That thrilling moment when your money finally hits in your bank account can be both exciting and overwhelming. But what should you do next to make the most of it?

Let’s dive into a strategic approach to managing your finances effectively—from crafting a budget to tracking your spending habits.

1. Budgeting: Master the Skill of Creating a Budget That Works for You

Think of budgeting as your financial compass. It guides you to where you want to go financially. But how do you create a budget that truly works for you?

• Assess Your Income and Expenses: Begin by understanding all your income sources and fixed expenses. This will give you a clear view of your financial standing.
• Set Clear Goals: Whether it’s saving for a house, a vacation, or retirement, having specific goals can drive your budgeting efforts.
• Leverage Budgeting Apps: Tools like Mint, YNAB, or PocketGuard can make budgeting simple and intuitive, helping you stay on track in real-time.

Budgeting isn’t about limiting joy; it’s about opening up opportunities to achieve what truly matters to you.

2. Saving: Learn Strategies to Build a Robust Savings Plan

Savings are the cornerstone of financial security. But how can you ensure your savings plan is rock solid?

• Prioritize Savings: Treat saving as a mandatory expense. Allocate a portion of your income to savings before covering other costs.
• Automate the Process: Set up automatic transfers to your savings account, making saving a seamless habit.
• Build an Emergency Fund: Aim to save three to six months’ worth of expenses to cushion against life’s uncertainties.

Every dollar saved is a step closer to your financial goals.

3. Investing: Discover Ways to Grow Your Wealth Strategically

Investing is a powerful way to make your money work for you. Here’s how you can start:

• Know Your Risk Appetite: Understanding whether you’re risk-averse or risk-seeking can guide your investment choices.
• Diversify Investments: Spread your investments across different asset classes to balance potential risks and rewards.
• Seek Knowledge: Utilize resources such as financial advisors or online courses to enhance your investment acumen.

Investing isn’t just for the wealthy; it’s for anyone ready to plan for the future.

4. Paying Off Debt: Get Effective Tips on Reducing Your Debt Burden

Debt can feel like a heavy burden, but with the right tactics, it’s manageable:

• Catalog Your Debts: List everything you owe, including interest rates and minimum payments to prioritize repayments.
• Focus on High-Interest Debt: Tackle debts with the highest interest rates first to save on interest costs.
• Consider Debt Consolidation: Consolidating debts into one payment can simplify management and potentially lower interest rates.

Every payment reduces the weight of debt, bringing financial freedom closer.

5. Tracking Your Spending: Understand How to Monitor Your Spending Habits Effectively

Keeping tabs on where your money goes is essential for financial discipline. Here’s how to do it:

• Use Digital Tools: Apps like Expensify or Goodbudget can categorize and track your spending effortlessly.
• Monthly Reviews: Regularly review your spending habits to identify patterns and adjust your budget accordingly.
• Spot Areas for Improvement: Look for unnecessary expenses you can cut to better align with your financial goals.

Tracking spending is about gaining control and making informed choices.

By budgeting effectively, saving diligently, investing wisely, reducing debt, and tracking spending, you lay the foundation for a secure and prosperous financial future.

So, what steps will you take when your money hits your bank account? Remember, each decision holds the potential to unlock endless possibilities.

Take our free quiz and uncover whether you’re a Budget Boss, Freshman Investor, or Wealth Designer. It’s a great way to get personalized insights that can really help you on your financial journey!

Start the Quiz Now.

By Darlene Aderoju, America Saves

If you work as a contractor or freelancer, you’re a part of the gig economy, and you may be required to pay the IRS the self-employment tax.

Are you saving enough for taxes? Here are five things you should know about taxes and the gig economy:

1. You could be considered self-employed even if you don’t own a business

If you’re a business owner, then you are self-employed. But did you know that freelance and contract work is also considered self-employment? Even though you’re providing a service to someone else or a company, when you work as a freelancer or independent contractor you’re considered a self-employed worker by the Internal Revenue Service. This means during tax time, you’re held accountable for paying the taxes that your employee would usually pay on your behalf. >> Learn more about being self-employed

2. You might have a unique set of tax obligations

As a self-employed worker, you may be required to file an annual tax return and pay estimated tax quarterly. You may also be required to pay the self-employment (SE) tax. The SE tax pays for Social Security and Medicare. When you work for a traditional employer, your Social Security and Medicare taxes are automatically withheld from your paycheck. When you’re self-employed those taxes are not taken out of your initial pay, so you’re responsible to pay the IRS later.

3. You can calculate your self-employment taxes with IRS Schedule SE (Form-1040)

IRS Schedule SE (Form-1040) allows you to calculate the taxes owed on your net self-employment pay. When you complete the form, the Social Security Administration will use the information to determine your benefits through the social security program.

Once you determine the amount you owe the IRS in taxes, you can make quarterly payments called Estimated Tax, to avoid a large bill at the end of the year. Estimated Tax payments for the remainder of 2018 are due on June 15, September 15 and January 15, 2019. >> Access IRS Schedule SE (Form-1040)

4. You should save about 30 percent of your income for taxes

If you decide not to make estimated tax payments, it’s best to save about 25 to 30 percent of your self-employment income each time you get paid. This is to ensure that you if you get with a large tax bill at the end of the year, you’ll have enough money set aside to pay it off right away. Saving 25 to 30 percent of your taxes may seem overwhelming, but you’re lucky and you don’t owe taxes at the end of the year, you’ll have a stash of savings that you can put towards your savings goal.

5. You can take a 10-minute test to see if you’re subject to the self-employment tax

You can take a test provided by the IRS to see if your income is subject to self-employment tax. The information you’ll need is the type of self-employment income you’ve received and your net profit or loss from your self-employment income. The test has an estimated completion time of 10 minutes. >> Take the IRS self-employment test.

By: Joy Schoffler

Last summer I did something I have never done before, I took the summer off with my kids. A back packer in my previous life (e.g. pre-kids and pre-career) I traveled solo through SE Asia. While, my days of hostels and packed buses are long behind me, this summer taught me an amazing lesson. Traveling solo with kids is not only possible for parents but the rewards are many! The best part—if you travel to places where the cost of living is low and you play the airline card game, you can do so for less than the cost of many kid’s summer camps.

Use Airlines points to Buy  Tickets

After picking a location, I looked for the best days to travel with our airlines points. While we have flown to Hong Kong and Thailand using as little as 15,000 American Airlines points for each ticket, each way. I have been loving my SW Airlines card lately as they fly to a number of international locations for as little as 8,000 points each way.

Rent A House with Kitchen to Prepare Meals

My next step was booking a house. This is key as housing can be the most expensive part. We choose a condo in the beautiful beach community of San Juan del Sur (SJdS), Nicaragua. We choose a higher end condo at $1,800 a month—which was one of the bigger expenses of the trip. However, you can find housing for as little as $800 -1,000 a month in most parts of Nicaragua on a number of shared housing sites. We also made sure to book close enough where we could walk into town, to save on taxi expenses.

Renting a house, we had a full kitchen to prepare meals. With so many amazing fruits, veggies and fresh meats we were able to eat like kings for around $10-15 a day when we prepared meals at home. When exploring town we looked to see where the locals were eating. Not only was the food better, the prices were often half to a third less than the tourist places.

Connect with The People within The Community

Staying in one place allowed us to really connect with people within the community. Prior to traveling to SJdS, I joined an expat-mom’s group on Facebook. These amazing moms were beyond sweet, inviting us to a great 4th of July party, doing play dates and offering amazing advice. Strong expat communities often remind me of military communities. Something about living in a closed eco-system, especially over-seas breads a closeness and sense of community that is hard to find in the real world. The other cool part is we got to book tours with those people, turning surf and paddle-board lessons into opportunities to hang out with new friends.

Looking back on my adventure with my two children in tow, I am grateful most of all for the experiences money could not buy. While, the stereo-typical fighting that any siblings spending long periods of time together definitely occurred, they also became closer than they have ever been. Modern life, with its constant activity and necessity for childcare does not allow for summers together for siblings.

At this point in the article, many of you may be thinking—I would love to travel with my kids, but I have to work!

Plan Ahead and Reasearch for Better Deals

While, not every career will allow it, you may be surprised at your boss’s willingness to allow for remote work or a flexible schedule for a month or two—especially if summers are slow for your industry. As someone who was still working part-time through the vacation, I arranged surf-camps and had part-time help with the children. While, I did not end up using them I also located a day camp at an international school that had amazing activities for the kids for ½ the cost I would have paid for a US camp.

Create a Passive Income Streams

I additionally set a few investments in motion to allow for passive income streams to come in while I was away. Upside Avenue is the one that I use but there are many options to slowly start building cash-flow.

If a summer is not do-able spending a Christmas over-seas is one of the most amazing gifts you can give your kids.

For the last few years my family and I have skipped the presents and holiday parties and opted for international travel. Using points we typically ended up spending little more than we would have for the typically Greswald style Christmas’s that used to be a staple of our holidays. One of the other perks of holiday is my husband and I often lose weight instead of packing on the holiday pounds.

The point is where there is a will there is often a way. Travel with children, even solo-travel if one parent cannot make it is possible if you set the goal and work towards it!

P.S. At the time of writing the article Nicaragua was very peaceful. Unfortunately, it has since had some political unrest. With that said there are countless destinations around the globe where your dollar can go far and you can make life-long memories for less than the cost of summer camp!

By America Saves

As we approach the end of the year, there is no better time to evaluate the progress you have made towards your savings goals, set some new ones for the upcoming year, and see if there aren’t a few specific ways you can still save some money before the year is over.

There’s nothing like starting a new year with peace of mind and a positive financial outlook. Here are five end of year savings tips to consider:

1. Cancel any non-necessities and sock away that money.

Do you have a gym membership you’re not really using? A monthly subscription to a magazine you don’t have time to read? Do you really need those extra cable channels you’re paying for? Now is the perfect time to evaluate any services or automatic subscriptions you’re paying for but don’t really use, and instead put that money towards your savings goals.

2. Save the extras.

If you receive a bonus from work or a cash gift during the holidays, it can be tempting to go right out and spend it. Instead, take a moment to think about your long-term savings goals and how this extra, unexpected cash can help you achieve them. Better yet, if you have some debt to pay down, consider putting it towards that. By paying down high-interest debt you are also saving because you’ll spend less over the long term in interest rates and fees.

3. Use, don’t lose your vacation.

Remember that time is money, so if it’s possible, schedule some time off if you are in danger of losing your vacation time. Some employers may also allow you to cash out your overage vacation so that you don’t forfeit it, so check with your human resource department or supervisor to ask about their policy. Read the 10 things you can do to protect your money before traveling.

4. Contribute more to your workplace retirement plan and reduce your taxable income.

You have until December 31 to contribute up to the maximum of $18,000 for 2017 to your 401(k) or similar workplace retirement plan. If you’re age 50 or older, you can contribute an extra $6,000, for a maximum of $24,000. For IRA contributions, you can contribute up to $5,500 if you are under age 50, and $6,500 if you are 50 or older. 

5. Make your charitable giving donations before the end of the year.

If you’re planning to purge some clothes or other household items and donate them to charity, or make a cash contribution to a charitable organization, be sure to do so before the end of the year so that you can deduct these from your 2017 taxes. Keep in mind that you can only deduct charitable donations if you itemize them on Tax Form 1040, Schedule A. This is common among homeowners, but less common among renters.

By America Saves

The holidays are quickly approaching, and with the glitter and glam can come stress, anxiety, and impulse. As Benjamin Franklin said, “Failing to plan is planning to fail.” Consider using some of these tips to keep from being overwhelmed, overworked, and overspent!

Set and stick to a budget

Think about what you can truly afford to spend, while still paying your regular expenses and contributing to savings goals. Don’t stop working towards your long-term plans just to satisfy temporary holiday gift-giving urges!

Bonus tip: Do a post-holiday reflection. Review your spending and really explore if there is anything you could do differently for the next holiday season.

Gifts

Before the holidays, have conversations with friends and family about gifts. Do you have large groups that you typically buy for? Consider drawing names instead of having to give to each person. Most importantly, avoid turning gift giving into a competition. It’s easy to compete with yourself, family, and friends. Take a breath and remember that sometimes the most meaningful gifts don’t cost a lot and don’t even have to be a “thing,” but rather an experience.

Listen up!

When talking with friends and family, listen to what they say. Pick up on those cues for what they like, and more importantly, what they don’t like. Make a mental note, or even better, put it in your phone or write it down. This will be handy when it comes time to gift buying, and can keep you from grabbing impulsive and budget-busting gifts.

Make a list, and check it twice

Sounds cliché, right? But making a list keeps you on track. Whether in your wallet, your purse, or your smartphone, keep it where you would most use it. Consider using an app on your phone for tracking. Having an easily accessible list will allow you to keep all your holiday planning on track, from gifts to grub and everything in between.

Set it and forget it

Consider setting expenses and savings to auto-pay. Life is already busy, and we’re being pulled in different directions more than ever before. Free up some mental bandwidth by automating your finances. We can forget due dates, which can create all sorts of costly headaches-termination of service, late fees, interest charges, and reconnection fees. Avoid these by enrolling in auto-pay. You can also set up email and text alerts to be sent before your due date to help manage those bills.

Save time, too

Too often we think about our budget in only dollars and cents. It’s also important to think about your personal time and how you assign value to that time. Consider stacking errands to save time, money, fuel, and energy. Use a map app to lay out your errands in the most efficient way. Consider teaming up with a friend or family member for an errand date. This is something we love and can attest to its immense benefits.

Take care of YOU!

It’s critical to get enough rest. Study after study has shown us when we’re feeling fatigued, we don’t make the best financial decisions. Taking care of your health should be at the top of any holiday to-do list. Make sure to stay hydrated and full. When we get busy, it can be easy to skip a meal or grab something at the nearest convenience store. Those costs can add up. Save money and calories by packing a healthy snack and drink to have with you while running errands.

Guard yourself!

The holidays are prime time for food, fun, and the unfortunate holiday theft. Protect yourself before going out to those holiday parties or braving the crowds at the local mall.

• We tend to keep a lot of financial information on our mobile phones. Make sure it’s password protected; know how to locate it if it’s missing, and how to remotely wipe the device if it’s unrecoverable.
• Carrying around a lot of reward and membership cards on your key ring or in your wallet? Forgetting the cards when you need them? Consider lightening your load by moving them to an app on your smartphone.
• Check your bank accounts frequently, and report any suspicious activity immediately.
• Consider using a mobile payment service on your phone for added security and efficiency. Read more about the benefits of digital wallets here.
• Traveling out of your normal spending area? Notify your credit card company to avoid the freezing of your card due to charges in unfamiliar areas.
• Lastly, keep only what’s truly necessary in your wallet. Don’t carry every card you have. This will help minimize the potential for loss and headache that comes with a lost or stolen wallet, along with reducing the temptation to use all of the cards.