Finance and money is more than paying your bills on time. Yes, this is extremely important – paying bills late may effect your credit and can cost you money with late fees / finance charges. But there is more getting your finances organized. Do you have the money to pay your bills each and every month? You will want to have money for today and for the future. Do you have goals you want to achieve?
There are many ways to deal with your finances and money and you have to find the plan that works for you.
The major parts of finances and money:
Determine your goals – what do you want in life? Maybe a short term goal is having your month last all the way to the end of the month, or to be able to pay all bills in fulls each and every month. What about long term goals? H
ow about saving for …. (insert goal such as paying for college, a car, home, vacation) all the way to financial independence.
Action plan – how are you going to achieve your goals? Break this down into action steps, using the smart goal formula. What is the first step you need to do to start down this financial road? Maybe it’s starting to save … (insert amount every pay period).
Budgeting – now’s the time to put your money on the table. How much money do you need to achieve your goals? Start by tracking your net income and your expenses (every penny) to see where you stand. Don’t think your have money to save, then you need to make changes to reduce your expenses and/or increase your income. Remember that making a budget is not a one time thing, your are making a budget, review and sticking to it.
Savings money – break it down into manageable amounts and be realistic. Your not going to be able to save $1,000 in a month, but your could start out by planning to save $20 or more per paycheck. Automating your saving is the easiest and best way to stick with this goal – paying yourself first before you paying anything else.
Paying down debt – we all know that the finance / interest charges are the enemy of your budget. This is money that could be used in other ways. Don’t stick you head in the sand, we have all been there at one point or another. Make a plan to payoff your debt – avalanche or snowball methods are way to start.
Take some time and take a look at your finances and start to deal with your finances and money to get on a path to achieve your goals.
This is very simplified and not all plans work for everyone. Take the time to modify or find a plan that works for you and your finances.
If you want more information, please visit my website for my upcoming workshops.
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