Managing Your Money the Easy Way - Step by Step

Managing your money is no harder than organizing your toolbox. The only reason that it sounds so complicated for many people is the misconception that money is just a number in your bank account. Actually, money is different from money, just like a piece of tools is different from each other. Also, money is not just something so you can exchange for stuff. It is your tool to organize your life, and your bank account is like your toolbox. Once you realize this, managing your money is as easy as organizing your toolbox.

Managing money easy way step 1 - categorization

This step answers what you need.

Just like organizing toolbox, we need to find out how many tools we have or need. Anyone can list why we need money, including shelter, food, living expense, emergency reserve, family protection, liability, retirement, children's education, entertainment, charity, your dream. The list can go on and on and on...

Managing money easy way step 2 - prioritization

This step answers what you need first and how much you need.

How you prioritize your money says a lot about who you are. This part should be unique to you. Don't let your neighbours, your relatives or your financial advisors take away your value in life. The common suggest is:

1. Emergency reserve

At least 3 months of your living expense is recommended. Cash is the best for this purpose. It should be highly accessible, such as savings account in a bank without being locked in for long term. An alternative way is to have enough personal line of credit or credit card limit, but be aware that you will have to pay interest if you have to use it when circumstance arises.

2. Insurance

This is to protect the most precious you have, yourself and your family, against unexpected event like death, critical illness and disability. The main purpose for insurance is to replace your income, so that you or your family will not suffer from dramatic financial setback due to any disastrous incidents.

3. Living expenses and financial liability

This section should be strictly necessity of living only, including rent/mortgage, grocery, clothes and other living rated bills. It should not include your takeout food or movie tickets. You will have a pretty good idea how much it would be by adding up all the bills you receive every month. The money should come out of your daily chequing account. If you would like to use credit card, make sure you pay the balance before the due date. A easy way is to setup auto payment schedule so you don't have to worry about it.

4. Plan ahead

This is the things we label as very important but not urgent. It could be your retirement, or your children's education. Depending on amount you need and when you need it, you can put them in conservative or moderate investment vehicle for longer term. The main purpose should be maintaining the purchase value against inflation and gaining decent return without taking on too much risk.

5. Your lifestyle

Movies, restaurants, hobbies, or some causes that dear to your heart. Life should be joyful. Again, you should prioritize your life in your own way. Some people decide to put certain cause on the top, and live the other part of their lives around it. In some culture, parents would put their children's education before their own food. You are the decision maker of how you should live, as long as you are fully aware the consequences of your decision.

Managing your money easy way step 3 - Action

The final step requires your action.

Once you have finished the first two steps, this one is rather simple. All you have to do is to arrange the things that you need, just like you put the tools in the appropriate section in the toolbox. Setup accounts with different purposes with your bank or investment institution and shop for needed insurance.

Money Management In Forex Trading

Money management in Forex trading and market isn't your usual way of budgeting your daily cash. While it does involve allotting how much to which, it's certainly more complicated and there are different money management strategies that a Forex trader could adopt.

Money Management DEFINED: This is a subsystem in the Forex trading industry. Depending on the strategy you adopt, money management tells you how much you should risk when you get an entry signal from the trading system. It also tells you the money you need to put on a single trade. With a lot of financial strategists spending every waking moment of their lives to find a way to 'tip the balance to their favor', it's natural that you would find different strategies for money management. However, all of them have one central theme; to prevent exposure to high risk.

Money Management Strategy 1: Martingale

You can ask any gambler around and, believe me, they know what this strategy is about like they would know their ABC's. The idea is straight forward and simple: as you lose more, you increase your risk. For example, if you risk $50 and lose, you need to bet $100 on the next turn. If that doesn't quite work, bet $200. After a long enough losing streak, theoretically and statistically, you will win. And, if you have doubled your risk right from the onset, that single win could recoup your initial loses and, if you are fortunate enough, even gain some profit.

The question, however, is this: do you have enough to finally win and make it back? Unless you have an unlimited amount of money to spend, this is hardly a reliable strategy. There are a lot of newbie Forex traders who adopt this strategy. Unsurprisingly, it leads not only to great losses but, much worse, to wipe-outs!

Money Management Strategy 2: Anti-Martingale

The anti-Martingale is the opposite of the above money management strategy. The idea is to increase your risk when you are winning and tone it down when you are losing. Like the Martingale strategy, this is high-risk, but it's perfect for traders who want higher returns while still keeping their initial balance. There are many experienced Forex traders who adopt this money management strategies, and with good results!

Money Management Strategy 3: One Percent Risk Rule

This system has saved many traders from total bankruptcy and wipeouts. The beauty in this strategy is that it's simple and effective. The name says it all: for every trade, you should adjust your risk to roughly 1 percent of your account's balance. Here's an example: let's say your account has $1,000,000. One percent of it is equal to $10,000. That means your Stop Loss should be tweaked so that, for every trade you go into, you will not lose more than $10,000. Simple and effective, indeed, but why is it that only a handful of traders adopt this? The answer is that they are not looking for moderate profits. They want to hit it big in as little time as possible.

Six Money Management Tips For Successful Forex Trading

In Forex it is difficult to earn money and even more difficult to manage the invested money. Once traders learn to manage and control their losses, the probability to earn profits increases. Money management is all about the amount of money you are putting in a trade and the degree of risk you are taking.

Risking a small percentage of your account

Experts of the Forex trade advise to invest a mere 1% to 2% of the total account so as to be able to accept loss of the trade if at all it occurs. The purpose is to be able to survive a loss and learn from your mistake. You must remember that with each loss, your core equity gets depleted and thus your chances to remain in the business for long reduce.

Regaining the lost money to break even your account

It is essential to keep a track of the amount of money lying in your core equity after each lost trade. In addition to this, it is vital to calculate the amount of money you need to earn in order to bring your account back to the break even point. This has to be kept in mind while trading further because if you keep losing, the percentage of return money keeps expanding making it even more difficult to bring your account back to the original size.

Hedging

When the currency exchange rates move unfavorably, you need to adopt the policy of hedging in order to protect your stock position. You declare to future sell your holdings at a set price so as to free yourself from market fluctuations. This is helpful to survive unpredictable price changes.

Diversify your trade

Trading in only one currency pair provides few trading opportunities. Thus it is advised to diversify and trade in different currency pairs. Each time you pick up a new trade, the base of your calculations is your core equity and not the starting balance, which means that you have lesser money to stake. The trick here is to switch to a currency pair with a lower correlation coefficient so that your risk percentage is reduced. For example, if you were trading in EUR/USD, your next currency pair should be USD/CHF because these two pairs have a high negative correlation such that when one pair goes up, the other falls down.

Martingale/Anti Martingale strategy

According to the Martingale strategy, traders increase the stake when they are losing with the intention to be able to cover-up for the losses with one big win. On the other hand, according to Anti Martingale strategy, traders reduce the stake when they are losing and increase it when they are winning.

Risk/Reward ratio

A good trader will enter a trade if he can foresee a reward that is 3 times the risk involved. This 3:1 reward/risk ration ensures profits in the long run.

In order to stay in the forex business for long it is vital to protect your account. Once you ensure your stay, you can then focus on growth prospects. Therefore, before you aim for profits, learn how to cope with losses. Money management teaches you all of this.

Money Management - You Are Broke Because You Want to Be

How many times have you seen this "I Make $20,000 a Month Using...."? The internet is full of money making schemes. We are bombarded daily with spam email, popup advertising, Google Adsense ads and the like. It seems like 90% are announcing the next big Internet money making extravaganza. That or advertisements for porn. Either way, 90% of these are probably a waste of time and very likely a scam to milk every last dollar out of your bank account that they can. So why do these annoying tactics work? They must work right? Someone is making money or they wouldn't be everywhere.

The real issue is WHY they work. All of us want to be financially free. We are all looking for the way out of our paycheck to paycheck lives. The problem is most of us never really take the time to first figure out why we live this way. Second, we fail to figure out how we really want to live. What is really important to us. We see the big house and the fancy car and we think "this is what I need."

I read an article the other day. It was about families making over $250,000 a year that are broke. They are afraid that the new tax laws are going to push them over the edge into financial ruin. I don't want to get into the new tax issues in this article. Whether it's fair or unfair is not the point. The point is that if you are making $250,000 a year and bringing in $12,000 a month how can you be broke? The answer?

BECAUSE YOU WANT TO BE.

I understand that the cost of living is high in many areas. I understand that families have obligations such as college funds and electric bills. I understand all too well. But I also understand that this is America. And in this country we are blessed with the right to make choices. If you choose to live in an area where your 1500 square foot house costs you $300,000+ it's your choice. If you choose to drive a $45,000 car it's your choice.

So what if you only make $40,000 a year? Or less? You still have choices. I have heard it said that the most costly item in the world is an excuse. No matter what your income level you still have choices. Some of them may be difficult. Some may require more work. But you still have a choice.

So here is the key to financial freedom, actually there are three:

First, you must understand that you do not become wealthy because of the money you earn.

You become wealthy because of the money you spend.

If you spend less than you make you can become rich. Period, end of story. It may take you longer if you only make $40,000 a year but you can become wealthy if you spend less than you make. So you must first understand what you spend your money on. Down to the penny.

I challenge you to track every cent you spend for the next thirty days. I would bet that most of you would be shocked at the money you spend on things like eating out, snacks and other crap you really don't need.

Second, you have to decide what wealth is. Is it a big house and a fancy car? If so, you need to understand exactly what this will cost you. The average American does not understand the real cost of buying ìstuffî. Here is a hint: If you are not paying cash for that new car you are paying too much.

Financing has ruined this country. Not because financing is a bad thing but because most consumers do not understand principal and interest. Once you understand that interest is an incredible force when it is working for you (in the form of investments) instead of working against you (in the form of mortgage payments, credit cards etc.) you can start to see that all that crap you are financing is actually robbing you every month. Until you understand this you will NEVER be financially free.

For me wealth is time. I know how much my time cost. And what I am willing to pay for it. Surprisingly, once you strip away all the stuff that can steal your money and your time it is easy to see that financial freedom does not cost as much as you might think. For me it's much less than $250,000, much less. For you it might be more. Either way must understand that it is possible to become wealthy without these principles but impossible to remain wealthy without them.

The third thing you need is a plan. Now you know where you spend your money (or what you are throwing it away on). You know what wealth is to you.

Now you need to figure out how you can pay for it. More on this next time, until then I suggest you start with Rule 1 and stop the bleeding. You can do it. If you really want it!

Using Cash Management Services For Improved Business Money Management

No matter what type of financial management responsibilities you might be undertaking, whether for a small business a corporation, or just for your own family, one essential element that must be properly managed is the cash flow of the organization. Cash management is especially important in businesses that have a lot of cash coming in the door, such as bars, restaurants and other types of retail establishments that deal in cash. For these kinds of enterprises, professional cash management services are crucial.

Banks provide many different types of financial management services, financial management solutions and financial management systems to their customers of all sizes, but especially to businesses who typically rely on the more sophisticated and powerful business financial management offerings. Business cash management is one of the many essential services that are offered.

Cash management services for organizations from small businesses to large corporations can help assure that the business has the cash on hand that is needed to conduct transaction for their customers. This keeps the customers happy and returning to the business because they are able to make their purchases without problems.

At the same time, the financial services that banks offer their business customers help to make their routine banking needs simpler, faster, more efficient and cost effective. Making the business financial management solutions and systems easy to operate and manage helps to assure that business owners and managers can focus their time and attention more on running their businesses effectively and profitably, and less on dealing with the business financial management issues.

Cash flow is crucial to a smoothly running business operation and so the purpose of these financial services is to make sure that the cash that is required for the daily business operations is properly balanced. This means having enough cash on hand each day in order to conduct business as needed and yet also minimize the amount of cash that is in use so that the maximum available assets can be invested to earn a return.

There are a number of different cash management products and systems available these days from banks and other financial services companies. These various financial services and solutions vary widely and the best solution will primarily depend on the particular business, the industry it is operating in, how the business overall is being managed, and what the business financial management goals are.

Many companies go to great lengths to carefully keep track of cash flow, both incoming and outgoing, and providing that cash flow data to one of their financial managers. This person, in turn, can then take this information, analyze it and generate accurate predictions about the future cash needs of the business and pass these findings along to the cash management services in order to produce the best business cash management plan possible.

Daily Money Online - Secret Internet Business Pays Everyday

You can make money on the Internet without a web site or selling any products. Thousands of people make money everyday, in this unique online business. The referral trading business is a fast way to make money. This unusual business will give you the opportunity to work from home and make money on the Internet. People will pay you to do a sponsor offer on a freebie web site. These people need a certain number of referrals to qualify for a free product. They will pay you twenty to seventy-five dollars for each sponsor offer you complete.

You have to live in the USA or Canada and be 18 years or older. You have to have a Pay Pal account and a visa or master card credit card. After you complete an offer, the trader will send a payment to your Pay Pal account. You can transfer the money into your checking account and receive money everyday from different freebie traders. The sponsor offers will be a trial offer from a large company. Keep a record of the offers completed, web sites joined, traders and cancel information.

Join a referral trading web site or community forum to find freebie traders. Read the forum rules and visit the trading area. Traders will advertise how much money they will pay for each offer. Contact a trader for the link information on an offer being advertise. The trader will give you their referral link. Click on the link and sign up for the site. Clear cookies and disable pop up blockers on your computer before doing an offer. Click on the offer you want to complete and fill out the information.

You will received a confirmation page from the freebie site. The trader will verify you did get credit for the offer and send a payment to your Pay Pal account. You can transfer the money into your checking account and received the money the same day you completed an offer.

The fast way to make money on the Internet is by being a referral for a freebie trader. You will complete trial offers from large companies. The trader will verify that you did get credit for the offer and send a payment to your Pay Pal account the same day you complete the offer. This is an easy way to make money everyday.

Currency Exchange Trading - 3 Tips For Money Management

Whenever you trade in the currency markets, or any market for that matter, solid money management is always required, not only to keep your investment safe but for peace of mind too. Below we look at some basic but detrimental tips to keep in mind for currency exchange trading. Remember your chances of success and profits rely largely on how well you manage your bank and by doing so minimizing your liabilities.

Tip 1 - Risks - Each trade should be accessed individually for the potential risk that entails. Ensure that you only have a small percentage of your bank at stake, for example 5% to allow for a negative trade. This should be more than adequate especially if you are already using a solid strategy.

Tip 2 - Stake Size - It is imperative that you trade with a stake per pip relative to your bank size. So for example of your bank is $400 then you should trade with points of about $1. The risk is too high with this size bank if you are using $3 per pip for example.

Tip 3 - Realism - Professional and profitable traders understand both the risks that are involved in the markets as well how to cope with the eventual losing trades as they occur. Your bank will be at some risk at some point and it is impossible to win every trade so as soon as you accept this and be realistic about the daily outcomes, your bank should benefit in the long run.

I hope this is a good start in order to outline how you should to properly manage your trades as well as profit on a daily and weekly basis and how important money management is in currency exchange trading.

Horse Racing Handicapping Money Management - Progressive and Regressive Betting

The subject of money management is often not a welcome one to people who bet on horse racing, but it may be the single most important factor in your success. Good money management will get you through times of bad handicapping better than good handicapping will get you through times of poor money management. It is not one of the essentials to success, it is the essential factor.

Though it is important, how you distribute your bankroll over your wagers doesn't have to be complicated. As long as you keep the first rule in mind, which is that you must protect your bankroll. Without it, obviously, you're out of business. So minimizing losses and capitalizing on wins seems to be the order of the day, but just how do you go about doing that?

Progressive betting schemes are based on two very different criteria. In the first progressive scheme, wager amounts are increased as you lose. The phrase, "The law of averages," is often bandied about as if such a law actually existed. Betting more just because you lost your last bet is a recipe for disaster. On the other hand, betting in increments of your total bankroll, sometimes called, "Kelly Betting," does make some sense.

For instance, you start with a bankroll of $1,000 that you divide into ten days which you figure will get you through the longest, meanest losing streak possible. Your daily allowance is $100 and have 10 possible bets (this, of course, will depend on the odds at post time). Therefore, your betting units are $10 per wager. That is 1% of your total bankroll.

Let's say you are very fortunate and hit a nice winner on the first bet and now have a total of $180. You have 9 possible bets left. You divide 9 into $180 and find that your betting unit is now $20. For the rest of the day, unless your bankroll is increased, you will wager no more than $20 on any one race. This keeps it simple and you work on a day to day basis.

Another variation, of course is to add the winning amount to your entire bankroll. You had $1,000 to start with and had allocated $100 of it as your daily bank. That gives you ten days of play. After hitting that big winner, however, you now have a total for the day of $180, but your entire bankroll is $1,080. If you wish to increase your bets, but in a more conservative fashion, then you may still take one tenth of your entire bankroll as your daily allowance.

That means that you actually have $108 for the day. You can divide that over the remaining 9 possible wagers. Admittedly, it is a modest increase, but on the other hand, it will increase any future wins. The most you will possibly lose for the day is $100, but now you have a greater chance of profiting off any more wins.

Regressive betting would work in the opposite fashion. Let's say that you originally set your wager limits or units to $10. Lady Luck doesn't smile on you and you wind up with $80 after two wagers. At this point you may decide to go with a regressive scheme and reduce your wagers. One method is to add the $80 to your total bankroll of $900 and you wind up with $980. Dividing that into wagers based on a percentage of your entire bankroll would look like this...

$980 / 1% = 9.80. That would mean your base bet is now $9.80, but since you can't make a bet for that amount you may round it down to $9. That is a slight decrease but if you keep working like this it means that in theory, you will never go broke, though you will reach a point where you no longer have enough to make a minimum bet.

My personal favorite is the daily scheme and I like progressively increasing bets up until my last two wagers of the day. Yes, you will go home broke on occasions, but you'll also have some very good days. Just remember, betting on horse races is gambling and therefore, very risky. You could lose everything that you start with. It happens quite often. Therefore, never risk money that you cannot afford to lose.

Personal Money Management: What Schools Are Not Teaching Your Children

One of the best life skills we can teach our children is that of personal money management. I don't mean just teaching them to balance a check book and pay bills on time. I mean how to invest money wisely and creating wealth even when the economy is already down and headed for a future crash. I'm talking about how to make money when no method of investing seems reliable or safe especially when done the traditional way.

Take investing in real estate, for example. The real estate industry has imploded, yet there are investors killing it in real estate because they are working off of advice from financial experts who have proven track records in their own personal money management as well as the predictions they publicly make.

Before you even attempt to teach your children how to effectively invest money as they reach an age when they will start working part-time, you need to know how to wisely invest yourself. More importantly, you need to know how the ultra-wealthy are investing and how you can get access to the information they are privy to.

Most of us fit into the "common hard-working" American category, but that doesn't mean we can't learn how to create substantial wealth regardless of what the economy's daily or yearly mood swings are. What is important to know is that a good comprehensive education in personal money management isn't going to come from the traditional investment resources that the generation before us used or even the investment strategies that are being taught in our educational systems today.

Why not? Because what is considered typical Wall Street strategies actually run counter intuitive to what the real experts are teaching to the uber wealthy. They understand how money really works; they forecast future economic trends; and they understand the current economic situation. What they teach is to essentially forget what you think you know about investing and take off your "Wall Street" blinders.

One of the best personal money management tips is to start following some of the leading financial minds and learning all you can about how you can protect and grow your assets in the unstable economic climate we are currently in. Experts such as Kip Herriage and his Vertical Research Advisory (VRA) investment newsletter and Gerald Celente, author of Trends Journal, the leading trends research source for the past 30 years.

So back to what we started with...if you really want to teach your children about how to create lasting wealth irregardless of what the economy is doing, educate yourself first and get your own finances in order. Personal money management is not an option anymore in this day and age; it's the only way to survive the coming crash.

Money Management And Investing

In this article we're going to go over strategies for money management as applied to investing.

These days with rising costs and salaries that don't seem to rise in proportion to those costs, it is rare to even have any money left over to invest after the bills are paid. However, if you are one of those fortunate few who does have some money to play with, here are some tips for managing your money in relation to your investing.

The one thing you don't want to do is use any more money for investing than you can afford. So the first thing you have to do is figure out how much you will need to pay the mandatory bills. Then you need to figure out how much you want to add to that amount so you can live the life style you are comfortable with. Finally you want to add about 2% of your yearly salary to that amount for emergencies because they can and do pop up.

What's left over is what you have to invest with yearly.

Divide this amount up into quarters. Let's say you have $10,000 that you can comfortably invest in a year. By comfortably, that means should you lose that money it will not put you in hardship. Okay, you now have $2,500 to invest each quarter. There is a reason you want to do this by quarters.

The next thing you want to do is decide what you are going to invest in. This is where most people fall into the trap of throwing all their eggs in one basket because somebody told them about a "sure thing." There is NO sure thing when it comes to investing unless you are putting your money in a low yield savings account. That is not investing. That's saving and actually with today's interest rates that's letting your money just waste away. There is almost no benefit to putting your money in a savings account, even a short term CD. The rates are pathetic.

What you want to do is take your $2,500 and break it up into 3 parts of $833 each. After doing that you want to take one part of your investment money and put it into something relatively low risk, like bonds. Current bond interest rates are between 4 and 6%. As for the term, that is up to you. Some people like 30 year bonds that will provide for their retirement years. Other people like bonds that will give them a return in a year or so. Choose what is right for you.

After you choose your low risk investment, then go for something with a little higher risk with your next $833. Maybe something like a mutual fund. Mutual funds are a little more risky because they are a combination of stocks and bonds. Because the mutual fund is diversified in itself, this cuts down on the risk. If one part of your mutual fund loses money another part will more than likely make up for this loss.

Finally, with your last $833 choose something high risk, like a hot stock that looks like it's going to take off. Obviously do your research on this so you pick a stock that will give you the best chance of making a good return quickly. Make sure you watch this stock daily. Pick a point where you want to sell. For example, let's say you bought the stock at $10 a share and you bought 80 shares for $800. You may decide you want to sell and pocket your profit once the stock reaches $20 a share, thus doubling your money. If this is a very hot stock this could happen in a matter of weeks. That's a good return for a few weeks work. On the flip side, make sure you pick a share amount that you won't let the stock go below before you sell, say $5 per share. This way you only lose half your investment.

What you then do is just repeat the above procedure each quarter. Before you know it you will have quite a nice little short term and long term nest egg accumulated.

Money Management: Learn Ways To Make and Save Money

In our day and time, it is always good to know how to save your money, and make even more money. To help you along, we have put together a list of suggestions to help you do just that. It requires a little time, and effort, but the benefits will be well worth it. So continue reading to learn how you can better your current financial situation.

Money Management: Learn To Save Your Money

A very important step in managing your money is to first learn the importance of saving money. This can be done by learning to budget your day to day cash flow. Over time you will begin to see how much you spend, and it will help you to save more money. A budget is critical for properly managing your finances, so make it a top priority for your household.

Next, you may want to begin using an online savings account. By using this kind of account, you will be less likely to use it on a daily basis. When you have a savings, it will give you more confidence in the future. For example, should an emergency situation arise, you can always fall back on your savings, instead of your credit cards.

Money Management: How To Make Money

You can also learn the advantage of how to make money online. This can be done any number of ways. The great thing about making money online, is the simple fact that you can make money from the comfort of your home. The important thing is to find an outlet that you truly enjoy. So take your time, and review your options.

A few examples of how you can make money online is learning to build web sites, and web graphics. You can also get paid you blog for companies, and other resources. Another great option is to fill out paid surveys regarding products that you have used in the past. These are all excellent resources for you to earn an extra income.

Money Management: Final Thoughts

Learn to take these steps one at a time, and before you know it you will reap the many rewards of a well managed financial future.  If you have found that making money is secondary to getting out of debt, or maybe you are just in over your head, then you may want to consider a non-profit credit counseling service.  They will work with you to help you get on the right financial path for you and help with basic money management skills.

Christ-Centered Money Management

If you are a Christian, you most likely strive daily to live a Christ-centered life. Hopefully, this spills into all aspects of your life. If you are married, you may even discuss with your spouse the ways to make your home a Christ-centered one. It is impossible to truly live a Christ-centered life without having Him be a part of your finances. The book The First Five Years of Marriage by the group at Focus on the Family discusses five ways to know if a household is Christ-centered. I am going to adapt these to be ways to know if your money management is truly Christ-centered.

1. A Christian home is (mostly) happy. This should be true for your financial life as well. If you are constantly stressing out and arguing over money, you are not doing something right. Most likely, you do not have an agreed upon, on purpose cash flow plan (budget) before the month begins. Once you get that in place, dealing with your finances should mostly be a happy experience. You will see that you are working together towards a plan and that should make you feel good. It won't solve all of your money problems, but it will give you a better sense of control.

2. A Christian home is gracious. Have you ever made a mistake in your life? Have you ever made a mistake with money? Chances are you answered yes to both of these questions. Your spouse should be able to make a mistake without having to get screamed at by you. For example, if they came into the marriage with $20,000 in debt, it does no good to constantly criticize, complain, or remind them of their past mismanagement of money.

3. A Christian home is a place of service. First of all, you should be seeking to serve your spouse with your money management. Every financial decision should not be about what you want. If you wanted to do whatever you felt like with your money then you should not have gotten married. Instead, work with your spouse as a team to accomplish your financial goals together. Once this spirit of service is established in your home, then you can serve others outside the home financially. There is nothing more satisfying to do with your money than to give it to others in need.

4. A Christian home practices spiritual direction. Explore what the Bible has to say about money. Read books by Christian money experts such as Dave Ramsey and Larry Burkett. Talk to your pastor about your church's view on managing money. You must explore, study, and learn how to do it, it won't just come naturally.

5. A Christian home is based on God's purposes for you. This is where producing the income you need in your home comes into play. Are you doing what God's purpose is for you as a career? If you are doing what God has designed you to do, chances are you will be extremely passionate about it. If you are extremely passionate about it, chances are the income will reflect your enthusiasm. A great book to read about doing work you were designed for is 48 Days To The Work You Love by Dan Miller.

It is sometimes easy to think of money as a bad thing when you are Christian. Money and sex tend to be two topics that can get us Christians all worked up. Turns out both can be used for terrible things, but both can also be great. If you use your money for God's glory, then you are on the right track. If the only reason you pursue money is to pad your wallet and live as lavish a lifestyle as possible, then Christ is not at the center of your financial life. You are called to be a good steward of God's money (after all, he owns it). If you manage it well, you will be in the position to give your money to those in need. That is the ultimate way to have Christ-centered money management: by blessing others. For a great read, check out The First Five Years of Marriage.

Money Management

What is perhaps the single most factor that separates long-term winners from eventual losers? If you gave one of the common answers, like luck or game knowledge, you are incorrect. The answer is money management. Sure, luck helps and knowledge of the game you are playing is a must. However, unless you learn to manage your money properly, you are destined to fail. Money management is not simply playing within your limits. It goes way beyond that. Today we talk about one aspect of money management-the daily bankroll.

A simple way for most people to get started is to create a bankroll for your night out or whatever. For instance, let's say you will play Blackjack today. Decide what is the most money you are willing to lose. For our example, let's say we are setting our daily bankroll at £100. Now we could rush off to the £25 table and try to stake our claim to fame, but that would be foolish. To win over the long run it's important to be able to withstand losing streaks.

One good way to do this is to divide your daily bankroll by 20. This will give you 20 bets to start with. It also helps those new to money management figure out how much to wager. In our example, we have a £100 bankroll. After we divide it by 20, we end up with £5 units. The ideal situation is to find a table where we can bet £5 hands. It might be tempting to run off to a £5 table, but £1-£2 would be much better. This will allow you to fluctuate your bet downward if desired.

Keeping a general idea of what your current bankroll divided by 20 will allow you to raise your bets. For example, if your bankroll grows to £200, you can now start laying out those £10 wagers. If you hate math, just stick around your original figure and have fun.

Three Steps to Better Money Management

It's an old song but it is oh so true -- "money makes the world go 'round." And if you're like most of us you've got questions about money. Not just the big question of whether you'll have enough to retire some day.

But the every day questions of where your money is going, how to save enough for that big ticket item you have in mind, and whether you could be doing something to earn more on a regular basis.

At one point or another most of us spend time trying to understand how to make more money, and how to keep more of the money we make.

Fortunately, over time, all of us can improve our money management skills.

Use these five strategies as a starting point.

Step One: Start Saving

A cornerstone of smart money management is spending less than you earn.

Savings habits are crucial to developing reserves for retirement and to provide stability in times of crisis. They're also central to amassing funds for discretionary spending such as vacations. Many people fall into the habit of spending all that they earn early, rationalizing that they will start saving when they earn more and have "extra."

Not surprisingly, for many, the extra never materializes and they never begin to save.

To get on the track to smart money management start saving something. Plan to set aside between 5 and 10% of your income. As you get used to saving at that level save a little more, until you're saving between 10-30% of your income on a regular basis. How do you save when all your money is committed to ongoing expenses such as rent, food, and transportation?

You have to choose to spend less.

You can do this by canceling one optional purchase and setting that money aside.

Skip a meal at a restaurant.

Rein in your daily Starbucks habit and save the few dollars per day that costs.

Pick whatever expense you want to experiment with and then skip the expense altogether and pay yourself the difference.

Do this again and again until it becomes a habit. You'll be on your way to the savings discipline that good money management requires.

Step Two: Follow the Dollars

Do you wonder where your money goes on a regular basis?

A second element of good money management involves getting a handle on your spending habits. Knowing the cost of your daily expenses and your lifestyle habits such as dining out, entertainment and the like can be very enlightening.

The best way to get this data is to keep a spending diary for a week. Write down every dollar that you spend so you have a record of the amount and the reason for each outflow.

At the end of the week add up the amount you spent on different categories. For an even better understanding work with a months worth of data. Get the data by tracking your actual outlays for a full 30 days. If keeping a diary for a month feels like too much effort track your spending for two weeks and double the totals in each category.

Frequently, the totals in each category, on a weekly and monthly basis, will include some big surprises.

Larger totals in some discretionary areas than you realized can show opportunities to save. Or you can look at how changing some expensive habits means money is available for other items that you haven't thought you could afford to this point such as a gym membership or a weekly date night.

The more you know about where your money goes the more you can be in control, achieving the goals that are important to you. Isn't getting that control the reason you became interested in better money management in the first place.

Step Three: Hunt Down and Eliminate Financial Surprises

Good money management also means that in most cases you are ready for big expenses that would otherwise feel like a crisis.

A large category of expenses are infrequent but not really unexpected. The self-employed, for example, have to file tax returns quarterly. This large outlay is irregular but hardly a surprise since it corresponds to the income they have generated in the past 3 months. Other expenses you pay annually or semi-annually such as homeowners or life insurance premiums, or property taxes are similar.

Because they involve a change from their every day routine many people struggle with these outlays. But sound money management suggests they should prepare instead, by looking ahead at what large expenses can be anticipated and then making a plan to fund them when they're due.

Tackling the financial calendar this way can eliminate many ups and downs, substantially stabilizing your cash flow. Once again, you wind up in control.

The Commercial Real Estate Investor Team Member That Makes YOU the Most Money- The Property Manager

The right Property Manager can dramatically boost your profits and is key to your success. The wrong one can make you wish you never bought a property in the first place. Property Management Companies play a BIG part of any commercial real estate investor's business plan.

So, how do you find the right Property Manager and what should a Property Management Company focus on to make YOU the most money?

Rental property can be an extremely profitable investment when managed correctly.

The best management comes from an experienced professional Property Manager. Find the best local Property Manager before you start buying, meet them in person and interview them. Once you make a choice establish good rapport and make sure they have a good reporting system and use industry standard management software. Please don't manage your own properties. You are almost certainly not good at it and Property Management is NOT the best use of your time as the head of your Investment Business.

Experience is one of the defining qualities of a Certified Property Manager. (CPM)

Candidates for the designation CPM must have a minimum of five years of effective full-time decision making activity in real estate management before earning the designation. Ongoing training is also an important piece of the right management balancing act that makes sure your manager keeps up with both the urgent daily tasks AND your long term business plan for the property.

Great Property Managers greatly reduce your risks at the same time they increase your profits.

They keep your tenants happy, focus on increasing rents and decreasing vacancies. They take care of maintenance issues promptly without you needing to get involved in repairs. They stay up to date on the latest changes in Landlord-Tenant and Fair Housing laws so you always operate in compliance with the rules.

Your Property Management Company cost is not an area where you want to shave the budget.

You get what you pay for so make sure your dollars are spent wisely. Look for Property Management companies that contain the following key traits and your profits will grow, while you simultaneously reduce monthly and annual expenses, and maintain or grow your tenant lists.

A great Property Management Company stays focused on three main areas to maximize return on investment.

1. The Investor - by increasing profits

2. Your Customers or Tenants - by providing a positive experience that results in their continued tenancy

3. Other Professional Associates - their support network that insures operating policy and procedure are adhered to.

You can not serve the needs of one of these groups at the expense of another. Ultimately, the right Property Management Company is adept at balancing all divisions and relationships that contribute to successful management and Return On Investment from a property.

Property Management success should be a shared experience within the company.

By this I mean every employee should exhibit a good attitude whether they are new to the business or have years of experience. Every employee in the management company should be willing to grow and learn. Periodic training through coaching or education should be available to maintain and upgrade service delivery. All these efforts transfer to increased customer satisfaction and tenant retention.

The right management company will also be networking with the immediate community. Chambers of Commerce membership and various community organizations and should be able to provide a minimum of five references to you from properties they manage. They should have a track record and strong management portfolio, and have experience working with multiple investors on a single property. They should be strong communicators and be willing to work with you and your investment strategy. If your management company treats the property like they own it directly, and are spending investors money like it belongs to them they become a valued resource that contributes to both the tenant experience and the investor's bottom line.

Property managers have to understand how to increase returns within an owner's specified time frame, and know how to add value by enhancing income and cutting expenses. They will conduct due diligence for you and provide you with reports as well as know how to take over a property after acquisition. The right property manager is also a financial manager and will understand how to analyze financial statements and utilize yield management technology that provides monthly updated rent rolls, income expense reports as well as annual operating budgets and income forecasts.

Choose a Property Management Company with proven abilities, integrity, reliability, industry knowledge, and management expertise needed to enhance the value of your commercial real estate assets. Investors own property for one reason - as a financial investment. The RIGHT Property Manager is the one team member that can improve your investment by positioning your property to achieve its highest and best use and make you the most money.

Learn more from a proven Investor Education Resource:

Investor Tours University is a dedicated resource helping investors build wealth and achieve their defined level of success. We offer state-of-the-art commercial real estate investing education, tailored to meet the needs of investors with varied backgrounds and experience levels. Our faculty consists of a network of national experts in legal, tax, investment strategy, property management, acquisition and sales professionals who practice what they teach investors, which is how to achieve generational wealth using commercial real estate.

Forex: Money Management Principles

Trade With Sufficient Captial

One of the worst blunders that forex traders can make is attempting to trade without sufficient capital.

The trader with limited capital not only will be a worried trader, always looking to minimize losses beyond the point of realistic trading, but he will also frequently be taken out of the trading game before he can realize any sense of success trading the method(s) or patterns.

Exercise Discipline

Discipline is probably one of the most overused words in forex trading education. However, despite the cliché, discipline continues to be the most important behaviour one can master to become a profitable trader. Discipline is the ability to plan your work and work your plan.

It's the ability to give your trade the time to develop without hastily taking yourself out of the market simply because you are uncomfortable with risk. Discipline is also the ability to continue to trade the methods and patterns even after you've suffered losses. Do your best to cultivate the degree of discipline required to be a world-class trader.

Employ Risk-to-Reward Ratios

The following shows you possible risk-to reward ratios, and the win ratios required to break even in a trading system.

Risk-to-Reward Ratio (in pips)and Win Ratio Required to Break Even(%)

40/20 (2 to 1) = 67%, 40/40 (1 to1) = 50%, 40/60 (1 to 1.5) = 40%,

40/80 (1 to 2) = 33.5%,

60/20 (3 to 1) = 75%,

60/60 (1 to 1) = 50%,

60 /90 (1 to 1.5) = 40%,

60/120 (1 to 2) = 33.5%

Important Note

Never risk more pips on a trade then you plan to make. It doesn't make sense to risk 100 pips in order to make only 10. Why? See below example.

Profit taking level (pips): 10

Stop used or pips at risk: 100

You win 10 times which makes 100 winning pips.

You ONLY lose once and have to give back all profits!!!

This type of trading makes no sense and you will lose on the long term guaranteed!

Church Accounting Software - Money Management Made Easy

Even as a religious institution, a church manages its own finances-a fact that people usually find a bit awkward. It is because of the widely held belief that religion and money must never go together. But it is hard to imagine how any organization-religious or secular-survives its daily operation without money. Ask any priest or pastor: he would tell you that money is important in practically every activity, project, or event initiated by a church. Managing the funds of a church is quite complicated because money is used in many aspects such as monthly salaries of employees, water and electricity bills, and daily collections. Sometimes, huge donations from generous parish members need to be handled efficiently as well.

Handling the finances of a church should be no different from that of a business. Churches can take advantage of modern technology to aid their daily operations just as businesses can. Aware of the money management needs of religious organizations, software providers have come up with various church accounting software programs.

Improving the accounting system of any church is the main goal of using a church accounting software. Because this software is automated, it makes handling the income and expenses of a church much more convenient. A good accounting software allows users to easily record cash inflows like daily collections, pledges, accounts receivables, donations, and profits gained from church-related events or projects. Aside from income, the software can also easily track down release of church funds for expenses such as electricity and water bills, building and equipment maintenance, salaries of employees, insurance, and charitable programs.

A church accounting software can also address transparency issues that rise from running the finances of a church. Parishes typically have no external auditing in place to check how their funds are being managed. Most accounting software programs are easy to use and accessible to multiple users. These software programs also allow recording of any change in the entries. Such features make audit trail possible, allowing church officers to regularly audit the accounting system of their church. That way, the accounting officer or treasurer of a church would not be tempted to mismanage the funds or be accused of such practice.

In addition, using an accounting software makes the administration of a church more efficient. This means financial data can be recorded, stored, and retrieved without any hassle. With the help of an accounting software, different reports can be created and church budget can be prepared in just a matter of hours. Parishioners also stand to benefit from an accounting software during tax payments since money used for church activities are tax-exempt. Church members can request for reports that show the tithes or donations that they gave to the church. Such reports can be accessed and printed easily.

A number of software programs can aid in the non-financial aspects of church management. For example, an accounting software program can be used to monitor church attendance and church activities such as weddings, baptisms, and funerals.

To conclude, the financial aspect of a church should not be separated from its religious aspect. A church can serve its parishioners better if it has an efficient system for managing its finances.

Money Management 101

Whether you are in a deep financial hole or would like to get the most out of your money there are some things that you should know to accomplish these goals. Money management can help educate you on the inner workings of money, help you avoid the many financial pitfalls that exist and show you how to make money work hard for you. If you would like to get out of a difficult financial situation and achieve financial serenity, here are some money management tips that are extremely helpful.

In order to truly succeed, you must first understand how money works. This includes learning how to create a budget, save, how to be responsible with credit and how to choose lending products that fit your means and lifestyle.

Create a Budget

Creating a budget can help one understand their unique financial situation. It is extremely easy to create a budget. On one side of the paper, put all of your revenue including your income from your job, and any money you receive from investment, etc. On the other side of the paper list your expenses. Expenses include your mortgage, your car payment, gas, tolls, daily coffee, everything you can think of. If your income exceeds your expenses then you are in a good position to save your extra earnings. If your expenses exceed your income then you are in big trouble and you must cut back your expenses to cover your spending.

Savings

In order to manage your money, you should start building a savings. It is important to pay yourself first once you cash your check. Whether it is $20 per week or $200 per week make sure you save something each month. This savings can be helped later on to invest and make your money work for you.

Be Responsible with Credit Cards

Credit cards are not free money, they are unsecured loans and they can wreak havoc on irresponsible spenders. Many people fall deep in debt by spending carelessly with credit cards. Credit cards should only be used in an emergency or when you have the money to cover your purchase. Credit cards are not as convenient as most people think. In fact, if you pay the minimum payment the credit card company asks of you each month, you may find that an item that cost you $100 really cost over $200 by the time your credit card debt was paid off.

Choose Loans Wisely

Most people require a mortgage or car loan to purchase high priced items. While these lending products have helped millions it is important to choose the right ones that fit your means and lifestyle or else you may find yourself in financial difficulty. Before taking out a loan, do some research and educate yourself on the many types of loans available. Make sure the loan you choose has low risk. For instance, while banks may try to sell you products such as Adjustable Rate Mortgages or Interest Only Mortgages, you may want to stick with the Fixed Rate Mortgage. At least with this mortgage the interest rate will never change and you will know how much each month's payment will be for the life of the mortgage.

Money Management Software

Managing your money becomes much easier if you have a software program to record and analyze all of your financial data. These money management software programs can do anything from download daily transactions from your checking account and other investment accounts, help you budget and save toward long term and short term goals, as well as working toward eliminating debt. Here are several recommendations for money management software and what they can do for you.

The first money management tool which is offered online for a small monthly fee is the service called Mvelopes. This software is specifically designed as a personal home budgeting tool. Mvelopes works similarly to the old fashioned budgeting tool of placing cash in different envelopes to be used for different expenses. The only differences is that Mvelopes offers virtual envelopes. Similar to Quicken, Mvelopes downloads transactions from all of your financial accounts daily and allows you to classify each transaction into specific spending categories.

When comparing Mvelopes with Quicken or Microsoft money it is easy to see the differences between the two. Unlike Quicken, Mvelopes allows you to access your personal budget from any computer with Internet access. It also tracks all your credit card purchases and sets aside money from each of your envelopes to pay it off each month. This feature allows you to reduce your debt in a matter of months. With Mvelopes you can also pay up to 15 bills per month online for free. They also provide personal budgeting coaching to keep you on track to reach your goals. The monthly cost for Mvelopes is $7.90. They offer a 30 free trial offer.

Another online money management software is GnuCash. This service is free and uses professional accounting principles to organize your finances. Similar to other money management software programs, GnuCash downloads all of your financial information from all of your bank accounts and investment accounts. It then offers an analysis of your spending and saving habits complete with graphs and pie charts. This money management software is simple to use and understand, it's much like using your checkbook register. Another benefit of GnuCash is that you can track both personal and business finances so you don't have to have separate programs for each entity. This software also makes it is to organize your taxes.

If you are looking for money management software that will allow you to make educated stock trades and to track your investments, then you should look into ManusRisco software. This software is easy to use and allows you to make informed and wise investment decisions based on your trading style. The software analyzes various trade possibilities and plays a positive/negative expectation game in order to give you the best possible trading decision. Following the analysis stage ManusRisco will provide a full report to help you maximize your profits. This software is designed for businesses.

The one thing that all of these money management software programs have in common is that they are all available online. You no longer have to worry about backing up your computer every time you update your financial software. These money management tools will allow you to make wise decisions regarding your finances and help you get out of debt.

Money Management for Futures and Commodity Traders, Part II

A number of qualities are necessary in order to become a successful futures trader. These characteristics can be your keys to success. Some are more crucial than others, but together they form an unbeatable -- and winning -- combination.

The Discipline of Excellence

Discipline is the primary key to successful futures trading. You must have the discipline to learn your system, study it daily and tweak it to perfection. You must have the discipline to keep a trading log that records your trades, as well as the market conditions, thought processes and external influences that affected each trade. Without such a log, you are doomed to repeat your mistakes, rather than learning from them. You must have the discipline to do your homework, to study and keep up with the market, and to keep your system current.

The Profit of Patience

You must be patient if your trading system is to be effective. By trading too soon, you negate the value of your trading system. You must exercise patience and give your system time to work. More than a virtue, patience for the futures trader is sheer profit.

Learning to Deal With Loss

Loss is simply part of the trading game. You must be able to take losses in stride and get right back in the game. When your system dictates that a loss be taken, you must have the discipline to follow your system, take the loss quickly, minimize the damage and move on.

Perseverance

There are no overnight success stories in futures trading. Success is a matter of building experience, working and perfecting your system, minimizing losses, and capitalizing on small gains. Success, particularly at the beginning, is more often a series of small steps than giant leaps.

Confidence

Above all, a futures trader must have confidence in him or herself. You must have confidence in your system and your ability to work your system -- to "pull the trigger". Futures trading is a game of risk. You can't be afraid to act. You must have confidence in your ability to read your system and act. Those who hesitate or who second-guess themselves on every trade are doomed to lose in the futures trading game.

Flexibility

The market and market forces are ever changing. You must have the flexibility to change with the times, and to make changes to your system so it remains viable and in tune with current market conditions.

Each individual component of futures trading -- from timing, to entry, money management, and exit -- is directly affected by the person calling the shots: the trader. For this reason, personal traits and characteristics of the trader must be continually examined and developed, in order that optimal performance be accomplished and maintained.