Start Dating Your Money

Sticking to a spending plan can be tough. One of the keys to successful budgeting and staying with your financial plan is to regularly check in with where your money is going.

Any simple tool like a pen and paper, smart phone, or Microsoft Excel is effective for tracking finances. Instead of putting off planning, the basic monthly cash flow budgeting plan below can be quickly customized with your income and spending habits within a few minutes. The minimal work required for you to input and maintain your numbers periodically will pay dividends, literally, as you get a better grasp for where your money is going and how to create more of it.

After making it a priority to track your finances, regularly schedule time each week to assess how your current spending compares to your initial budget. You may realize you need to rein in spending or, better yet, but less-likely, you are under-spending. The important thing is to regularly schedule a “date” with your money to see how things are going.

Take this time to get to know your spending habits. Learn where there is room for improvement and make those changes. The sooner you are able to get a firm handle on your finances the less likely you are to drift of course.

“Tracking your finances prevents drift. You need to know if you’re on track. We don’t fall off course, we drift off course. To prevent this drift you have to be strict about tracking your progress (or lack thereof) along the way” – Darren Hardy, The Entrepreneur Roller Coaster

Heed the advice of Darren Hardy and start tracking everything relevant for your budget in order to prevent yourself from ending up worse off financially. Without scheduling a routine “date” with your money to review where it is going, it is more likely that you will drift off course from your plan and not realize your goals.

Simply spending at least 15 minutes a week to review your budget (like the one above) will make a dramatic improvement in your financial well-being. Otherwise, if you are not mindful of what you have, slowly your money will start to disappear.

As always, if you have questions or comments, feel free to send me a message. Thanks for reading.

John

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