Four Quick Budgeting Tips You Probably Never Thought Of

Debt management can be a bit intimidating for anyone. But the fact is, with a little effort, you can turn your financial situation around using these simple budget tips you probably haven’t thought of before.

1. Keep Your Goals in Mind — Write your financial goals on a small piece of paper or tape a picture of your goals to the back of your credit card. Whenever you use that card you’ll be reminded of what you’re trying to accomplish before you make a charge — and maybe the budget planner in you will decide not to splurge quite so much so you can reach your financial goals even faster.

2. Reduce Your Spending by 5% — In most cases, your car insurance, mortgage and health insurance are all a fixed cost and can’t really be reduced. But there are plenty of other expenditures you can cut back on — date night, that pair of shoes you had to have, digital downloads. Cut back on your variable expenses by as little as 5%. This is a small amount overall. Here’s how it works: If you usually spend $100 a month on date night, you’d only need to lower that to $95! The savings will add up fast if you do this across your entire budget. Once you get used to reducing your spending, try to reduce it by another 5%.

3. Change Your Budgeting Viewpoint — Did you know that putting aside 50 cents a day you can save up to $200 in 12 months? If every family member contributes their extra change to the jar that amount can double or even triple — the larger your family is, the more you can save! Begin by emptying the coins from your pants or pocketbook at the end of the day. All that loose change adds up fast — it’s one budgeting tip that can easily fit into any financial plan.

4. Get Started on a Biweekly Mortgage Program — Making biweekly mortgage payments is a good way to establish a new budget plan. By reducing your interest and the time to loan payoff, you can save money and gain financial security. Rather than paying your home loan once a month, you’ll pay half your regular amount every two weeks. This strategy allows you to make 13 payments each year instead of 12. And the savings really add up. Take a 30-year loan for example: If you have a mortgage of $272,000 at 4.5%, making biweekly payments can save you more than $37,000 and reduce the length of your loan by 53 months. The biweekly program can even be applied to other forms of debt, such as auto loans and credit cards, multiplying your savings and speeding up loan payoffs.

Learn more about the benefits of biweekly payments and paying off debt, and see more financial advice at AutoPayPlus.com. An AutoPayPlus biweekly payment program can help you pay down debt faster. Account withdrawals every other week fit conveniently with paychecks and your monthly budget, while an additional half payment twice a year toward principal reduces interest over the life of the loan. Visit AutoPayPlus.com to learn more.