Living Within Your Means

Living within your means, budgeting, and/or frugal living are all great watchwords to live by.

This does not mean you have to be a cheapskate, but  just be aware of your living and spending. This is even harder to do in some ways due to people not using cash.  But you have to keep track even more when using credit or debit cards.

I decided to write on this after reading an article on investment expenses.  The article goes into how much expenses can and do eat into an investment portfolio.  And how Vanguard did pioneer this concept for mutual fund investing.  I do not deal in investments for others  but do in personal insurance in Texas.

I think this is a good lesson to keep our  eye on as we all try to plan for tomorrow.  That is,  to keep our expenses in check and to remember,  “that the easiest dollar you will ever make is the one you do not spend”.  (Thanks Dad)

Another aspect of life we can all work on is what “use to be called”  good clean living, or feeling good as someone close to me use to say.

A source of good info on living  is the NY Times Well Blog.  This web site publishes articles on health and healthy living and also has a sub-set of fitness.

Here are a few words from more than one source on this overall topic:

“Save … save … save!  No matter how difficult it is in today’s world, it’s critically important that you begin and maintain a steady savings program—even if it is just a small amount for now. No one has ever regretted saving money.” —Ronald B. Lee, CLU, ChFC, CLTC

“We spend more time planning a vacation than we do keeping our financial lives on track. Get your “house” in good financial order with a budget by keeping track of your monthly expenses compared with your monthly income. Your goal should be to have money left over at the end of every month. If so, you are on the road to financial fitness. There will be bumps along the road, but as long as you maintain a balance of spending limits with the understanding of your income, and knowing that you cannot spend more than you earn, you’ll be back on track in no time. “—Robert N. Garneau, CLU, ChFC

“Have a financial advisor review your tax return. She or he  can advise you if a tax-deferred annuity would help reduce your taxes, for example. She can also give advice on life insurance loans and/or dividends, and answer questions such as: Are you maximizing your policy’s tax advantages?  And would a long-term care policy benefit you and your heirs?” —Patricia L. Krarup, CLU, ChFC, MSFS

Do a budget!  (see MS Excel templates)   Most folks don’t know how much comes in and how much goes out. So, they can never get a handle on how much “discretionary” income they have to … spend, save, invest or buy insurance. If you don’t know where you are, you’ll never be able to figure out how you can go anyplace else! “—Brian H. Ashe, CLU

And last but not least, here’s a Life Insurance Needs Calculator to check out.

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