Money Matters

I'm definitely one of those people who freaks out about money. I worry about if I will have enough and even if I will be able to retire. I turn 25 this year. Now some people may find this a little irrational, and other may think it's great that I have some forethought.

In order to quell some of the "freak out" storm, I've turned to a trusty website CNN Money. I've found many helpful tips from the site and links to other useful websites. I've also read a couple of Personal Finance books, including David Bach's Smart Women Finish Rich, Jean Chatzky's Make Money, Not Excuses, and Michelle Singletary's Your Money and Your Man. All basically advise on the same points: spend less than you earn, make the money you have work for you, and be prepared for the unexpected.

These tenets seem simple enough to follow, until you see your bills stack up. Then they start to seem a little more difficult to attend to. However, I have made these principles work for me. I finally set up an "emergency" stash of money that "pays" itself each time I get paid. I budgeted a certain amount to be direct deposited, and since I don't see it, it makes saving that much easier. I also set up an IRA to contribute an extra amount in addition to what my 401(k) already saves. Direct deposits are a wonderful thing.

I pay my bills online whenever possible, which decreases the paper trail and carbon footprint, while also making it easier to keep track of what is going where. Most of the time I'm pretty good about spending within my means, except for around the holidays when spending seems to go into a frenzy. As a general personal principle, I try my best not to carry any credit card debt. I may not be able to go out to eat, but I won't be paying 15-19% interest for letting the balance sit. Even with my meager pay, I make it work.

I also discovered a new website, thanks to CNN Money, called Mint.com, which allows you to log into your accounts and then it analyzes your spending and offers suggestions to save money. You can also compare your spending habits to the national average and averages from big cities. It's pretty interesting to see where all your money is going once it's laid out in front of you.