Have you ever found yourself in the predicament where you had more month than money? You are borrowing from Peter to pay Paul? You are living from check to barely check? Don’t worry, you are not alone--sounds like a focused and deliberate plan is necessary to help you to get your finances in order.
With everything, discipline is key. Therefore, in order to get your finances in order there is a level of discipline and consistency that is required to meet success in getting your finances back on track.
Here are some quick start tips (in no particular order):
- Pay yourself first – this is a method that you to prioritize your spending and savings. It forces you to consider yourself first. Robert Kiyosaki said, “Rich Dad said that the rich had a very simple way of breaking bad money-habits. “The poor pay themselves last, and that is why they are poor,” he said. “But the rich pay themselves first. There are several methods of this theory that can be used. For instance, some people use the envelope method. Robert Kiyosaki briefly speaks about saving cash daily in three categories: self, charity, and investment. With this system you choose the dollar amount that you will save daily, and you will put that dollar amount in each envelope daily. At the end of 30 days, one envelope will go to you (savings); one will go to a charity of your choice; and the final will be invested or create an emergency fund. You can also check out Dave Ramsey’s Envelope System (www.daveramsey.com).
- Eliminate non-essential spending—pay attention to the things that you are spending your money on a daily basis. Eating out daily, coffee, shopping, etc. can accumulate a vast amount of money spent. This creates debt that you do not need and it will keep you from accomplishing your goal.
- Create a Spending Plan –having a spending plan is a surefire way of making sure you are budgeting your funds correctly. Beware! This is not an easy task because it requires discipline. However, it is doable and can help towards your quest.
- Emergency Fund –creating an emergency fund will ensure a back up plan. The rule of thumb is to accrue 6 month’s worth of salary/wages as part of the emergency fund. This money can also come from the envelop system mentioned in quick tip #1.
- Use Cash and Billpay –this method will help you to stay away from using credit cards (aka DEBIT). Using a cash only method allows you to stay within limits. When you are out of cash you have reached your limit. This method forces you to utilize the aforementioned steps wisely. Bill pay is a convenient way to set up your bills to be paid on time. Direct Deposit options work hand in hand with this method as well.