Top 10 Personal Finance Articles of the Month — January 2019

It’s time again for my favorite feature here on Dyer News: a look at my top 10 personal finance articles of the month. With a new year upon us, several bloggers offered tips for a building and sticking to a budget in 2019. Turning to other financial goals, topics of income and investing were also popular in January. To round things out, we'll also take a look at automating your finances and preparing for a money emergency. As usual, this month’s list includes a couple Dyer News Top 10 mainstays as well as a few first-timers. Without further ado, below is my list of the top 10 personal finance articles published in January of 2019, along with their title, author, and the site they originally appeared on.

Budgeting

What is the Average Household Budget? — Jim Wang, WalletHacks One of the hard parts about building a budget from scratch is that you may not have any frame of reference for what's typical. Of course, just because something is "average" doesn't mean it's best for each individual. Nevertheless Jim's look at how the average household spends its money is not only fascinating but could also help give you a better idea of how your budget measures up. How to Stick Rigidly to a Personal Budget — Young and the Invested The second hardest part of budgeting? Actually sticking to it! While that may be easier said than done, Young and the Invested offers a few tips for taking control of your money and keeping to your budget, The 7 Best Budgeting Methods — Tim Jordan, Atypical Finance There are several ways to go about building a budget. Depending on your personality, finances, and other factors, you may find one approach to be more effective than others. If you’re looking for a budgeting plan that suits you, Tim offers a list of seven options, while also detailing who each style is best for. 50/30/20 Budget Plan Is Stealing Your Money — Debt & Cupcakes Speaking of budgeting methods, one popular one is the 50/30/20 method. This refers to the idea of having essentials make up 50% of your budget, discretionary spending accounting for 30%, and then setting 20% of your income aside for savings. Despite its popularity, Debt & Cupcakes explains why this approach might actually not be the most effective for reaching your money goals. The ‘No Budget’ Budgeting Method — Sarah, Smile & Conquer If you still find the idea of sticking to a budget unappealing even after absorbing all of these tips and strategies, perhaps a “no budget” budget could be just the thing for you. While the principals are largely the same, this less-structured approach attempts to make the task simpler and less “hardcore” than other, more traditional methods. In this post, Smile & Conquer takes a closer look at the “no budget” budgeting method and why it's worked for them.

Income and Investing

The 3 Different Types of Income (And How They Can Change Your Financial Future) —  The Land of Milk and Money

When most people think about income, they likely only consider the paychecks they bring home from their day jobs. However, there are actually a few different types of incomes aside from this. In fact, as “Money Bee” explains, knowing about other income types like passive and portfolio income can actually change the way you think about finance. Should You Update Your Income With Your Credit Card Issuer? — Alicia Adamczyk, Two Cents Whenever you apply for a credit card, one of the questions that’s often asked is how much you make on an annual basis. Obviously this information can help inform the bank’s decision of whether or not you get approved and/or how much your credit limit is. With that in mind, should you update your card issuer when your income changes? Alicia takes a closer look at this matter and other good-to-know info about declared income and credit cards. Next Steps in Investing: Playing the Long Game and Choosing the Best Options — Kyle Burbank, Money@30 As your income increases and your savings do grow, you may consider getting started with investing — but where do you start? Moreover, with the volatility of the current market, is now even a good time to jump into stocks? After finding himself asking the same questions, in his article, Kyle discusses the benefits of long-term investing and a few beginner-friendly options for getting started.

Personal Finance Tips

5 Ways to Automate Your Finances — Natalie, Go From Broke As you’ve probably heard before, one of the best ways to start saving is to automate your finances and take the act of moving your money out of your hands. While that concept may sound simple enough, there may be more great ways to accomplish this than you realize. Enter Natalie with her list of five easy ways to automate your finances and, ironically, take control of them in the process. The Government Shutdown is Every Reason You Need an Emergency Fund — Holly Johnson, Club Thrifty There’s no doubt that the recent partial government shutdown took a toll on the hundreds of thousands of Federal employees who were either furloughed or worked without paychecks for more than a month. Even for those of us lucky enough to not have been impacted, the shutdown still managed to highlight an important money topic: having an emergency fund. For her piece, Holly explains more on why having an emergency fund is key and offers a few tips for building yours.

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Thanks for checking out my top 10 personal finance articles published last month and congratulations to all of the bloggers who made the list. To find more of these great articles on a daily basis, be sure to follow me on Twitter @jondyer9 and of course visit DyerNews.com.

Top 10 Personal Finance Articles of the Month — January 2019 was originally seen on DyerNews.com