I'm not a fan of debt consolidation. In my experience, many people "clear" credit cards and other debt to get the one payment and never change what they need to change to prevent getting into debt again. Michelle Singletary More Quotes by Michelle Singletary More Quotes From Michelle Singletary My rule is when in doubt hire a professional. You could do it just this year and then you have direction to resume doing it yourself after the consultation. What you don't want is to do it wrong and be hit by a huge tax bill. Remember the old saying, "Don't be pennywise and pound foolish." Michelle Singletary doubt foolish remember Policy changes like what you desire come from our politicians. So let them know what you think. Michelle Singletary politician desire thinking Light has a way of keeping people honest. Michelle Singletary light people way Having fun time is a good use of your money. Michelle Singletary having-fun use fun To get started, track your expenses for a couple of months. Then you should be able to start filling in your estimated debits and deposits for the next few months. Once you get it rolling for a while, you will be able to see your budget for the upcoming months reflected in the estimated totals. You can even notice year-to-year trends, like bonuses, tax bills, etc. that come up routinely and it will help you budget accordingly. Michelle Singletary track couple years You don't need to waste money on a fancy program or app to do a basic budget. I've been using a simple Excel spreadsheet since 2005 to track my monthly budget. Michelle Singletary track simple needs I'm driving my old car until I'm on a first name basis with the low tow truck drivers! Michelle Singletary car names firsts The sad thing is many people learn how to manage money after they've made a lot of financial mistakes, some that take decades to fix. Michelle Singletary financial mistake people I use my financial values to set my limitations. I have three children I want to put through college debt free. So that means I can't spend wildly or with disregard. Michelle Singletary college mean children We know intellectually that money can't buy happiness yet we spend and go into debt as if it does. Michelle Singletary money-cant-buy-happiness debt doe The rich are depressed because they realize their money can't buy them out of their issues. Michelle Singletary rich issues realizing I like the idea of having a paperless society.But to be paperless means you have to be so careful with your identity. Michelle Singletary identity mean ideas I love teaching people how to handle their money and I've built a brand on that skill. Michelle Singletary skills teaching people Don't let people scare you from a career that may not net you a six figure salary. If you want to be a teacher, teach. But knowing that your salary may only reach a certain level, do all that you can to become the best money manager you can be. Michelle Singletary careers knowing teacher The schools can't cover all the values that go along with how you handle your money. For example, a financial literacy class might not teach me to hate debt the way my grandmother, Big Mama did. Michelle Singletary grandmother hate school You still need to save but being debt-free in retirement is and should be a goal. Michelle Singletary debt-free goal retirement Kids can and are a blessing. But plenty of people without kids live and die just as happy. Michelle Singletary blessing kids people Having kids doesn't mean they would have taken care o you. Michelle Singletary taken mean kids My husband and I are pretty good at leaving money alone until we need it for what we've saved it for. Michelle Singletary leaving husband needs A foreclosure does not define you financially. Michelle Singletary foreclosure define-you doe
