Who’s screaming for your money this month? Something or someone is always screaming for your money. Do you know who will be screaming for your money next month? What was your worst month last year? Why? What will you do to make it your best month this year? Discovering your worst month, financially, could determine your best year ever.
Have you ever felt like everybody and their cousins have their hand out for part of your paycheck? When money is tight, do you feel like telling everybody to stand in line and wait until the next payday because there isn’t anything left to give, yet you still go deeper into debt to give them what you cannot afford?
If you have answered yes to any of these questions, you do not have to have the same results or worse this year. Today is an opportunity to change the outcome of what could be your worse month this year, based on your trajectory of previous years.
The first step is to determine what was your worst month last year is:
Pull last year’s bank statements and examine each month to see where your money was spent. This exercise will either motivate you to change how you direct your spending this year or depress you to the point that you will continue without a strategy this year. If you do not have a bank statement, use the website or take the time to sit and reflect on the months that you struggled and don’t stop until you determine what caused your finances to tank. The current choices are to rob Peter to pay Paul, deplete your savings to survive or go deeper into debt to pay everyone and everything that’s in line screaming for your money.
Once you have determined the months where your funds were drained; go to step two:
Set aside money from your stronger months each week to cushion the blow for the storm ahead. For example, birthdays, prom, graduations, personal property taxes, summer vacations, spring break or Christmas holiday gifts are some of the times when most people spend a lot of money. Determine what time of the year are those months for you and began preparing for it now.
Your comments are encouraged and welcome.