School is starting, the weather is changing – it’s almost time for Football. So let’s take advantage of a nice weekend and think about finances.

Geraci Law has the tools to help! It does not matter if you are trying to figure out a savings plan or if it’s time to take a good hard look at what your expenses are. If you are seeing on the monthly budget that you are operating in the negative – it might be time to realign.

So pick out your favorite cold one, grab a calculator (there’s one on your iPhone) and let’s figure out your budget!

Check out below. You can fill in your monthly expenses. Take note – your Starbucks coffee (a beverage part of budgeting) should list under Entertainment. Tip: go to your bank account and look how much you are spending each month.

Next – let’s take a look at your income. You can use this as a guide! Tip: if you are paid salary, use one paycheck since your income does not change. If you are paid hourly, take the average of the last 3 months.

After that, take the amount in TOTAL MONTHLY INCOME and subtract from your Total from the monthly expense worksheet….

THIS is your disposable income – it’s the amount you have left at the end of the month to either save or spend.

When you have debt including credit cards, Pay Day loans, medical bills (note bill NOT expense) the minimum payment is substracted from your disposable income NOT from your expenses.

If the amount is high and you are not paying DOWN the balance on the debt, reexamine the budget. Go back to the disposable income amount – if you eliminate the debt payment, this is the money that goes back to YOU.

If you have $1,000 in disposable income every month and are paying $1,000 in minimum payments – if you are then using your credit card to pay the monthly expenses (from the first worksheet) your plan is NOT working.

Instead if you account for the monthly expenses where you can pay for the bill without relying on credit, you have disposable income to put into a savings account. $1,000 per month for 12 months is $12,000 an amazing start to retirement, paying for college, down payment on a home, etc.

Dial 1-800-CALL-PFG for a free phone mini-consultation, or make an appointment online 24/7 at www.infotapes.com. Bankruptcy laws are in place to help you. Who knows bankruptcy like Geraci Law? Geraci Law has 30,000 5-star reviews since November 2016!

Read ALL ABOUT DEBT RELIEF at www.bankruptcybookbypeterfrancisgeraci.com.

Are Your Financial Goals Out of Reach?

Do you have financial goals? Do you want to own a car? Own a house? Be able to save for retirement? If you owe a substantial amount of debt – these goals can be out of reach. No one plans on becoming inundated with debt – but sometimes life happens and you simply get in over your head.

Not being prepared for the UNEXPECTED can cause debt to snowball and savings to dwindle. Sometimes it’s bad luck, sometimes its job loss, currently it’s a pandemic causing havoc on everyone’s wallets. So what do you do if you owe money and have financial goals?

Cut Expenses

Financial planners may say to cut out the unnecessary expenses and live within a budget. That’s great advice – living within a budget AFTER you get out of debt can help you stay on financial track to meet your goals.

Cutting expenses may not help if you are ALREADY overburdened with debt. If you have $20,000 balance with 18% interest – paying the minimum balance will take over SIXTEEN years to pay off the balance. Think about the past 16 years – were your finances stable? Did you work the same job with the same expenses with no unexpected expenses? Probably not.

Debt consolidation

Debt consolidation or debt settlement is a common choice for people with debt. Companies advertise cutting minimum payments and interest rates with the promise of LOWERING the monthly bill.

The reality is debt consolidation or settlement does NOT work for people with a large amount of debt and low amount of savings. You could pay the consolidator thousands for the “service” and be in debt even longer. Your credit score is STILL negatively affected. There’s NO protection for you if the bill collector rejects the proposal and decides to sue any way.

Bankruptcy

With bankruptcy you are using FEDERAL LAW to get control of your finances. Chapter 7 bankruptcy eliminates your unsecured debt and a Chapter 13 is a court supervised repayment (or consolidation) of your debt. You are using federal laws put in place to help YOU.

Think about your financial goals. After filing a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, you have a fresh start. If you create a budget and stick to it, you could have a savings account. So when the unexpected happens, you do not have to rely on credit to make it. If bad luck happens – you do not need to use the credit card to buy groceries. SAVING money is a very powerful thing.

Chapter 13 is ONE monthly payment to cover your bills. Unlike consolidation – a Chapter 13 is structured into a 3-5 year repayment plan. It will NOT go longer than that. If the unexpected happens during your Chapter 13 – that’s why you have Geraci Law on your side. We’re a phone call away to adjust your plan if necessary.

If you want to talk about your financial goals and your debt – Geraci Law is here. We offer free consultations with our experienced attorneys to give you options for your debt.

Read ALL ABOUT DEBT RELIEF at www.bankruptcybookbypeterfrancisgeraci.com.

Tag: saving

Beverages & Budgeting!