Have Your Personal Finances Derailed? Get Them Back on Track! | Cleveland Bradley County Teachers Federal Credit Union
Let’s face it. Between summer vacations and back-to-school shopping, your budget has probably been ignored for most of the summer.
But there’s no better time than now to get back on track, and our team at Cleveland Bradley County Teachers Federal Credit Union wants to help you get back on the right path!
Steering Back to the Right Path
No matter how much spending you’ve done this summer, it’s not too late to correct your habits and get to a better spot again. Let’s take a look at some steps to do just that:
Back to the Budget!
Yes, we are going to say the b word—budget.
A budget is a wonderful way to assign every dollar you make a home. That way you know exactly what you’re able to spend in each category without exceeding what you’ve earned.
Categories for your budget may include:
- Car
- Clothing
- Education
- Food
- Fun money
- Giving
- Insurance
- Medical
- Personal
- Rent/Mortgage
- Retirement
- Savings
- Utilities
You’ll want to prioritize the categories that are absolutely necessary to keep your life functioning, and include money in the other categories as you’re able.
Tackle That Debt
The last thing you need to do is add to the debt you already have. Instead, you need to work on paying off your current debt using the snowball method.
Under the snowball method, you list all your debts. Next, you conquer the lowest debt first, putting more money toward that debt, while paying the minimum on the rest. Then, once one debt is eliminated, you move on to the next!
The feeling of accomplishment checking off debts one by one can be so motivating—encouraging you to keep going until they’re all gone!
Does your budget include savings? Visit the Cleveland Bradley County Teachers Federal Credit Union website today to learn about our Sharing Account that can help you stash money away safely.