Step 4 – Money In

January 8th and you’re already at Step 4! You’ll have a plan before you know it.

• Regular (or average) monthly net income (net = after tax & deductions)
• Other resources or irregular income such as bonuses, tax refunds or extra income

Put the regular income on the sheet under income and note the other resources on the sheet separately.

Tip: Take a look a a couple pay stubs at different points in the year to be sure that you’re working with good information. Sometimes employers deduct EI and CPP premiums over the first few months until they’re paid and others average the deductions over the whole year.

Step 3

This is probably the easiest step! Using the form you downloaded or whatever you want, consider the following questions:

1. What do you want? Retirement, repay debt or new car
2. When would you like it? In 1 year, 2 years or 25 years
3. How much will it cost? Estimate is ok

Writing them down is the first step to making them a reality! It can be tricky to prioritize them but this is important to do.

Step 2

A good plan is worth writing down. Dear Piggy Bank has forms for you to use. Either excel or PDF format, whichever you prefer. Take a couple minutes to download one: Dear Piggy Bank Forms.

If you have a couple more minutes, gather together some of your financial information including net pay, regular expenses, annualy expenses, assets (balances) and debts (balances and payment amounts).

Step 1

What will motivate you to start 2013 with a good plan to manage your finances? Understanding and acknowledging why you want to do something is a big step forward and can keep you moving in the right direction.

• Do you worry about day to day finances?
• Do you worry about your financial future?
• Do you worry about your family’s financial future?
• Do you want something that will take some saving?
• Are you simply tired of not having a good handle on your finances?
• Are you without a financial plan?

Why do you want to do it? Write down what will motivate you to take 5 minutes a day for the next two weeks to get yourself and your money sorted!

Happy New Year!

If you didn’t get around to sorting out your finances before or over the holidays, don’t worry, Dear Piggy Bank will catch you up.

Start the new year with a plan that will make you feel like you have your finances under control and your money working for you. It’s easier than you think. One step a day (Monday to Friday!) that will take ten minutes or less over the next two weeks and you will have a plan and be ready to put it into action.

Each day I’ll post a step on the Dear Piggy Bank blog and on Twitter @DearPiggyBank.

2013 is just around the corner. The holiday season always goes so quickly and financial planning gets but a smidgeon of a thought. No one wants to spend their time crunching numbers and thinking about a budget but here are just a couple things on your list to do before the end of 2012 to step into 2013 with your best financial foot: Read more »

Without an army of elves, being prepared for the holiday season is a challenge and as time ticks by, it becomes more difficult to stick to a budget. It’s the old ‘supply and demand’. As shoppers and mailers get down to the wire, the prices go up!

We pay more for convenience, we pay more for unusual or ‘perfect’ gifts and we pay more for ‘rush’. The early bird gets the worm!

But sometimes there’s not much we can do about bumps in the road so here are a few tips to get your resourcefulness and creative juices flowing:

• Shop with a list
• Research on line to learn who charges how much, where they’re located and if they have stock
• If you’re shopping on-line, ship direct to the recipient
• Consider gift cards…they are easy to mail and many like to choose their own gift
• Give your time and effort to those that ‘have everything’..I imagine your mom would enjoy having a few holiday meals cooked for her and the guests
• Skip the gift exchange and meet friends for some social time instead
• Do you usually mail cards? How about writing a letter and emailing it to those who can navigate email?

Do you have any ideas to save time and money but still give a great gift?

No matter how organized we plan to be, the holiday season has a habit of sneaking up on us and before you know it, there are events to attend and gifts to buy. A bit here and a bit there has a sneaky way of adding up and can be tricky to keep track of. Who hasn’t been surprised by the holiday bills that show up in January? Not a fun way to start the New Year and especially since many of us start the year with a lower pay cheque due to CPP and EI deductions.

It’s easy to get carried away during the festive season but beware of turning a blind eye to what you’re spending by saying to yourself…’I’ll figure it out later’. At the beginning of December it may be too late to stash away a little extra for the holidays so if you haven’t already stashed the funds away, here are some ways to still enjoy the season but not dread the bills that follow on the heels of all the fun.

• Do a quick check on your bank balance now. What do you expect to pay out and what will be coming in between now and December 31st? Is there any extra for the holidays?
• Do a little research before you go shopping.
  Shop with a list (draft your list before you shop). This will save you time and money on impulse purchases.
• Check your calendar..can you afford to attend everything you’ve been invited to? Maybe drinks ‘in’ with friends one evening rather than going out?
• Add up the costs of your holiday season including gifts, travel, holiday spending and events.
• Set a budget for the spending that you can control and set a plan to afford the expenses you can not. Plan to pay for Holiday Season 2012 by no later than mid-February 2013.

Finishing the holiday season in the green is so much more enjoyable than in the red!

How are you doing? It’s almost impossible to become financially literate overnight but if you’ve taken the opportunity to put the basics in place, you’ll be well on your way. This doesn’t mean that it takes care of itself but I think you’ll find the amount of time you spend managing your financial affairs will be reduced, hopefully leaving you more time to do the things that you enjoy. Read more »

Once you know the ins and outs of your household finances it’s time to decide where you’d like to go, make a map, put gas in the car and get on the road.

GOALS: Having a destination in mind may not be how everyone likes to travel but without specific goals, the probability of achieving them is diminished. So few of us have sufficient resources to achieve objectives without a thought to where the money is going to come from. Whether it be an exotic trip, debt repayment, a new car, a first home, an emergency fund, retirement or education, it takes some time to accumulate the funds for these things. Read more »