Budgeting on a Variable Income

By Miriam Caldwell

"Budgeting on a variable income can be difficult. If you are self-employed or you work on commission only, you may be faced with managing a variable income. This means that it can be difficult to predict how much money you will have coming in during a given month. If this is your reality, it is important to save a large percentage of your income on good months to help make up for the bad ones. Here is one way to budget your variable income. "-A quote from the article

Suggested Book

On My Own Two Feet: A Modern Girl's Guide To Personal Finance

by Manisha Thakor

Sharon Kedar (Contributor)

Whether you've been living paycheck to paycheck or are saving for a down payment on your first home, this updated edition of the bestselling On My Own Two Feet will help you grasp the basic principles of money management. (Amazon)

How to Stay Solvent in a One-Income Household

By Ellen Friedrichs

"If there's just one income stream coming into your household, do these five things to protect your family's finances.

A few years ago, I unexpectedly found myself raising two kids on one income. In my case, the situation was the result of my partner’s sudden death, so the change was utterly unexpected."-Excerpt from Article by By Emily Nickerson

Suggested Free Printable 

It's the season of giving!

If last year is any indication, you can expect to spend a budget busting $800 or more on gifts. The holiday season is fast approaching. Which means, it’s time to start planning for parties, events, plays, family gatherings, and whatever other activities you like to fill your holiday schedule with. Don’t panic, We're here to help! Here’s a free printable holiday planner which you can add to your home binder, existing planner, or use all by itself.

What It’s Really Like to Work Full-Time and Be a Mom

By  Sage Singleton

"We spoke to 10 real women who work full-time, raise children, maintain their homes, and find time for personal time and growth. In fact, about 70 percent of American women with children are in the workforce. But with only 24 hours in the day, how do they do it all? We spoke to 10 real women who work full-time, raise children, maintain their homes and still find room for personal time and growth." A quote from the article

Read the article to discover what they said.

Featured App 

Christmas Gift List

It’s easy to overspend during the holiday season so using this app will help you to set a budget and keep track of what you’ve spent already, with the stats page also showing details such as gifts left to buy, left to wrap, and days to Christmas. As well as all this, you can protect your Xmas list with a password so if a member of your family or a friend is trying to snoop and see what you’ve got them; they won’t be able to find out. A really useful feature of this app is that it automatically archives your list on New Year’s Day each year, carrying over the people on your current list.

The 10 Best Ways Women Can Make Our Money Last In Retirement

By Kathryn Tuggle 

"We’re going to live longer and make less over our lifetimes — it’s time to talk strategy about making our money last. We women don’t have it easy when it comes to retirement. We stand to live an average of five years longer than men, yet we make 84 cents on every dollar that a male colleague makes. It’s no surprise, then, that the majority of us—60 percent—are worried we’ll run out of money money if we live to 100, according to the Merrill Lynch’s recent Women & Financial Wellness study. Unfortunately, our fears are well-founded. Over the course of our careers, women stand to earn $1.1 million less than men. Take a minute and let that figure sink in. Whether we like it or not, we’ve all been tasked with doing more with less. So, what are the best ways to ensure our retirement savings work harder and last longer? We checked in with experts to find out." Excerpt from article.

Another Great App

Any.do: To do list, Calendar, Reminders & Planner

This app has a very high user rating of 4.5/5 stars on the Google Play Store. If you feel like your brain is getting saturated trying to remember everything you still have to get done, then Any.Do could be the right app for you. It’s a general productivity app with a clean, uncluttered interface that will help to make your life a whole lot easier at this time of year. It features a daily planner, to-do-list, reminders, and a calendar, so is extremely useful whether you’re trying to remember to pick up laundry, clean out those cupboards that some family members insist on looking in, or borrow that large roasting dish from Mom.

This app also includes a widget for the home screen of your device, so it’s easy to see those reminders and things you have left to do.