Establish a budget: There’s no better way to manage your finances than by being keenly aware of the interplay between your net income (how much you take home after taxes) and your total expenses (including fixed expenses like bills and variable expenses like clothing or entertainment). See our companion article “Creating a Household Budget” for an easy path to a clear and cogent financial plan. Making use of software, like Budget Forecaster from Strativia, makes the task even easier.Make more money: Indeed, it may sound simpler than it really is, but it’s by no means outside the realm of reason. Just take a look at what you’re making now and try to find ways to augment it, be it asking for a raise, working extra hours, holiday or overtime, taking on a part-time second job, applying for a promotion or for a whole new job with an entirely different employer – there are numerous ways to increase your earning power.Pay yourself first: This is an ages old lesson that is as tried and true as they come – the instant you receive each paycheck, take 10% and sock it away in savings. Plan to live off of 90% of your income and you’ll be slowly but surely building a sizable nest egg that could end up lasting you a lifetime. But if you don’t do this religiously, first and foremost upon being paid, then there will be no money at month’s end to save at all, not 10%, not 1%.Pay your credits cards off: Credit card debt is a brutal, self-feeding cycle that can decimate your savings faster and more effectively than almost any other financial burden. At the very least, make your minimum payments on time so that your credit report remains untainted. Good credit is priceless in today’s world. And in many important circumstances, excellent credit can even compensate for poor income and savings. The best course of action, however, is to carry no balance. Pay your credit cards off in full as soon as you possibly can. Then restrain yourself from using your credit cards except when you know you can pay off new purchases in full at your very next billing period.Make your 401K contributions: Especially if your employer makes matching contributions, take maximum advantage of any 401K plan you have available to you. Not doing so would cheat you at the very least of the income from those matching funds, not to mention the income that can be gained from savings account interest or investment maturity. You wouldn’t turn down a company bonus would you? Then don’t let your company’s 401K plan go to waste.Stay on top of your investments: As time passes, the economy fluctuates, and an intelligent investment today may be a foolish investment tomorrow. You need to review your portfolio regularly and readjust it regularly to avoid loss and pursue gain. Remember, though, avoiding loss – or protecting your capital – is infinitely more important than pursuing gain. Don’t let any one stock comprise more than 5% of your total portfolio, and don’t let any one industry comprise more than 20%. Remain diversified and readjust your distribution of assets as the performance of your holdings changes. Seek professional financial guidance as necessary.Build an emergency fund: Start saving money in a separate, FDIC-insured account and build it up until it contains enough to cover six months of your expenses. Take a look at your total expenses (both variable and fixed) from your personally designed or Budget Forecaster household budget and then multiply it by six to discover how much you should keep in an emergency fund. Then leave that money alone until and unless you need it. Should the unfortunate day come that you do, you’ll be glad it’s there.Get your free credit reports: Your credit reports can be among your greatest tools for acquiring credit or they can be your biggest hurdle. The government decision to allow consumers a free copy per year of each of their credit reports from the three major reporting bureaus – Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion – is an opportunity to take charge of your finances that should not be ignored. See our companion article entitled “Get a Free Copy of Your Credit Reports” for further details.Review and update your insurance policies: As with bank terms and credit card rates, insurance premiums also change considerably over time. A good deal yesterday could be a lousy deal today. And with your ability to go online, you can easily compare and contrast insurance offers in an instant. Important coverage to make sure that you have on both your home and auto insurance plans is cost replacement insurance. Decent liability coverage is also of the utmost importance. And also be certain that the insurance on your home accurately reflects the true value of your home today.Start A Business: Starting a business is easier today than ever before. There is all sorts of informational material, resources, and tools available to help you, and most of them are free. Whether it’s selling books on eBay, developing a sleek new high-tech product from scratch, or outsourcing your intellectual talents there is a market out there for almost anything. Whether you decide to go into business full time or part time, there is money to be made that will ultimately help you to keep your finances under control by increasing your income.

My first tip for taking digital photography for anyone whether they are beginning, or have some degree of experience is “don’t be frightened of your camera”. Get used to handling your camera so that you feel comfortable with it. Make sure you know where all the controls are, and familiarise yourself with their functions. This is one of the basic beginning photography tips that often gets overlooked as it is such an obvious one.Once you are comfortable handling your digital camera and have learned how to use all the controls and functions, my next tip for taking digital photography is to take lots and lots of pictures. The beauty of digital photography is that you do not need to keep every picture that you take. You are not paying for a long processing sequence like you would be if you were using a camera that uses rolls of film, so you can be a lot more extravagant when it comes to taking pictures. Plus you may just take a prize winning photo purely by chance, and any photos you don’t want you can simply delete.Another of the basic beginning photography tips that people often forget is to hold the camera steady. Again this may sound pretty obvious but it’s surprising just how many of us forget this simple little tip when we rush to get a good photo. It is important to actually practice holding the camera so that you automatically steady it for every picture that you take. How often have you seen the chance of a great picture only to rush it and ruin the shot? It’s far better to get one or two great pictures than dozens of blurred or poor quality ones.My next tip is to always make sure that you have enough memory capacity on your digital camera. There is nothing worse than coming across something that would make a great picture only to find that you have no more room on your camera. Get into the habit of going through the photos stored on your camera on a regular basis, and deleting the ones you don’t want, and downloading and storing the ones you do want onto your computer, or have them printed off. Also buy a second card for your camera so that you always have a spare one with you just in case you need it.Once you have got this far you should have loads of photos that you have taken, now is the time to study these and see if there is room for improvement. Maybe some of them are still coming out slightly blurred, so you will need to pay attention to your focusing. Remember that a digital camera has a tendency to take a little longer to focus when compared to a camera that uses roll film.Maybe you are not happy with the lighting on some of your pictures, so try practising using the flash. The flash on a camera is not only designed to be used when taking photos indoors, it is also great for getting good sharp pictures outside as well, especially if the subject is in shade or if the natural light is low, like in the late evening.I suppose that one of the most important beginning photography tips that I can give you is to “get out there and have some fun with your camera”. Take loads of photos and practice as you go. Use your camera as often and as much as you can. My last little tip would to be to get hold of a good book on digital photography, this way you will get all the tips for taking digital photography and learn all the usual mistakes to avoid right from the start.