Budgeting Can Help You Repair Your Credit: Budgeting Tool Kit
A Credit Article Contributed by Brandie King
Budgeting can help you repair your credit by allowing you to see where you can free up some extra money each month to pay off all of those debts you currently have. The following article is basically a tool kit full of resources that you can use to help you plan out a budget and stick to it, as well as learning how budgeting can help you repair your credit.
Credit Repair Through Budgeting: Living Frugally
Living simply and frugally is a very good way to live within both your means and your budget. Repairing your credit while living a frugal life is much easier.
Websites
- About.com's Frugal Household website http://frugalliving.about.com/od/frugalhousehold/
- The Dollar Stretcher Newsletter http://www.stretcher.com/past/ds960617.htm
- Frugal Family Network http://www.frugalfamilynetwork.com/
Books (visit Amazon.com and do a title search)
- Yankee Magazine's Living Well on a Shoestring : 1,501 Ingenious Ways to Spend Less for What You Need and Have More for What You Want
- Saving on a Shoestring: How to Cut Expenses Reduce Debt and Stash More Cash
- Living Well on Practically Nothing: Revised and Updated Edition
- Frugal Living for Dummies
- The Simple Living Guide
- Complete Idiot's Guide to Simple Living
Credit Repair Through Budgeting: Budget Calculators and Worksheets
Use the following calculators and worksheets to plan out a budget that will help you save money each month that you can use to repair your credit by paying off debts.
Calculators
- http://www.mapping-your-future.org/features/budgetcalc.htm
- http://www.youcandealwithit.com/calc module.html
- http://cgi.money.cnn.com/tools/ - They have a Debt Reduction Planner and an Ideal Budget calculator
Worksheets
- http://financialplan.about.com/cs/budgeting/l/blbudget.htm
- http://www.ivillage.co.uk/workcareer/cashflow/
- http://www.cccssacto.org/budget/detail.html
Credit Repair Through Budgeting: Books
You can read more about, and buy, each of the following books by visiting http://www.amazon.com and doing a search for their titles. These books will teach you everything you need to know about budgeting and how to use it to repair your credit.
- The Budget Kit : The Common Cents Money Management Workbook (3rd Edition)
- The Pocket Idiot's Guide to Living on a Budget (Pocket Idiot's Guide)
- Quick and Easy Budget Book: A Practical Workbook for Balancing Your Household Budget
- Bonnie's Household Budget Book: The Essential Guide for Getting Control of Your Money
- You Don't Have to Be Rich: Comfort, Happiness, and Financial Security on Your Own Terms
Credit Repair Through Budgeting: Extensive List of Possible Expenses
When preparing a budget to find extra money to use for repairing your credit you need to consider the following categories of expenses.
Home - rent/mortgage, property taxes, insurance (renter's or homeowner's), homeowner's association dues, telephone, gas & electric, water & sewer, cable TV, garbage, household supplies, house wares, furniture & appliances, cleaning, yard or pool care, maintenance & repairs
Food - groceries, breakfast out, lunch out, dinner out, coffee/tea, snacks
Wearing Apparel - clothing & accessories, laundry, dry cleaning & mending
Self Care - toiletries & cosmetics, haircuts, massage, health club membership, donations
Health Care - insurance, medications, vitamins, doctors, dentist, eye care, therapy
Transportation - insurance, road service club, registration, gasoline, maintenance & repairs, car wash, parking & tolls, public transit & cabs, parking tickets
