A FORGOTTEN MEMORY

3 Tips To Get Your Finances

Whether you’re running a small business or a household, high inflation and rising interest rates are causing many of us to feel concerned about our finances. While we can’t control inflation or interest rates, there are some steps we can take to help balance our books. Here are three.

Monitor your money

Whether you’re tracking your personal finances or those of your business, it’s essential to create a budget to monitor your income and outgoing costs.

Start by listing all your annual expenses. This includes fixed costs, such as your mortgage or rent, insurance and any professional fees or licences, plus all the variable costs, which include things like utility bills and groceries. Next, list all sources of after-tax income. If your expenses exceed your income, you’ll have to look for areas to cut back.

In some cases, a business may need to operate at a loss. In that situation, you’ll need a loan or other source of funding to cover the costs. But that’s not a sustainable model for the long term.

Automate bill payments

Your home and office both rely on a variety of service providers to function, from power and water to the Internet and phone lines. And each of those comes with a recurring bill. If you miss a bill payment, you’ll be charged interest and a late-payment fee. Avoid these extra costs by setting up auto payments for all your bills.

Note that if you do miss a payment by mistake,