Budgeting Could Be Simplified By This Key: Biweekly

Budgeting To Better Your Life

#1. Map your income and your expenses. 

#2. Dream, make goals.

#3. Match each goal to a time frame. 

Budgeting: The Slow and Steady

We all know that a budget will make things easier. I avoid it because I don't want to micro-manage myself. I do not enjoy computers (yes, there is irony in my job and my desires). I do not enjoy the idea of money (yes, there is irony in my interests and what I write about).

I'm a people person. I learned something crucial that transferred very well to my neglected financial life: If I don't like someone, I just don't know them yet. And I learned if I spend more time at home then I spend less money.

If I don't like computers and I don't like money and I don't like budgeting then -- I need to spend some time with it.Because I must not know it yet. It's a rather brave attitude towards our fears, and I highly recommend it.

As a life practice, anywhere I feel friction, resistance or tension that is where I give the most attention. If a child makes a drawing and says, "I messed up. I need a new piece of paper." I ask, "Where did you mess up?" The child will point, and flip the paper over, crumple it up, cover it with their hand. The feeling of messing up is bad. It's shame, embarrassment, rejection, grief, loss of potential.

BUT the light bulb clicks if I say, "Where did you mess up? There? Oh, that's not a mess up..that's your artist brain learning to tell you what's not done yet'" Relief. And they add a little bit, and they like it.

Life Lesson: Look at what you don't like. Get comfortable with it.

My bookkeeping would make an accountant cringe. I'm an artist by heart, if not by full-time trade. Cloudbased booking helps. 

I have approached those three steps:

#1. Map your income and your expenses. 

#2. Dream, make goals.

#3. Match each goal to a time frame.

frequently and often in the last 4 years. I wasn't getting much better.

I had the classic try-it-out-20's for a millennial...multiple jobs - pay coming in at odd times. The joke, "I just work odd hours; I'm not a ditz." Bills coming in at odd times. The time frame part I really struggled with. I know what bills I have and I am paid up, by the grace of God I know, but I cannot make them match up predictably to my "time frame".

A friend got a mortgage and I learned something that gave me a budgeting and time frame epiphany.

She could pay her mortgage for LESS YEARS saving thousands of dollars IF she paid the SAME AMOUNT biweekly. Pay at the end of the month, pay longer. Pay half and then pay half, you save SO much money. BIWEEKLY.

Executing this budget has been easier and actually even easier than: JUST DON'T SPEND, which I have to say was my go to for years, and it did keep my head above water. Read more tips here. 

No matter what or when I get paid - I collect it in biweekly amounts. If the pay varies greatly I take the minimum (using anything over that to accomplish long term goals). For example, I might make more but at least I make $10/hour. I might sell some artwork, something on ebay...and that extra money can go into an entertainment or vacation fund - that otherwise doesn't exist in a one-income-one-dependent household...

Life is full of rainbows and butterflies with my finances in order, and now that things aren't week to week, pay check to pay check...our quality of life is better, too. If anything bad happened and I needed an emergency fund, then I have it. If I unhappily think about the burden of my kid going to school with nothing like I did...it's okay because I'm fixing it. If I have a few hours with nothing to do I will probably use them to make some extra money because otherwise a fun-fund isn't going to happen.

The ideal percentage break down is:
60% - Monthly Expenses
10% - Debt (preferably long-term savings)
10% - Retirement (invest it)
10% - Fun-Money
10% - Short-term savings (tithe?or pay off debt)

It's the ideal within the PRACTICAL.

Get your finances in (better) order than mine. The Sub Prime Credit Store has a section for your budget and LOTS more tools to make have you feeling A-Ok about yourself, too. 

Budgets Could Be This Simple: "I Walk and I Read"

Budgeting To Save Yourself From Disaster...

...ruin, from yourself, from bankruptcy, from embarrassment, a big waste of time, working for nothing, being a moron.

HEY! Okay, no need for name calling. You don't need to muster up so much dislike for yourself and pile on the dread. You don't need to at least start all those projects your pinned or relive all those tantalizing conversations you had while you were avoiding budgeting - with super-on-point, practiced procrastination, I might add. This is a classic case of "I know you are, but what am I?"...The pot calling the kettle black. Perhaps you are a grey pot and procrastinate less. Or a porcelain ceramic pot and you procrastinate never. 

It's Not Secret That A Big Part Of Buying A House...

Getting Out of Debt...
Really Any Big Deal In Life Requires SAVINGS

"I'm not the best at budgeting. When I was graduating college and expecting my first child I remembered the value of a $1.00. It's...a dollar. It's not a dollar from you today means I can spend that and pay you back at 25% interest" 

Or (3% depending on where you keep you (don't) keep your coinage. Banking jokes.) 

But I got it. I got it.

Budgeting: The Hard And Fast

We all know that secret. You need to save to get anywhere financially, especially if you are...underwater. You owe more than what you are worth. 

Don't Buy Things You Cannot Pay For

My budget was simple and had a hard and fast rule: Do not spend money. 

Remarkably, I found myself fairly able to do that. I paid some bills online from my part-time job direct deposit, and then I didn't drink, go out to eat, rent movies, or have TV. I walked and read a lot instead. I'm that weirdo who is pretty happy NOT to touch the germy green stuff we call hard cold cash. Plastic, like Barbie, was appealing for a time. 

Your budget could be that simple: I walk and I read. I don't spend money...someone Else's money called my 'line of credit'. Please, someone write that blog post. I'd eat it like candy in a van. 

Origins of Our Personal Budgets

Some people are budgeting to save themselves from disaster. 

Some people start to budget to thrive (more) because they have a lot of money and they want to make more, spend well...well, they are already good with money in a least a few ways, and budgeting goes together naturally with financial skill. 

Some people budget to survive (better). They don't have more money and a strict budget will help them turn a corner...get married, go to college, have a baby, retire sooner, cover a funeral's cost, hospital bills, an accident. You know, all of life's corners. 

But if sailing is smooth, and you follow this hard and fast rule...in our society you can lead a really good life - no matter what your reasons for reading this article are...

The Key! Sacred Budgeting Secret Is In The Spending: 60% Of Gross Income Should Cover IT ALL. 

Click here to get life in focus on point, surviving better or thriving more.  This may require you to walk, talk and read. 

This Simple Tip Is Giving Moving The Right Kick

Thinking Ahead to Ikea...Act Ahead And One-Stop-Shop The Sub Prime Credit Store 

These movers had little to 0% inertia...check out the 18 most stubborn homeowners known to us. 

Do you ever shop to avoid an emotion? Are you looking at lists of Ikea's most popular products and drooling? Do you want to be? Look here...Then we can talk business.

Q: Not The Best Credit Score?

A: One-Stop-Shop That Can Put You On The Steps To Success 

...$30/month to buy into this network of help created just for you. Think - a few friends get together and realize their clientele are roughly the same people...so they bundled their efforts and came up with this package deal to best serve you.

Our worlds...our worldwideweb, our neighborhood, our homes, our resumes, our bodies...are a lot like playdough:

A: "It Is What You Make It"

"Life is what you make it. Always has been, always will be." -Eleanor Roosevelt 

Well, Mrs. Roosevelt that's a very stubborn way to speak of the most flexible capacity of the human. 

She's right, though, you know?

Now you do. In ideal economics (no, that's not a thing, maybe should be, is now), it would be beneficial for the businesses to team up, operate to their best on behalf of your best and the common good is had, created, made for all, by all, to all...We, the people..." 

You Get The Idea. You Can Make Your Life What You Want. What It Takes To MAKE All That, That's Another Question. 

Click here to see a path to success...when you commit your goals to writing you are more likely to accomplish them.  When you pay monthly towards your goal you created more incentive for yourself to follow through. 

Try The Sub Prime Credit Store Get Self to follow through...Get Self to Flow though...Get Sub Prime Credit Store...

Just Remember: When You Do Home Staging, Don’t Make the House Look Like a Library

The LAST thing that you want to do when staging your home, is to over accessorize. Don't get me wrong, I love a good trinket here and there, and I like decorating just as much as the next person, but sometimes people take it too far. That's when people run into problems selling their home.

Home Staging: Less Really Is More

We've all heard the saying "less is more". But when it comes to selling and staging your home, is that really the case? It seems to be! People interested in purchasing a home aren't looking to see all of your memorabilia, they're looking for simplistic, and they're looking for minimal design. 

When staging your home, try to minimize the accessories that you're using. If you have book shelves or books you want to display, only display a few! Keep it on the lower end. The same rules apply for something like plants or paintings. Try and keep it to only one plant per table or piece of furniture, and if you have a favorite piece of artwork, hang only one instead of them all! A little goes a long way when it comes to staging and selling your home.

To learn more on staging and how to sell your home, click right here!

Why New Home Construction Wants to Focus on Affordability

Dodge Data & Analytics' 2016 Construction Outlook report projected 6% growth, with the value of new construction reaching an estimated $712 billion. What will this new growth look like?  

A google-image search can reveal something about our schema for "new home construction" -- Oh yes, the suburban neighborhood. See the studs of the American dream? Two car garage, 5 bedroom, with a playroom or movie theater in the basement.

Those buyers had 9-5, jobs with W2s, maybe a two-income household; a shoo-in for a mortgage. Now there they are! in their big living rooms; not in the market. Those buyers are housed, so who is next?  

Low-Earners Are an Untapped Segment of the Market and Builders Are Figuring Out How to Reach Them

"Affordability," says demand, "What is this affordable housing and market-rate? There's a gap between. Build for market-rate, first and the government incentivizes the second. The middle. The gap is large, and You can can call me Market, the third". Demand waits patiently.
"Market, the third, in that case, I will utilizes technology in order to maximize profit to spite my issues with force*, hmm to help I could save on property taxes with Market the second..." The builder goes on muttering.

*How American! The climate for immigration these days is poor, and as a result the work force that builds our shelters is low. Think about that for a second. Think about this election. Okay, moving on into houses.

One way to compensate is to pull up your boot straps and do it yourself, DIY - How American! and create....

•  an off-site way to build - pre-fab homes, mobile homes, sky rises even. 
• Yes, the American also know the machine, robotics AND the classic nail and hammer way.
• This pre-fab idea has worked really well for cookie-cutter suburban neighborhoods that low-earners cannot afford. Now that we have serviced the customer to the best of our workforce ability, let's see what other parts of the market there are to profit from?

And for new home developments, first-time home buyers, a group comprised of immigrants and immigrant Millennials, born citizen Millennials. And the Grandparents, 

The Baby Boomers, don't forget about them just yet; It's time to relocate! 

The prefab thing might work, but is it green? Because a sort of hippie thing happened with Grandma and Grandpa...and there's this talk of global warming? I don't know but...either way the Millennials and the Baby Boomers have some desires in common and the builders are ready to increase their growth into all parts of the market more aggressively.

Which market? Oh yeah, that gap between 'affordability' connected with social services through tax payers, and then the market-rate...then there's all this maybe 87% left? 

More aggressively partly this looks like services available to you! Poor credit or no credit is an issue for people who need more affordable housing. That's fixable! With higher incomes, obviously, sigh, but also credit repair, rent-to-own, cheaper rent OR a mortgage. 

Right now it's more expensive to rent than to buy in over three quarters of the US housing markets. Come on supply! There's a gap in supply meeting demand! Pressure is in from all sides. Work force is low due to poor outlook on immigration, good job market in this case for certain jobs....time to switch careers? Technology is helping to tighten up the ranks at work. And home buyer preferences are guiding supply...targeting the market more aggressively...at least most places?

What Is Happening That People Can Work Full Time Schedule and Have a Hard Time Making Rent?

RTO?

Only certain careers, and income brackets can live in certain areas?

The very un-eco-friendly smartphone is ironically, maximizing efficiency and making business more sustainable. The networking (versus hierarchical) and collaborative (versus independent) focus of the millennial generation is influencing the Gen-X boss-builder.....in one way, through apps. If the builder has a need, there's an app for that:

• permits

• buying and delivery of resources

• inventory

• payroll apps

• safety

• remote operation of equipment

Apps like this are even helping balk some unhelpful trends. It's not the most welcoming climate for immigration, and that's a hit to the construction labor force. There's a high demand for skilled labor and a low supply of willing laborers. Sound like the exact OPPOSITE for you? Maybe you could benefit from further training. Did you know you could get thousands of dollars from the government to find your labor force.
"Sir, Mama, you are my son. May the force be with you." says, the government.

It might only be a matter of another year before the low-income are trained and hired for higher paying construction jobs. Who knows.

This is classic free-market behavior. We specialize; we are more efficient, and THIS YEAR not for the ends of bigger is better. Huh?

"Let's be more conscious of the effects on the planet," more and more are saying, and it just so happens this is part of the solution to affordability.

It's hard to prove, but apps might even help this problem: 

More than 85% of the nation's markets have rents that exceed 30% of the income of renters. 

That's like saying almost all one out of three doesn't matter...that renters isn't making it. Yet. If the builder can make the home cheaper and faster AND it fits into our earth-friendly paradigm...

Apartment living? It fits the collaborative call to action from millennials, certainly. A new version of "The projects" might be one way builders hit the market. The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, LIHTC is pushing that along. A builder can pay less in property tax if a percentage of their units are rent-restricted. The funds are distributed to each state at a rate of around $1.75 (changes to accommodate inflation), paying the tax in place of the builder. The pressure is off, except the paperwork. 

Is there an app for LIHTC yet?

It's Cheaper to Buy Than Rent in Three-Quarters of the United States.

BUT Millennials make up a large percentage of the people in the market for housing, and A nationwide survey conducted by Bank of America revealed that millennials are far more hesitant to purchase a traditional starter home as a placeholder until their dream home becomes available and affordable. 

Tiny Homes actually fit that bill quite well, and most are purchased without a mortgage - in cash.

Building based on the square inch is trickier than building by the square foot but there are perks.

Minimalism and minimization is the current trend, and affordability rides that wave naturally.

Just like large buildings are often off-site constructed, a tiny house can obviously be built indoors without inclement weather making construction quicker and cheaper - and can be shipped anywhere. Not unlike a tiny monopoly house.

Doug Schroeder, a 20-year veteran of home building founded Alabama-based Timbercraft Tiny Homes late last year. He'd been in the big sea - the big building business but caught on that there's the whole neglected group of buyers who want something a bit different.

The millennial preference is epitomized in a tiny house. Even normal-sized houses are smaller than they used to be, and have similar features to the tiny house. As a home seller you can utilize these preferences, too. 

After a go-ahead from the Federal Reserve short-term interest rates are going to go up and up, but projected to be still below 5% by year's end. Long-term interest rates will rise more gradually. Signing a thirty-year fixed mortgage will still look appealing to some. It's a good year to buy.

You might believe that's out of your realm of possibility? Ghost of past mistakes? On disability? Your cry is heard. More and more agencies are coming to rescue, like this one. Predictions for 2016 are looking up, in part because it will be easier to be approved for a mortgage.

Minimalism and minimization is the current trend, and affordability rides that wave naturally.

Let's dig in to what affordability looks like, shall we? 

An ideal budget follows a 50/20/30 ratio.

50% should cover all bills: housing, transportation, technology, insurance, etc. 20% should go towards financial goals: savings, retirement, investments, etc. That leaves 30% for tithing, fun money, flex spending. Those 20% and 30% categories aren't a reality for an outrageous amount of people. That's a problem--granted, not a new problem.

Be Smart Use Your Phone To Talk To A Person:

Click here if you have some problems with your stakes in the real estate market and you'd like to move on up with a better budget, space, and life!

Why Drew Carey Would Make A Great Real Estate Agent

Is the Price Right for you to buy or sell that home of yours?  

Drew Carey knows The Price Is Right.  Where in the world is Drew Carey when you need him?  Tell us Drew, what to do?

He's a true handy man in the career sense.  He's had a hand in lots of different sorts of honey pots. Maybe not a colligiate fellow, but Real Estate licensing isn't higher institutionalized - don't worry.  Marine, Game Show Host, Stand-Up Comedian, Press Photographer for Soccer, Denny's host (maybe?), a bank teller in Vegas and let's imagine him now in his retirement phase going on the housing market waves instead of the air waves.....

Drew Carey has a background in the U.S. Marine Corps-- 6 years experience.  "SELL YOUR HOUSE! No, not 1,000,000...999,999! Okay, give me 999,950."  He'll compromise, but you do the work and he works on looking fly. 

Drew Carey could probably draw the house and carry your boxes for you, too.  It's common intuition that what you speak comes into existence. What if Drew Barrymore slowly turns her daughter into an Apple?  How is Fiona doing?  Drew Carey, your wide audiences may have turned you into a real estate agent with a name like yours. Drew, stop trying to put that ad in the funnies.

Whose bottom Line is it anyway?  Drew Carey is used to hosting and catering to men and women acting afool.  If Mr. Carey could have I think he'd have taken the house, err horse-play even further.  Have you seen his stand-up? 

He's worked as a photographer for soccer.  The things in your house can sit still right?  Money is on Drew for capturing the best pics of your house.  Ohh, well, it was funny of him to pull the underwear out of your top drawer, click, put it on Zillow.  Zestimate says you'll get more for your home if Drew uses his background in stand-up to sell your home.  He's a bit pent up after being thumbed under ABC for the Drew Carey Show.  Buying?  He can laugh any home owner right out of their shorts, so of course, home too.

He doesn't actually need those glasses.  

He doesn't actually also sell houses - not rent-to-own, or own-to-rent, or not even sometimes showing houses in all those nine years of Drew Carey show (if you are more devout Mr. Carey fan and know better, sound off in the comments. Especially if he has in fact helped you buy, sell or rent a home). 

Want actual help selling your home?  Click here

Rent-to-own-consultants work in this industry.  Learn 6 common mistakes you and Drew won't make.

Please Don't Do That DIY If You Want To Sell Your House

DIY - Dooming It Yourself 

These parental friends and their six children are stuck at grandma's house, climbing the walls because they made this classic mistake.  Some prior owners did this DIY project: build a garage/barn/man cave.  Oops, they didn't have the barn built to code, because it was DIY and they did not know!  So now the housing renovations are on hold.  The walls at Grandma's are going to need a renovation afterwards.  DIY turned into DIAY - Do It ALL Yourself.  The Dad of 6 small ones spends nights these days after work making drawings by hand of the barn he did not build in order to prove to the proper officals: the thing is standing, now let me build a livable ark for my tribe.  That's a true story - Housing Market 2016.

Listen to Grandma, not your Grandma, someone else's Grandma: 4 Simple Words of Advice Before You Buy a Home. 

If you are watching better homes and garden for noise and reading Real Simple in the grocery line and Pinteresting in your bed on your board: NEW HOME IDEAS - Pinterest has real estate resources, for sure! - you might think you CAN in fact work on your own house, save money, earn more money, have fun, uh no.  Not for most.  Murphy's Law!  Anything that can go wrong will. 

It can seem like free labor (your labor after hours) will be a profitable situation.  In economics there is no such thing as a free lunch and let me tell you, there is no such thing as a free DIY.  Have you ever spent $20 at Michael's just to hand make Christmas Cards.  It was $6.99 for that box of 10 cards, which seemed over priced.  Now you have $20/200 cards, but you only needed to send 20.  In a market economy it's best to have specialization - DWYDB - Do What You Do Best. 

DIY people are special ducks.  They are almost hoarders of the Work-Cost-Transfer Law, which became a thing just now, right here, as a sub-set under Murphy's Law.  What you save here, will pop up as cost later on.  It's that American version of Karma; what comes around goes around.  If you are that odd duck, at least get the home inspected to save yourself that feather rustling down the line. 

Money is time, time is Money.  Math is right, and art is left over.  Your home needs to sell, probably you'd prefer for as much as it can as soon as it can.  Let's DIY on something you can enjoy, once you are in your new home, shall we? 

Stop wasting your time and Sell That House!

Click here for some DIT - Doing It Together. You are on a device...stalling....already, why not?

While we are at it, can you think of 6 home selling mistakes other people make?  Here's a list...