The theory is simple: "If you don't have the money, don't charge it. Try to leave your credit card at home and only use it to pay bills," advises April Lewis, director of education for Consolidated Credit Counseling Services. Then immediately pay off your credit-card balance. As for old credit-card debt, sit down and commit to paper a plan for paying them off. Go for a quick hit, like paying off the smallest balance first, or decide to take on the highest rate card first. Get the job done.
Here's a second tip: Be proactive about managing your credit. Call up your lender and ask it to lower your interest rate. Usually, lenders will lower callers' rates by 2% to 3%, says Scott Gamm, founder of HelpSaveMyDollars.com. Also check your credit report. You can check your credit for free at annualcreditreport.com, for example. If you see mistakes, contact the credit agencies and get those mistakes corrected. If errors are dragging down your score, eliminating them can boost it to where it belongs and make you eligible for better rates.
2. Think automation
Free online banking tools can make it easier to manage your finances with less work. To help grow your savings, for example, you can schedule regular transfers from your checking account. Manisha Thakor, author of
Get Financially Naked: How to Talk Money With Your Honey, suggests setting up the transfer of a set amount of money into your savings account every pay day.
Also automate recurring bill payments so you never miss a due date or pay a late fee, which sends money down the drain. Even without late fees, timely payments are key: 35% of your credit score is based on your ability to make payments on time. If you sign up for automatic payments, however, make sure to check your monthly bills for errors. One other caveat: "Make sure you have enough cushion in your checking account to avoid any overdrafts" before setting up auto-payments, money coach Lora Sasiela says.
Do you find that when you try to use a budgeting system, the more complicated it is, the more overwhelmed you become; and eventually you stop using it? If that’s the case, Sprouty brings a simplified budgeting system that makes it easy to create a monthly budget, and more importantly, stick to it.
Sometimes keeping it simple is a lot more useful and that’s exactly what Sprouty aims to do. Unlike Mint and other popular money management systems, your personal bank account information does not even come into play; making it a secure option that can be used no matter where in the world you live.
id="more-59875">/> After signing up for a free account, Sprouty will prompt you to enter your monthly income, and will attempt to create a budget for you, based on minimum recommended amounts for each budget item.
style="text-align: center;">
Of course, the budget will most probably not reflect your own personal spending habits, and you can modify it to suit your lifestyle.
style="text-align: center;">
You can add additional budget items by clicking on the ‘Create a Budget’ button, determine the amount allocated to that category, and add tags. Using the same method, you can add additional sources of income, which is particularly useful for a family in which there are several breadwinners.
style="text-align: center;">
Existing budget items can also be edited or deleted by clicking on any given item, adding or removing tags of your choice, and adjusting the amount. This will be one of the very first steps you take when using Sprouty, in order to adjust the budget to suit your personal needs.
style="text-align: center;">
Once you have your budget in place, you can begin to add the actual transactions as they occur. New transactions are accompanied by the date, tags or description, and the amount.
style="text-align: center;">
As you add tags, Sprouty will also suggest tags that are commonly used.
style="text-align: center;">
If you add a transaction by mistake, it can easily be edited or deleted by clicking on any part of the transaction’s information.
Sprouty’s best feature is undoubtedly the overview it provides of your spending. Once you have your budget in place and have added your transactions, you can see a monthly overview of your budget, and see exactly where your money is being spent, and what remains.
style="text-align: center;">
This is especially useful because you are able to visualise the areas in which you spend the most, and this could make for an easier way to understand where you need to cutback on your spending.
Sprouty is as no-frills a budget system as they come, but sometimes that is all that you need. It is extremely user-friendly, with barely any learning curve at all.
The website can be accessed from mobile browsers, making it possible to add transactions on the go. That said, it is not optimised for a mobile browser, and that would be one of the first welcome changes to the site. Adding transactions while you’re out and about is an integral part of the success of any budget system, so that payments don’t fall between the cracks. Whether it is a mobile website, adding transactions by email, or any other method, it will definitely improve Sprouty’s user friendly service.
How do you keep track of your spending habits? Let us know in the comments.
robert shumake detroitAuburn University professor Alan Gribben, along with NewSouth Books, plans to release a newly edited edition of the Mark Twain classic, with every instance of the N-word replaced with the word.
Executives at CNN confirmed Monday that John Roberts, who served as the morning anchor for the network since April 2007, would be joining Fox News as a national correspondent.
John Roberts, the veteran newsman who co-hosted CNN's American Morning for three years, is joining the competition. “We are excited to welcome Jo...
robert shumake detroitAuburn University professor Alan Gribben, along with NewSouth Books, plans to release a newly edited edition of the Mark Twain classic, with every instance of the N-word replaced with the word.
Executives at CNN confirmed Monday that John Roberts, who served as the morning anchor for the network since April 2007, would be joining Fox News as a national correspondent.
John Roberts, the veteran newsman who co-hosted CNN's American Morning for three years, is joining the competition. “We are excited to welcome Jo...
robert shumakeThe theory is simple: "If you don't have the money, don't charge it. Try to leave your credit card at home and only use it to pay bills," advises April Lewis, director of education for Consolidated Credit Counseling Services. Then immediately pay off your credit-card balance. As for old credit-card debt, sit down and commit to paper a plan for paying them off. Go for a quick hit, like paying off the smallest balance first, or decide to take on the highest rate card first. Get the job done.
Here's a second tip: Be proactive about managing your credit. Call up your lender and ask it to lower your interest rate. Usually, lenders will lower callers' rates by 2% to 3%, says Scott Gamm, founder of HelpSaveMyDollars.com. Also check your credit report. You can check your credit for free at annualcreditreport.com, for example. If you see mistakes, contact the credit agencies and get those mistakes corrected. If errors are dragging down your score, eliminating them can boost it to where it belongs and make you eligible for better rates.
2. Think automation
Free online banking tools can make it easier to manage your finances with less work. To help grow your savings, for example, you can schedule regular transfers from your checking account. Manisha Thakor, author of
Get Financially Naked: How to Talk Money With Your Honey, suggests setting up the transfer of a set amount of money into your savings account every pay day.
Also automate recurring bill payments so you never miss a due date or pay a late fee, which sends money down the drain. Even without late fees, timely payments are key: 35% of your credit score is based on your ability to make payments on time. If you sign up for automatic payments, however, make sure to check your monthly bills for errors. One other caveat: "Make sure you have enough cushion in your checking account to avoid any overdrafts" before setting up auto-payments, money coach Lora Sasiela says.
Do you find that when you try to use a budgeting system, the more complicated it is, the more overwhelmed you become; and eventually you stop using it? If that’s the case, Sprouty brings a simplified budgeting system that makes it easy to create a monthly budget, and more importantly, stick to it.
Sometimes keeping it simple is a lot more useful and that’s exactly what Sprouty aims to do. Unlike Mint and other popular money management systems, your personal bank account information does not even come into play; making it a secure option that can be used no matter where in the world you live.
id="more-59875">/> After signing up for a free account, Sprouty will prompt you to enter your monthly income, and will attempt to create a budget for you, based on minimum recommended amounts for each budget item.
style="text-align: center;">
Of course, the budget will most probably not reflect your own personal spending habits, and you can modify it to suit your lifestyle.
style="text-align: center;">
You can add additional budget items by clicking on the ‘Create a Budget’ button, determine the amount allocated to that category, and add tags. Using the same method, you can add additional sources of income, which is particularly useful for a family in which there are several breadwinners.
style="text-align: center;">
Existing budget items can also be edited or deleted by clicking on any given item, adding or removing tags of your choice, and adjusting the amount. This will be one of the very first steps you take when using Sprouty, in order to adjust the budget to suit your personal needs.
style="text-align: center;">
Once you have your budget in place, you can begin to add the actual transactions as they occur. New transactions are accompanied by the date, tags or description, and the amount.
style="text-align: center;">
As you add tags, Sprouty will also suggest tags that are commonly used.
style="text-align: center;">
If you add a transaction by mistake, it can easily be edited or deleted by clicking on any part of the transaction’s information.
Sprouty’s best feature is undoubtedly the overview it provides of your spending. Once you have your budget in place and have added your transactions, you can see a monthly overview of your budget, and see exactly where your money is being spent, and what remains.
style="text-align: center;">
This is especially useful because you are able to visualise the areas in which you spend the most, and this could make for an easier way to understand where you need to cutback on your spending.
Sprouty is as no-frills a budget system as they come, but sometimes that is all that you need. It is extremely user-friendly, with barely any learning curve at all.
The website can be accessed from mobile browsers, making it possible to add transactions on the go. That said, it is not optimised for a mobile browser, and that would be one of the first welcome changes to the site. Adding transactions while you’re out and about is an integral part of the success of any budget system, so that payments don’t fall between the cracks. Whether it is a mobile website, adding transactions by email, or any other method, it will definitely improve Sprouty’s user friendly service.
How do you keep track of your spending habits? Let us know in the comments.
robert shumake
robert shumakeAuburn University professor Alan Gribben, along with NewSouth Books, plans to release a newly edited edition of the Mark Twain classic, with every instance of the N-word replaced with the word.
Executives at CNN confirmed Monday that John Roberts, who served as the morning anchor for the network since April 2007, would be joining Fox News as a national correspondent.
John Roberts, the veteran newsman who co-hosted CNN's American Morning for three years, is joining the competition. “We are excited to welcome Jo...
robert shumakeAuburn University professor Alan Gribben, along with NewSouth Books, plans to release a newly edited edition of the Mark Twain classic, with every instance of the N-word replaced with the word.
Executives at CNN confirmed Monday that John Roberts, who served as the morning anchor for the network since April 2007, would be joining Fox News as a national correspondent.
John Roberts, the veteran newsman who co-hosted CNN's American Morning for three years, is joining the competition. “We are excited to welcome Jo...
robert shumake Bundle, the socially informed money management site, today launched
My Money, a groundbreaking and visually engaging new way for people to track their daily spending, create budgets, set financial goals and compare their behavior with their peers.
"If you're married and living in New York making $75,000, your money decisions will be vastly different than a single female living in Dallas making more than $100,000"
Bundle launched in January with
Everybody's Money, the first web application to use anonymized, aggregated spending data from millions of people to show how consumers spend on items such as groceries, restaurants and gas. The free tool allows users to filter their findings based on age, household status, income level and geography.
"If you're married and living in New York making $75,000, your money decisions will be vastly different than a single female living in Dallas making more than $100,000," says Jaidev Shergill, founder and CEO of Bundle. "Using Bundle data, combined with these powerful new money management tools,
My Money will finally provide people with the context that's been missing from their financial decision making."
With Bundle's passionate community and unique original content, consumers now have a hub for learning, sharing, and taking action in their financial lives.
Bundle's goal is to be a trustworthy online destination where people can share their experiences without anxiety or judgment, and learn from each other through community, data, and highly sophisticated tools that help them track their money decisions. Bundle proposes that a community of real people, talking about their real financial goals, challenges, and problems—backed by powerful data—can perform an enormous social good.
"There's a wealth of knowledge about money and finances that we can share with each other and learn from, and those conversations can begin to occur online," says Shergill. "We are very excited to share with our users the newly expanded version of Bundle, which can offer them even more clarity when making financial decisions."
New Features Include:- My Money - Bundle's bank account aggregation system, My Money, automatically organizes and categorizes most transactions, allowing users to see where their money is being spent. After registering with Bundle, users simply and securely add their login information for online banking, credit card, student loan, and other types of accounts to be provided with a visually stunning view of their financial lives. (My Money, which is free, supports more than 10,000 financial institutions.)
- The security of a user's financial information is critically important to Bundle. Bundle built its site and infrastructure to adhere to the high standards used by banks and other financial institutions.
- Budgets - Creating a budget can be difficult. How do people know where to start, or what's even normal? Bundle's free budgeting tool adds context to users' financial lives, bringing in data from Everybody's Money so that they can develop a budget that's grounded in reality and actual spending data.
- Goals - The simple, fun-to-use and free goals tool lets users create a goal, such as buying a house or paying off a credit card, breaks it up into monthly payments and adds it to a user's budget. A visual roadmap shows users their progress over time.
New Content Partnership with TheStreetBundle is also announcing a new content and audience sharing agreement with TheStreet.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSCM (TheStreet.com)), a leading digital financial media company. TheStreet will provide personal finance editorial content and multimedia tools to Bundle and also publish Bundle content to its websites.
Daryl Otte, CEO of TheStreet, said, "Bundle's unique financial content and community-based approach to disseminating money management ideas is truly one-of-a-kind, and we are extremely excited to be sharing our personal finance content with its community. Empowering the individual user with the best financial and investing information has always been an important element of TheStreet's mission, and we are proud to share this with Bundle and its audience."
About BundleBundle is a socially informed money management site dedicated to helping people make smarter spending and saving choices through comparison, community and one of the most extensive collections of free spending data on the web. Bundle is based in New York and supported through investments from strategic partners that include Citigroup, Microsoft, and Morningstar, Inc.
For a complete press kit, including an introductory video, screenshots of the site, and company bios, please visit www.bundle.com/press. For advertising and partnership opportunities, please contact us at ads@bundle.com.
About TheStreetTheStreet is a leading digital financial media company. The Company's network includes the following properties: TheStreet, RealMoney,Stockpickr, BankingMyWay, MainStreet and Rate-Watch. For more information and to get stock quotes and business news, visit http://www.thestreet.com.
Where to Find BundleHome: http://www.bundle.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/bundlehq
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/BundleFB
Tumblr: http://bundlehq.tumblr.com/
robert shumakeAuburn University professor Alan Gribben, along with NewSouth Books, plans to release a newly edited edition of the Mark Twain classic, with every instance of the N-word replaced with the word.
Executives at CNN confirmed Monday that John Roberts, who served as the morning anchor for the network since April 2007, would be joining Fox News as a national correspondent.
John Roberts, the veteran newsman who co-hosted CNN's American Morning for three years, is joining the competition. “We are excited to welcome Jo...
robert shumake detroit
robert shumakeThe theory is simple: "If you don't have the money, don't charge it. Try to leave your credit card at home and only use it to pay bills," advises April Lewis, director of education for Consolidated Credit Counseling Services. Then immediately pay off your credit-card balance. As for old credit-card debt, sit down and commit to paper a plan for paying them off. Go for a quick hit, like paying off the smallest balance first, or decide to take on the highest rate card first. Get the job done.
Here's a second tip: Be proactive about managing your credit. Call up your lender and ask it to lower your interest rate. Usually, lenders will lower callers' rates by 2% to 3%, says Scott Gamm, founder of HelpSaveMyDollars.com. Also check your credit report. You can check your credit for free at annualcreditreport.com, for example. If you see mistakes, contact the credit agencies and get those mistakes corrected. If errors are dragging down your score, eliminating them can boost it to where it belongs and make you eligible for better rates.
2. Think automation
Free online banking tools can make it easier to manage your finances with less work. To help grow your savings, for example, you can schedule regular transfers from your checking account. Manisha Thakor, author of
Get Financially Naked: How to Talk Money With Your Honey, suggests setting up the transfer of a set amount of money into your savings account every pay day.
Also automate recurring bill payments so you never miss a due date or pay a late fee, which sends money down the drain. Even without late fees, timely payments are key: 35% of your credit score is based on your ability to make payments on time. If you sign up for automatic payments, however, make sure to check your monthly bills for errors. One other caveat: "Make sure you have enough cushion in your checking account to avoid any overdrafts" before setting up auto-payments, money coach Lora Sasiela says.
Do you find that when you try to use a budgeting system, the more complicated it is, the more overwhelmed you become; and eventually you stop using it? If that’s the case, Sprouty brings a simplified budgeting system that makes it easy to create a monthly budget, and more importantly, stick to it.
Sometimes keeping it simple is a lot more useful and that’s exactly what Sprouty aims to do. Unlike Mint and other popular money management systems, your personal bank account information does not even come into play; making it a secure option that can be used no matter where in the world you live.
id="more-59875">/> After signing up for a free account, Sprouty will prompt you to enter your monthly income, and will attempt to create a budget for you, based on minimum recommended amounts for each budget item.
style="text-align: center;">
Of course, the budget will most probably not reflect your own personal spending habits, and you can modify it to suit your lifestyle.
style="text-align: center;">
You can add additional budget items by clicking on the ‘Create a Budget’ button, determine the amount allocated to that category, and add tags. Using the same method, you can add additional sources of income, which is particularly useful for a family in which there are several breadwinners.
style="text-align: center;">
Existing budget items can also be edited or deleted by clicking on any given item, adding or removing tags of your choice, and adjusting the amount. This will be one of the very first steps you take when using Sprouty, in order to adjust the budget to suit your personal needs.
style="text-align: center;">
Once you have your budget in place, you can begin to add the actual transactions as they occur. New transactions are accompanied by the date, tags or description, and the amount.
style="text-align: center;">
As you add tags, Sprouty will also suggest tags that are commonly used.
style="text-align: center;">
If you add a transaction by mistake, it can easily be edited or deleted by clicking on any part of the transaction’s information.
Sprouty’s best feature is undoubtedly the overview it provides of your spending. Once you have your budget in place and have added your transactions, you can see a monthly overview of your budget, and see exactly where your money is being spent, and what remains.
style="text-align: center;">
This is especially useful because you are able to visualise the areas in which you spend the most, and this could make for an easier way to understand where you need to cutback on your spending.
Sprouty is as no-frills a budget system as they come, but sometimes that is all that you need. It is extremely user-friendly, with barely any learning curve at all.
The website can be accessed from mobile browsers, making it possible to add transactions on the go. That said, it is not optimised for a mobile browser, and that would be one of the first welcome changes to the site. Adding transactions while you’re out and about is an integral part of the success of any budget system, so that payments don’t fall between the cracks. Whether it is a mobile website, adding transactions by email, or any other method, it will definitely improve Sprouty’s user friendly service.
How do you keep track of your spending habits? Let us know in the comments.
robert shumakeAuburn University professor Alan Gribben, along with NewSouth Books, plans to release a newly edited edition of the Mark Twain classic, with every instance of the N-word replaced with the word.
Executives at CNN confirmed Monday that John Roberts, who served as the morning anchor for the network since April 2007, would be joining Fox News as a national correspondent.
John Roberts, the veteran newsman who co-hosted CNN's American Morning for three years, is joining the competition. “We are excited to welcome Jo...
robert shumake
robert shumake detroit
