simply live within his means.

CFP Board celebrates its silver anniversary with this video short featuring messages from current and past leaders of CFP Board, sharing an inside look at the cornerstones of the CFP® certification and the evolution of CFP Board. The organization’s history spans a period from 1985 to 2010 that includes the seismic shift in consumers’ personal finance needs during the 1980s and the complex economic problems and market changes taking place today. This video showcases the purpose for the organization’s founding and its successes in furthering its mission to benefit the public by granting the CFP® certification and upholding it as the recognized standard of excellence for personal financial planning.
Video Rating: 5 / 5

Les standards du Web en entreprise : l’exemple de BNP Paribas Personal Finance


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Jérémie Patonnier

Keeping An Eye On Your Personal Finances

The majority of us are sticklers for finances at work, but often disregard our personal finance at home. For those who are not accountants, the process of keeping financial records and ensuring all financial items are squared away can be quite boring and often confusing. Instead of ignoring your personal finance until a problem arises, take the initiative today!

The most important aspect of your personal finance is undoubtedly your credit. Your credit score, often a mystical number of much confusion, is critical to your success in the financial realm. Without a respectable credit score, you will be unable to borrow money or obtain a home or vehicle loan. This number can literally hold you back from completing your goals and can severely limit your future.

The credit in your name has a direct bearing on the credit number. Thus people who do not use their credit cards properly and have huge bills running in their names lend a bad streak to their credit. A point to be noted is that it is not the amount you charge but it is the amount that is kept on credit that poses the threat of being harmful. It is important to keep a check on the monthly statement and you should endeavor to pay it in full each month.

In today’s society, identity theft is often a problem. If someone steals your identity, they can wreck your finances, ruin your credit, and tarnish your good name and reputation. In order to prevent identity theft, carefully monitor all your financial statements and safe guard your personal information.

The attitude of most people towards money is spending today and saving later, thus relegating saving for a later part of their life. But this habit catches them unawares in the later part of their life where they get jolted with the rude shocks of a fast approaching retirement date and a non-existent retirement fund. So do not wait for tomorrow, start saving today by putting some portions of your income in the retirement fund account.

One of the best ways to handle the finances is a budget. This is the best way to keep a tab on the finances and keeping the spending in control. When you create a budget you need to make two columns, one meant for the incomes and the second for expenditures. You need to mention all the items of expenditure in the expenses column such as rent or mortgage payment, car payment, insurance, utilities, and food. Whatever is left after deducting all this from the income is the monthly excess that of course can be used in different ways.

It’s a good idea to consult an accountant if you are not sure about setting your personal finance records straight. This person will help you correct any potential problems and ensure nothing goes wrong in the future.

The world of finance is fascinating. There’s no need to be scared of it. Just keep your finances straight and you will be able to build, or rebuild, your credit score.

Personal Finances – How I Achieved More Money Than Month

Are you familiar with the phrase “More Month Than Money?” It means running short of money either before the end of the month or before your next payday. It’s a condition with which most wage earners are familiar. It was my problem for many years.

I’ve been married to Lois Lane for more than forty years. We raised two daughters. I’ve had several “careers,” and, I’ve always had a decent income. What I didn’t always have was an effective way to manage my income. I’m not an accountant; just a breadwinner who, when I first got married, couldn’t make the ‘bread’ go far enough.

The Early Years

For about the first ten years of our marriage, I used trial and error money management. Even though I had a good job with a decent salary, I never seemed to consistently have enough money to both pay my bills and for day-to-day expenses. One payday we would have more than we needed; the next we would run out of money long before the next paycheck. It was a continual financial rollercoaster. Sound familiar?

Like most people, I had not received any kind of formal or informal training to prepare me for the awesome responsibility of managing my income to effectively support a growing family. I was on my own with no financial roadmap as I searched for any type of a money management method that would work for me. I was looking for a way to both pay my bills on time and to smooth out the amount of spending money available between paydays. I’m sure you can relate to my quest.

I tried budgets and found that keeping track of every penny spent was something I didn’t want to do. My budgets started off great, but they didn’t last long. I tried bill consolidation loans and, after doing several, realized that consolidation loans by themselves are not the answer. They served only to increase my debt instead of helping me to control my finances. Keep in mind that this was all happening over 30 years ago; well before the advent of personal computers. There were no software options for personal financial management. I was on my own.

My First “System”

Over the years I gradually, without any premeditated idea of what I was doing, developed a system for paying my bills which also evened out the highs and lows between paychecks. These were the two features of a money management system that I wanted. This “system” was nothing more that a consistent way of looking at my finances twice a month. I was doing this all on scratch paper with no formal structure.

It’s impossible for me to pinpoint when my very simple approach to cash flow management evolved into something I could use consistently. All I can say with certainty is that while I was paying bills one month it dawned on me that what I was doing on scratch paper could somehow be organized into formal records.

After experimenting with forms design over a couple of months, I managed to create a system of forms that replaced my scratch paper. (Remember, this was in the mid-1970′s; several years before the advent of the personal computer.) With my new forms in place, my informal system had matured to the point that I was able to pay my bills when due without financial strain, and I had a consistent cash flow for day-to-day expenses. I was quite pleased with how my own personal money management “system” had turned out. It was a process that I, nor anyone else to my knowledge, had ever seen or used.

A Friend Gave It A Try

A friend of mine at the time, Fred Thornton (not his real name), became interested in my little system of forms. I had been telling Fred how pleased I was with the effectiveness of the process. My friend was also searching for a better financial scheme. He had an excellent income, plus a generous monthly dividend from a trust fund that his grandparents had set up. Despite his above average income, Fred’s financial condition was characterized by “more month than money.” He had large credit card and charge account balances to which he forfeited substantial interest every month. In addition, Fred was constantly concerned about his ability to pay his bills. He was in the same boat I had been in. At his request, I agreed to create a set of my forms for Fred to try.

After I copied the forms and instructed Fred on the methodology of the system, Fred became very dubious that my set of forms would be any help at all. After he initialized his forms to reflect his financial situation, it was painfully clear that Fred’s finances were a disaster. According to the forms, Fred was in very bad financial straits; bad enough that he doubted his ability to ever get his finances under control. In addition to doubting the usefulness of my forms, both Fred and his wife were afraid that using the system would put unwanted restraints on their lifestyle the same way budgets tend to do.

The Turnaround Was Amazing

Despite their concerns, Fred and his wife decided to give my system of forms a try. They had nothing to lose. Their finances were in such bad shape that they doubted my system could make things worse. The results they achieved so quickly amazed all of us.

After using my system of forms for less than three months, Fred’s finances had stabilized. All of his credit card and charge account balances were under control to the extent that he no longer paid interest on any of his credit cards or charge accounts. Furthermore, Fred and his wife were very pleased that their concerns about having constraints on their lifestyle proved groundless. They were actually able to begin pursuing many interests which, prior to using my system of forms, had been too expensive. As Christmas approached that year, the Thorntons were able to do virtually all of their gift buying without incurring any debt. In the eleven years they had been married, that was the first Christmas that they got through with virtually no additional debt.

The amazing turnaround in Fred’s finances was nothing short of incredible. Because of the original set of forms I had provided to Fred, his finances quickly went from “more month than money” to “more money than month.” After using my “system” for a few short months, Fred found that he was consistently faced with the pleasant problem of having excess income every month. His income had not changed, only the way he managed it.

The Word Began To Spread

My and Fred’s success with the original set of forms was difficult to keep secret. It wasn’t long before I was receiving inquiries from both people I knew as well as strangers; some of whom were out of state. Since I couldn’t make copies of the forms and personally instruct everyone on how to use them, I decided to write a how-to book. The resulting three-ring binder, titled Payday Management System, was self-published in 1975.

Without exception, everyone who purchased a copy of that first book had the same success in gaining control of their finances that Fred had experienced. I began receiving letters from very pleased customers. Sales were slow since all advertising was strictly word of mouth. But, it appeared that, given enough time, sales of the Payday Management System could have taken off. So why haven’t you heard about that first book in the last thirty or so years?

At the time I was still very much involved in my military career and had no time to be a book publisher. Shortly after publishing the Payday Management System, I was transferred to my next tour at sea. Before heading for my ship I put the book aside. I went off to sea and forgot about it. I continued to use the money management techniques; I just didn’t have the time to share them with others.

Fast Forward To Today

It’s now more than thirty years since my personal money management system was formalized in a crude set of hand-drawn forms. Since then, the personal computer has become very much a part of a growing number of peoples’ lives. I decided a few years ago that it was time to update the original book and to convert the manual forms into a personal computer program so that I could again begin sharing this powerful money management process. I was now a software developer with much experience and figured I could easily convert the Payday Management System manual workbook to a Windows program. Boy, was I wrong.

After several years and more false starts, I completed the first version of my personal finance program in the fall of 2006. Expressing the simple techniques that comprised the original Payday Management System proved to be a far greater challenge than I first thought. Those techniques are powerful in their simplicity; and I soon discovered that preserving that simplicity in a technological venue was not easy. But, version 1.0 of the software is finally done. I’ve been using the program for several months. It makes managing our month-to-month finances very simple and easy.

Dennis was invited to speak on Channel 8 “Good Morning Singapore” on 3 July 2009 (Friday) 7.30 am to share about some of the concepts in his book “Mastering Your Personal Finance” 如何做个理财掌门人. PS this is the First Chinese/English Book on Personal Finance in Singapore. What are the things he shared? The topics shared include: Can Average Singaporean become Rich? Why Do the Rich get Richer? Can it be due to they have a different mindset from the average person? What is the mindset of the Rich? To ger Richer, you need to increase your Financial Literacy? What is Financial Literacy? Do you need to be very good in Mathematics to have Financial Literacy? The Average person like to DIY, do you know that this can be one reason that actually hinder them from becoming Rich? What are the basic steps a person need to take to start on the path towards Financial Freedom?
Video Rating: 4 / 5

Personal Finance: Helps you to Keep your Finances Well

When you are shopping for Personal Finance, it happens to be important for you to know what you need. You get choices in between secured and unsecured of finance. Both the modes of accessing the money provision make it feasible to every borrower. Homeowners get lower interest rates, but this form of financing is done on their house. So if you end up in arrears, you could end up homeless. The money provision enables you to keep borrowing or to pay back large sums wherever you require when you require. With the help of this, your car purchasing plan gets easy with your dream drive. In addition to this, the taken amount is repaid at the end of the loan term. You can pay off the expense of your holiday and wedding. And importantly, people can invest the amount to repay their debts and dues.

Financing costs are paid when you applied for it. The cost includes the whole application and approval process. It is required that you may take in mind how much finance will cost. Besides this, you should also know this that there are some factors which determine the amount of the financing. These factors are as:

• your current income.

• your credit status.

• Interest rate of the existing mortgage.

If you want to finance at the lower monthly cost, you will need to stay in your home for several years to gain the cost of financing. Though you can take out the provisions through the other mode too i.e., unsecured form. For that, you do not have to place any of your worth asset as of guarantee for you loan repayment. But, securing such money provisions takes a little more time of yours.

That too is not a big deal anymore. Numerous lenders are going in for this prospect. As a result, it has given rise the existing competition amongst lenders. However, for your fast processing and easy approval, there is an online loan provision too. You can apply for such personal finance online. Only a simple online application form is filled in and in the corner of the day the fund is ready.

How-To Use the Quicken Register and Track Transactions. Learn more about using the Quicken register to track and organize your transactions. Customize the register to resize and hide columns to see only what you want. New features make using the Quicken register easier than ever. Visit Quicken.Intuit.com