Getting on top of your money is often a slow and boring slog. However, there are strategies to help your finances today.
Here are 3 things you can do today to help your finances.
1. Understand your money goals
Do you want to save for a holiday? A first home deposit? Increase your income?
Clearly outline these goals, including timelines and how you will achieve it.
According to a Harvard Business Study:
- 83% of the population does not have goals
- 14% have a plan in mind, but are unwritten goals
- 3% have goals written down
- The 14% who have goals are 10 times more successful than those without!
It sounds simple, but goal setting is a powerful mechanism to enable you to achieve what you want.
For you to actually achieve your dreams, you need to figure out what they are first!
This doesn’t just apply to finance, either. Along with money, I also set fitness, education, health and career goals every year.
2. Know how much you are spending
Monitor and track how you went the last few months. 86% of Australians don’t know their monthly expenses, and cite the key reason as difficulty.
However, you don’t need to go all out and create a budget in excel to get started. Simply, have a good look at your bank, card statements and payslips, asking yourself a few questions.
Did you save as much as you thought you would? Do you notice a trend of overspending in one category?
Make one small change in your daily life moving forward to combat this.
If you did a lot of shopping, you can try to reduce it the next month. If you spent mindlessly on delivery food, you can focus on cooking more. Here’s a handy article to help you out:
Before I started budgeting…
Before I started tracking what I spent many years ago, I had no idea how much I was actually spent on shopping.
It was mindless and I wasn’t even buying things that I absolutely loved and cherished.
Fast forward to now, I still love to shop but know how much I should spend, which helps me with prioritisation. If I don’t love it 100% – it doesn’t come home with me. You could apply the same principle with men, too.
3. Plan your big and upcoming purchases
Whether it’s an overseas vacation, Christmas presents or car registration – start planning now about how these will be paid for. Doing this will ensure you will not be in a sticky situation when these predictable events come around, and can avoid reaching for the credit card.
A way in which I personally do this, is adding the purchase and cost to my Google calendar. E.g. “Car Insurance $900“, that way I can set that amount aside from my monthly income.
And, that’s it, 3 steps to help you finances today! In one day, you can become ten times more successful than the rest of the population and be one of the 14% of Australians who actually know what their monthly spending is.
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