In terms of spending smarter (and this is where you might end up spending more money), and that is if you need professional help, get professional help. In the case of money, it could be a fee-only financial planner. You pay them for a few hours of their time to analyze their situation, help you figure out where you can improve your budget, help you figure out where you should be saving your money. If you’re having trouble making these decisions with your spouse, you can have this objective third party to help you make those decisions.

But there are also people called “daily money managers,” and they will set you up on Mint or Quicken or anything like that if you don’t know how to do it. They will analyze your budget. They will also pay your bills. They will do a lot of the nuts and bolts parts of money management and I don’t think they get enough attention. So they will handle a lot of that stuff. It’s the Association of Daily Money Managers. You put in your zip code and you’ll find a daily money manager in your area. That said, many of them work remotely, so you don’t even have to find someone in your area.

View the video or read the transcript for Don’t Just Spend Less — Spend Smarter at Motley Fool.

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