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I Don’t W ant To Do a Budget AMS

15. Buy clothing at the end of the season for discounts.

16. Make your next car a new used car. Maintain and service your car to
reduce breakdowns. Shop automobile insurance online to make sure
you are getting the best rates.
17. If eligible, obtain discount rates for seniors.

As you take the time to track your expenses, you will most likely notice a
trend: the tendency to spend money without thinking where your dollars go.
Look at your unconscious spending and knock out purchases that are unnec-
essary. This simple practice can free up your money—and make more of it
available for investing, eliminating debt, and contributing to charity. You may
be very surprised by how much money you pay in interest charges ever year.

Just think how different your financial statements will look when none of
your money is spent on interest.

Computerize

If you are reasonably computer literate, I highly recommend that you use one
of the many personal finance programs available. My family and I have used

Intuit’s Quicken and Microsoft Money. Such programs allow you to budget,
itemize your expenses, store all your income tax information, track your
investments, do online banking, and much more. Personally, I fi nd Quicken

to be very powerful and user friendly. You can find this program, and others,

at most office supply or electronics stores.
Watch for Red Flags

These red fl ags are:

• Expect to make some mistakes during the process.

• Be prepared to be flexible. Plan for some unexpected expenses.
• Double check your entries to make sure you don’t overlook quarterly,
semiannual, or annual expenses.
• Always expect the unexpected, especially in the beginning.

Be consistent and keep the family involved at all crucial times. The big-
gest budget problems usually result from lack of family involvement. Many
times I have seen one of the parents take off like the Lone Ranger and attempt
to manage everything on his or her own. This usually involves one person

setting up the new financial program and then inflicting the fi nished product
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