How To Save $1000 Per Year

Finance Fox has recently released a post dedicated to showing you how to save $1000 per year in expenses, and I am a big fan of these types of posts. When it comes to fixing a budget, if you don't keep track of it, I guarantee you that you will be spending more money in that area than you otherwise assume. Every employer knows that when you measure employee performance, the numbers will come in much stronger than if you don't. The same logic applies to your bills. If you sedulously keep track of the money you spend eating out, on alcoholic drinks, or whatever it may be, then you will look back at your expenses and see if there is room to cut--often, people are shocked at how much eating out can cost on an annual basis. If you log all of your expenses and methodically look for ways to cut out expenses here and there, you can allocate more of your income towards dividend stocks that throw off income, and you will be setting yourself up to be in a better position years from now. If you want to take a look at Finance Fox's excellent post on how to cut $1000 from your budget, be sure to visit their website, here: http://www.financefox.ca/index.php/55-suggestions-to-save-1000/ .

The Financial Costs of Bad Habits

Jeff Rose over at Good Financial Cents recently ran an interesting article about the types of bad habits that suck the disposable income out of people. I always enjoy reading articles like these because it is helpful to remember to avoid the 'death by a thousand cuts' syndrome that can severely cripple your financial health if you're not careful. The typical example that those in the financial field like to use is the hypothetical $5 cup of Starbuck's coffee. There is a reason why this is the universal example used--if you get a $5 coffee every morning before working, you're looking at about $100 monthly expense, or a $1000+ annual expense that could easily be eliminated. If possible, you want to plug up all of these leaks in your financial boat. It is incredibly easy to fall into the trap of allowing $2 to $3 frictional expenses to slip out of your wallet with your really thinking about it, and that's what makes it so dangerous and tempting. Any regular expense that you throw your disposable income towards could threaten your financial future, and ultimately, you're going to have to decide whether you can afford to be blowing that kind of money in this economy, because often, the small frictional expenses can add up to be quite more than you realize. If you want to read Mr. Rose's great article on the subject, click here: http://www.goodfinancialcents.com/bad-financial-habits-how-to-breaking-them/