Financial Topics

August 2004   Saturday, March 20, 2010
Do You Have a Budget?

A budget serves as a road map for your spending, helping you find ways to save more money for your financial goals. Inefficient and wasted expenditures can be major impediments to accomplishing your financial goals. For a one-month period, keep track of every dollar you spend, whether by cash, check, or credit card. Are you surprised by how much small expenditures add up over a month?

To make sure you get the maximum benefit from the budgeting process, keep these points in mind:

  • Use spending categories that make sense for your spending patterns. If there are areas with good potential for spending reductions, even if the amounts are relatively small, set them up in their own categories.
  • Set up enough categories to give you a good feel for your spending patterns, but not so many that it becomes difficult and time consuming to monitor your progress.
  • Include non-recurring items in your budget, such as gifts, tuition, insurance premiums, property taxes, etc.
  • Periodically compare your actual expenditures to your budgeted expenditures to find out where you are having problems.
  • While everyone in the family should have some cash that can be spent without accounting for it, don't make the amount so large that it detracts from your savings efforts.
  • Include savings in your budget and make sure you actually save that amount every month.
  • While at times a budget may not seem worth the effort, remember that it is a tool to help you accomplish your financial goals. Remain committed and stick with it.

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About David K. Sebastian

David K. Sebastian, CFP®, and his team of experts at The Physicians Wealth Management Group specialize in working with individual physicians and group medical practices. David is considered to be one of the top financial advisors in the country with more than twenty five years of Wall Street experience as a chief investment officer, portfolio manager, institutional bond trader, and estate planning, benefits planning and retirement consultant.

Commitment to his clients’ financial needs and well being is a primary motivation for David.

The Physicians Wealth Management Group was specifically created to address and manage all of the unique financial challenges that doctors are facing both individually and through their group medical practices.

Feel free to contact me at
www.physicianswealth.com or
dsebastian@sfr1.com
or call me at (973) 285-3600


 
Published by David Sebastian
Copyright © 2004 David Sebastian. All rights reserved.
This newsletter intends to offer factual and up-to-date information on the subjects discussed, but should not be regarded as a complete analysis of these subjects. The appropriate professional advisors should be consulted before implementing any options presented. No party assumes liability for any loss or damage resulting from errors or omissions or reliance on or use of this material.
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