Your health is obviously important but what you may not realize is just how much damage your money problems are causing. People who struggle on a weekly or even daily basis to stretch their paychecks and support their families may have developed health concerns that are specifically related to money issues.

Here are some issues you need to consider about your finances, your health, and your future:

Stress Can Kill

Never underestimate the power of stress. If you battle ongoing stress over money matters in your daily life, you can be doing some serious damage to your heart, nerves, and overall immune system. Being stressed out on a long-term basis will eventually lead to more serious health conditions, including death. Stress often takes a toll over a long period of time without major recognizable symptoms. It is important to find ways to reduce stress in your life such as through exercise and hobbies you enjoy.

Missed Health Checkups

Many people cut costs in order to get by during hard financial times. One cost they often cut first is annual visits to their doctor, especially if they lack insurance coverage and can’t afford the cost of the visit. It is very important to your health to stay in touch with your doctor and make sure you are having your health evaluated, especially if you are enduring a lot of stress in your life. Missed health checkups on a regular basis can result in missed opportunities for an early diagnosis of a medical condition.

Missed Medications

It is no secret that medicine is expensive. For those that do not have prescription coverage for importance maintenance medication, paying the monthly costs can be near-impossible. However, neglecting to take prescribed medicines as directed by your doctor can have adverse effects on your health and lead to even more expensive medical problems down the line.

New Health Developments

Sometimes financial matters in your personal life can become so out of control, your mental health suffers as a result. There are increased statistics of suicides and even criminal acts by people who felt alone in their financial hardship. It is important to seek treatment and a proper diagnosis when you begin to feel overwhelmed and out of control. Without maintaining a healthy outlook on life, you can put yourself at risk for making poor decisions. There are free resources for mental health care and those who worry about being overwhelmed with their daily lives should seek help.

Growing Debts

If you do not pay attention to your health and find ways to reduce the amount of stress you are under, you are likely going to end up with even bigger debts when you can no longer go on without a medical intervention. If you suffer a heart attack or other stress-related situation, you will add medical bills and extended treatment costs to your already-overwhelming debt loads. Serious medical complications can also put you out of work for a long period of time which means you have even less income to work with.

Don’t neglect your health. You can start contributing to a separate savings account using funds from each paycheck. Even if you are putting $5 or $10 a week into the account, you can build up a nice little backup funding source when medical emergencies strike. This fund should be allowed to continue growing and only used for medical expenses especially if you have a family history of medical complications. You can also seek additional assistance in your local community where free or low-cost services are available to ensure you and your family gets the health care needed on a regular basis and prevent mounting medical debts associated with untreated and undiagnosed medical conditions.

Why Health Is an Important Factor in Your Finances was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Savings – Each time you get a paycheck, take some of the money from it and put it into your savings account. $30 is a solid amount to start with, but you can add more than that if your paycheck allows for it. By doing this you’ll insure than you at least have some money in the bank, and if the time calls for it, you won’t be in the hole. You’ll also be collecting interest on this money, helping your budget even more.

Credit Cards – Don’t buy very many things with your credit cards. Instead, buy things with cash or debit. If you use your credit card for everything, the interest will spike up the amount that you owe a lot faster than you may realize. By using cash or debit, you won’t be acquiring extra fees that were otherwise unnecessary.

Keeping Track – Make sure to keep track of everything that you do with your bank accounts. If you withdraw money, or deposit it, mark it down somewhere. Try using a book specifically for this to keep track of your activities. If you ever lose track of how you’ve been spending, it could cause you a lot of trouble later. You may become confused and forget where some of your money went or overdraw your account. Also make sure to keep all of your receipts, even if you spent cash. If you can keep track of your spending, you can better manage it.

Coins – It may seem like a miniscule thing, but saving your coins can be a simple form of money management. Whenever you have extra change in your wallet, try putting it somewhere out of mind. If you continue to do this, eventually you can go to somewhere such as a Coinstar kiosk, or the bank, and trade in your coins for cash. You’ll be surprised exactly how much money you get back from all of that loose change.

Money management is not limited to businesses. If you take a few steps to better manage your money, you may find that you’re spending less of it and saving more of it, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Different Money Management Techniques was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

What is your biggest financial concern? If you were to ask yourself what you would need to be better-off financially, what would you say? Is it to eliminate your debt, decrease your living expenses, increase your income, or is it something different?

Well, according to a Gallup pole done in April of 2009, the biggest personal financial concern is “lack of money.” If this is the case with you, and I’m sure it is to some extent, the question that needs to be answer then, is- “What can be done about it?”

Your Finances Can Be Somewhat Like An Apple Tree

You should ask yourself another question first, “What is the real issue that causes someone to have a lack of money?” Because most of the time what seems obvious to us is just not the answer. And we need to get to the actual root of a problem to fix it.

For the sake of an analogy, let’s consider an apple tree planted in a yard last winter. The ground gets a little soggy at times, and this might seem like a good thing for the tree – since it requires water to grow. But you know what? Too much water on the roots can give you a sick plant, just like not having enough water will do. And in order to keep the tree from having trouble caused from too much water, it needs to be planted in dryer ground. This is basically what needs to be done with our finances.

Do I Not Have Enough Money or Does My Money Not Have Enough of Me

Sure, not having enough money is a legitimate problem. But why is it a problem?

One thing that seems to be consistent among people from all walks of life is that most people are never content with their income – no matter how much that income is. Even a doctor making over a quarter of a million dollars per year might express unhappiness with his or her level of income and be hurting financially. Even at that level of income, it is possible to have trouble paying all of your bills. How is that possible? It’s human nature to spend more, the more you earn.

Most of the time, it appears bad money management is more of a problem than the amount of money people earn. You might think credit card debt is at the top of the list of the biggest personal finance concerns, but it came in at number 5.

If the problem isn’t the amount of money most people are earning, and instead the problem is how the money is managed, one step to a solution would be to keep a good budget! Or, as the analogy goes, put your finances into better ground.

One way everyone can avoid going through life with less money than needed to pay for their expenses is to keep expenses and spending less than your income. This is the most crucial step. Once a person has more money than he or she spends, suddenly “lack of money” no longer seems to be debilitating.

Not Enough Money – Here Could Be The Reason was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Here then, are tips to help in choosing a good financial advisor.

Business check. Just to protect yourself, the first thing you must do is to perform a check on the person or company that you are considering using. Use the Better Business Bureau and agencies to help in your search. Some advisors belong to financial accreditation groups to which you can make contact.

Check references. Not only should you perform the check above, but you should check with customers who use the services of the advisor you are considering for hire. While this is subject to the names that you are given by the advisor, you can also do some checking with local chamber of commerce offices to see if they can give you recommendations.

Ask around to see if other family members or friends use a specific advisor and find out if their reputation in the community stands up to scrutiny. Generally, if a person has a bad experience, word gets out. But it is a good idea to get more than just one opinion.

Interview the advisor. Next, it is your responsibility to ask some questions of the advisor to satisfy your own need to satisfy the curiosity surrounding their business and how they operate. Find out things like how long they have been in business, what their policies are on handling unhappy clients, and what philosophy they use in directing their clients toward financial stability. Do they encourage a debt-free lifestyle or just one that emphasizes the use of credit in a responsible manner?

Pay as you go. Find out how billing for services takes place. Be wary of those agencies which require a large, upfront fee or retainer. Unless they are a law firm, you should be able to make monthly payments based on the services rendered.

Communicate openly and often. If you are being given advice on how to manage debt and paying back of creditors, be sure to check with them regularly – at least once per month – on your status and how you are doing. If you get into trouble with a creditor, bring them in to help you solve the issue in a fair and equitable manner.

A good financial advisor is not obsessed with making money from you. They are concerned with your overall financial health and are eager to help you make strides in getting a handle on your finances. Yes, they charge for their services, but if they are delivering value for their time and you are current on what you owe them, then the fees should be a small issue, not a major one.

How to Choose a Good Financial Advisor was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

The Keys To the Kingdom
Financial experts will tell you over and over that the key to start the engine of turning around your debt situation is budgeting. With budgeting, there is no one-size fits all solution for everyone. A budget can only be based on individual finances and as the master of your own finances, you alone need to resolve to commit to a budgeting system. Until you know where your money is going and just how much of it you can spend, you will never see the light at the end of the financial tunnel. Taking back control of your finances is a feeling like no other after struggling through the overwhelming fears of debt. Knowing where your next dollar earned is going is just as important as knowing where your next meal is coming from for your family. Being in control of your money means that your money is no longer controlling you. That freedom can be a motivating factor to get out of debt faster and more efficiently than you ever thought possible.

Setting Yourself Up for Failure
A budgeting system will undoubtedly fail if you and your partner can not commit to it fully and for the long term. Many will try to work the numbers according to someone else’s system and then give up for good when the system ultimately fails them. A budgeting system should be flexible and make sense to you or you can never expect to live by it long term. Trying one that fails should not be the end of the line or a reason to going back to your old money ways. Like many things in life, you need to try and try again until you find one that suits your finances and your lifestyle. While you may get advice from a third-party counselor, it will ultimately lie on your shoulders to follow through.

Make It Your Own
If you don’t know where to start on your budgeting plan, it’s okay to look around at other people’s ideas and advice but overall you need to learn to make it your own and develop it as you see fit. You also need to have a clear understanding of what is going on within your budget in order to make it stick. After years of writing about personal finance matters, I have just come to find a completely made up system that allows me to see at a glance what my financial responsibilities are each week and how much cash I have access to at any given time. This method works great for my husband and I who have in the past created and subsequently ignored numerous concepts that just didn’t work for us. Now we live virtually debt free and never worry about overspending or not putting money towards our savings goals. What a relief to have the knowledge we have taken care of our money matters and will likely not have to live in fear of debt down the road

What a Difference Control Makes was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

1. Track Where Your Money Goes.  If you come up short every month and aren’t keeping track of where your money is going, you have no chance of correcting the problem.  Get a memo book (the kind kids use for assignments) or spreadsheets, use mint.com, or Quicken… anything you want as long as you keep track of where every $1 goes.  You may discover at the end of the month that you’ve spent $47 on candy bars, donuts or coffee; another $75 on “extra” purchases made at the grocery store because you stopped on the way home three extra times during the month, or other purchases you wouldn’t remember if you hadn’t been keeping track.  Focus on eliminating these non necessities and giving yourself back that money.

2. Use Paper, Not Plastic.  At least until you’ve got your spending in check, get into the habit of paying with actual cash instead of credit cards or debit cards.  You have to physically have the cash on hand, and count it out which is a better reminder of what you’re spending than simply swiping the plastic through the card reader in the checkout line.  You can’t keep track of where the money goes when you swipe a card, so use cash.  When you spend on credit, the $20 payment per month may not seem like much at first, but just wait until you’ve used several credit cards and the minimum payments are in the “several hundred dollar” range per month… you’ll wish you hadn’t swiped the card at that point!

3. Remember Financial Obligations That Are Not Paid Monthly. Just because your car insurance is set up on a quarterly schedule, or you only pay your homeowners insurance and property taxes once per year, doesn’t mean you get the entire rest of the year to forget about these expenses!  If you’ve got an annual expense, take the total amount and divide by 12 months to figure out how much it costs you on a monthly basis.  Actually SAVE that much each month in a savings account until it comes time to pay the bill – then when the bill comes in the mail, you’ll have the money ready to go versus trying to come up with the entire amount before the due date.

4.  Before Making a Purchase, Stop and Think.  One of the biggest problems people have is buying something on a whim.  You know how you go to the store for a bag of flour and come home with the flour, a few snacks, a bottle of soda and a deck of cards that were on sale in the checkout line?  Retailers count on impulse spending.  Before you put anything on the belt for the cashier to ring up, take time to think about it.  If it costs more than $100, make a rule that says you have to wait 48 hours before buying it – if you still want it after 2 days, it may be worth the money.  Most of the time, you’ll have forgotten about the item before the 48 hours is up!

4 Tips to Spend Less Than You Make was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Luckily, learning to manage money can be done through “baby steps”.  You can sort of ease into better money management, and as you initiate each step into your financial routine, you’ll notice your financial situation begins to improve over time.

Step One: Make the Decision to Improve

No one else can make the decision for you – if you really want to improve your financial situation you have got to make that decision and then stick to it.  It won’t do any good to think about it, you have to commit to making lifestyle changes to really improve your ability to manage your money.

Step Two: Start Saving

Something that is often missing from the financial routine is an automatic savings plan.  Most people who don’t save say they don’t save because there isn’t any money left over to save after paying bills and living expenses.  For many, this is an unfortunate truth – however, you must make strides to pay yourself first and change that reality.  If you can only save $2 per week right now – save $2 a week.  The important part is to make it consistent, and to do it automatically.  One of the easiest ways to do that is to set up a savings account that is connected to your everyday checking account, and simply intiate an automatic transfer of $2 per week (or whatever you decide to save) on the same day, every single week.  If you get paid bi-weekly or monthly, you might want to transfer the savings on the day you get paid.  Once the money is in the savings account – don’t touch it.

Step Three: Learn to Budget

No one wants to hear about budgeting.  Budgeting is not fun for most people.  It means “going without” or “giving up” things, for most of us.  The truth is – having an effective budget will make it possible for you to pay your bills, living expenses, contribute to savings, and get out of debt.  A budget is the plan that makes it all possible.  Budgeting is the key to better money management.  If you don’t know where to start budgeting, just do a search on Google or Yahoo for “how to budget”, and you’ll have more information than you need to get started.

Step Four: Reduce Existing Debt, Avoid Additional Debt

It’s far too easy to generate debts.  If you’ve got excessive credit cards and loan payments, you can think back and remember the rationale to getting into debt.  It probably went like this:  “If I borrow $1000 to pay for <whatever>, I’ll only have to pay $20 a month until it’s paid off.  $20 a month is nothing!”  The problem starts when you have multiple debts that you’re only paying “$20″ a month on; and suddenly you’re debt repayments equal the amount you’re making each month (or worse – they’re more than you make each month!)  All of those little repayments add up quickly, and before you know it you are in trouble.

When creating your budget, look at ways to reduce your debt as quickly as possible.  Using a debt snowball can help you eliminate and pay off debts quickly – provided you create the plan and stick with it.  Don’t be tempted into taking out additional debt in the meantime – this is where you have to be committed to better money management.  When you are debt free, you’ll have your income back because you’ll no longer be making multiple payments every month to all of those creditors!

Stepping into Better Money Management was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Where might this money come from?

• Cash birthday gifts
• Tax refunds and/or rebates
• Employment bonuses
• Overtime
• Garage sale profits
• Refunds from overcharges on a mortgage or escrow account
• Stock or life insurance dividends
• Odd jobs & one time project income

Typically when we receive this type of unexpected income, we just absorb it into our checking accounts and spend it – often without really noticing it.  It’s like evaporating water!  Here is how to make the most of financial windfalls, and prevent the evaporation effect:

If You Have Debt Now:

Whenever you receive unexpected income, you should always apply a certain percentage of that unexpected money to your debt.  It may not seem like much, but if you do this every time you “find” money, you’ll be amazed at how quickly it helps you reduce your debts.  Here’s an example of how you could allocate your windfall money:

• 50% on your largest debt
• 25% in your savings account or emergency fund
• 10% to a charity or cause you wish to support
• 15% towards anything you’ve been wanting to buy or do for entertainment.

If You Are Debt Free:

If you’re debt free, with the exception of a mortgage, here is an example of how you can allocate each financial windfall that comes your way:

• 40% as an “additional principal” payment on your mortgage
• 20% into savings, emergency fund, IRA or retirement account
• 20% towards home improvement and maintenance costs
• 10% towards charities or causes you want to support
• 10% entertainment money

Having a plan for all unexpected income will eliminate the typical response to spend it all and wonder where it went, later.  Look over last year’s check register and you will probably see a number of “unexpected financial windfalls” that you just absorbed into your finances without even realizing the impact it made on your financial picture.

How to Make the Most of Financial Windfalls was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Here are a few of the articles I was most interested in this week:

• My Family’s Money: Outsource to  Your Kids Already
• FiveCentNickle:  Credit Card Bonus Offers: $1200 Worth of deals
• Discover Debt Freedom: A Common Sense Way to Reduce Your Debt

Do you listen to music?  I’m pretty certain I learned everything I needed to know about managing my money from music.  See if you agree with my money management music lessons!

The Carnival of Personal Finance is Available was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Almost everyone makes New Year’s resolutions, and almost everyone who does breaks them. If you could follow through on just a couple of these tips, you’ll absolutely start off the New Year more financially fit than you ended the previous year.

1. Be selfish- and pay yourself first. Is the money you earn spoken for before you get it usually? If you’re paying for expenses with every last cent of your money, you really need to think hard about your savings. If it helps, consider it a must-pay expense every month, and no matter what, make sure you pay yourself that $50 or $100 a month just like it was a creditor.

2. Decide what type of savings you need. Since you’re absolutely going to make sure you set aside a certain amount of money every single month, no matter what, you need to figure out where you will “set” that money. Consider online savings accounts with high interest, or automatic contributions into a mutual fund.

3. Cut back on junk. You know exactly what “junk” is. The gym membership you keep for the day you might go back to the gym to work out. That’s $19.99 a month you’re just throwing out the window if you don’t use it! Do you buy lottery tickets every week? Set that money aside and you’ll have better odds at winning.

4. Send extra money to your mortgage. If you’ve got a mortgage that doesn’t penalize for pre-payments, try to send an extra $50 to $100 with your payment each month towards the principal. You can easily save $50,000 or more. Even sending an extra $20 each month will make a huge difference on the amount you owe.

5. Refuse to pay late. If you fall behind on your bills and pay late fees more because you forget to send the payments before they’re due rather than not having enough money to send- set up automatic payments so you never have to worry about forgetting.

6. Throw away the credit cards. Stop using credit cards all together. You don’t need them. They’re robbing you with interest and finance fees and that money is better spent in a savings account that will eventually let you pay cash for the things you want rather than paying two to five times the original price after you make payments and get charged interest.

A Resolution You Must Keep: 6 Ways To Start Out the New Year Financially Fit was created by and is property of American Consumer News.