Common Cents Budgeting Tips

October 2004

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In This Month's Issue
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Inspiration for the Month
From The Budget Coach
Featured Tips or Information
Can Your Budget Afford a New Home?
Your Question for the Day
Special Offer of the Month
Recommended Resources
Contact/General & Unsubscribe Info

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Inspiration for the Month
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'The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.'
--Eleanor Roosevelt

"Donít find fault; find a remedy."
-- Henry Ford

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From The Budget Coach
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Welcome to my 'Common Cents Budgeting Tips' Newsletter.

I'm delighted to have the opportunity to share these tips with you. Remember, you are a vital part of this whole exchange and if you ever have questions or some valuable experience or resource you want to share with others, please don't hesitate to let me know.

Many of the new sections that were added to The Budget Kit workbook over the various revisions these last many years, came from insightful readers and clients like you who wanted to help make a difference.

'Common Cents Budgeting Tips' is published monthly. The focus of this monthly newsletter is to provide you with some quick money management tips and ideas you can immediately begin to use. I may go bi-weekly and add a second issue soon to touch on the personal side of money and budgets.

Remember to email me judycents@moneytracker.com with any tips, resources or comments you would like to share as well as any questions. Working together is how we can all make a difference in our financial lives.

I am offering a complimentary 30 minute coaching session with me.

I would love to hear how you are doing and help in anyway I can. For your free session, email me with 'Time Slot Request' in the subject area.

Have a fulfilling and prosperous day!

To Your Success,

Judy Lawrence
Personal Budget Coach
Best-selling Author, The Budget Kit, 4th Edition
judycents@moneytracker.com
http://www.moneytracker.com

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Tips & Information - Can Your Budget Afford a New Home?
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Last month I just went through the whole process of buying
a home, moving and starting the settle-in part. Then I was
called by Holden Lewis of Bankrate.com (one of my favorite
and my most recommended websites) to interview me for his
upcoming article. The topic was focused on warning signs
when buying a home. He wanted me to talk about the budget
aspect of buying a new home. I'll include the link below
for his article that will be out this Thursday.

From experience, I know that the half hour interviews
usually show up as only one or two sentences. Since the
topic of budgets and homes is up, I thought this would be
a good time to write about it in my newsletter.

Do you know how much you can afford for a monthly
mortgage payment? If you have recently pre-qualified for
a home loan, you probably know how much the pre-qualified
amount is. If youíre like many people I talk to, you
probably were rather surprised and delighted to hear how
much mortgage you qualified for.

Before you jump right in and start making offers on the
home of your dreams, I ask you again, ìDo you know how
much you really can afford for a monthly mortgage?î
After helping clients develop more comprehensive budgets
than the pre-qualified one, clients were relieved to see
figures that better matched their ìgut feelingî about
the amount they more realistically could afford.

If you are getting close to signing on the dotted line, review
some of the expense ideas listed below and consider how
they could impact your overall finances when you own the home.

==>New Home Expenses - By now you are probably addicted
to the home makeover programs and shopping daily at Home
Depot. What are some new expenses you can anticipate?
Things like window treatment, yard upkeep, replaced
fence, gutters, sinks, faucets, or new paint, remodeling,
floor upgrade, new wall hangings, different furniture,
appliances? Plan high. Do you know anyone who paid less
than what was estimated?

==>Unexpected - Are you prepared for the surprise
events that come up the first and second years? After
enjoying my new condo for two months, in a previous
home purchase, I had to deal with a host of new visiting
bugs (even after the passed home inspection), a jammed
window-blind pull ($75 just for the service call) plus
a mixed up utility meter that took 3 years to unravel.
With my current move, a cable TV service call revealed
the need to replace parts from 1988 and much more ñ non
of which seemed to be covered by my home warranty service.

==>Periodic Expenses and Maintenance - As you plan out
your expenses for the new home, don't overlook your
regular periodic expenses. Calculate routine maintenance
expenses for cars, health, yard, home and pets. Think
of other periodic (meaning annually, quarterly, semi-
annually, occasional) expenses that will have an impact
on your overall budget. When you filled out the figures
for the mortgage application, did you also keep in mind
those other expenses like trips, vacations, season tickets,
annual dues, license renewals, tuition, books and supplies,
graduations, weddings, showers, holidays, home
improvement projects and much more?

==>Kid Activities - How active and expensive are your
children's taste and activities? Athletic kids mean away
games, fees, shows, equipment, extra meals out, etc.
How much will their clothing, electronic equipment, hobbies,
lesson, ski trips and the rest total over the year?

Without a huge stash of savings or a generous family
financial security net to help you out during any tough
times (job loss, or reduced work hours, auto accident,
health problems), it is especially important to take the
time to factor in many of the above expenses along with
your mortgage payment. You want to determine if you really
can afford the monthly mortgage payments once you add
these other expenses in, or if those ìsurprise expensesî
are going to land on the credit card or eventually on a
home equity loan.

Overextending yourself on a mortgage often shows up as
sheets on the windows, delayed lessons for the children or
eliminated movies and meals out for the next 10 months ñ plus
a possible testy relationship with your spouse or family. If
you are just beginning to think about buying a home sometime
next year, this is the perfect time to begin evaluating your
true monthly budget. You still have time to adjust your
spending, save money and become more realistic about your needs.

Good luck with your mortgage and house shopping experience!
Enjoy your new home.

For more information feel free to contact me at
judy@moneytracker.com

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Your Question for the Day
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Can I borrow or reasonably rent this item I want to purchase, from someone or some place, instead of buying it, so I don't have the added expense and added storage issue?
-- MoneyTracker eBook

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Special Offers for the Month
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FREE 'Budgeting Without Tears' e-Course

If you haven't already, sign up for my f.ree e-course 'Budgeting Without Tears'.

You will receive a series of educational tips to help you get your finances in order and your budget plan started. Granted, you will not be supplied with all the worksheets, road maps and formulas that you get in The Budget Kit, but this will provide you with additional information that will prove to be very useful in getting started!

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Resources
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As you start clearing out stuff, think about how you can recycle.
A place to recycle everything: http://www.freecycle.org/

The 'Mortgage Matters' column by Holden Lewis

Mortgage and Refinance section of Bankrate-one of my favorites

A good site with articles and a question and answer section: Spend on Life

Check out the Expert section. I am one of the experts!

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Books by Judy Lawrence
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Feel free to visit my Money Tracker website to learn more:

http://www.moneytracker.com/books.htm

The Budget Kit:Common Cents Money Management Workbook
The Money Tracker: Find the CASH to Get What You REALLY Want
Daily Riches: A Journal of Gratitude and Awareness
The Family Memory Book: Highlights of Our Times Together

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General, Contact & Unsubscribe Info
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