Road To Financial Success
Something that's been super important to me this last year is budgeting and saving money. With two kids and a plan to buy a house for them in the future, my husband and I decided we needed to give it our all, which means putting our best foot forward to get the job done. I must say there has been lots of trial and error finding things that worked and some that we thought would work and ended up being a total fail. I'm one of those people that once I'm interested in something I go all out. In this case buying budget books and savings envelopes, making spreadsheets, and looking up user-friendly calculators that can help me accurately account for everything when it comes to my money.
There are many people out there like me who are trying to get their finances together, budget for a home, or maybe a new car, even just trying to stay afloat during the whole COVID ordeal. So I thought I would share a few resources that have helped me stay on the path to success.
Budget Calculators:
Pigly- Now this site is one of my top favorites they literally have any and every kind of calculator you can think of budget, savings, debt, retirement, and the list goes on. So don't be surprised if you see them on multiple lists.
NerdWallet- There 50/30/20 calculator really helps put everything in perspective if you go by those percentages.
Quicken- It breaks everything down and is super easy to use.
Debt Calculators:
Wells Fargo- This is a great DTI tool it lets you go in and itemize your debt and then subtract it from your annual income.
Pigly- The accelerated debt repayment calculator has helped me put the snowball method into full effect. Some people use the avalanche method but I find snowball works better for me because I can see my wins faster. Which in turn motivates me to keep going.
Forbes- The student loan calculator is super beneficial most of us have student loans that will keep us in debt for forever if we don't get on top of it now.
Savings Calculators:
Smartassets- Pretty straight forward love that it gives you a graphic that shows the breakdown of what you save over the amount of years you put in.
Pigly- Super easy to use and put in info, there are even other savings calculators where you can set a savings goal and make a timeline.
Bankrate- Gives you a super straightforward graph, if you like things to get to the point and no extras this is the one.
Along with these calculators I find budget books & even simple notebooks to write down all the information I get from these calculators to be helpful. I'm more of I need to see it in my hand type of person but of course spreadsheets are great too and good for organizing things. I will say if you are a person who just likes to get everything you are looking for done in one place. I suggest using Pigly but all of these resources have been extremely helpful to me and I hope they can help you too.