How To Avoid a Personal Bailout

As we begin 2009, the U.S. economy is in ruins. It has become, as a result, increasingly more important to protect your assets, as well as your identity. In order to make 2009 a better year for your money in these harsh economic times, here are some ideas and suggestions to get your financial health in line.

1. Separate Needs from Wants. Financial security and independence relies heavily on being a smart spender. Don’t, for example, eat out when you can cook at home. Eating is a need but eating out is a want. Being thrifty is truly a necessity. Pay close attention to discounts for things you need, and clip coupons whenever possible.

2. Put away 6 months living expenses into a Savings Account. Estimate 6 months of living expenses by totaling your monthly bills, gas, and grocery expenses and multiplying by 6. Put this amount of money into a savings account. Start by simply putting a little away every month from your paycheck. This will be your rainy day fund and should only be touched in an emergency. If you absolutely must dip into it, make sure that it is for an emergency and that you replace it as soon as possible.

3. Pay off all of your DEBT. Begin paying off your debt by starting with the highest interest bearing debt like credit cards and personal loans. Sometime the interest rates on these can be as high as 39%. Do this before you begin saving. It will help to save you money in the long run and is one of the most important steps to gaining financial independence.

4. It has become increasingly more important to protect your identity. Identity theft is becoming the favorite crime among criminals. It is estimated that it costs victims of identity theft over 5 billion dollars a year to pay for identity theft. However, identity theft protection is now offered with services like Life Lock. Life lock guarantees the protection of your credit backed by a $1,000,0000 payment to you fit they don’t. They will help reduce the number of credit card offers you receive and will actively monitor you credit.

5. To keep away the temptation to spend all your hard saved money, put money into CDs other financial securities that are harder to dip into. That way you won’t have easy access to spending the money, and will therefore be less likely to spend it.

6. Write out a budget and stick to it no matter what. This is so super easy to do. Label several jars with categories like “eating out”, “movie night”, or “entertainment”. Every payday, put $40 in each jar. That will be your allowance for that particular category. When the jar runs out, you have to wait until the next pay day to replace the money and your budget for that item. This sounds tough, but it can really be of benefit to your finances.

The current economic situation is not good. This is not big secret. As a result, we have to do what we must to protect ourselves from needing assistance, something some of the big companies should have done a long time ago. Don’t get in a bind in 2009. Follow a budget, look for sales and discounts and be a smart spender.

If you are cautious with your money, you will not need a bailout in 2009. Hey, maybe you may be the one bailing someone else out.

Linda Seamore is an expert on the subject of personal finance and has written lots of articles on it and on credit protection services like LifeLock. She suggests researching all credit protection services like www.lifelock.com before signing up.