Learn How to Improve Your Finances

With the stock market the way it is and the job market not doing so well, it's time to take stock of your finances and see where you can do better.  Many people are deep in credit card debt and it puts a burden each month on the monthly budget.  In this article, you will get some tips you can use to help you get better control of your finances.

How did you finance your last car?  Do you know how to finance a car the right way?  The right way to finance a car is to not finance a car at all and try to pay cash.  This will save you money each month that you can use to pay off debt and save on interest charges.  This is not avoidable for most people as they have to have a new car every few years.  If you have to finance a car, get the shortest loan term possible and shop around with credit unions to get the lowest interest rates. 

The next major financial issue is how to finance college.College costs a lot and is not going down.  Millions of parents and graduates are stuck with thousands of dollars in student loans when they graduate.It then becomes difficult for a graduate to afford to live on their own and that's why they live at home.  So how do you finance college better? Spend weeks and months looking for scholarships and grants.  We spend more time watching American Idol or the latest Lost season than we do trying to pay for college.  A lot of the work can be done online.  Spending more time getting it right now will pay huge dividends when you are not stuck with your son or daughter living at home after college stuck with student loan debt.

Lastly, you need to learn how to finance a home.  A home is the biggest financial decision you will have.  If you do it wrong, you can lose your home getting in a mortgage you cannot afford.  Do not buy a bigger home than you can afford.  This will only lead to a ton of problems if a financial emergency comes along and they usually do when you do not expect them.  And then the standard advice follows - shoot for a 15 year term or pay more than the minimum to pay off the loan fast.

There are tons of resources to help you manage your finances better.  It is not the most exciting subject in the world but if you take the small amount of time it takes you will enjoy less stress and a better financial picture overall.