budget

Your Budget Will Always Have Unexpected Expenses

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I love the end of the month. When I can see how well we did — if our spending was less than our income, and by how much — it gets us one step closer to our financial goals. But that’s in the good months. In the bad months, it’s not as much fun to […]

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How to Create a Budget

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This is an excerpt from Day 7 — “Create a Budget” — of Automatic Finances: 17 Days to Your Financial Freedom. Budgeting can be the most important act for anyone looking to get better control of their finances. With a budget, you establish exactly where your money is going how much you will be saving […]

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33 Free Personal Finance Templates for Google Docs

I’m a big fan of Google Docs — the search engine company’s cloud competitor to the Microsoft Office suite of applications — especially when it comes to managing my files or schedule or ideas when I’m using my iPhone or computer other than my standard iMac. I haven’t gotten too deep into using its spreadsheet […]

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Ask the Readers: Do You Budget or Track Your Money?

Everyone has a different style when it comes to their day-to-day money management. Some people check in everyday, others use the envelope system to budget, and others only update once-a-month. For the most part, if you are just starting out your financial journey, budgeting is the best way to find where your money is going. […]

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Ask the Readers: How Often Do You Check In?

When it comes to automating your finances, the point is to avoid worrying about the day-to-day budgeting/tracking and let online tools do it for you. But, depending on where you are in your financial journey, you may need to adapt the system and check in more often on your day-to-day behaviors. Often, when you’re starting […]

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