Part One: Money Management in 1 Minute – Plan Ahead

The best advice one can give to help people be financially responsible is this: plan ahead. Plan waaaay ahead. Your bills come every month. Know what day they are due and set aside money to pay bills before they are due. Think of ways that paying early, or in bulk, can reduce your rate. For example, paying your car insurance in one yearly lump sum is usually cheaper than paying every month. Save up ahead of time to pay the yearly rate and save money over the whole year.

Part Two: Reader Question

This week I’d like to answer a question from the Square Rootz’ event I attended last week. We watched the film I.O.U.S.A. and had a lively discussion about the national debt, personal debt, and various other topics. The question that I want to answer is: What should each of us be doing to ensure that we are managing our finances responsibly?

There are 4 very important things that you can do to take responsibility for your financial future:

#1 – Pay your bills on time

Make sure that you know when bills are due and pay before the due date. Some companies take a few days to process the payment, so make sure that your payment is in at least 3 days early if you are paying by check or debit card online, at least 5 days early if you are paying by mail, or before 3 p.m. if you are paying by real time debit card.

#2 – Know your credit score

An attendee made the comment that, “people think that once you have bad credit, forget it, there’s nothing you can do about it”. This is wholly incorrect. Your credit score fluctuates every month depending on your on-time payments, debt ratio, and length of credit history. Add to the mix that each of the three credit agencies has it’s own file for you, and you see why it’s not so easy to just say that across the board you have “bad” credit.

#3 – Monitor your credit score

I can not emphasize enough the need to monitor your credit score at each agency. Make sure that the information contained is correct. If you find information that is not correct, log in to each site, write a letter, or call immediately to correct the information. Not only should you worry about you messin’ up your credit score, you should also be wary of shady companies and identity theft.

#4 – Save for a rainy day

Save at least 15% of your after tax income. That’s right, I said it. Do what you have to do to set aside emergency money. Everyone will have unexpected expenses come up, having a stash to pull from could be the difference between beginning a cash advance cycle on your credit cards or at the local check cashing spot and staying financially independent.

Taking care of your financial present can secure your financial future, so think about where you want to be in five years and prepare accordingly. To paraphrase Mos Def, you know what’s gonna happen with society? Whatever is happening with us. If we’re smoked out, then our communities are gonna be smoked out. We have to change our behaviors first.