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A Budget: Your Ultimate Financial Management Tool, Part II

Continued from Part

PLANNING YOUR FINANCIAL FUTURE

 

BUDGET FIRST

The first thing you should do is work out your budget. That means looking at the reality of your situation here and now.

There are a number of free online tools and sample worksheets you can use, including at the America’s Debt Diet website. There are also templates in the Microsoft suite as well.

Then get out your most recent pay stub, and all your rent/mortgage, utility bills, and start filling in the blanks. Look at the receipts for all the things you’ve bought in the previous week. Work out in round figures how much you spend on items like gas, electric, cell phone, regular phone, food, clothes, and entertainment.

 

EASING YOUR CREDIT CRUNCH

Then look at your credit card statements, and the minimums you are paying each month. Is there anything left at the end of your calculations?

If yes, great.

If no, not so great. But take heart.

Now look again. Is there anything you can cut back on, any ‘luxuries’ you could do without, or do with less of? How much would you save each month.

Look at your credit card statements, at the balances, but also at the APRs, the annual percentage rates for the money you are basically borrowing for that new sweater or great pair of jeans you ‘just had to have’.

 

PAYING DOWN DEBT

If you took the money you saved from the luxuries, how soon could you pay down that debt?  If there is any left over, pay down the ones with the highest APR first, then the second, then the third, and so on.  You will improve your credit score very rapidly too if you don’t always pay at the last minute, but rather pay as soon as the bill comes.

In a lot of cases you can even pay quickly and easily online, free of charge.

 

SPREADING OUT YOUR BILLS

Once you have filled in your budget, make a calendar for yourself of when all the bills are due. It is easy to lose track of one and then end up with big problems on your hands.

Look at whether your pay cycle is weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. Then you can space out the payments over X number of checks you are getting.

 

Continued in: A Budget: Your Ultimate Financial Management Tool, Part III.

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A Budget: Your Ultimate Financial Management Tool, Part I

 

A builder uses a set of house plans, or blueprints, whenever he builds a house or office building.

Rocket scientists would never begin construction on a new booster rocket without a detailed set of design specifications.

Yet most of us go blindly out into the world without an inkling about finances,  and without any plan at all as to how we’re going to achieve our  lifestyle goals in the short term and long term.

 

A BLUEPRINT FOR FINANCIAL SUCCESS

The most financially successful people have a blueprint or plan, called a  money plan is called a budget, to help keep them on track in both the short and long term when it comes to achieving their financial goals.

Without a plan, they would spend whatever they wanted, whenever, and basically end up living hand to mouth. Worse still, they might end up running up a great deal of debt, spending more than they earned, until they couldn’t even meet their credit card minimums any more.

 

THE CURRENT ECONOMIC CLIMATE: CREDIT CARDS ARE NOT YOUR FRIENDS

Credit has been easy to come by for the past few years, but in this current economic climate, a lot of credit card companies are pulling the plug on consumer credit. They might also be inflicting much heavier penalties on anyone who misses a payment, or increasing the interest rate, or, in some cases, even changing the payment date in the hope that you WILL make an error.

They are also making a great deal of money preying on people’s fears of credit card fraud, rather than taking the sensible steps of trying to cut back on credit card fraud in whatever way they can.

So credit cards are not your friend, and yes, it may be tough to get along without them, but your budget will be a lot better for it in the long run. Your budget is the one way to try to make sure you don’t end up on the rocks of a financial disaster. Or, if you think you’re already in danger of running aground, it can be the action plan that helps get you out of danger with persistent effort.

 

Continued in: A Budget: Your Ultimate Financial Management Tool Part II

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A Clinton win IS still possible

A Clinton win IS still possible

I am so tired of hearing this bull about how H. Clinton’s defeat is inevitable.

Excuse me, but up until recently, there was a field of 5 candidates, and she looked the strongest by far, and indeed, unstoppable.

If she is as awful as everyone is now all trying to make her out to be, why was she not stopped dead in her tracks YEARS ago, not at the 11th hour of the Democratic campaign?

And she still has not been stopped.

Seat the delegates of Michigan and Florida, and THEN tell us who is winning.

If Obama really is a Democrat, he should be 100% in favor of those voters NOT being dis-enfranchised.

There is nothing inevitable about any of this except that if the Democrats don’t stop bickering, we will have an even more doddering Republican in the White House carrying on a war that has caused more suffering globally, and in our own country, than we have EVER suffered before, with no end in sight.

Any true patriot should vote for whoever wins the Democratic party nomination. End of story. Anything else truly IS bias.]

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Hints and Tips for Your Tassimo

The Tassimo is a great little machine, but to get the most out of it, you might find the following hints and tips helpful.

 

The water filter needs to be changes about every three months. Set the dial on it so you will remember when you last changed it. If it floats for any reason, then the little waterproof red rubber ring around the part that fits into the machine is missing. I have had some faulty ones from the factory. Just send it back for a replacement. It is part NP1.

 

The disk piercer.

It can get stuck/completely wedged sometimes in one of the disks, especially the hot milk ones, which tend to use hotter water/steam and seem to make the plastic piercer expand and get jammed. So do look at your disks before you throw them away! You can get replacements on line, it is PART NP8, but you really don’t want to do without hot drinks while you wait for it to come in the mail. Consider keeping a spare of it and the water filter on hand just in case!

 

Tassimo membership

We joined the monthly Tassimo club at club so we get autodelivery with free shipping on the disks every month, and so you can set your monthly budget and needs and let the clud to the rest. You can also get the parts mentioned above quickly and easily. They showcase the newest discs here first, so you can phone any time and add to your order.

<a href=”http://www.tassimo.com” title=”Tassimo” target=”_blank”>www.tassimo.com</a>

 

The Tassimo club standards are made by Gevalia, via Kraft Foods, and I have to say, while the Cappucino and latte seem very fattening, the Cap is made with 2% and the latte with skim. There are many different flavors now, and European brands like Jacobs and Carte Noir.

They have just introudced Swiss Hazlenut and a macchiato as well, so the site is great for seeing what’s new. The Twinings tea, including the chamomile with orange flower, and Earl Grey, and the Tazo black, are real winners.

 

Really fast shipping:

I use the monthly service, but for emergency orders I use <a href=”http://www.cybercucina.com” title=”Cybercucina” target=”_blank”>www.cybercucina.com</a>, a great online gourmet store where you can get fast service, a discount on the t-disks, and collect points which add up to a discount every time you get past the 250 point level.

 

They are prompt, fast, courteous, and usually have everything in stock I need. If you order over $100 at a time, it is free shipping, and the order flow smoothness and customer service are really the best I have ever seen.

 

It is a great site too because as the name suggests, they have great kitchen stuff, and they also have some very yummy European style treats. Often have really good sales on luxury food stuffs. So if you are looking for any great gifts for people, and want free shipping, this is the place to go.

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Fixed Asset Management

Fixed Asset Management

Fixed asset management is an accounting process that seeks to track fixed assets for the purposes of financial accounting, preventive maintenance, and theft deterrence. This applies to all industries because doing so makes the workplace more productive.

Without fixed asset management, the equipment and resources of the company are not used both effectively and efficiently. Think of it like a car. If you do not have the oil changed, it will break down. The net effect is being able to save money instead of spending it on repairs which could have been avoided in the first place.

This is why companies take various steps to manage these closely. For instance, machines that are used undergo regular maintenance. If anything needs to be replaced or replenished, this is ordered well in advance so there will not be any disruptions at the workplace.

If the machines are already obsolete and there are newer models that can do a better job, management must consider the costs of buying new or maintaining the old one. In recent times, new equipment is purchased to avoid being left behind the competitors.

Management also has to coordinate with the various departments in the company to see how each one is doing. This is done on a monthly basis to determine whether the company is achieving growth. If it is not, find out why and then do something about it.

For large companies that need to ship goods nationwide, management has to check on their logistical support. Will it be cheaper to maintain their own set of trucks or should they outsource this to someone else?

If the company is experiencing some hard times because of a few subsidiary companies that are not pulling their weight, management has to decide whether to sell subsidiaries or find a way to improve them. Should there be an opportunity to gain something, then they also have to consider if this will be beneficial to their portfolio. Will such a sale put them at a competitive disadvantage? What capability will they lose through such a sale?

Companies also let their auditing teams conduct an inventory to take into account their fixed assets. Sometimes, they may need outside help to do it and there are a number of established companies that have the manpower to do exactly that. They can even suggest to management improvements that need to be done and may well be worth the expense of hiring seasoned professionals.

In order for management to see how well the company is doing, the asset management data has to be put on paper. These days, this means computerizing everything so everyone in management will be able to give their input and agree to a suitable plan.

Fixed asset management is what every company needs to survive in the 21st century. This will serve as a guide whenever money has to be used to buy things or whether the funds of a certain project have to be diverted elsewhere.

Before any decision is made, they have to ask themselves a series of questions. For instance, will this be good for the business long term? How much can we make? How much do we stand to lose? Is this the latest technology around? Is this the best thing in the market today?

These are just some of the questions that companies have to ask themselves in order to practice effective fixed asset management.

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Asset Management and Human Resource Management

What is asset management? It is a business process and a decision making structure that covers various things in order to come up with cost effective investment decisions. For this to work, you need to practice good human resource management by hiring the right people with the right qualifications to get the job done.

This job falls to the human resources department as they are, after all, the ones in charge of hiring. In the past, the people who worked in this department simply gave the employees their paychecks. But that is not the only thing they should do. They are supposed to train and develop the employees so they feel that they are part of something bigger.

Psychology is important in choosing people for this department. You can’t afford opionated, judgmental people. You can’t afford bullies. You can’t afford sexual predators. And the list can be much longer, including alcoholics and drug abusers, etc. At this point someone might ask, “So who’s left?”

The professionals who are supposed to do this should see themselves as two things. First as a strategic partner and second, a agent for change. Strategic partner because without them, a company will not prosper. A changing agent because it is through them that the employees can become better individuals.

With that, you can say that human resource management is the bridge between the administration and the employee. For a company to practice true human asset management, their human resource department has to do the following:

First, they must have an active role in organizational planning. To make this happen, they must be given the power to dictate what is needed in the planning phase including the necessary resources.

The human resource department should be able to recruit employees that are best suited for the organization by being given a free hand as to how this will be achieved. This includes the selection process which involves the testing and the administering component.

Human asset management can only be effective if the human resource department is able to produce change. This is done by seeing what needs to be improved on in an employee and then coming up with programs that will help him or her to make the desired changes. This includes, of course, facilitating and overseeing the training. If this was never done before, it should be evaluated to see if there are any flaws to be avoided in the future.

Letís not forget the basics such as traditional personnel administration including administering wages and benefits, time management, employee cost management as well as employee performance review and appraisals.

Human asset management is serious business because how well the company does depends on the people they hire to fill various positions. If they hire someone and he or she is not qualified, problems will occur. Niether can you afford to reject a qualified person because of some minor personality quirk or Government efforts to blackball them. If the company has a high turnover, money is also wasted because of the time, training and money that were invested in that person.

To keep employees happy and motivated, they also have to come up with programs that will enhance their skills even if they should be tempted by offers from competitors.

Asset management is a combination of different things. These include cash, bonds, stocks, property and people. If you want your business to prosper, you must have an effective human resource management team in place that will take care of it. Otherwise, there will be problems within the organization. People will quit and when your competitors see that, this can be used to their advantage to the point that they may even take over your business.

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Asset Management Software: the Secret of Efficient Businesses

Naturally, all businesses need to manage their physical and non-physical assets regardless of their size. Call centers, manufacturing firms, sales companies and other corporate offices need asset management. Everything needs to be watched from the point of choosing the assets, initiating and maintaining them, up to the point of finding no use for them and disposing of the assets.

All these processes are important in determining the efficiency and organization that goes into running a company. Without making the right choices for asset management software, many disadvantages may be posed to the optimization of profits and to the business in general.

Using Software in Businesses

First of all, the assets we’re talking about here are virtually anything the company owns from office supplies, company vehicles and machines to copyrights and patents. What this software does is keep a record of all assets for the company. After all, mechanical assets depreciate over time and need to be disposed of when of no further use. Decisions must be made to replace them or not, depending on need. Software will have updates, sometimes fequently. Office supplies are consumed and need replenishment.

The company doesn’t need to hire people to keep track of maintenance and replacement schedules, resulting in too many people on the payroll and more expenses to waste money upon. With asset management software, you can be sure of the actual condition of your assets and that they are replaced efficiently when they need to be.

Once you have the software, the only manual thing you have to be doing is to run the asset management program and make sure that all assets are accounted for and all changes in their condition are reported to the respective people in charge. More importantly, in the event of emergencies that cause certain losses in assets, the company will have a detailed report of what they own and what they lost, all organized by the protocols of the software.

Specialized Software Available

There are three common kinds of asset management software being used in the business world today. Automated data collection software is used as a time log of all processes involving the assets. Inquisitive software is responsible for checking out IT systems, codes, hardware systems, software and other digital assets. Repository software has the more clerical type of job in that it archives and organizes data files for easy access, uploading and retrieval.

Making Choices through your Options on Asset Management Software

Before you begin browsing through the different kinds of software available for your company, the first thing you need to ask yourself is if the company needs it. Are certain processes being held up because of delays in maintenance and repairs? Do you find that there are discrepancies in the way certain assets of the company are being managed? If so, then you can try your hand at investing in this type of software.

There are some aspects that you may need to be looking into when you decide on it. How much does the software cost, and is it worth it or will you end up spending more than if you have people manually managing assets? What kinds of services do you need the software to be doing for your company?

How many people in the company will be running the asset management program? Is it available for international use or is it limited to local usage? With the answers to these questions, you will be able to find the asset management software that is perfect for optimizing the business processes in your company.

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