Better Budget Challenge #4
This week Kacie has challenged us to take one last look at our budget as a whole, before start focusing on the details.
She is suggesting first that we request copies of our credit reports. This is a great idea for everyone.
You can obtain your FREE credit reports every year at www.annualcreditreport.com and yes, this is REALLY FREE; not some service you will need to sign up for! The reports will come directly from the three main credit bureaus; so there is nothing to fear.
You should always know what is and is not on your credit reports. Make sure you follow Kacie’s advice and request yours, your spouse’s and your kid’s reports. There shouldn’t be anything on the reports for your kids unless they are over 15 and have had a part time job or if you have accounts in their names like savings bonds or CDs.
Once you have the credit reports you need to go through them thoroughly and make sure everything is correct. If you find anything that is not right, you will need to fill out the forms provided by the credit agencies for disputes/corrections. If you didn’t receive the forms, call the bureaus directly and request them. If you do have corrections to make, be sure to send them out to ALL 3 agencies.
I request reports for my family every June and I am happy to say, we have only found 1 problem that was easily remedied with the forms provided and a few phone calls.
In the next part of the challenge Kacie encourages us to take one last look at our budgeting system to ensure that it will continue to work for us.
I have been using Microsoft Money as a budgeting and finance tool for well, forever, it seems, and I love it. I have a lot of control over how it works and I like the ability to tweak it as I go. I can change it all around on a whim if I like and that makes me really love it. I cannot see changing it at all.
Finally, in the third part of the challenge, Kacie would like to see us discuss what we would like to improve upon in our current expenses/budgets.
While a budget is always better than nothing, I feel like there is always room for improvement. Our current expenses are pretty low, but I would like to cut our spending across the board. I want to see how low we can get without decreasing our quality of life.
I am always looking to cut costs in just about every area of our budget! I think in the next few weeks I will focus on grocery expenses and household expenses(those things we all need like soap and toothpaste). Wish me luck!
I feel like the lower I can get our expenses, the better we will be able to live. With money saved on not so important items (like shampoo and ice cream) we will have more money to spend on the important things (like vacations and college savings, birthday parties for our kids and keeping the credit cards at zero balances).
How about you? Do you check your credit reports and what has the outcome been? What areas of your budget are you focusing on? I would love to hear everyones thoughts!
If you would like to join in the Better Budget Challenge-Head over to Sense to Save!
Happy Budgeting!
Topics: Finance & Money |
