Personal Finance Mastery

When you try to create a budget you learn very quickly how hard it can be to stick to it. When I first started creating budgets for myself I was always failing and it seemed like such an uphill battle and a struggle to try and make ends meet. I always blamed myself [...]

Here’s a quick tip when creating a budget or as I like to call it a financial forecast.  The first step to creating a budget is to bring all your expenses together and categorize them.  One of the easiest and most intuitive ways to categorize for your budget is by organizing your expenses by time [...]

I often hear people say that budgets don’t work and that they are unrealistic.  I completely disagree.  If you want financial freedom it is imperative to have a budget in place and follow it.  Think about it, businesses big and small all have a budget.  Even our government has a budget though they don’t seem [...]

I was out at the local bagel shop the other day when I ran into an old friend.  As I waited for my food I asked him how he was, and at first he said ok.  He asked me how I am, and what I am doing.  I told him how I help people that [...]

The Holiday season is here and if you’re like most people you want to be able to buy the best and latest gifts for everyone in your family, all your friends, and of course a couple gifts for yourself!  I believe in giving, I think it’s an essential part of life, but I don’t believe [...]

It’s barely the beginning of October and already the stores are filled with Halloween decorations, Thanksgiving knickknacks and in the back of the store just waiting at a moment’s notice to explode out and take over every single aisle are the Christmas decorations.  It’s in this holiday time of year that our emotions begin [...]

As a financial counselor, I am often asked what type of budgeting system I use. Some people use a paper budget and try to follow their budget that way, but I’ve learned that system doesn’t work well for me and many of the people I know. I went to automating my budget online a few years ago and I’ve never looked back. I really love using the online budgeting system because it lets me put my budget on autopilot which is a lot easier and takes A LOT less time.