Fox Television financial expert John R. Quain has specific advice on some of these individual components of a good overall plan to get control of your finances.
Eliminate Debt: To go straight to the heart of the problem, there is a free website, ReadyForZero. It links to your credit cards, loans and bank accounts, totals what you owe and estimates how long it will take to pay off your debts, depending on the interest rate of each account. A sliding bar of what you can pay each month shows dynamically how you can shorten the time to pay off everything, and save money in the process. Even a small extra amount added to monthly payments can make a difference over time. ReadyForZero’s graphs show at-a-glance how you can improve your economic health. The program was originally designed with credit card debt in mind, but it has been expanded to include other types of debt. It includes recommendations for improving your overall financial picture, such as calling credit card companies to arrange different statement dates to accommodate your income pattern.
Pay Bills On Time: Late fees not only cost you dearly, but they can damage your credit rating. Pageonce.com has a mobile application that is designed to keep you on track with payments, according to the site’s COO, Steve Schultz. The company is a “financial nanny,” he said, that warns when payments are due and collects monthly statements into a single, convenient place. The greatest advantage is the ability to pay directly from your Android or iPhone. That’s particularly appealing to those who travel for their business and tend to lose track of payment dates. The fee for the mobile bill-pay feature is $4.99 per month.
Plan ahead: You can get even more support in budget planning, bill notification and financial advice through Mint.com, considered by many to be the most mature app and service online. The software is free and it tracks bills and accounts to give you detailed expense balances. It automatically categorizes certain charges or fees under headings such as “shopping,” “alcohol and bars” or other expenses common to your individual spending patterns. It shows how much cash you have on hand, how much credit card debt and what your cash flow looks like. Mint is available for Android and iPhone handsets and has an extensive website. The software is not, however, integrated with the desktop software of its parent company, Intuit’s Quicken.
Quain suggests hiring a coach if you are serious about getting a handle on debt. That could involve signing up online and sharing details of your financial standing with a third party. If that’s a leap of faith greater than you feel comfortable with, try DebtCoach at Bills.com. The site doesn’t require you to post private account numbers, just the overall data. It may suggest that you seek professional help or simply take steps such as increasing payments, reducing spending and paying off debt early, depending on the depth of your problem. Handling debt is an individual matter. It’s a different problem for a recent college graduate, for instance, than for earners who have a family to support. Look for advice from those who recognize these differences.
