Financial Wellness Wednesdays - Peace of Mind

 

Photo Credit: Kimberle Austin Smith

Peace of Mind

What does financial wellness yield? Peace of mind. 

When you no longer are charging or borrowing, when you are on the path to paying off debt, when you have an emergency fund, you begin to have financial peace. This is truly priceless. Having a goal to be free from creditors and the fear of an emergency coming up is the first step to give you hope and peace. 

It's not just financial peace of mind, it's also spiritual peace of mind, knowing you are being a good steward of your money. That you will owe no man anything but love (Romans 13:8) is one of the best things ever.

It's relational peace of mind knowing there will be less friction with your spouse or possibly family members that you owe money to (yes, many of us have been there). Financial friction between family members, especially spouses, has a way breaking up relationships altogether.

If you have been struggling in these areas, it's not too late to bring wellness and peace of mind into your finances, your spirit and your relationships. I can help you with identifying your goals and writing out a specific plan.

You can master your money... and I can help!  

Contact Michelle Serna by filling out the Contact Me form to the right of this post.

Money & Marriage Mondays - Down Payment

 

Photo Credit: minnesotafirsttimehomebuyer.com

Down Payment

Are you and your spouse looking to buy a home? Dave Ramsey gives some great guidelines to follow to keep your overall debt low.

Ramsey says "If you can’t pay cash for your home, go for 20% or more down payment to avoid private mortgage insurance (PMI)"

He also states, in order to save tens of thousands of dollars or more "You want a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage that’s no more than 25% of your monthly take-home pay."

And that the 25% should include, principal, interest, property taxes, homeowner's insurance and HOA fees (if any). He provides a great mortgage calculator on his website as well so you can play around with the numbers. mortgage calculator

How long will it take you to save for a down payment? Well, it's kind of up to you.  Check out this possible scenario he provides:

Cut your expenses	$15,000
Pause retirement contributions	$12,000
Earn extra income from side hustle	$12,400
Sell stuff / skip splurges	$4,000
Total savings	$43,400

Need help in honing in on your down payment goals? I can help.

You can master your money... and I can help!  

Contact Michelle Serna by filling out the Contact Me form to the right of this post.

Financial Freedom Fridays - Merry Christmas

 

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Merry Christmas 

You can master your money... and I can help!  

Contact Michelle Serna by filling out the Contact Me form to the right of this post.

Financial Wellness Wednesday - Ignorance is NOT Bliss

 Photo credit: yahoofinance.com

Ignorance is NOT Bliss

One thing you do not want to be is in the dark about is where you are financially. I'm not saying you need to worry about money, but you need to know where it is going every month and how much you need to live on, both now and in your retirement years. 

Take stock of what you owe. What are the outstanding balances on loans and credit cards and what are the minimum payments. If you never borrowed (charged) anything again, how long will it take you to pay off that debt? Are you willing to let it go that long?

Do you have any retirement saved? Do you know how much you will need monthly to live on once you are retired? Are you on track to get there?

Do you have children that want to go to college? Have you started saving for this or discussed with them some debt free options for attending college. 

All of these things might bring some financial stress and you may be tempted to stop thinking about them and go on as usual. But you might find yourself in a worse situation if you do not address it now.

It's not too late. If you have been ignoring your finances in the past and now you realize you have a big mess and not sure how to proceed, I can help.

You can master your money... and I can help!  

Contact Michelle Serna by filling out the Contact Me form to the right of this post.

Money & Marriage Mondays - Vacations

 

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Vacations

To vacation or not to vacation, that is the question.  If you are like most couples, you likely have different perspectives on taking vacations and having fun. "You only live once"; "Enjoy it while you are alive. You can't take it with you." "We don't have money for that."

There is nothing wrong with taking a vacation and enjoying time away from the hustle and bustle of life and work. But you won't want to get in debt for it. Instead, start planning ahead for your vacations. Set up a savings fund just for vacations. 

In order to set up your fund, you will want to determine where you want to go. Plan ahead. Research the costs ahead of time so there are no surprises and no need to charge anything. Then set a date for when you want to go. Take the total costs (don't forget food and transportation costs) and divide by the number of months until the date you want to go. Can you reasonably set this amount aside each month? If not, consider pushing out the date or scaling back your vacation.

There are lots of creative ways to take vacations, but you will need to take the time to research. If you can't afford to go far then check out your state's attractions. There are national and state parks to explore and many other options. If you live within an hour or two from the mountains, lakes, deserts, or beaches, consider staying a couple nights in a nice hotel or cabin and enjoy taking hikes, skiing, bike riding, dune buggying, or snorkeling. Maybe it's not your dream vacation, but you can save for that as well.

Once you have your funds, stick to the budget. Don't give into temptations to spend money on the things not planned out. Also, if you are the one in the marriage that doesn't like to spend, make sure you enjoy yourself. You have worked hard and saved to make this vacation happen. Don't second guess the costs, just enjoy it with your family.

You can master your money... and I can help!  

Contact Michelle Serna by filling out the Contact Me form to the right of this post.

Money Freedom Fridays - Make a Dent in Your Debt

 

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Make a Debt in Your Dent

I hear this frequently. "I just can't seem to make a dent in my debt. I keep paying and paying, but always seem to be in the same place."

This is likely due to the fact you are only paying the minimum amount. If you want to see a dent in your debt, you need to stop using the credit cards (altogether) and start paying more than the minimum due each month.

Why stop using credit cards? Because you are charging more each month than you are paying for the minimum payment. This means your balances are increasing and the credit card companies are charging you more interest. This is like going 1 step forward and 3 steps back. You will keep increasing your balance with more charges and more interest and barely reducing the balance with your minimum payment. If you don't have the "cash" to pay for it, don't charge it. 

Once you stop using the cards and the line of equity, you will want to pay as much over the minimum payment as you can. If you don't think you can't pay more, start by not going out to eat at restaurants... at all. Or at least until you have no more debt and can pay "cash". Or how about canceling the cable bill (average of $120/month) and spending time with the family outdoors or playing games instead of sitting in front of the TV? 

Now you have at least two ways to pay off more than your minimum on your debt payments. Apply what you would have spent on each of these items, directly to your debt.

If you need help to identify "hidden" money to pay off debt or how make the most impact making a dent in your debt, I can help with that.

You can master your money... and I can help!  

Contact Michelle Serna by filling out the Contact Me form to the right of this post.

Financial Wellness Wednesdays - Emergency Fund

 

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Emergency Fund

There are 2 levels of emergency funds. A minimum emergency fund is $1,000 and it will will cover many emergencies like a car repair, a deductible for an emergency hospital visit or even a broken water heater. 

Once you have the minimum saved you can work on a more extensive emergency fund to cover larger emergencies such as unemployment . This fund should be anywhere from 3 to 6 months of your basic living expenses such as rent/mortgage, utilities, food and transportation. This gives you time to find another job.  

It doesn't take long to save for the minimum $1,000 fund. But you must be on purpose about it and then don't touch it under any circumstance except in a real emergency. 

One of the best ways to find money to save for your emergency fund is to make a budget. Identify your basic living expenses. Leave off amounts for going out to eat, housekeeper, pedicures, and other items that you don't really need to survive. Once you prepare your budget with only these expenses, you will identify "extra" money to put in the emergency fund. 

Now that you have a minimum emergency fund, you will also find peace of mind knowing you are covered in an emergency.  

Next step? Get rid of your debt... and I can help with that.

You can master your money... and I can help!  

Contact Michelle Serna by filling out the Contact Me form to the right of this post.