10 Ways Keeping a Budget Can Improve Your Finances

you need a budget review

In simplest terms, a personal monthly budget is a way to account for your money that compares your bills and expenses with your income. Some people create detailed spreadsheets to track every dollar that comes in and goes out while others keep a very high level budget that doesn’t go into as much detail. Whatever […]

Money as a Relationship Builder

you need a budget review

You’ve probably heard it before but I’m here to say it again.  Bickering over money is ranked as the number one reason the majority of couples fight within their relationships and marriage.  To be honest, this statistic does not surprise me at all.  Whether it’s fighting over how to spend money or how to manage personal debt, […]

Creating a Budget: Money Management 101

For most people, the word “budget” conjures up thoughts of penny-pinching and the unpleasant task of crunching numbers. This couldn’t be further from the truth. A budget is the cornerstone of a solid financial foundation, regardless of your situation, and it isn’t that hard to do. A budget is nothing more than a breakdown and […]

MyJibe Review – Taking Your Budget to the Next Level

Over the past few weeks I’ve had a chance to experiment with a new financial service that’s aimed to help regular people improve their finances. It’s called MyJibe. MyJibe is a unique, easy-to-use, web-based software for helping people manage their money, make spending decisions and plan for the future so they can have more financial […]

The Cash Flow Statement: Where Your Income Meets Your Outgo

Welcome to the final act in our financial statement trilogy, spanning multiple blogs and reaching its thrilling conclusion here on Generation X Finance. Money Under 30 ran our post on the income statement, and Sweating the Big Stuff followed suit with the balance sheet last Friday. Today, we present the cash flow statement. This subject […]

How to Raise Financially Savvy Kids

Children are often not adequately prepared for a financially savvy adult life. Between a lack of formal education and bad habits at home, kids can often be set up to make some costly mistakes once they set out on their own. Therefore, it is essential that parents begin to instill financial values in their children […]

Going from Two Incomes to One

How to Live on Just One Income Households with dual incomes are at a significant advantage. Typically, a married couple will share many of the same resources (housing, insurance, groceries, utilities, etc.) yet have two sources of income to pay the bills. As long as spending doesn’t get out of control it can really help […]

How to Create Your First Budget

Creating Your First Budget is Easy Creating a budget is no fun. It’s even worse if you’ve never actually created a budget before and this is your first time. It’s a bit intimidating. You’re dealing with all of your money, expenses, bills, and income to try to come up with a clear picture of where […]

Avoid a Financial Holiday Hangover This Year

Plan Ahead to Avoid a Financial Holiday Hangover Does this scenario sound familiar? You use credit cards to do your holiday shopping, promising yourself you’ll pay the debt off within two or three months. Six or eight months later (or more), you’re still paying, and those items that seemed like such bargains end up costing […]

Wesabe, Buxfer, and Mint: Which Web-Based Financial Management Site is Best?

This is a guest post by Lauren Fairbanks of LifeStyler. LifeStyler is a New York City-centric guide offering tips to young adults in order to promote financial responsibility and fiscally responsible lifestyle choices. LifeStyler offers tips on furnishing your apartment without breaking the bank, where to find the cheapest beers in NYC, how to set […]