Planning Ahead
By Terry Rigg

What do you think of that title? Just another article about
the impossible task of trying to predict the future. Not this
time. This is an article that may give you some ideas on, not
how to predict the future, but to be ready when it gets here.

Naturally, I'm talking about your finances. When it comes to
your regular bills and expenses many of us have a hard time
making plans to pay the bills that we know are coming. What can
we do to plan for the unexpected?

All to often when we have an expense that wasn't neatly placed
in our budget we grab the credit cards. Needless to say this
is just what the credit card companies are hoping for. If this
persists the result is serious financial problems. It all boils
down to spending more than you make each month.

To avoid this you need to have money put back to cover your
unexpected or unplanned expenses. As always this is easier
said than done if you are already struggling. But, like we used
to say in the Navy, "The difficult tasks are a piece of cake.
It's the impossible that takes a little longer".

First, what do you do if you don't have enough money? You
either cut your expenses or you get more money. It's just that
simple. Your best bet is to cut your expense as much as
possible and still be able to have enough money for the
essentials. Check the web. There are thousands of ideas online
to help you save on your expenses. Use search words like
"saving money, cutting expenses, etc.". You can start by
visiting the following sites:

TheFrugalShopper.com
http://www.thefrugalshopper.com
GreedyFools.com
http://www.greedyfools.com/affiliates.php?partner=BudgetStretcher
BetterBudgeting.com
http://betterbudgeting.com
Debt Smart
http://www.DebtSmart.com
The Stay-At-Home Parents Page
http://www.thestayathomeparentspage.com
Brighter Futures
http://www.brighterfutures.com
Freebie Haven
http://www.121fun.com
Tidbits from the Pantry
http://www.humansrv.net
Usave2day.com
http://www.usave2day.com
MoneyMakingMommy.com
http://www.moneymakingmommy.com
Dollar Stretcher
http://www.stretcher.com

Now lets get into some possible ways to bring in more money.
Everybody I know has a talent that has the potential to make
extra money. Even things like holding a monthly yard sale can
bring in some money. I would suggest that if you need some
extra income that you sit down and think about what talents
you have. Then try to picture how you could use those talents
to earn money.

My daughter, a stay-at-home Mom, wanted to earn some extra
money. Just recently she brought some pictures to my house
that had a magnetic backing, perfect for displaying those
cherished pictures on the refrigerator. After we discussed it
we decided to make this service available on the web. The
easiest thing to do is to forward pictures as attachments to
email so that is the way she going to start. A customer places
an order and sends the pictures, she prints them using the
software she has on her computer and mails the pictures.
Eventually, she will get a scanner and customers will be able
to mail her their pictures. Presto, she has a service that
almost everyone would like to have.

This is just an example of taking what you have and making
something out of it. No, you may not make a lot of money at
first but it is money that you didn't have. Try to find
something that doesn't cost you a lot to get started.

Just one caution. There are almost as many scams on the
internet as there are users. A rule of thumb if you are
going to try to earn money on the internet: If you have
to pay to make money with their offer then it's usually not a
money maker for anyone except them.

Now, back to the topic. There are a lot of us having money
problems and not all of these can be solved by cutting expenses
or earning a little extra money. What can solve many of the
problems is knowing what state your finances are in. Prepare
a budget and stick to it. Look at it often especially before
you make any major purchases. Know whether or not you can
afford what you are buying. Put money aside to cover unexpected
expenses. If you don't have it, find it.

Terry Rigg is the author of Living Within Your Means - The Easy
Way http://www.homemoneyhelp.com/ebookadpage.html and editor
of The FREE Budget Stretcher Newsletter and Budget Stretcher
web site http://www.homemoneyhelp.com. He has 25 years of
experience counseling individuals and families concerning their
personal finances. Use this email link to get a list of all of
Terry's articles by autoresponder at:
articlelist@budgetstretcherpremium.com