Kenneth Boyd's Blog, page 40

How Not to Feel Guilty About Making a Career Change

How did you end up choosing your career? Were you influenced by your parents? Were you inspired by people you considered successful? Or were you able to find a career that consistently challenged you?

Many factors affect one’s career choice. But most of us had to switch jobs multiple times before landing our dream job. If there is no more room for growth in your career, you may feel that making a career change can make you happy and fulfilled. You could be thinking of quitting your job now and start over or pursue an online education before calling it quits. But then, guilt is what often stops people from leaving a job they are already sick and tired of having.

 

Taking a leap of faith and deciding to switch careers are nowhere easy. You may need to start from scratch, people may judge you for taking the risk, and your guilt may eat you up inside. But sometimes, you need to take risks and chase your own happiness to feel satisfied.

 

No matter your reason for changing careers, you should learn how to stop guilt from ruining your life. If you feel guilty about switching careers, the following can help you overcome it:

 

Realize that taking risks is sometimes a good thing

 

All successful people have one thing in common: they took the risks and owned everything that came with those risks. Leaving your comfort zone can be a daunting experience. But doing so helps you grow as a person, meet new people, experience new things, and grow your skills and knowledge. Realize the kind of growth you can experience with changing careers and focus on your goal so that you can feel better.

 

Know that you deserve to have better work-life balance

 

Some of us are stuck in a position where we no longer have enough time to care for ourselves and spend quality time with our loved ones. When all you do is work all day, you can feel unsatisfied even if your job comes with a high salary and amazing benefits. Know that you deserve to havebetter work-life balance. Your current job can help you pay your bills, but a much bigger price to pay is your happiness.

 

Let go of the negativity

 

Sometimes, the best way to overcome guilt is by letting go of all the negativity you feel inside. Start anew and leave behind all of your negative thoughts. Stop worrying about what others have to say about your decision. Start appreciating the small things in life, and be thankful for having the chance to change your career. Not everyone is lucky and brave enough to make the switch.

Sometimes, switching careers becomes a must. This is especially true if it means putting your overall health first. If you feel sad and unsatisfied about your job and your mental and physical health are now in jeopardy, then maybe a career change is what you need. Remember that you have only one life. You should live it to the fullest, unleash your full potential, and simply be happy.

 

For live CPA exam prep and accounting classes, join Conference Room for free. Members will be notified of course dates, times, costs, and how to attend these courses.

 

Get your questions answered to pass the CPA exam, and to learn accounting concepts.

 

Go to Accounting Accidentally for 300+ blog posts and 450+ You Tube videos on accounting and finance:

 

Good luck!

Ken Boyd

Author: Cost Accounting for Dummies, Accounting All-In-One for Dummies, The CPA Exam for Dummies and 1,001 Accounting Questions for Dummies

(email) ken@stltest.net

(website and blog) http://www.accountingaccidentally.com/

 

The post How Not to Feel Guilty About Making a Career Change appeared first on Accounting Accidentally.

Sometimes, A Bad Boss Is A Good Thing For Your Career

Bad bosses are a lot more common than we think.

 

According to Gallup data, half of employees have once left a company because of a bad boss experience. What’s more worrying is that a single bad boss can affect a large group of employees. However, are bad bosses always bad news?

 

As surprising as it might sound, a less-qualified manager may be the best thing for your career. Indeed, if you are willing to think outside the box and find the silver lining, you could profit from the experience. Here is why a bad boss can help move your career forward, even though they may not know it.

 

The boost you need to quit

Sometimes, at the end of a particularly stressful interaction with your direct manager, you might wonder why you are still working for such a person.

 

Sure, you could find a long list of reasons to postpone the unavoidable. The moment you start questioning your desire to work for someone is the right time to become a freelancer.

 

Freelancing is the perfect path for those who don’t want to engage in petty hierarchy fights with the manager. You respond to nobody’s authority your clients, which can be a fantastic motivation to build a specialist freelancing portfolio.

What are the most common reasons to quit your job and become a freelancer?

 

You feel frustrated in your desk position, or you don’t trust your boss anymore.

 

This could happen following a workplace injury, for instance. After a dedicated free legal consultation, you can find out if you’ve got a case. Why not secure the monetary compensation you need to establish yourself safely as a freelancer while recovering from your injury?

 

You can build valuable friendships

Making friends in the workplace can make days feel nicer. It isn’t always easy to reach out to your coworkers and establish a trust relationship. It can take time to get to know someone, even if you suggest a work event outside the office and take an interest in their passions.

 

However, finding a common adversary has proven to be the most effective way of making new allies at work. A bad boss creates a sense of unity among the team, as people experience the same challenge and frustration. Additionally, by working together, you may be able to neutralize your bad boss!

 

The motivation to learn new skills

A bad boss can push you to apply for new jobs. If you want to improve your chances of employment, you are likely to consider learning new skills.

 

The most in-demand skills this year, for instance, include data visualization, negotiation, and cognitive flexibility. Thankfully, you can practice both soft and hard skills through dedicated training programs. Ultimately, making your profile more relevant to other companies requires hard work.

 

When you want to ensure that your next boss will be better at their job, you know that you can’t afford to rely on luck. You need to do your research and enhance your resumé to appeal to the best people on the market.

 

Renewal

Bad bosses can be the beginning of a professional renewal for employees. Whether you choose to take the matter into your own hands and become your own boss, or to expand your networking circle and make friends at work, bad bosses offer a new range of opportunities for creative professionals.

 

 

For live CPA exam prep and accounting classes, join Conference Room for free. Members will be notified of course dates, times, costs, and how to attend these courses.

 

Get your questions answered to pass the CPA exam, and to learn accounting concepts.

 

Go to Accounting Accidentally for 300+ blog posts and 450+ You Tube videos on accounting and finance:

 

Good luck!

Ken Boyd

Author: Cost Accounting for Dummies, Accounting All-In-One for Dummies, The CPA Exam for Dummies and 1,001 Accounting Questions for Dummies

(email) ken@stltest.net

(website and blog) http://www.accountingaccidentally.com/

 

 

The post Sometimes, A Bad Boss Is A Good Thing For Your Career appeared first on Accounting Accidentally.

Best Practices to Fund Retirement

We often don’t think about the future when it comes to our finances.

 

We can all be mindful that we need to live in the present, and that can often mean that we sometimes forget that we also need to spare a little thought to the future. How we might live our lives but also about funding it.

 

Whether we choose to travel the world- or need a little extra help in those later years of life- here are some ways to help fund the future.

 

Investing in property

 

One of the first things to think about would be whether you want to invest in property or not.

 

Many people will own their own home at some stage, and this can be a great way to help fund your retirement and later years, thanks to built up equity. You can improve your property to add value by taking on renovation projects and making changes, but you can also look at other ways that property can help.

 

You could invest in a holiday home, a rental property, or even just renovate properties with a view to sell on and make a profit. Of course, at some stage in life, you may need to consider senior living arrangements and thinking about what your options are. Having your own home can help you make the decision or at least help towards funding this stage of your life if needed.

 

Thinking about your savings pot

 

Another thing to think about would be your savings, and how you can build these up over time.

 

Small contributions regularly can really add up, and a lot of people choose to invest in regular savings accounts. You could also look at investing in long-term saving accounts where your interest rate might be fixed. This strategy allows a larger amount of money to work a little bit harder for you in terms of what you earn.

 

Savings are important as you may have a pension to use, but it might not cover you for some of the plans that you might have for your later years in life.

 

Savings can also be built up by changing some of your habits with your current account. It could be that you transfer a rounded off amount into a separate account each night, or maybe take on a savings challenge that you have seen online that can help you to save small and regular amounts without you really noticing it.

 

Your own business or extra income 

 

Finally, you could look at creating your own business or earning some extra income alongside your mainstream job.

 

This might be monetizing a hobby that you have. Whether it is a blog, or a service that you can provide to earn some extra money. It might be that you use your spare time to fill out online surveys, perform mystery shops or sell unwanted things on ebay. There are many ways you can enhance your income and earn some more money. This can then be added to your savings.

 

Let’s hope these suggestions help you to come up with a plan to fund your later years in life.

 

 

For live CPA exam prep and accounting classes, join Conference Room for free. Members will be notified of course dates, times, costs, and how to attend these courses.

 

Get your questions answered to pass the CPA exam, and to learn accounting concepts.

 

Go to Accounting Accidentally for 300+ blog posts and 450+ You Tube videos on accounting and finance:

 

Good luck!

Ken Boyd

Author: Cost Accounting for Dummies, Accounting All-In-One for Dummies, The CPA Exam for Dummies and 1,001 Accounting Questions for Dummies

(email) ken@stltest.net

(website and blog) http://www.accountingaccidentally.com/

 

 

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Saving Money For Expenses During an Illness

If the current COVID-19 pandemic isn’t proof enough, life can be very unpredictable.  Unfortunately, the economic impact is going to be felt for years to come.

 

Do you know how you would cope if you were suddenly unable to work due to accident or illness? You might think that it couldn’t happen to you, but the startling fact is that one in four of today’s 20-year-olds will have a long-term disability before they reach retirement.

 

There are many ways to cushion the impact of being unable to work, should it happen to you.  Here are some things you might want to consider.

 

Know where to get support

There are many reasons you might suddenly be unable to work, and this will determine where you can find support.

 

If you are too ill to work, then investigate what unemployment benefits you are entitled to receive. Any support may not cover all of your bills, but it can take off some of the pressure. If you have an accident for which someone else is at fault, for instance, you drive a truck and are involved in a collision, then you might be entitled to seek damages from the other driver, in that case, you would need to look for a reputable truck injury attorney who would work on your behalf.

Save up an emergency fund

List all of your essential outgoings for rent, credit card payments, food, insurance, travel, etc. Once you know your essential outgoings, try to put money into an emergency fund.

 

You should aim to save enough money to cover you for a minimum of three months. Ideally, it should be more than this, as much as 12 if you can afford it.

 

Don’t touch the money or keep it with other savings.  It is for one use only.  Try and find an account that you can access quickly if you need to, but has a good rate of interest.

 

Reduce unnecessary spending

It’s a good bet that once you’ve looked at your expenses for your budget, you’ve found a lot of things you don’t need.

 

Get rid of any subscriptions you don’t use anymore, use a price comparison site to get the best deals on energy, insurance, and cellphones.  It’s amazing how much you can save by making these simple changes.

 

$10 a month here and there can save you hundreds over the year.  This is money you could be saving in your emergency fund. There are many great ways to save money that you might want to look into:

 

Coupons
Meal planning and batch cooking
Bulk buying certain products
Using cash-back sites

 

It’s important not to bury your head in the sand over your spending.  Keep track of it with a spreadsheet or an app you can use directly from your phone.

 

Insurance coverage

Insurance is expensive, that’s true, but usually not as expensive as not having it.  It’s not only medical insurance that you’ll need- you should look into accident insurance, critical illness cover, debt protection, and disability coverage.

 

 

For live CPA exam prep and accounting classes, join Conference Room for free. Members will be notified of course dates, times, costs, and how to attend these courses.

 

Get your questions answered to pass the CPA exam, and to learn accounting concepts.

 

Go to Accounting Accidentally for 300+ blog posts and 450+ You Tube videos on accounting and finance:

 

Good luck!

Ken Boyd

Author: Cost Accounting for Dummies, Accounting All-In-One for Dummies, The CPA Exam for Dummies and 1,001 Accounting Questions for Dummies

(email) ken@stltest.net

(website and blog) http://www.accountingaccidentally.com/

The post Saving Money For Expenses During an Illness appeared first on Accounting Accidentally.

Moving? How to Looking After Your Finances

Whether you are buying a house- or renting a house- you need to make sure you are financially aware.

 

This means you should know how much it’s going to cost you in payments, what bills you can expect to pay, what your living costs are going to be, how much you need to save, etc. It might sound a lot, but there are easy ways that you can make sure you are looking after your finances when moving.

 

Let’s have a look at some of them below:

 

Build Savings

 

It’s always a good idea to have savings in place, even if you’re not planning a move. Whether your thinking about moving to Seattle, just around the corner, or are looking to purchase your first home, it’s wise to have a sum of savings to one side to help with any costs. Yes, saving can be difficult, especially in the current climate, but saving small amounts soon adds up.

 

Think about setting a savings goal for your upcoming move, and you can rest assured that you will have a comfort blanket of funds to use if you need to. Having savings that you can use will reduce the need to dip into your regular income throughout any move, and they are certainly needed for any down payments on a new purchase.

 

Work Out Your Costs

 

When moving, you need to be aware of the costs associated with it as closely as possible. You might not be able to exactly figure out how much it’s going to be as there always seems to be unexpected costs, or fluctuation in prices of things like fuel.

 

However, writing yourself a budget based on predicted costs is a great way to look after your financial situation throughout any move. Think about finding out the cost of storage, moving services, down payment, realtor fees, fuel costs, packing supplies, etc.

 

Check Your Credit Score

 

If you’re not keeping an eye on this already, you should definitely think about it when planning a move.

 

A lot of things are affected by yout credit score, it is the one area that often determines if you will be accepted for things like credit, rental agreements, and mortgages. Checking your credit score before any move means that you are fully aware of your financial stability and able to ask any question around it with haste. Even if your credit rating isn’t the best, knowing what position you are in, and be able to answer questions quickly without hiding anything can be the difference between been accepted for a house and not.

 

There are many ways you can check your credit score online for free so have look and then monitor it. Check it over, identify any problems, and then look at what you can do to improve it if it’s needed.

 

For live CPA exam prep and accounting classes, join Conference Room for free. Members will be notified of course dates, times, costs, and how to attend these courses.

 

Get your questions answered to pass the CPA exam, and to learn accounting concepts.

 

Go to Accounting Accidentally for 300+ blog posts and 450+ You Tube videos on accounting and finance:

 

Good luck!

Ken Boyd

Author: Cost Accounting for Dummies, Accounting All-In-One for Dummies, The CPA Exam for Dummies and 1,001 Accounting Questions for Dummies

(email) ken@stltest.net

(website and blog) http://www.accountingaccidentally.com/

The post Moving? How to Looking After Your Finances appeared first on Accounting Accidentally.

Travel Tactics: Supporting Your Employees On The Road

With every passing day, each business needs to become more diverse in its marketing and entrepreneurial fronts.

 

This means that “going global” is one of the major goals for every up-and-coming business. And as every business starts to become more widespread you’ve got to have a roster of employees that travel for work. If you’ve got a crew of workers that go on the road to meet clients, on a national or international basis, it can prove very difficult to be connected.

 

If you’re looking to help your employees to minimize the stress, and also make sure that you manage them effectively, what do you need to know?

 

Give Them On The Road Support

 

It’s a big wide world out there! When your employees are traveling everywhere they are, in essence, leaving themselves open to the elements.

 

This means you’ve got to provide support in a personal and professional sense. This could be about providing travel insurance which offers compensation for delayed flights or lost luggage, but it’s also about being aware of the potential risks of each aspect of their journey.

 

If they need to hire a car to get somewhere but they are in a different state, it’s important to be aware of the potential for legal mishaps based on where they are. There are law firms such as Buckingham Barrera Law Firm that can help with this. Needless to say, offering support on the road is about providing them with a safety net for any potential mishaps. What can go wrong may very well go wrong.

 

Ensuring Regular Connections

We all know the importance of communication and when your employees are out on the road it’s a fine balance to leave them to their own devices but also make sure that they are well supported.

 

When anybody travels somewhere, and it’s a particularly arduous journey, you don’t want to feel that your boss is breathing down your neck. Where possible, try to arrange a call at a specific time just to see how they are. You can talk about a specific project or you can just check in with them to see how they are doing. And while finding wi-fi hotspots can prove challenging, this means that you should try and schedule a phone call rather than a quick message online. But if they need to do specific work while they are out on the road providing them with a VPN is a sensible option.

 

Give Them Perks

 

Any employee that travels for work will miss home on occasion and this means that you’ve got to help them find a way to make the most of their time away.

 

Giving them some perks, such as by allowing them a little bit more on their food expenses will benefit them all-round. It might also be worth sending them some information about the place they are going to so they can pass time somewhere else rather than just in their hotel room. Morale can take a dip when being out on the road all the time, and as people can feel particularly isolated if you can give them little perks it can go a long way.

 

 

For live CPA exam prep and accounting classes, join Conference Room for free. Members will be notified of course dates, times, costs, and how to attend these courses.

 

Get your questions answered to pass the CPA exam, and to learn accounting concepts.

 

Go to Accounting Accidentally for 300+ blog posts and 450+ You Tube videos on accounting and finance:

 

Good luck!

Ken Boyd

Author: Cost Accounting for Dummies, Accounting All-In-One for Dummies, The CPA Exam for Dummies and 1,001 Accounting Questions for Dummies

(email) ken@stltest.net

(website and blog) http://www.accountingaccidentally.com/

Image: Airplane by muffinmax71xx

 

 

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Now, More Than Ever, We Need To Lock Down Wasteful Spending

For many, managing the household budget can feel like being buffeted around on the winds of fate. Those who only periodically check on their bank balance and rarely log their income and expenditure may feel as though the number on the screen every time they check their banking app changes almost arbitrarily. Indeed, it’s easy to lost track of the little expenses. The ones we deem too insignificant to log or simply take on the chin as a premium for modern living. Accountants, however, understand that when it comes to budgeting, every penny matters. And only by accounting for all funds going into and out of the home can households manage their budgets proactively.

 

However, in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, even the shrewdest of us is starting to feel the pinch. Many of us have lost clients who have had to suspend their operations or have even gone out of business altogether. Some of us may have been placed on furlough. A great many are trying to make ends meet with significantly reduced household income. As such, now more than ever, we need to lock down wasteful spending while we ourselves are on lockdown…

 

Don’t let your auto insurance policy roll over

First of all, if you’re unlikely to be using your car at all during lockdown, The Nerd Wallet has some very useful advice on cancelling or suspending car insurance payments. However, if you still need to use your car, it goes without saying that you need auto insurance. What you don’t need, however, is to keep overspending. Never let your auto insurance policy roll over. You’re being naive if you think your provider will reward your loyalty. Always stay on the lookout for new

 

auto insurance providers who can get you a better deal. And don’t assume that you have to stick with a bad deal, either. You can change your provider half way through a policy. While there may be a fee incurred this will usually pale in comparison to what you could save. Your new provider may even pay the fee as a sweetener.

 

Never stop comparing prices

 

Of course, your car insurance isn’t the only place where you can make savings. It’s time to get proactive. Stay on the lookout for new deals for everything from your phone and internet to your gas and electricity.

 

Never stop comparing prices. It’s not as if one provider’s electricity is better than another. If you’re working from home, you might want to weigh the cost of a better broadband deal with fewer bandwidth / download restrictions against the potential productivity cost of staying with a package that’s no longer fit for purpose.

 

Squeeze every penny of your food budget

 

In some ways, the lockdown may be a blessing in disguise. This is an opportunity to target wasteful impulse spending in grocery stores and excessively relying on restaurants and takeout. With a wholefoods plant based diet, meal planning, batch cooking and meal prep you can squeeze every penny out of your food budget.

 

Take the hassle out of tracking your spending

 

Finally, you’re busy right now. So don’t make the mistake of assuming that you need to record and track your spending manually. We’ve already written this post about digital apps that can help take the legwork out of managing your household budget.

 

In these uncertain and chaotic time, it behoves accountants to be their own best client.

 

 

For live CPA exam prep and accounting classes, join Conference Room for free. Members will be notified of course dates, times, costs, and how to attend these courses.

 

Get your questions answered to pass the CPA exam, and to learn accounting concepts.

 

Go to Accounting Accidentally for 300+ blog posts and 450+ You Tube videos on accounting and finance:

 

Good luck!

Ken Boyd

Author: Cost Accounting for Dummies, Accounting All-In-One for Dummies, The CPA Exam for Dummies and 1,001 Accounting Questions for Dummies

(email) ken@stltest.net

(website and blog) http://www.accountingaccidentally.com/

The post Now, More Than Ever, We Need To Lock Down Wasteful Spending appeared first on Accounting Accidentally.

How the Economy Will Recover from Covid-19

The world is at a point where no one is surprised by how much the covid-19 outbreak has affected most aspects of human life. The economy remains to be one of the hardest-hit areas. Subsequent quarantines and lockdowns have been put in place to slow down the spread of the deadly disease, but it has also significantly reduced economic activity.

What was supposedly a promising year of economic growth has abruptly turned into a time of uncertainty and great volatility. The word fear has been used widely when describing how both financial experts and spectators are feeling about today’s market.

But is fear justified or is there some kind of light at the end of this pandemic’s tunnel? A more thorough look into trends in the financial industry is needed to find out.

What the World Knows

As of writing, there are 1.8 million confirmed cases of covid-19 around the world according to the World Health Organization. In the U.S., 560,433 people have been found with the deadly disease. More than 22,000 of those people have died. These numbers are staggering and are a testament to how much the pandemic has been affecting everyone.

According to Forbes, economic recovery rests on the three stages of healthcare responses to the spreading virus.

The first stage is called Protect. It is the current situation of most infected areas. Through mandatory measures, the government is trying to protect more people from getting sick and further spreading the disease. In this stage, there is massive unemployment. The economy is grinding to a halt while shops close down and people stay at home.

What is Yet to Come

The next stage is called Re-open. Although there is still no definite time when safety measures will be weakened, there will come a phase when businesses will be allowed to re-open but social distancing will still be in effect. During this time, there will be an economic rebound. Many people currently have money to spend but are unable to. Once business resumes, they may give a much-needed boost to the economy.

But economic recovery will still not be in full swing. Those who were unemployed during the first stage may not have fully recovered and may limit their spending. People may also be hesitant to actually step out and buy from stores because of concerns they may still get infected.  Businesses who had previously planned expansions may also hold out until a more stable economy emerges.

The third stage, Normalize, will start when either a more effective treatment against the disease has been found, or a vaccine against the virus has been created. A drug that significantly reduces the mortality rate of the pandemic will give people the confidence to get back out into the world.

This is the stage where the $2 trillion injection of the US government will help the most. The emergency aid has been divided to low-income earners, unemployed, small businesses, corporations that were hit hard, public healthcare, foreclosures and evictions, student loans, and state aid, according to NBC News. At the very least, it will give people the ability to start spending again once all the fog lifts.

Eventually, businesses and the economy will recover. Although it won’t happen quickly, and it won’t happen completely, the economy will ‘bounce back.’

For live CPA exam prep and accounting classes, join Conference Room for free. Members will be notified of course dates, times, costs, and how to attend these courses.

 

Get your questions answered to pass the CPA exam, and to learn accounting concepts.

 

Go to Accounting Accidentally for 300+ blog posts and 450+ You Tube videos on accounting and finance:

 

Good luck!

Ken Boyd

Author: Cost Accounting for Dummies, Accounting All-In-One for Dummies, The CPA Exam for Dummies and 1,001 Accounting Questions for Dummies

(email) ken@stltest.net

(website and blog) http://www.accountingaccidentally.com/

 

The post How the Economy Will Recover from Covid-19 appeared first on Accounting Accidentally.

The Two-Step Approach To Keeping An Eye On Every Penny

If you are someone that struggles with debt and you are looking to keep track of so many different aspects of your family funds, you might very well think that you’ve got to earn more money.

 

In fact, it’s the opposite.

 

It’s not necessarily about earning more money to pay the bills you have, but it’s about curbing your lifestyle in manageable ways. And while most of us don’t want to make drastic changes to our lives when it comes to our budget, it’s a far better approach for us to learn the art of keeping an eye on our finances.

 

How often do you check your bank balance? You may very well check to see that there is enough in there and that’s as far as it goes. But instead, it’s a far better idea for you to truly drill down and focus on every penny. This sounds like a massive task, but what can you do to make sure that it becomes a habit?

 

Understand Each Expense

 

When you understand how much your bills cost to the penny, you will acquire a far better approach to budgeting.

 

When you truly start to understand how much each outgoing is in comparison to how much you earn to the penny, you are better equipped to make significant changes.
When you know how much your car insurance is and it’s more than you would like it to be, figuring out ways to change other aspects of your life to accommodate paying for that outgoing is a far more productive approach.
When you start to look at mileage-based insurance policies rather than your current one or make changes to your driving habits so you can reduce your fuel intake, this means that you will see the benefit in other areas of your life.

 

But you can’t do this until you really understand how much money comes out of your account each and every time.

 

Track Daily Transactions

Yes, this sounds like a very annoying task but if you did this every day rather than processing your transactions every month when you are trying to scramble together money to pay a bill, this will give you a far better idea of what aspects of your life you need to cut back on.

 

Make it a well-worn habit to process your transactions, either daily or weekly. If you start to get receipts, either paper or digital versions, for everything this is another approach to being aware of how much you are spending on each transaction. This gives you a far better idea of how much these things can add up, especially those little things that most don’t consider to be so important.

 

A good example is the cup of coffee you may buy every morning. When you start to add up how much this is every week, then every month, then bi-annually, and finally, annually, you will see how much you are spending on one cup of coffee so you can make alterations in other parts of your life. But in order to get into the habit of tracking your spending, it has to become second nature.

 

If you are someone who is always worried about your money, this two-step approach should give you some clarity which will give you peace of mind.

 

For live CPA exam prep and accounting classes, join Conference Room for free. Members will be notified of course dates, times, costs, and how to attend these courses.

 

Get your questions answered to pass the CPA exam, and to learn accounting concepts.

 

Go to Accounting Accidentally for 300+ blog posts and 450+ You Tube videos on accounting and finance:

 

Good luck!

Ken Boyd

Author: Cost Accounting for Dummies, Accounting All-In-One for Dummies, The CPA Exam for Dummies and 1,001 Accounting Questions for Dummies

(email) ken@stltest.net

(website and blog) http://www.accountingaccidentally.com/

 

The post The Two-Step Approach To Keeping An Eye On Every Penny appeared first on Accounting Accidentally.

Quickfire Guide To Starting Money Management

Not everyone is able to handle their finances from day dot. It is a skill and takes time and effort to get right. It is often the case that financial mismanagement spurs on the decision to change the way things are being done.

 

However, everyone starts somewhere. So here is your quickfire guide to starting you off, and you can check out other posts on the blog to help you in other areas.

 

Budget

One of the first steps to financial management is your budget. This step does take time but is worth it in the long and short term. There are a lot of perks to having a budget set up.

 

Less unexpected costs
Less likely to get a lot of debt
Pay debts faster
Improve credit rating
Opportunity for savings

 

There are a few steps for you to be able to work out your budget. You’re going to need to work out what you have available. Add up what you spend in each of these areas:

 

Leisure – holidays, takeout, restaurants, shopping
Travel – gas, car, public transport
Financial products – universal life insurance, car insurance, pension

 

Living costs
Household

 

To get started, go back over the last few months of spending, and start adding figures to a chart. Using a simple excel spreadsheet will mean you can come back and edit it as much as you need to.

 

There are many financial management apps you can use to help you.

Paying Off

If you have been making minimum payments, then, unfortunately, you’re not going to be paying much off at all. It usually makes sense to start paying off the things with the highest interest first.

 

When looking at which options make the most sense to pay more towards, make sure you aren’t lowering anything else beyond your agreement. You can often get in touch with any of the companies holding your debt and come to a repayment agreement that is more favourable for you.

Saving Goals

Simply the act of setting a goal, means you are more likely to reach it. Finding the motivation for saving can be an issue too. Emergency savings should be top of the list so that you have something to fall back on if anything goes wrong.

 

The best and easiest way to save is with automatic savings. Most automatic saving technology will work out what you can afford to save and do it automatically for you.

 

Think about what the goal here is, is it paying off a debt in bulk, or perhaps it is about having a holiday.

Compare

If you had the same suppliers for years, then it might be time to consider other options. Read the fine print as the opening offer can often be cheaper for the first few months. There are many comparison websites that can help you look at the savings, the different options, and how to swap companies.

Flexibility

It is really important that you try to be flexible about things. Sometimes you can’t put anything in the savings pot, and some days there are unexpected costs. So be flexible and do your best.

 

 

 

For live CPA exam prep and accounting classes, join Conference Room for free. Members will be notified of course dates, times, costs, and how to attend these courses.

 

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Go to Accounting Accidentally for 300+ blog posts and 450+ You Tube videos on accounting and finance:

 

Good luck!

Ken Boyd

Author: Cost Accounting for Dummies, Accounting All-In-One for Dummies, The CPA Exam for Dummies and 1,001 Accounting Questions for Dummies

(email) ken@stltest.net

(website and blog) http://www.accountingaccidentally.com/

 

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