MONEY MANAGEMENT DETERMINES YOUR QUALITY OF LIFE

Studies have shown that it is not how much money you make but what you do with what you make that determines your quality of life. Pinching Pennies presents some tips to help you make the most of your money and improve your quality of life.
From the Consumer Affairs Commission:

1. Plan ahead. Set short, medium and long-term goals as this provides incentives for savings.
2. Be a specific as possible in setting goals.
3. As the size, age, and income of you and your family changes, adjust your goals and establish new ones.
4. Establish goals that are realistic, measurable and achievable within a given time period.
5. Think through your expenses. Where can you cut back on expenditure? A useful way to do this is by reviewing your bills over a specific period (3 months or more), you would be surprised to see how much is spent when, you aren’t keeping track.
6. Develop a spending plan, that is, write down how much you intend to spend in each category (household expenses, school fees, lunch money, gas, etc) for the budget period; then try to stick to your plan.
7. Revisit and review your spending plan periodically. A spending plan is something you keep working and reworking until it suits your family and satisfies the individual.
8. Try to keep your committed expenses at or below 60 percent of your disposable income. These expenses would normally include: Basic Food Items, Clothing, Household Expenses (light, water, telephone, rent/mortgage), Insurance premiums, Non-essential items such as cable or satellite TV service.
9. Keep only one credit card.
10. Think before you spend.
11. Build an emergency fund to get you through the rough times.

Financial experts also suggest that you pay bills on time to avoid late fees and pay more than the minimum on your credit cards in order to keep debt in check. Another great money management tip is to read your bank statement regularly. However, just reading the bank statement is not enough. You have to keep your bank account under control. The best way to mismanage money is to not know anything about what is going on with your account.

Financial writer Jenny McCune offers pointers for you and your bank account.

1 Keep good records.
The more informed you are about your checking account, the better equipped you’ll be to read and analyze your bank statement. That means keeping track of account activity. And you do have choices. You can keep a handwritten record of transactions using the register that comes with your checks. Or use a software program, such as Intuit’s Quicken or an online version of your favourite financial program. The point is to have a record of every check, deposit and electronic fund transfer that’s involved with the account.

2 Open your mail.
When the bank statement arrives, open it and put your record keeping to good use. It’s better to examine your bank statement sooner than later for two reasons. First, if there are any mistakes, reporting them to your bank quickly will ensure they get corrected. Banks usually will disavow errors if they are reported more than 60 days after you received the statement. Second, the fewer days that pass between when the bank issues a statement and when you read it, the more in synch your records will be with the bank’s numbers.

3 Spend quality time with your account.
Scanning’s a good first step, but don’t stop there. You need to see whether your payment records match what the bank has. Most bank statements will give you several ways of doing this. For example. some allow you to see what checks have been posted by including a copy of the check. The advantage: it shows you who the check was written to. Even when cancelled checks are part of your statement, your monthly accounting probably will also include a list by check number of your transactions. Here you’ll see the check number, amount and when it was posted, but not the payee. Similar information will be listed on incoming cash to your account. For checks paid and deposits credited, make sure your records are consistent with the bank's books.

4 Call your Bank immediately if you find a problem.

5 Check daily balance summaries.
However, there are exceptions: consumers with interest bearing accounts or those who must maintain a minimum average balance.
Folks that fall into these categories may want to keep closer tabs on daily balances to make sure the accounts are in compliance or to make sure they are paid the appropriate amount of interest.