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7 Money Management Tips to Improve Your Finances

1. Make a Personal Budget

People feeling the impacts of financial stress struggle more with budgeting—that’s one finding from the Capital One Mind Over Money study. They feel less in control and tend to spend their paychecks more impulsively. Creating a budget is a great first step in developing healthier money habits and learning how to get the most 

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1. Make a Personal Budget

from your money. According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), “budgeting helps ensure that you’ll have enough money for the things you need and the things you want, while still building your savings for future goals.”

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2. Track Your Spending

The Capital One Mind Over Money study found that using healthy money habits when you feel confident about your finances can help you when things get more challenging. Tracking your spending could be one of those good habits. After all, it may help you avoid overspending and stay within your budget.

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2. Track Your Spending

How do you keep track of your spending? It’s simple. You could record your expenses digitally with one of the numerous apps available online. If you have a Capital One card, you could use the free digital features that help you track your money. Or, if you prefer a paper-based option, you could simply save your receipts and track everything in 

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2. Track Your Spending

a planner or notebook. One how-to hint: You may want to separate your expenses into categories. That way, you’ll see exactly where your money is going and where you may be spending too much.

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3. Save for Retirement

Not surprisingly, the Capital One Mind Over Money study found that Americans are worried about their financial future. That includes saving for retirement. In fact, 68% of respondents said they’re worried they won’t have enough money to retire. It may help to start small when it comes to retirement savings. In other words, you could save

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3. Save for Retirement

a small amount every month for now, and then add to it when you feel ready.  It may also help to open a retirement plan account that could supplement retirement income from pensions or Social Security.

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4. Save for Emergencies

Putting away savings in an emergency fund for unexpected life events—like needing major home repairs—may help you feel better about your financial situation. Growing your savings might be one of your goals. If it is, you may want to consider these finance tips to help with unexpected expenses: – Remember, interest 

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4. Save for Emergencies

rates can vary. So it may be wise to shop around. If you find a savings account with a better rate, the extra interest can add up over time. – Put extra income into your account. When you get a tax refund or a bonus at your job, consider depositing it into your bank account. The extra money can help your savings grow.

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4. Save for Emergencies

– Buy what you need rather than what you want. That way, you can put the rest toward your savings. – Set up automatic savings. With the help of your employer, you may be able to set up automatic transfers to your savings account to build your savings without the temptation of spending extra cash.

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5. Plan to Pay Off Debt

Paying off debt may also help you better manage your finances and reduce money-related anxiety. Here are two plans recommended by the CFPB for becoming debt free: – Snowball Method: This method focuses on paying off your smallest balances first. You still make the minimum payments on all of your debts. At the 

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5. Plan to Pay Off Debt

same time, you use any extra money to pay off your smallest balance. Then you use the money you’ve freed up to pay off your next-smallest balance and so on. This could mean debts with higher interest rates might wind up taking longer to pay off. And that could cost you more in the long run. – Debt Avalanche Method: In this method—

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5. Plan to Pay Off Debt

also called the highest-interest-rate method—you list your debts based on their interest rates, from highest to lowest. You put your money toward the debt with the highest interest rate first. Once that’s paid off, those extra funds can be used to pay off the next loan on your list. You also still continue to make the minimum payments on all your debts.

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6. Establish Good Credit Habits

Working toward establishing good credit scores could also help improve your finances. According to the CFPB, your credit scores are a snapshot of your creditworthiness.  So these scores can affect many parts of your life—everything from renting an apartment to being considered for a job.

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6. Establish Good Credit Habits

The CFPB recommends the following as part of a personal finance management plan to build good credit: – Pay your bills on time—each and every month. – Don’t get close to the limits on your credit accounts. – Work at establishing a long credit history.

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7. Improve Your Money Mindset

What you do with your money is important. But how you think about it can be important too. Taking on a more positive financial mindset while managing money could include things like keeping sight of your goals. It could also mean taking a solution-oriented approach and focusing on the things you can control—like 

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7. Improve Your Money Mindset

repayment of your debts and your spending habits.

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