Set a budget. Having a budget will help you spend wisely. Once you receive a pay check, be intentional in where you put your money—from your bills to your grocery and other expenses. Setting a budget doesn’t mean depriving yourself, it only means that you are fully aware as to where your money is going and you are conscious of your spending. Budgeting gives you a clear picture of your finances and prevents you from overspending.

Pay yourself first. This simply means, saving. For all the efforts you’ve put into working, you need to pay yourself. Allot a certain percentage for your savings that you can use in case of emergency or even for leisure. Having savings is like having a breathing room that gives you financial freedom knowing that if anything goes wrong you have back up money you have access to.

Clearly determine your needs and wants. Here is where finances usually get out of control. Usually people spend for their wants first before their needs. This is very tricky because needs and wants are the only things that dictate your spending and if you don’t categorize this clearly you will end up spending for things you do not need. When you have clearly identified your needs and your wants, you can allot your money wisely. Make sure that you take care of your needs first before your wants.

Cash over credit. Financial downhill starts with uncontrollable spending that is brought about by a single swipe of a plastic card. Credit cards give you an illusion that you have more money to spend. However, this can cause financial problems for you if you can’t control your credit card usage. To avoid this, pay in cash instead of swiping your card. Cash purchases will give you control over you money better. It will also help you assess how much you have left to spend.

Live within your means. This may be a cliché but living within your means will help you manage your money well. It allows you to assess how much you have to live by based on how much you are earning. Living below your means is even better because this gives you allowances in your finances. When you do this you prevent yourself from going overboard with your spending. You become more discerning with your purchases and you are able to balance your check book better than ever.

The good thing about finances is that its management is entirely dependent on you. It means that it can be controlled. The direction of your finances is determined by how you use it. The only time it can control you is when you let it. Start with small adjustments because keeping finances in check might mean a change in lifestyle that you are not prepared for. Once you’ve get pass the small adjustments you can proceed with the major ones.

Author Bio:

Kristen Francis Willis is a Financial Consultant by Profession. From time to time, she does some side business with her photography skills. She loves taking pictures, capturing every moment means a lot to her. She’s currently building her reputation as an online writer with the help of PFMP.

Before we look at gold and its impending death cross, the purpose of this article, let’s first define what a death cross is:

A death cross occurs when an equity’s 50-day simple moving average (SMA) (short-term movement) falls below its 200-day SMA (long-term movement). This is widely known in the technical trading world as a bearish indicator, telling traders that price movement is reversing trend to the downside. Naturally, this is generally a strong sell signal. Here is a graphical example of the death cross, illustrated by the graph for Apple, Inc. as discussed above.

As you can see, and as mentioned above, when Apple, Inc.’s 50-day SMA crossed below its 200-day SMA the stock was trading around $545.00. Since the cross, a bearish indicator, the stock has declined over 21%, to its current $450.00 price level…

Read the full article at seekingalpha.com/article/1209891-gold-is-the-death-cross-really-a-golden-cross?

First let’s take a look at where gold is currently, via one-year and two-year time frames:

A number of factors, including a strengthening U.S. dollar, a stabilizing world economy, and the absence of Chinese gold demand during its Lunar New Year holiday last week have driven gold to a six month low, closing just above $1,600.00 last Friday.

This recent sell-off can also be partially attributed to the market’s reaction to institutional investors George Soros, Julian Robertson, and Allianz’s Pimco reducing their stake in SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) in the fourth quarter of 2012. (More info can be found here.)

Naturally, the culmination of all of these factors has left gold investors feeling a bit unsettled…

Read the full article at http://seekingalpha.com/article/1201881-gold-what-support-and-resistance-tell-us

But since climbing above $1,650.00 last August gold has, once again, used this level as strong support. The precious metal has flirted with this support level a few times in the past two months and, each time, has withstood falling below it. As of this writing, gold continues to move further above this $1,650.00 support level.

Gold futures, naturally, show similar support and resistance levels, illustrated by the graph below.

Along with apparent support, it also looks as though commercial hedgers are becoming more interested in the precious metal as well. (Commercial hedger activity is more fully explained in my article, “Gold And Silver: What Support, Resistance, And Corporate Hedging Tells Us“.)

It appears that, as the precious metal used the $1,550.00 price level as strong support last summer, gold looks to now be using the $1,650.00 level as support in a similar fashion. This, in conjunction with increased commercial hedger interest leads me to believe that gold could be ready to move back toward the $1,750.00 price level…

Read the full article here.

Shown by the graph below, the healthcare sector began to outperform the S&P 500 in the second quarter of 2012 and has continued to do so, yielding a one year 18.30% return versus the one year 11.21% return of the S&P 500:

…Read the full article here.

(The net asset value of a CEF is the total value of all the securities in the fund divided by the number of shares and, therefore, represents the true current value of the fund. The market price of the fund, however, often varies from the NAV. When the fund’s share price is higher than the NAV per share it is said to be selling at a premium; when it is lower it isselling at a discount to the NAV per share.)

As a result of the recent CEF sell-off, many funds are selling below their respective NAVs and appear significantly undervalued. So is it time to buy? I think so.

As their valuations are now much more appealing, I think we will see investors beginning to jump back in to CEFs, as we began to see on November 16, 2012, in search for a predictable yield in unpredictable markets.

Intended as a starting point, below is a list of five CEFs with an over 8% distribution, currently selling at a discount to NAV…

Read the full article at: http://seekingalpha.com/article/1015321-the-cef-sell-off-time-to-buy

The S&P 500 is trading near support around 1,300. It was a fall through this support level that ignited the further crash in October, 2008. Since that crash, the S&P 500 managed to climb back to this significant 1,300 level in 2011 and was finally able to rise fully above this level throughout 2012, using it as support in May. Currently, as mentioned, the average is facing this support level once again, as it did in 2008.

Similar to the S&P 500, the DJIA fell through support around the 12,000 to 12,500 level in 2008, climbed back up to this level in 2011, broke above it throughout 2012, using it as support in May, and is now facing another fall through this significant level…

Read the full article at: http://seekingalpha.com/article/1009361-need-a-hedge-against-falling-markets

Let’s first remind ourselves that analysts are still confident in Apple, Inc.’s worth and maintain a $767.00 average price target, with a high target, from Topeka Capital analyst Brian White, of $1,111.00, a target that was reiterated just this Thursday, November 8, 2012.

Analysts remain confident in Apple, Inc. because the current price correction is very reminiscent of three recent corrections the stock has successfully left in the dust, a 16% correction in October last year, a 15% correction in November last year, and a 19% correction in May this year.

Though the current correction is a bit more significant and has brought the stock further below its 200-day simple moving average (currently 8.5% below its 200-day SMA) than previous pull backs, this could be partly due to additional, politically-induced market fears including the “fiscal cliff” scare and the possibility of a higher 2013 capital gains tax rate.

But even with this taken into account, doesn’t it seem that Apple, Inc. is grossly underpriced at present? I think so, and I believe support may have a story to tell.

Apple, Inc. tumbled through support at the $600 price level recently and didn’t look back. But now it’s up against a more significant support level at $530. I say this support level is more significant because it served as resistance for the stock in March and, after breaking above this level quite quickly, investors then used this price as a place to buy during the pullback in May, making it a new support level for the stock.

Now we’re right back where we were in May, and what’s worth noting is that at the lowest point of many of Apple, Inc.’s previous pullbacks, volume increased significantly. The recent pullback to $530 in May was no exception. Volume increased from about 15 million to 25 million, at the stock’s lowest point, then back to 15 million shortly after. We’re now seeing a similar volume pattern in the current pullback, with volume increasing from about 20 million to 35 million, indicating a possible repeat of the May bounce.

It should also be mentioned that Apple, Inc. is approaching a retail season that has, historically, been very successful for the company. Sure there are non-believers who fault Apple, Inc. for lacking innovation when comparing current products to those previous, but the product line up Apple, Inc. is offering this retail season is very strong and is unlikely to disappoint, with the iPhone 5 (with product supply “no longer an issue” and a map app-improving iOS 6.1 in current development), the already popular iPad Mini, the iPad 4, the redesigned iMac, and the new retina display MacBook Pros.

I suggest, of course, waiting to be certain that the stock shows some sort of consolidation pattern around the above-mentioned $530 support level before entering, as a further fall below $530 may result in continued panic and/or trigger a myriad of support-focused stop loss orders. But this level, if it holds, should serve as a very attractive entry point into a company whose recent, minor missteps will be quickly overshadowed by coming successes, just like last time and the time before that. Be ready.

Many believe that the price of gold and silver increases, historically. These charts, from Kitco.com, show this seemingly obvious long-term uptrend on a 10-year time frame:

But as most savvy precious metals investors know, when adjusted for inflation, this picture looks much different. CPI-adjusted, gold’s high is actually around $2300 per ounce and silver’s is around $130 per ounce, which both occurred in 1980. In other words, buying gold and silver with the hope that their respective prices will continually rise until the end of time may not be the best strategy…

Read the full article at http://seekingalpha.com/article/909641-gold-and-silver-what-support-resistance-and-corporate-hedging-tells-us

Here is a graphical, YTD look at the wireless communications industry’s performance versus the S&P:

Seeking value in a well-performing industry or sector can often uncover late bloomers, companies with a high potential for increased future returns as they catch up with the rest of their industry…

Read the full article: http://seekingalpha.com/article/901381-2-undervalued-stocks-in-the-booming-wireless-industry