In order to be a wise money manager, you need to review where you are now and where you want to be in the future as far as your money is concerned. Whether for personal or business reasons, having a budget is your single best tool to get you where you want to be. Organizing and tracking how you spend and save money will not only show you where your money is going, it will also enable you to set priorities and keep you on the right path in meeting your goals.
If you don’t already have a budget in place or don’t know where to start, here are a couple of resources to get you going:
Once you have established your monthly budget, it won’t do any good sitting in your desk drawer or computer file folder collect dust… the idea of having a budget is to review it on a monthly or quarterly basis to ensure that your financial plan is working.
Here are a few things to look out for as you are reviewing the numbers:
- Are you running out of money before the end of the month? You can look at your budget and review (too much dining out?) and find ways to cut back so you will have enough money at the end of the month.
- Has your income changed? If you just received a bonus and want to find the best way to use it, then review your budget to see if you can pay off some debt or put in aside for your Hawaiian vacation. If, on the other hand, you recently lost your job you will want to see where and how you can cut back on your expenses until you land the next dream job.
- What are your financial goals? The biggest benefit for having and reviewing your budget is that it will help you set up and achieve your financial goals by keeping you out of debt and giving you freedom from nagging creditors. So write down a few of your goals (college, new car or home) and then start reviewing your budget to help you achieve your dreams.
Finally, in order to understand your money health, you will need to start looking at the numbers and paying attention to the implications of what they mean. By doing regular budget reviews you will be better prepared to keep your finances strong.
Make it a great day!
Marla J. Blanchard
MJB’s Bookkeeping Solutions
Don’t keep me a secret, if you know someone who could use a bit of Bookkeeping TLC let them know that they are not alone and have them call me 805-764-1MJB (1652).
