The “What and how” in your finances remains constant. The mindset of an individual is the common denominator to causing change to take place in a person’s situation. What do I do? Make a decision to get empowered by becoming the best student of your finances that you possibly can. Remove your pride and let the process began. How do I do it? The biggest issue that most people have is not knowing where their money is going. Activate your plan and execute your strategy.
Knowing what to do can be very stressful and become chaotic when everything about your finances are out of order. Understanding where your money is going is paramount. Things can feel chaotic when you know that you earn a fair amount of money, but it seems that you are always playing catch-up. Analyze your record-keeping and you should be able to identify where your dollars are being spent. Regular trips to the grocery store, excessive dining out, buying snacks/sodas from the vending machine at work or making that pit stop for your morning coffee can add up and have you questioning, “Where is my money going?”.
Tracking your expenses are essential; it can be as simple as monitoring and recording your spending habits. Making an honest assessment of your spending will help you to determine what needs to be curtailed or eliminated from your budget. Writing and maintaining your spending plan is necessary and not as hard to do as it seems. The worst enemy is procrastination when it comes to the “What and How”, as it relates to your finances. Start with the end in mind. The sooner you activate your strategy, the sooner you will be off towards a positive end.
Keep a positive out-look on your journey from beginning to the end; understand that sacrifices will be required of you in order to see your plans through. For example, buying a “case” of water for $5.00 instead of buying one bottle of water from the vending machine or store ($1.50 to $2.00 per bottle) should be considered. Perhaps you will have to buy coffee from the grocery store and brew it before work each morning (could be $2 to $5 savings each day). Maybe compulsive shopping is a problem; start asking yourself do I need to purchase this item? Or do I want it? The point is, not only knowing the “What and how” can derail your plans. However, activation and execution of your plans are necessary.
Please leave your comments or e-mail me at christineroebuck@livemylifedebtfree.com