| Living Within Your Budget
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Written by admin
Thursday, 25 June 2009 10:16 |
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- Step 1 - List all of your expenses, savings and income from the past year. Use your checkbook register, credit card receipts and bills to do this. A computer-based financial program such as Intuit's Quicken may help.
- Step 2 - Determine, as accurately as possible, what expenses you expect to have for the next year. You can project expenses for a shorter period, such as the next three months, then multiply by four for yearly expenses.
- Step 3 - Enter this information into a ledger or computer-based financial program to accurately track your income and expenses.
- Step 4 - Determine what you can reasonably afford to spend each month and then track how well you are doing by entering actual expenses into the ledger or computer program.
- Step 5 - If you find that you are spending less than you had anticipated, you may want to put more money in your savings account to help out with unexpected expenses.
- Step 6 - If you find that you are spending more than anticipated, try identifying the items you really don't need (new clothes, CDs, expensive dinners) and avoid purchasing them until you are back within your budget.
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| Last Updated ( Sunday, 05 July 2009 15:12 ) |
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| When hot, humid days set in, you'll want to try and balance the scales between comfort and the cost of that comfort. You'll need to prepare your home. Here are some tips to help keep your energy bills manageable and your home's comfort level in check. They are easy to do and don't take much time at all--and by implementing them into your home's routine maintenance schedule--you will see some dramatic improvements in your energy consumption during the summer months. Step 1 - The bulk of your energy use in the summer comes from your air conditioner. While most of us can't live without it, there are some things you can do to improve its efficiency. For starters, change the air filter. The harder the unit has to work to push air through it, the more electricity it's going to require to cool your home. Step 2 - Set your thermostat at a reasonable temperature and leave it there. For most people this is around 78 degrees. Keep in mind that for each degree lower you set it, your energy bill increases 4 percent. Step 3 - If you have a few rooms in which you keep the vents closed, open them up. Keeping them closed will cause your system to be imbalanced, which causes it to work less efficiently. Step 4 - Check the air conditioner's outside compressor unit if you have central AC. Make sure that there is no debris in or around it and remove any vines that may have gathered on it. Plus, if you live in a sandy area, check the fins to ensure that no sand has collected between them. If there is sand inside, squirt the fins clean with a garden hose. Step 5 - If you have access to the air conditioner's ductwork, make sure that there are no leaks between the junctions. If you find some, seal them with a quality duct tape. Step 6 - If you have a window unit, make sure that it is installed flush and that no air is leaking in around its edges.
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| Last Updated ( Sunday, 05 July 2009 15:12 ) |
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