| Following is a listing of sites that have excellent information regarding personal budgeting, family and household budgeting and keeping track of expenses. There is a lot of information about reducing spending and saving money. On many of the sites listed, you can find a wealth of personal financial help such as investing, business budgeting, budgeting software, insurance planning, real estate purchases and much more. All of these sites are filled with personal finance, saving and budgeting assistance that anyone can use. Each site includes a tremendous amount of free information, instructions and services, all geared toward making your budget and budgeting process a success. | |||
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Personal and Household Budgeting |
Find all of the budgeting tools you will need at Foxway Free Budgeting Plan. The site includes information about analysing expenses, setting saving goals, preparing a budget and maintaining your budget. Includes free worksheets and a downloadable spreadsheet. Also, there is an excellent free budgeting course along with information about reducing expenses and maximizing your savings. Sections regarding investing, insurance and loans are also included. All of the information is free and there are no obligations of any type. Complete and easy-to-understand instructions come with every budgeting tool. Site is owned by a retired federal auditor who wants everyone to budget and save in their daily lives. | ||
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| Budgeting Software | My Budget Planner is the best software for helping you prepare your budget and track your expenses and income. It can be downloaded right now or the owner, Tatiana Shevchuk, will send you a CD. This software works on any Windows operating system. This is the best priced, most comprehensive budgeting software in the market today. You will be able to keep track of every expense and plan for future spending. It allows for saving and investing. The software can even be purchased for kids and students. You will be absolutely amazed at the detailed way in which this software can guide you through your budgeting process and keep you on your budget. It is completely guaranteed to make you a budgeting "guru". | ||
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| Savings Account | No doubt the best internet saving account system in the US is ING Direct, where you can open a savings account in under five minutes with no fees, no minimums and FDIC insurance. This is the most secure website I have ever seen. Your money and your information is kept very safe at all times. Their rates are among the highest in the US and your savings account can be linked directly to your checking account anywhere. You can save automatically or only when you want to make a transfer out of your checking account. It is the most convenient way to save. And you can open your account with as little as one dollar! You have access to your funds any time you need them. Since a good savings account is part of any budgeting plan, saving with ING Direct should be an integral part of every budget. | ||
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| Federal Resources | The Federal Citizen Information Center has several free booklets that discuss budgeting, saving, investing and other money related subjects. One of the best items they will send you for free is their interactive CD about money, banking, budgeting and saving. It is a great learning tool, especially for kids. It also has a lot of information for adults. You can go to the FCIC site and look at the list of all of the super information they have by clicking on Money. The free interactive CD is item #573P. | ||
| The America Saves program is a great free organization that promotes saving. You can join for free and they will send you a wealth of information about saving money in many aspects of your daily life. There are numerous saving incentive areas throughout the US where prizes for saving are offered. You can also win savings bonds for submitting your own expense cutting ideas. They have newsletters that will keep you up to date on the latest saving tips and techniques. | |||
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| Investing | Dividend Re-investment Plans (DRIPS) are one of the best ways to invest in stocks. you can buy the stock directly from the company that issues it. Usually you can buy a small amount and the fees are normally much less than fees charged by a brokerage house. One of the best sites with information about drips is DripCentral. Doug Gerlach owns this site and he has a lot of things there you can use to learn much more about drip investing. Drips are the cheapest way to get involved in investing in some of America's greatest companies. | ||
| Most people don't know how easy it is to buy treasury bonds, bills and notes. The federal government has set up a website, Treasury Direct, where you can learn about buying treasury savings bonds and even open an account to buy bonds. It is very comprehensive and lets you know everything about these great yielding savings instruments, many of which are tax free. | |||
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