How much you should save every month

The two big reasons to refinance are:

• To reduce your monthly mortgage payment
• To save on the overall interest you will pay on your house in the long run.

Refinancing does not always reduce the monthly payment or save on the overall interest.. A loan officer or mortgage broker can help you run scenarios that show you the cost and potential savings of refinancing.

Generally, it makes sense to refinance if you plan on staying in your home for many years.

If you plan to sell the property soon, don't refinance. Refinancing could take years to break even and begin saving you money.

In the debt avalanche method, you pay your debts from the highest interest rate to the lowest interest rate, regardless of balance.

You will pay less in interest if you pay off your debts in this order. You will also pay it off faster.

The supporters of the two methods are both enthusiastic about which one to use. However, it barely matters which system you use. The best approach is the one that keeps you motivated.

Make the minimum payments on all of your debt. Then, focus on one debt that bothers you the most and put every dollar you can towards it until it is gone. Then move on to the next debt.

There are a couple of paths you can take to pay off your high-interest debt when you're on a tight budget.

• The snowball method. For those who need to see progress, pay off the lowest balance first. You'll feel inspired to keep going.
• The avalanche method. Choose the debt with the highest interest rate to pay off first. This may require larger monthly payments and will take longer to see progress, but you will save the most money in the long run.
• If you need to prioritize your credit score, focus on paying down your credit cards first. Paying the ones you are near to maxing out will improve your score quickly by a few points.
• Set up payment plans, even if you can only afford a few dollars at a time. That way, your lenders can see you're paying something.

Financial professionals will advise you to cut out expensive nights out. In truth, you will have night's out, even when you're dirt poor.

To incorporate unplanned entertainment, set aside an amount each month. Be realistic. You can open another savings account for fun spending or you can use cash only.

• Consider an All-Cash Diet, as limiting yourself to physical currency combats overspending.
• Set aside 1 minute a day to check on your financial transactions, to identify problems, track goal progress and set your spending tone.
• Allocate at least 20% of your income to financial priorities like emergency funds, debts and retirement fund.
• Budget about 30% of your income for nonbasic spendings, like entertainment. Abiding by the 30% rule, you can save and splurge at the same time.

• Draft a Financial Vision Board, it motivates and helps you to stay on track with your financial goals.
• Set specific financial goals stating the reason, the way, numbers and dates.
• Adopt a spending mantra, a phrase that serves as a rule of thumb for how you spend.
• Love yourself. Taking control of your finances is part of that.
• Make bite-size money goals. Make the bigger ones but also small step goals to get there.
• Don’t be a financial fatalist, and switch to more positive mantras.
• Get your finances and body in shape. The discipline associated with regular exercising translates to managing your money well.
• Appreciate what you have now, instead of being a consumerist.
• Get a Money Buddy. Studies indicate people pick up good habits from friends with similar traits.

Your future self might have more income, but it’s also fairly likely that your future self might have less income and you’ll find yourself in a really bad situation. 

Even if your future self is doing well, there are probably going to be other big expenses that you’ll want to deal with at that time, like buying a house.

• Building an emergency fund: set up an automatic weekly or monthly transfer from your checking account to your savings, then leave the savings alone until an emergency appears.
• Eliminating high-interest debt: Set up a simple debt repayment plan by organizing your debts by interest rate, then attempt to make a double payment on whatever debt has the highest interest rate.
• Saving for retirement: It will actually end up being a much smaller burden than you expect,  lifted up by the pleasure of knowing that you’re securing your retirement.

The Envelope system is a way to track your variable expenses like food, entertainment, and drinks.

This method, preferably used weekly, allocates a certain amount in each category in labeled envelopes (food, drinks, movies, etc.). Once the envelope is empty, you are done spending in that category.

The principles that make a good budget, something you can stick to:

• Being Realistic: Being too strict is a recipe for failure.
• Making Adjustments: A budget is not set in stone, but a fluid thing.
• A Team Sport: If you live with a partner or spouse, you have to agree mutually on how to budget the financials.
• Expect the Unexpected: Keep an emergency fund, ideally 3-6 months of necessary expenses.
• Budgeting the Expected: Certain upcoming expenses need to be budgeted in advance, like property tax, holiday shopping, etc.

1. Gather Some Financial Information: gather a detailed list of your income and expenses.
2. Select a Budgeting Method: figure out how you’ll budget your money to meet your most pressing financial goals.
3. Create Your Budget: tally up all your expenses and income to see where you stand and allocate expenses.
4. Execute Your Plan: you can use a notebook, pen and paper, a spreadsheet or an online software.
5. Reward Yourself: you can work a small percentage into your budget to treat yourself each month.

This method suggests that you allocate 70 percent of your income to expenses, 20 percent to savings, and the remaining 10 percent to debt.

70:20:10 may work for someone with a healthy emergency fund and minimal debt.

Automation of money will lead to a ‘coasting’ life, but it won’t get one to the next level. While we already know that the goal is to make money work for us, instead of slogging ourselves for earning it, it is not enough to simply save and let the money grow in banks.

One has to be aware of the pitfalls of wastage of money, be able to shun mindless consumerism, and embrace minimalism to move towards that level.

One cannot be complacent and run after security and comfort. Longing for a default, peaceful life of status quo will not put one on the track of next-level money.

One has to get to work, piercing the comfort zone bubble and the man-made boundaries that are around us.