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Do you ever feel that you do not have enough cash at the end of the month to pay bills, buy necessities of life? Are you barely making a dent in your credit card debt balance, no matter how hard you try?

Here is a reality check for all of us: if we choose to spend it, it is gone for good. We cannot spend it on anything else. Are you perhaps worried about a nest egg for your golden years or savings for early retirement? Then you have arrived at a source that can provide some prudent tips on how to start, finish, implement, stick to, revise and refine a family budget.

A good place to start is to monitor these expenses.

Take stock of your fiscal situation. Start with assessing where exactly you are in your financial life and circumstance. Most of us think we know, but we really do not.

That is, until we take the time to actually list, study and analyze the situation. Figure out what your financial worth is, look at all financial goals, and set a timeline for reaching them. Does this sound like an action plan? Where do you start?

A good suggestion is your bank statements, tax return and recent current credit report – a financial asset statement if you will -and an overview of the current situation.

The premise is simple: you can not get to arrive where you want to be if you do not know where you are today, what it will take to get where you need to be and how to get there.

A well thought out, planned and realistic budget will serve as a roadmap to get you there. It is a financial tool facilitating your financial dreams, goals and aspirations, making them become a reality. Budgeting will enable you to actually reach your financial targets and set goals.

Here are twelve good reasons to get you started:

1. Family budgets are used as a baseline, analysis-tool and roadmap. It is a useful tool and guide. It tells you whether you are headed in the direction you want to be headed in financially. It helps you to move from spending to saving and good fiscal balance, management and responsibility. You may have goals and dreams, but if you do not set up guidelines for reaching them and you do not measure your progress, you may end up going so far in the wrong direction you can never make it back. Can you imagine the government or a major corporation operating without a budget? No, and neither should you.

2. It is often described and justified as an empowering enabler. A budget lets you control your money instead of your money controlling you.

3. A budget is a realistic estimate and true reflection of current circumstance and means, a type of financial situation-analysis that will tell you if you are living within your means. Before the widespread use of credit cards, you could tell if you were living within your means because you had money left over after paying all your bills.

4. A budget can help you meet your savings goals. It includes a mechanism for setting aside money for savings and investments.

5. Following a realistic budget frees up spare cash so you can use your money on the things that really matter to you instead of frittering it away on things you do not even remember buying.

6. A budget helps your entire family focus on common goals. It is unifying families in mutual purpose and effort, working together towards a successful outcome and reward.

7. A budget helps you prepare for emergencies or large or unanticipated expenses that might otherwise knock you for a loop financially.

8. A budget can improve your marriage. A good budget is not just a spending plan; it is a communication tool. Done right, a budget can bring the two of you closer together as you identify and work towards common goals and reduce arguments about money.

9. A budget reveals areas where you are spending too much money, so you can refocus on your most important goals.

10. A budget can keep you out of debt or help you get out of debt.

11. A budget actually creates extra money for you to do use on things that matter to you.

12. A budget helps you sleep better at night because you do not lie awake worrying about how you are going to make ends meet.

Nevertheless, despite all these wonderful reasons quoted above, people are still hesitant to commit to family budgeting as standard practice in their households. We might again want to probe a little deeper still and ask why?

In our follow-up post we will discuss the TOP THREE CAUSES OF BUDGET FAILURE. If you would like to read more about Budgeting and how to setup a family budget follow this link: How to Setup a Family Budget

Credit cards were not a common buying method for our parents and earlier generations. Yet, since the early 1990s, credit card debt has increased significantly. Even people as old as 80-plus are suffering from the risk of potential bankruptcy and other losses due to their lack of advice or knowledge on how to manage their credit cards more efficiently.

Often people over 50 do not own a computer or are unable to navigate the Internet to locate valuable information. Even if you don't own a computer, you may be able to use a computer at your local library. Contact your local community college and inquire about its adult education program for seniors. Ask about classes on Internet navigation and computer literacy skills.

Set-up fees are made when a new credit card is purchased. This fee is for all the work that goes into setting up your card.

Credit limit increase fees are paid for increasing the amount of credit that's on your card. So if you had a card for $2,000, and you ask for $1,000 more, you'll be charged a credit limit increase fee to get more money on your card.

Cash advance fees are used for setting up a cash advance. It could be a percentage of the cash advance, or just a flat fee.

Other fees include things such as customer service and looking into your account. Some credit card companies even charge you fees for using your card over the phone.

Interest rates for credit cards are fees you pay in addition to paying back the money you originally spent on the credit card. The card collects interest over time, and you pay this back inside your other payments. Really the only way to avoid or lower interest rates would be to pay your monthly bill, in full, on time each month.

There are usually three ways that credit card interest rates are calculated. The first is known as the previous balance method, the next is the average daily balance method, and the last is known as the adjusted balance method.

The first method (previous balance) is calculated by the finance charge based on the amount of last month's payments.

The second method (average daily balance) is calculated by the daily balance on every day of your pay period, subtracting received (made) payments, divided by the number of days in your pay period. If you make your payment earlier, this method of calculating interest rates will not be as high.

The final method is the adjusted balance method. This payment is determined by subtracting all the payments you made during your current payment from the last balance you paid on your last pay period.

Credit card interest rates can be determined by several other factors. For starters, the more your card is worth, that is, the more money that's on your card, the higher your interest rate is likely to be. Also, the amount of time you keep your card and the amount of time it takes to pay your monthly balance can have a role in your interest rate as well. Annual fees on credit cards can also determine how high your interest rate will be. Other random fees can influence the amount of your interest rates, too.

Some credit card companies have no interest rate, but most of them do. If a credit card company has no interest rate, this usually means that your other fees, such as annual fees and late payment fees will be higher, so the company is pretty much making up for the money they would have lost with no interest rate in the first place.

What you can do to avoid getting into debt?

Experts say there are certain money missteps that many of us are likely to make. Here are the major money missteps that can easily land you in debt. These are very common missteps that many of us fall into without even knowing it.

Buying a new car.

OK, this is not so much a money misstep (unless you really can't afford a new car, or if you finance it with a high interest rate) as a preference that can easily get you into debt. Sure, you love that new car smell, the feeling that you are the one adding up the miles, but it is a known fact that new cars depreciate several thousand dollars as within the first year. Save yourself all that money that you're paying for the privilege of the new car smell and buy a high quality pre-owned vehicle. Many used cars still carry the original warranty-even more incentive for buying a quality used vehicle.

Borrowing from your 401(k) or 403(b)

In most cases, you won't get a great deal at all. Your 401(k) deals are pre-tax, which means that eventually the money that you put in will get taxed when you withdraw it. Taking out a loan from your 401(k) or 403(b) means that you will be borrowing from pre-tax dollar which will eventually have to be repaid. When you eventually retire and begin your withdrawals, you will be taxed again. If you borrow money from your 401(k) or 403(b), you will effectively be getting taxed twice. Did you know that you are also required to repay the loan in only a few months? If you don't happen to have the money for repayment, your loan will be treated as a withdrawal. You can expect a whopping 10 percent early withdrawal penalty.

Using your home equity line of credit to pay off your credit card debt

You can lose your home if this doesn't work out. Credit card debt is often described by unsecured debt, because there's no real collateral that the credit card company can force you to sell in order to collect on the debt. A home mortgage and home equity loan is known as secured debt because your home is the collateral. But if you fall behind your payments, the lender can easily require you to sell your home in order to collect on the debt.

Avoid buying a variable annuity

When you buy a variable annuity you are making a contract with the insurance company and the money is used to buy mutual funds. Salesmen may try to pitch this kind of investment as a way of buying and selling funds inside the annuity without the tax bills as long as the money is invested. But did you know that you will have to pay income tax on any withdrawals? Plus, if you withdraw any money from your variable annuities before you are approximately 60 years of age, you will also be penalized with a 10 percent fee. So watch out for what may seem like a great deal on that tempting variable annuity. There are often many buried fees that are attached to variable annuities. Make sure to read all the fine print.

Do not finance your new home purchase with a variable interest loan

Avoid those low initial teaser rates for financing your new home. If you can't afford the home otherwise, you should probably not buy the home. Avoid option adjustable rate mortgages too. This will usually cause your loan balance to become bigger each month as the lender adds the unpaid interest on the balance of your home loan. Watch out for those great introductory rates-they can often turn out to be not-so-great.

To read more about how to avoid getting into debt or how to get out of debt, have a look at this…<Click Here>

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In these uncertain times where stock markets have been crashing, mortgage defaults are high, people getting retrenched and businesses are going under, it is no wonder most people are more worried than ever about how they are going to make ends meet, pay the bills and put food on the table, particularly with high levels of crippling consumer debt.

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Today's "I've got to have it now" mentality is robbing tens of thousands of people from enjoying life. The stress and anxiety from being over-worked and loaded with debt takes a toll – yet they keep on doing what they are doing. They feel Trapped! (does this sound familiar?) If they keep on doing what they are doing, they'll keep on getting what they have been getting – deeper in debt and more stressed!

To put it in perspective, consider these facts:

• Consumers have accumulated more than $2.2 trillion in purchases by using major credit cards in the past year.
• The majority have a habit of spending more than they have and it has become an acceptable practice and way of life.
• Credit card debit grew by 315% from 1989 to 2006!
• Less and less people are paying credit card bills on time, piling on interest and penalties to already soaring debt.
• Americans have more debt today than ever before – and growing! (And the rest of the world for that matter)
• Credit cards have become a way of life and way to horde more material possessions than a person can use.
• Buying things without having money is easier today than ever before.
• 80% of Students are solicited by credit card companies every day – drawing them into the web of debt.
• Debt, like weight gain, often sneaks up on us. The truth is, debt happens one purchase at a time; one decision at a time.

Don’t just think about it! Take action and take control of your life before you suffocate in a mountain of debt! When you are in control, you are able to overcome obstacles and identify capabilities deep inside you that until now, you did not know existed!

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It's about Simple living. It's not about things; it's about beliefs and principles and making some simple changes in your life. Amongst an extensive list of informative subjects, we talk about four major areas of life associated with "wealth" in this empowering book:

All of these areas of your life are interrelated and interconnected in some way (if they are not aligned you could find yourself crippled with a serious debt problem). How "wealthy" you are in each area is most likely determined by your values and goals. When you approach life with goals that are incongruent with your values, you create confusion and anxiety for your body, your mind, and your life!

Conflicting values and goals can lead to unhappiness, insecurity, stress, depression, and both mental and physical illness. But when you establish goals that are driven by your true values, then you have greater harmony and peace in your life. Read on to discover how you can simplify your life and lead a debt free, simple and abundant lifestyle.

re: Extract from Simply Living Debt Free; Page 9 – 10 /53

Life is a balancing act:

Today’s hectic world requires multi-tasking at every level. Work, family, and social life are all filled with numerous activities and demands on our time. It’s difficult to determine where and how to spend your time with so many commitments and activities tugging at you. It’s a balancing act that feels more like a juggling act and it has most people filled with anxiety and stress.

Over 70% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, with no cushion or planning for emergencies. They are juggling their money and their debt and getting nowhere – except further in debt and perilously close to a mental breakdown from the stress and anxiety of their situation. Their lives are so stressful and difficult, they don’t have time to enjoy living.

But when you make the commitment to simplify your life and live a good life while still taking care of every other aspect of your life, it becomes a much more manageable task. It all starts with a good hard look at what’s important to you in this life. It requires you to:

Insightful thinking and honestly answering questions about your current life, compared to the life you would really like to live, will lead to a greater understanding of what is needed to achieve that new life. Pulling back the covers and accepting the cold, hard facts about what is wrong with your current life will eventually lead to a better life.

You must take control of your life and make changes to reach the destination you dream about. Don’t just think about it – take action and take control of your life.

When you are in control, you are able to overcome obstacles and identify capabilities deep inside you that until now, you did not know existed.

It’s an enlightening, exciting realization to discover that you can control your own destiny!

Consider some of the questions that will give you a greater understanding of your current situation and the simpler life that that awaits you:

Looking at yourself honestly and assessing your current situation is a harsh reality for many. Once you sit down and evaluate where you are currently spending your time, money, and energy, you may be surprised at the choices you have made. You may discover that your actions are not aligned with your goals.

And more importantly, you may realize that your goals are in conflict with your values!

Scary? It can be, but it doesn’t have to be.

Change can be hard and it may be painful – but the pain will be short-lived and your new life will be abundant with happiness. If you don’t change, aren’t you going to go through even more pain with no end to your debt, unhappiness, and stress in sight?

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If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and
endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet
with a success unexpected in common hours.
~ Henry David Thoreau