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A life you love on a budget you can afford.

Here on TBM®, I provide you with simple, easy-to-follow solutions to help you budget your money, pay off debt, save more, and crush your financial goals. But more than that, I give you the tools to start doing the things that matter most to you, on a budget that actually works!

When you are trying to get out of debt, getting another credit card just might be the best option you have. A balance transfer from your high-interest cards to a card that offers an introductory 0% APR can save you hundreds of dollars in interest and help you pay off your debt faster.

What Is a Balance Transfer and Is It Right for You?

June 8, 2020
Credit Cards

Editorial Disclosure

Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

Is one of your financial goals to get out of debt? If so, opening another credit card could be the worst – or best – option you have. Personally, I used this strategy to help me knock out over $26,000 View Post

Filed Under: Tagged With: BALANCE TRANSFERS, CREDIT CARDS, DEBT, GET OUT OF DEBT

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Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

A bad credit score is one that costs you money or opportunities. Learn how to improve your credit score in 5 easy steps!

How to Improve Your Bad Credit Score

November 13, 2019
Credit Report & Score

Editorial Disclosure

Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

If you know anything about my story, you know I changed my whole approach to money and budgeting so I could be free from debt. And while becoming debt-free has made my life so much better, that View Post

Filed Under: Tagged With: CREDIT REPORT, CREDIT SCORE, CREDIT UNION

User Generated Content Disclosure

Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

Struggling with high credit card balances? It wasn't easy, but I paid off $26,000 in credit card debt. Here are 3 credit card debt elimination strategies that work.

Dealing With Credit Card Debt When You’re in Over Your Head

November 6, 2019
Credit Cards

Editorial Disclosure

Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

Credit cards can be convenient tools to help you build your credit rating and make parts of your life more convenient, like booking travel. But credit cards are also easy to abuse. According to View Post

Filed Under: Tagged With: CREDIT CARDS, DEBT, DEBT FREE, GET OUT OF DEBT, PAY OFF DEBT

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Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

It can be very tempting to liquidate your retirement assets to pay off a big chunk of high-interest debt and wipe the slate clean. The logic SOUNDS good. But, using your retirement money for this purpose may hurt you more than help you.

Should I Pay Off Debt Using Retirement Money?

February 26, 2019
DEBT & CREDIT

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Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

Many people come to a financial crossroad. That moment when you finally realize you have more debt than your budget can handle, and you’re ready to make a change. An immediate change. Like, right now. View Post

Filed Under: Tagged With: DEBT, PAY OFF DEBT, RETIREMENT

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Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

Should you consolidate your debt? Before using a debt consolidation company, make sure you know all of your options. Getting out of debt is all about changing the behavior that got you into debt in the first place, that's where you should start.

Should You Consolidate Your Debt?

January 23, 2019
DEBT & CREDIT

Editorial Disclosure

Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

If you are wallowing in debt from credit cards, student loans, and medical bills, it probably seems that ads for debt consolidation companies are everywhere. At least you’re very aware of View Post

Filed Under: Tagged With: DEBT, DEBT CONSOLIDATION, DEBT MANAGEMENT, GET OUT OF DEBT, PAY OFF DEBT

User Generated Content Disclosure

Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

Being in debt while you are still working can be a nagging problem and even prevent you from saving for retirement. But carrying that debt into retirement can also be dangerous, and in some cases, even more so. When you are in retirement, you are working with a fixed income. The simple truth is, you can't afford to have a majority of your income eaten up by debt payments. To get the most out of your retirement, you need to make sure you have as much money as possible to fund the lifestyle you desire. Here are three types of debt you should work on eliminating before you retire. Read: How To Save For Retirement When You Are Self-Employed UNSECURED DEBT If you are living with a fixed retirement income, you might not be able to afford to make the extra payments on the money owed. If you are spending years in repayment, much of your fixed-income ends up going to high interest payments. Credit card debt can not only wreck your credit score, but it's also costly to pay off. For example, if you have a credit card with a $5,000 balance with 18% interest, it will take you roughly 84 months to pay it off. Not only that, but you will pay close to $4,320 in interest over that period. HOW TO PAY IT OFF It's best to come up with a plan to eliminate unsecured debt during your working years. An easy approach to paying off credit card debt is to list out your present debts, figure out which cards charge the most interest and pay those off first before moving on to the ones with less interest. Here is a list of articles that will help you come up with a plan to pay off credit card debt: Pay off Debt With the Debt Snowball Method How to Pay Down Debt Using the Avalanche Method How to Create a Plan to Pay Off Debt Taking advantage of balance transfers to eliminate debt faster might also be an option. You can transfer your total balance to a card with a lower interest rate than what you are currently paying to save time and money on interest payments. Read: Saving Money When You Have Debt – What You Need to Know STUDENT LOAN DEBT Student loans are often viewed as a "younger-aged" problem, but the truth is, more and more older Americans are finding themselves on the hook for educational loans. Not only is this debt they took out for themselves, but the major problem is when parents take out loans for their children's education. The process of being accepted for a Parent PLUS loan is minimal. There is only a basic credit check and no underwriting to determine whether the borrower has the income or ability to repay the loans. With emotions involved, it's easy to take on more than you can handle. You may not realize it, but in retirement, even a small amount can prove difficult to repay. Funding your child's education can be an emotional topic. I would love to help my son attend college without feeling financially stressed, but I won't sacrifice my own retirement to do so. Instead, I took another approach and started planning and saving early for his educational costs. Two weeks after my son was born, I opened a UTMA account. Throughout the year, I save my leftover change from my cash spending and invest it in his UTMA at the end of the year. I will save what I can during my working years, and I will help him as much as I can financially, but only to a limit that I can honestly afford. The truth is, helping my son pay for his education is important to me, but he also has more time than me to pay off his student loans. When I am a senior living on a fixed income, I will not be able to generate more money to repay these debts, and I can't replace the retirement savings that I take out for repayment. HOW TO PAY IT OFF When you are in a financial bind, there are different ways to you can repay your student loan debts that make it a little easier on your budget. For example, if you only have Direct Loans, there are Income-Driven repayment plans that allow you to make a monthly payments that is based on your income and family size. If you decide to use one of these options, you have to keep in mind that it will extend the period of time for your loan repayment. I recommend using these options if you are in a financial hard spot, but to make your time on these plan limited. If you can, I recommend sticking to the Standard Repayment Plan, which will pay of your student loans in the shortest amount of time while saving you the most money on interest. Read: Should You Consolidate Your Student Loans? MORTGAGE DEBT Many people who own homes or property take out 30-year mortgages in their early 30s and manage to pay off their loans by the time they retire. But what happens when you buy a home or property later in life? If you end up carrying mortgage debt into retirement, that will make what's already your greatest monthly expenses even more burdensome. Just like with people, the older a home becomes, the more money it costs to keep them "healthy." Dealing with a mortgage payment and the upkeeping costs of owning an older home during retirement can cause substantial income restrictions. If you work on getting rid of your mortgage payment before retirement, that's one significant bill you don't have to worry about. If you can pay off your mortgage before retirement, you can significantly decrease your housing costs, eliminate your biggest expense, and you can make your savings last much longer. If you can, try buying a home on the low-end of what you can afford and avoid refinancing your home, which usually extends your repayment period. HOW TO PAY IT OFF One way to tackle your mortgage debt is by making extra payments to your loan. Think of it this way, the more extra payments you make on your mortgage, the more each one of your regular payments goes straight to the principal balance. Try making an extra house payment every quarter or dividing your mortgage payment by 12 and add that amount to each monthly mortgage payment that you make. Just a word of caution. If you are thinking about making extra mortgage payments, make sure you talk to your mortgage company because they might charge prepayment penalties. When completing an extra mortgage payment, make sure it's getting applied to the principal balance of your loan and not next month's payment. It's critical to take steps to ensure you have an effective debt management strategy in place and to take early action steps to eliminate debt before you retire.

3 Debts You Should Eliminate Before Retirement

August 1, 2018
FINANCE 101

Editorial Disclosure

Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

Being in debt while you are still working can be a nagging problem and even prevent you from saving for retirement. But carrying that debt into retirement can also be dangerous, and in some cases, View Post

Filed Under: Tagged With: FINANCIAL PLANNING, PAY OFF DEBT, RETIREMENT, SAVING

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Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

Next Page »

Hello, I'm Kumiko, but everyone just calls me Miko. Welcome to my blog, The Budget Mom. I am an Accredited Financial Counselor® , and mom to a rambunctious boy. Come along with me as I strive to live a life I love on a budget that I can afford. Read more about me.

RECENT YOUTUBE VIDEO

The Budget Mom

The Budget Mom
It’s time for another Real Life Budget. I asked my readers to submit their REAL information. Real spending, real debt, and real savings goals.

I am taking those real-life numbers and showing you how I would organize and budget that information using my Budget By Paycheck® Method.

If you would like to submit your budget information to possibly be picked for a Real Life Budget that we will show on YouTube, please reach out to budgets@thebudgetmom.com.

Today, we are looking at TBM Family member Christina's information. Christina and her husband are on a debt payoff journey and feel like they are not making the progress they should be. For the first time, I am showing how to use a debt reduction calculator to show how your decisions affect your debt journey.

Trust me, if you have debt, you don't want to miss this video!

CHAPTERS:
00:00 Introduction
03:07 Why & Personal Story
06:04 Income 
07:55 Fixed Expenses
09:15 Variable Expenses
10:30 Debt
12:52 Savings Goals
14:26 Budget By Paycheck Method
21:01 Debt Payoff Scenarios & Visuals
32:28 My Recommendations

➡️ DEBT REDUCTION CALCULATOR: https://bit.ly/3ZqqiNO
➡️ HOW I TRACK MY SPENDING: https://bit.ly/3aIe89I
➡️ HOW TO USE A BUDGET CALENDAR: https://bit.ly/2IzF2Vj
➡️ FINDING YOUR WHY: https://bit.ly/3aJUryj
➡️ THE BUDGET MOM'S FINANCIAL FREEDOM STEPS: https://bit.ly/3cfJXsp
➡️ HOW TO GET STARTED WITH THE CASH ENVELOPE METHOD: https://bit.ly/2vQJaO5
➡️ HOW TO CREATE A PLAN OF ATTACK TO PAY OFF DEBT: https://bit.ly/2wDETxF

ABOUT ME

Kumiko Love is a single mom who empowers women everywhere to regain control of their financial lives. An Accredited Financial Counselor with over nine years of experience in the finance industry, she founded The Budget Mom, a community of millions of women on a path to financial fulfillment.

She's also the creator of the wildly popular Live Rich Planner® and Budget by Paycheck® Workbook. Love has been featured on Good Morning America, the Today show, CNN, CBS, ABC and in USA Today, US News, World Report, Huffington Post, Money Magazine, Parents Magazine, the Washington Post, and Real Simple. She lives in Spokane Valley, Washington.

YOU CAN FIND ME AT:

📝 WEBSITE: https://www.thebudgetmom.com
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GET STARTED

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➡️GET 10% OFF my popular Budget-by-Paycheck Workbook - Coupon Code TBMYOUTUBE https://bit.ly/3FEdZFp

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