Savings Advice for the Self-Employed
Posted Under: Advice
Savings Advice for the Self-Employed
City of Industry, CA — Banking industry news provided by Financial News USA. Those who work as contractors, small-business owners, or freelancers aren’t watching the employment figures. They’re too busy trying to make a living.
When you are your own boss, the role of chief financial officer is critical to your everyday well-being. In the world of the self-employed, it’s usually feast or famine. And unfortunately for many, it’s a guessing game when it comes to anticipating the next month’s income.
If your paycheck is irregular, planning and budgeting are just as important as soliciting work, says debt counseling firm Money Management International. Here are some practical tips on keeping the cash flowing:
Average out your expenditures over a three-month period. If you’re not tracking your expenses now, do it for a few months. Don’t forget to include the monthly costs of health-care premiums, taxes, and office supplies. Knowing where your money really goes will help head off any end-of-the-month surprises.
Dear Dr. Don,I’m a single grandma working as a teacher’s aide making $25,000 a year. My daughter, son-in-law and three wonderful grandkids have all lived with me for the past year and it may be a couple more years before they can get on their feet and get into their own home.
My son-in-law is a contractor and I have many home improvement projects that he will do (without pay, of course) if I get the supplies and material — replacing all bedroom carpets, living room and kitchen floors, tile for bathrooms, new kitchen countertops, new fence around yard, etc.
Because I don’t have the money on hand for all this, I plan to refinance to a lower interest rate and take out $20,000. The interest rate on my existing 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is 5.75 percent. I owe $83,000 and have a credit score of 760. I have no other debt except for a $10,000 line of credit, which I’ll pay off when I refinance.
Does your wife’s closet look like a jewel box of shoes, while you wish your bank account could afford an actual box of jewels? Or maybe you’re tired of your spouse snapping up the newest tech gadgets and instead want to spend the money on a vacation together.
When it comes to money, fiery opposites attract, according to “Fatal (Fiscal) Attraction: Spendthrifts and Tightwads in Marriage,” a study being authored by a team of professors from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and Northwestern University.
“We found that people tend to marry spouses with opposing emotional reactions toward spending,” the report said.
People register how much something costs in terms of how much it pains them to dish out the cash, according to the report. As a result, spendthrifts gravitate toward tightwads to help them balance their financial tendencies and emotional reactions to money — even if they do it on a subconscious level. [Read the full article]
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