Always Broke - Looking for Someone Too Look over Financials

Any accounting firm should have the staff to help you. I hope you don't mean you are claiming all rents as income and not offsetting it with expenses like the utilities, maintenance, depreciation.....

A financial advisor's job is generally to help you with investments and long-term saving goals - not necessarily how to manage your day-to-day and month-to-month budget.

I would second the suggestion to keep a journal of everything you spend money on - lunches out, dinners out, that $5.00 latte from Starbucks, etc. You will be surprised at how quickly it adds up. Also, things like monthly gym memberships, newspaper delivery, and so on. Start thinking about if those things are absolutely necessary and if you can find some way to do without them. Clip coupons and look for things to go on sale. I would also suggest not paying for all utilities on the rental. We have a 2-family rental home and charge rent that includes heat and hot water - because it is oil heat that heats both apartments and there is no way to separate it out. But electric and trash pick-up is on them. With the rental too, you need to make sure that the income you are getting from the rent every month is actually paying for the expenses - otherwise you are either losing money or just breaking even. And if it is either of those, then it is time to try to sell it. Software programs like Quicken can be helpful in showing you where all the money is going and how it is being spent.

Hmmmm...where do you feel the bilk of your money is going?

Normally, "regular" folks, like most of us, don't need a financial advisor -- we need a budget. And a plan.

Check out Dave Ramsay.
Simple to follow, easy to understand.
Allows for goals (short term/long term), funding 401Ks, 529 plans, etc.

The first thing you need to do is get a small emergency fund in place.
Next, knock out any & all debt, including car payments.

And according to Dave, if you don't outright own the rental--you can't afford it, so sell it.

Good luck!
(We're debt free including our house. It works.)

My best advice is to go to a Dave Ramsey Financial Peace seminar. They are offered frequently through churches, that would be my first place to check. It helped us ALOT and helped us get control of our expenses. Thought I'd hate a budget but I actually love it now. I have to be accountable. We don't have all we want but we have all we need. It costs about $65 for a couple but is worth EVERY penny. Good luck!!

E.:

The best place to start is taking control of your finances instead of them controlling you.

make a list - keep a journal - of EVERY SINGLE PENNY YOU SPEND FOR 3 months. No kidding. EVERY SINGLE PENNY....then set a budget for yourself. Go to the library and borrow books from Dave Ramsey and Suze Ormann. Take what you need and what will work for you from those books.

If you are paying utilities on your rental - sounds like you might need to re-evaluate the contract and have the renter either pay more rent or pay their own utilities. If you feel it's bringing you down - sell it. Use the profit to do what you need to do to your home.

There are MANY financial advisors. T Rowe Price, TD Bank, even your bank should have one...especially if you have a big bank or credit union. USAA (who I bank with) has financial advisers as well. Call them and ask. I wouldn't take some Joe Blow off the street. Check Angie's list - yes - Angie's list does doctors and financial people as well as contractors.

If you want your wish list to come true for the house. Budget for it. Make a "job jar" and write the item that needs to be done on the paper, fold it and put it in the job jar. Then on the weekend, pull one out and get the project done. If you can't afford to do the project - it's not "fair" to put it on the wish list...you'd be surprised at what can be accomplished in one weekend.

Good luck in taking control of your finances. I hope you will be able to find the right person to help you get them under YOUR control instead of them controlling you!!!

We had a class one time at church about stuff like this. He was a professor from OSU in the accounting or finance department.

I would say look to your nearest university and see if they have someone that does this kind of thing. It may even be that they might offer some money management classes at the nearest vo-tech school too. They often offer adult classes in the evenings and weekends.

It sounds like you need a financial Advosor for investments and planning but a program of some sort to help you figure out how much money comes in and how much and why it goes out.

I am not familiar with the Dave Ramsey plan but a lot of moms on here talk about it.

We are numbers people, run our company and personal financials as a business. Self discipline and delayed gratification is critical to being debt free and staying that way and towards gaining wealth.

Get references via word of mouth on good people to use for your finances.

Good luck.

If you are looking to sit down with someone to get a plan for the future, I highly recommend R Carson with Edward Jones in Oak Park ###-###-####. He does a free consltation to see if he is the right fit for you. Call him, can't hurt.

Have you gone to the library to see if they have a Dave Ramsey book? (Don't pay for it.) Try that first. Financial advisors can be expensive.

Good luck,
Dawn

One piece of advise I got in high school as well as from a class at work about budgeting: keep track of every single dollar you spend for a full month. The best way is to place the receipt in an envelope. If you do not get a receipt, write one for yourself on a little slip of paper. I did this for a month. It is amazing how those little stops at the corner store, quick buy at a gas station, or vending machine can add up. Then you can see what you are wasting money on.
As for the house and rental, keep track of all the money you spend, even the little washer for the hose that only cost $1. Then you can see what your expenses really are.

Financial Planning
Portia Carmichael CFP
###-###-####
____@____.com

Portia is awesome, and really knows her stuff. While you could do it yourself sometimes it helps to have a professional who knows the ins and outs of financial planning. They'll save you time and money in the long run. Also, they have the experience and knowledge to help you in ways that you probably won't even think of doing.

Hope this helps!!

You aren't asking for a financial advisor - they help you with investments and some taxes.

You are wanting a life coach.

I suggest two items:

1) Write out your own budget. It'll take you 10 minutes and then you'll know exactly where your money is. No advisor needed, problem solved.

2) When you find out that where your money is going, then go to dave ramsey (no spaces and add the dot com). At least listen to part of his radio show. You can try it online, or likely on your local talk radio news station. 1-4 central time.

I highly recommend Financial Peace University and daveramsey.com.