1) Preserving your paycheque
A golden rule of personal finance is to pay yourself first. What's meant by this is that you set aside a certain amount of your paycheque every fortnight or month and put it directly into savings as a means to curtail spending.
There's a couple of ways to achieve this outcome. Forbes.com looks at four strategies to preserve more pay.
2) Size matters
Investors are known to feel the effects of a financial loss more acutely than a gain. It's why investors will typically bail out of stocks at the first hint of trouble.
And yet one big win, can make up for a series of small losses. This blog by psy-fi argues it's how big, not how often, that counts most when it comes to investment wins.
3) Eurozone equity jitters
The volatility in European markets has been extreme to the point where many investors are pushing the eject button. Monevator, rated one of the top personal finance bloggers in the U.K., describes how Italy pushed him to the brink. There's a juicy list of recommended reading at the end of his column.
4) Food waste
According to a study out of Canada, approximately 183 kilograms of food per capita is wasted each year, the combined value of which is estimated at C$27 billion.
Half the waste is attributed to consumers themselves who could potentially save CDN$1,464 each year if they were more careful about what they bought and also used.
Globe investors looks at some strategies and tips on how to save money on food costs.
5) Money tracker
Users of the Retirement Commission's sorted.org.nz website may have noticed a new feature recently.
They'd added a money tracking device that allows you to download all your banking transactions onto a budgeting spreadsheet. There's a few glitches to watch for, for example, the cash-flow time frames, however it's a useful way to monitor and categorise spending habits. Best part is, it's free.
2 Comments
Money tracker may be useful for some...though i do wonder why the banks havent got such a facility on their own banking internet sites linked directly with one's accounts. I thought they may have defined themselves by providing such a service by now. If XERO was on to it they would get in on the act and provide a home version via the banking sites .......
Check out www.yodlee.com or the reskinned ANZ version http://www.anz.com/ANZ-moneymanager/default.asp. These are account aggregators that allow you to bring multiple accounts from different banks to the same dashboard. They automatically chart cashflow and expenses without you having to export or import data from your banks Internet Banking site.
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