|
Other Consulting Articles
Guide to Internet Business - Concept and Opportunities
When deciding what kind of internet business you want to do, there are a few factors you need to look at before plunging into building your website.<br /><br />a) TYPE OF BUSINESS<br /><br
Great Tips Of Choosing An Office
You have decided to strike it out on your own and set up a business consultancy. Chances are you want to look at getting your own office premises. Besides ensuring that your rental payment does not create
I Wasn't Paying Attention: Where Does My Money Go and How Can I Get Some Back? - Part 1
I Wasn't Paying Attention: Where Does My Money Go and How Can I Get Some Back? - Part 1 by: Janet L. HallTracking, planning, and * overhalling * your hard earned money can help you reach any financial
Andrea J. Lee
A blog is a type of website. It allows the website owner to easily writemessages that get posted to the site automatically, often in a journal ordiary-like style. A particularly appealing thing about blogs
Managing the Human Resource Project
<br />We obtain strategic results by aligning HR mission, vision and values. The following overview highlights a macro approach to project management. Seeking a stretch assignment, such as ownership
|
|
Recent Consulting News
Xafinity consulting to host Flexible Benefits Workshop on 15th May 2007 (Online Recruitment)
19/04/2007 Xafinity Consulting is hosting a FREE workshop on the design and implementation of a flexible benefits plan on 15th May 2007 in London.
Consulting work by Daley's wife raised family income (Belleville News-Democrat)
Consulting work by Mayor Richard Daley's wife helped boost their family income by 51 percent last year, according to tax returns released Friday.
Cornerstone Consulting, Inc. Sponsoring Free Barcodes, Scanning ... - AddPR.com (press release)
Cornerstone Consulting, Inc. Sponsoring Free Barcodes, Scanning ...
AddPR.com (press release), TX - 40 minutes ago
(AddPR) Cornerstone Consulting Inc., a leading provider of turnkey information technology solutions to mid–market industrial organizations in Florida and ...
Cornerstone Consulting, Inc. Sponsoring Free Barcodes, Scanning ... PR Buzz (press release)
Cornerstone Consulting, Inc. Sponsoring Free Barcodes, Scanning ... ClickPress (press release)
all 5 news articles
|
|
It’s a mystery to my why more people don’t start here for advanced management consulting. My consulting site is one of the very best. You will find more than enough information about financial consulting, and advertising consulting than you really need! Just look around.
Fortune 500 Budgeting For Our Personal Lives
January and February are traditionally busy months in the financial industry as many New Year's resolutions typically include the goal of becoming debt free or saving for a major purchase. While many of our clients understand the importance of getting professional help when managing their business bookkeeping, only a few think to ask for our services in managing their personal finances.
In the business world, a budget is a financial framework that provides checks and balances to prevent overspending and ensures the availability of funds should the company run into unexpected trouble and requires capital. These same principles can be applied to our personal lives.
We are still close enough to the Christmas holidays to understand how easy it can be to overspend. Presents for the kids, dinners with family and friends, new clothes for the New Year's Eve party all can add up to significant debt come January. I'm reminded of a Visa commercial that typically gets a lot of airplay in December: The postman comes bearing the monthly bills. The Visa statement is opened showing a large listing of purchases all with zero balances and the recipient can't believe his luck and faints from the shock. The commercial advertises the Win What You Buy Contest. The more you buy, the more chances you have to win. A certain recipe for financial disaster!
While statistically speaking I don't know the chances of winning the Visa promotion, I haven't met or read about one person who has. We shouldn't base our spending on the chances of winning our purchases or even the lottery. With a little common sense and a trusty calculator, you can manage your spending and save for the future and for unexpected expenses - and feel like you've won the lottery!
Fortune 500 companies rely on budgeting and financial reporting. CEOs of major corporations do not make a move without consulting their financial plan. Revenue and expenses are carefully tracked and estimates are created for variable expenses. Corporate debt is studied with the goal of reducing amounts owing without incurring additional debt. Money is diligently earmarked for future expenses and “rainy days.” Almost every financial expenditure is determined a year before incurred – a business cannot thrive without actively managing its cash flow. Most people understand that business success relies on creating a budget and sticking to it. I'm here to tell you that personal success does too.
Everyone talks about setting up a budget and sticking to it, but how do you really go about figuring out what your budget is, or should be?
There are a few simple steps to creating a personal budget. We’ll use the example of Steve, a computer technician.
1. Calculate your income
Calculate your monthly household income from all sources: salary, investment income, pension funds, lottery winnings - both yours and that of your spouse or partner.
For example, Steve earns $50,000 after taxes annually. He has no other income. Dividing by 12, Steve calculates his monthly income as $4,166.67.
2. Determine your ESSENTIAL expenses
Steve has certain fixed monthly expenses. He lists them as:
- Mortgage payment
- Groceries
- Automobile lease payment
- Automobile Insurance
- Utilities
- Fuel
3. Calculate a monthly cost for ESSENTIAL expenses.
The expenses that Steve has deemed essential are a mix of fixed and variable costs. He notes the fixed payments first, assigning their values as:
Mortgage payment$1,300
Automobile lease payment$ 385
Automobile insurance$ 130
To better gauge his variable expenses, Steve creates an expense log and records all his purchases for the two-month priors to setting up his budget. He also examines his old utility statements to determine his average expenses and is able to assign the following values:
Groceries$ 200
Utilities$ 400
Telephone (incl. Long distance) $ 50
Fuel $ 250
Knowing that his variable expenses are based on an average of prior expenses, Steve sets aside $200 per month to cover periods when expenses may be higher than his estimate.
Steve calculates his monthly ESSENTIALS cost as $2,915.00
4. Determine and calculate your non-essentials
Steve examines the spreadsheet he created for step 3 and identifies some other common expenses.
Entertainment $ 50
Meals (incl. Daily coffee)$ 100
Gifts (weddings, birthdays, etc.)$ 100
Books and magazines $ 50
Miscellaneous $ 25
Steve’s monthly non-essential expenses total $325
Steve creates a new spreadsheet with the information he has calculated thus far. He calculates his disposable income as:
Monthly income: $4,166.67
Less: ESSENTIALS$2,915.00
Less: Non-essentials $ 325.00
Disposable income$ 926.67
5. Establish monthly contributions towards debt elimination and savings:
Steve amassed some debt while in school and owes $5,000 on his credit line. He would also like to purchase a vehicle rather than lease and plans to take a trip to Europe in two years to visit family.
He decides on the following monthly contributions:
Debt$ 450.00
Savings$ 300.00
Steve deducts his monthly contributions from his disposable income and is left with $176.67, which he decides to leave in his checking account to cover other incidentals and miscellaneous expenses he may have overlooked. He makes a plan, however, to transfer $500 to his savings account when the balance in his checking account exceeds $1,000.
It’s easy to see that you can write out a plan yourself or use a software package to set up a budget - no need to hire a professional accountant. It’s important to know where your money is coming from and where it is going so that you won’t have any unpleasant surprises – and maybe just enough money left over at the end of the day to buy that lottery ticket you’ve been hoping for!
© 2005 Deborah Carraro
About the Author
Deborah Carraro is a Virtual Assistant offering bookkeeping, web design, desktop publishing and business consulting services. She publishes a monthly newsletter Vascorp VA Advantage. To subscribe or find out more, please visit visit http://www.vascorp.com/va
The valuable information you have found here is updated often. It is important to stay current and ahead of the advanced management consulting trends. Perhaps you now see why it is also important to learn more about consulting in general. Take a look at our articles and see what I mean. Come back.
Add a Comment
|