NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Simple Steps to Budget Better and Manage Credit With Confidence
16 Jan 2025
Learn how to create an effective budget and manage credit responsibly to build a strong financial foundation for 2025. How can you create a budget that works for you? What are the best ways to use credit cards responsibly? NerdWallet personal finance expert Kim Palmer joins host Sean Pyles to discuss budgeting strategies and smart credit management to help you build a strong financial foundation for 2025. They begin with a discussion of budgeting, with tips and tricks on choosing the right budgeting method, tracking expenses effectively, and overcoming common pitfalls like unexpected expenses. Then, Sean and Kim discuss credit card management and how to use credit responsibly. They explore the importance of monitoring transactions, strategies for avoiding overspending, and tips for keeping your credit utilization low to protect your credit score. They wrap up their conversation by sharing actionable advice for managing debt and improving your credit health over time. Enter your monthly after-tax income into NerdWallet’s free budget calculator to create a suggested 50/30/20 budget: https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/finance/nerdwallet-budget-calculator Here are NerdWallet's picks for the best budgeting apps, broken down by what works best for different needs: https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/finance/best-budget-apps In their conversation, the Nerds discuss: how to budget effectively, creating a budget, 50/30/20 rule, zero-based budgeting, cash stuffing, best budgeting apps, credit card tips, responsible credit card use, credit utilization, how to manage credit, credit card debt help, financial planning, credit score improvement, debt payoff methods, snowball method, avalanche method, NerdWallet app, best apps for budgeting, income tracking, expense tracking, managing credit card debt, avoiding overspending, building credit, financial goals 2025, smart financial habits, credit score tips, common credit card mistakes, planning a budget, household budgeting, monthly budgeting tips, using credit wisely, and setting financial goals. To send the Nerds your money questions, call or text the Nerd hotline at 901-730-6373 or email [email protected]. Like what you hear? Please leave us a review and tell a friend. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Full Episode
All right, everybody, raise your hand if one of your promises to yourself in 2025 is that you're going to follow a budget. Hey, look at that, I see lots of hands in the air. Just kidding, I can't see you. But there are probably quite a few of you who've made that promise to yourself. Today, we're going to help you keep it, and we're going to make sure that your credit life doesn't get in the way.
The main caution to watch out for with credit cards is overspending. Credit cards can just be really tricky because it doesn't necessarily feel like real money. And other than the credit limit on the card, there's really nothing stopping us to keep swiping away to buy what we want.
Welcome to NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast. I'm Sean Piles.
And I'm Kim Palmer.
Throughout this month, we're featuring several episodes to help you get the year started off on the right financial foot, if you will. It's your money in 2025. Kim, you've joined us today to talk about budgeting and credit. And when I say credit here, I mean the credit you use, like from a credit card, as well as your credit scores and credit reports.
Yes, these are two aspects of our financial lives that are so common, but they're also really frequently misunderstood. We are going to walk people through some of the basics of setting up a budget. We'll actually go a bit beyond the basics. And then we're going to have some tips and tricks for layering credit onto that budget.
And that's a really good way to think of it. Know your budget first, then you can figure out how to use credit, aka debt. Of course, we are aware that probably most of the audience already has some credit cards. So we're really going to get into how to use credit responsibly and make sure you're making it work for you, not against you.
Credit is something you really need to actively manage. And one excellent way to do that is... Budget. Budget, exactly. We're going to meld these two aspects together so listeners can really head into 2025 with a really solid financial foundation.
Kim, I always enjoy hearing how my fellow nerds put their advice into practice for themselves. I want to ask whether there's anything you do at the start of the year to help yourself along these lines. Any reviews you do of the previous year or mental exercises to figure out how you're going to budget and manage your own credit life for the coming year?
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