How Do I Manage My Money?
Some Tips to Help Get Money Under Control

MONEY MANAGEMENT
How do I manage my money is a question a lot of people ask even if they haven't filed for bankruptcy.

Knowing that your thoughts create your reality, you are ready to move on to do what needs to be done after a bankruptcy. Bankruptcy has gotten you a clean financial slate. Unless you address what got you here in the first place and learn how to manage money, you may end up there again. Poor money management would be a good guess as to how you got here, unless it was from unexpected medical bills, or a really nasty divorce. One of the skills you need is to be able to manage your finances. You need the ability to recognize where you’re at financially and determine where you’d like to be. You have chosen bankruptcy and are now putting together a plan to make it work. Learn the fundamentals of good money management. Your ability to re-establish credit after filing bankruptcy is better than it has ever been. After you get your discharge, you will receive many solicitations from lenders offering to finance homes, vehicles and credit cards. Please be careful and do not overextend yourself once again. Be smart and re-establish your credit responsibly.

There are some things that you are going to need to do and there is a good chance that you will feel overwhelmed. Before you read this list click on "feel overwhelmed" and find out how to break it into bits!

Here Are Some Things To Do:

2. Apply for a credit card. It can be a secured credit card. A secured card is one where you deposit money into an account and then charge against it. You will put money in an account and the credit card company will give you a credit limit of that same amount or a little less. When the bill comes in, you pay it, as you would a normal card. You get the deposit back only when you close the account or switch to an unsecured version. Some card companies may also be willing to give you a credit limit higher than your actual deposit, says Curtis Arnold, founder and spokesperson for Cardratings.com. Tip: Look for a card that reports to one, and preferably all, of the credit bureaus. The good news: Many secured cards report as unsecured cards, says Arnold. "And assuming your account's in good standing, once you've had it for a year you should start getting halfway decent offers on unsecured cards." Pay your credit card off each month. If you can’t, don’t use it. So if your question is "how do I manage my money" this is probably one of the best tips for you - if you can't pay your credit card debt, don't use your credit card!

3. Pay your utility bills, telephone bills and rent on time. These items are all reported on your credit report and very important to keep current. Pay your reaffirmed (debts that you agreed to pay and did not have discharged) debts on time.

4. Become organized. Know when your bills are due. You may find it helpful to have a bill-paying calendar. It helps to have stamps and envelopes on hand. It also helps to have a filing system, so that you always have your bills in the same place and they won’t get lost amongst the “counter clutter”.

5. Order your credit report from each credit-reporting agency.

6. Look for any discrepancies on your credit report. Make sure the items that were discharged are reported as discharged.

7. Contact the credit reporting agencies that have errors.

8. Write a letter to each credit agency explaining your circumstances, which led to filing. If there are compelling reasons as to your filing, such as divorce, illness or failed business this should be noted on your credit report.

9. Prepare a budget and live within your means. Keep your consumer debt to no more than 20% of your income after housing and car expenses. Few people who file for bankruptcy are aware of spending patterns that drove then into debt in the first place.

10. Look at your expenses. Make a list of fixed expenses (such as mortgage, utilities) and discretionary expenses (cable TV, dining out) and determine how to cut back on both.

11. Give yourself an allowance. Take out $25.00 a week (or whatever your budget allows) for your discretionary expenses. When the money is gone, it’s gone. Another idea is to use envelopes for spending. You could put $5 in an envelope marked Starbucks and that’s your Starbucks allowance. A friend used this concept and it worked well for her. She even put money in an envelope for dog food. When she ran out of Starbucks money, she had to decide if she wanted to dip into the dog food money to go to Starbucks. It helped her to see exactly how she spent her money. Do this for all of your discretionary expenses if you really need to see where your money is going, or you have a hard time managing your money.

12. Think hard before you spend. Take a deep breath and ask yourself, why am I purchasing this item? Impulse purchases derail you from your overall goal of getting out of debt. Always ask yourself if you are moving towards your overall objectives or are you moving away from them.

CAUTION: Be very careful you don’t fall into the spending trap again. You can have credit cards, but make certain you pay them off every month. It is important to reestablish your credit and in doing so the temptation is to use the cards in the same way that got you into trouble in the first place. Do you want to go through that again? Think about the reasons why you want to reestablish your credit. Do you want to purchase a new car? Maybe your would love to purchase a new home. Do you have a dream vacation in mind? Are you planning on putting your kids through school? How about being able to retire comfortably? See yourself in your new car. Feel how that feels. See yourself in your new home. What are you doing there – are you with family and friends? What does the kitchen look like?

When you are able to see yourself in that car or in that house and feel those feelings, doing the things that you will need to do to re-establish your credit will be easy. It will flow because you will be working in tune with the universe to create the life that you want.

How do you want to live your life? What is your dream? Are you ready to design your life? Ask.

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