Al's Mid-January Financial Plan
It's about 2 weeks and counting until all our holiday shopping bills start coming due..if you hit the plastic online or at your local malls.
Then there's the federal income tax deadline, postponed to Monday April 18th.
What's the bottom line to making sure your ready for it all?
Howard Dvokin of Consolidate Credit Counseling Services says " Go through and organize all your financial papers. Start fixing your financial problems now or you could be facing even more problems over the next year or so".
For most of us, better managing our money sounds a lot easier than it actually may be.
Here's a quick and easy plan to double checking your financial bottom line.
First priority the Middle of January needs to be organizing your tax records to get ready for this years' April 18th tax deadline.
At the same time, start updating your financial balance sheet to put down on paper how much you earn compared to how much you spend and owe.
Up next: Double check the interest rates of credit cards, mortgages and car payments to see if you can refinance at lower rates.
Then start going over your investments, paying special attention to your blend between savings, stocks and 401 k retirement accounts. And don't forget about double checking your insurance needs to make sure you're not over-spending on health, car or homeowners' insurance.
If you rely on just paying minimum credit card balances, or moving money around between bank accounts, some financial insiders say those banking fees are starting to go up.
Dvokin warns "We're absolutely going to see higher costs for credit cards, ATM's or possibly even balance calls. They're going to Fee-Us to death!"
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