Personal Finance
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5 To-Dos Before Buying a Home
February 20, 2019
Categories: Budgeting, Mortgage, Personal Finance, Savings
Are you about to begin the hunt for your future home? We understand that the home buying process can become overwhelming, which is why we’d like to offer you a little insight. Start your home buying journey off right by completing this checklist! Strengthen your credit. A 620 FICO score means you can get a mortgage, but that doesn’t mean you’ll want to. According to recent data from myFICO.com, someone with the minimum credit score can expect to pay over $82,000
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Saving for Retirement: How Much Is Enough?
February 13, 2019
Categories: Budgeting, Personal Finance, Retirement, Savings
Over the years, we put away money for important events such as a baby, college tuition, a new car or house. Those tangible items make it worth the amount we set aside. However, retirement is a harder concept to grasp, as it is far off into the future. For this reason, we wanted to help shed some light on how much is actually enough when saving for retirement. How much do I save at my age? Trying to figure out how much to save at any age can be tough, especially when saving for other items.
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6 Steps To Improve Your Finances
February 6, 2019
Categories: Budgeting, Personal Finance, Savings
Staying on top of your finances can prove challenging, especially when bills, debt, daily expenses and saving come into play. Finding your way to financial freedom takes time which is why Bank of Louisiana has compiled a few steps you can take to improve your finances. Coupon Like Crazy Some people always pay full price for items. Nowadays, there should be no reason to empty your wallet to that extreme. You can go old school and buy extra newspapers when the coupons are good. We also recommend
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Money Management for College Students
January 23, 2019
Categories: Budgeting, Personal Finance, Savings
If you’re fortunate, your parents may have taught you how to save your allowance or a certain percentage of each paycheck. However, if those skills weren’t taught to you or you just plain didn’t listen, we are here to help you at the beginning of your financial journey as an adult! Stay tuned for some simple tips you can start doing now to strengthen your current and future financial habits. 1. Create a Budget Most adults who have been managing their money for years have
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5 Fun Money Challenges to Try
November 14, 2018
Categories: Budgeting, General, Personal Finance, Savings
Finding different ways to save can be tough, however, we want to encourage you to stay on track and jumpstart your finances. With these fun money challenges, you can push yourself to become the savvy saver we know you can be! 1. 52 Week Face Off Instead of changing your spending habits overnight, try this challenge. Over the course of the year, you’ll end up with a grand slam total of $1,378. Start by putting one dollar in a jar the Monday of week number one. Increase it by
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How to Adult: Financial Starters
September 19, 2018
Categories: Budgeting, General, Personal Finance, Savings
It’s been said that youth is wasted on the young, but let’s not let that be true of those of you who are fresh into the adult world. We get it, many adults feel underprepared and overwhelmed at the amount of responsibilities that snowball after college or high school. Don’t fret! The fact that you are even taking the time to read this says that you are going to be okay. We have compiled a list of basic adult financial musts that will help you navigate this new terrain. Build
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3 Keys to Managing Your Money When You’re Self-Employed
September 5, 2018
Categories: Budgeting, General, Personal Finance, Savings, Small Business
If you’re similar to 10 percent of the active American workforce, you are self-employed. Those who enjoy going into business for themselves find a great degree of freedom and empowerment. You have more value for your work, no uniforms, get to choose your customers, not to mention unlimited vacation days. However, these benefits can be quickly overshadowed by the effects of poor money management. In order to make your dream successful, there are certain key habits and skills you should have
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The Expert Saver’s Financial Bucket List
August 29, 2018
Categories: Budgeting, Personal Finance, Savings
Savvy savers are full of great ideas and qualities, so those who aren’t the best at keeping their finances in check are always left wondering how they do it. Thankfully, Bank of Louisiana offers a bucket list with some of the expert saver’s top priorities you can strive to meet! Pay off your credit card debt. As the average American has $16,000 worth of credit card debt, focusing on paying off yours can be a big financial undertaking. There are different methods you can utilize
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5 Things to Teach Your Teens About Financial Literacy
July 18, 2018
Categories: Budgeting, Personal Finance, Savings
With your babies growing up, it’s never too soon to start teaching them the art of being fiscally responsible - but where do you start? According to the Council for Economic Education, only 17 U.S. states require high school students to take a personal finance class in order to graduate. Bank of Louisiana offers some great ideas on how you can begin teaching your child about financial literacy before they leave the nest. How does credit work? A lot of kids don’t know what credit
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Habits of Financially Mature People
June 20, 2018
Categories: Personal Finance, Savings
If you take a look around, you may notice that a majority of people from a variety of income levels seem stressed about their finances. Seventy eight percent of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck and debt is creeping up more and more every year. So what’s the secret for those who aren’t wealthy enough to be financially independent, but still manage to live the life they desire? We believe the difference is financial maturity and have collected top habits for you to integrate into
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