10 Personal Finance Tips Everyone Should Follow

The following 10 tips may not help everyone, but a majority of people will find them useful for improving their personal finances.

1. Pay bills on time. This is important because being late can expose you to penalty fees, and it can adversely affect your credit score. This means you may have to pay higher interest rates on future loans.
2. Create an emergency fund. Unexpected expenses will arise from time to time. A special savings account specifically to deal with these expenses will always be useful. Try to put money into it every month. If you do not have enough in the account when an emergency arises, you can get an online personal loan to cover the expenses and then repay the loan with future deposits.
3. Budget for fun. It can be tempting to forego all entertainment spending in a bid to balance your budget. While it could be beneficial to find ways to cut back on entertainment costs, you should still find some money and some time to enjoy yourself.
4. Never make “impulse purchases”. One strategy for doing this is to make a “shopping list” every time you go out to buy something. Only buy what is on the list. This will ensure that you at least have time to consider every purchase that you make before you actually make it.
5. Spend less than you earn. This is the first step to creating any budget. If you have to borrow money via a credit card or online personal loan one month, adjust your budget for the next month so that you can pay off your debt as soon as possible.
6. Perform all scheduled maintenance on your car and your appliances. You may not want to pay for regular maintenance on your car or appliances, but this can protect you from more expensive emergency repairs in the future.
7. Audit your monthly expenses at least once per year. You should do this to see if there are ways to save on your bills (by switching to a different service provider, for example).
8. Know exactly what is in your wallet. Do not carry more cash than you plan to use for that day, and do not carry multiple credit or debit cards so that you are not tempted to overspend. One debit card and one credit card should usually be sufficient.
9. Always compare prices on the internet before making a major purchase. Compare prices and brands from at least three retailers before making any purchase that is more than $500.
10. Pay off any credit card purchases before the end of the first billing period. This will protect you from interest charges that will add to the overall, long term cost of your purchases. If you cannot pay off the entire balance, pay off as much as possible, and plan to pay off the rest next month. DO not use your card again until the balance has been paid off.