Organize Your Money Before It Gets Away from You

Organize Your Money Before It Gets Away from You

Money is a contentious topic for a lot of us. So many ‘with’… so many ‘without’. It is often what we avoid dealing with the most in our lives, due to a lack of understanding of finances in general. I know I used to fit into this category. It was only when I truly Organized myself on the home front, that I had the headspace to finally address the issue once and for all. A good thing too, because although money does not equal happiness, not having enough to cover the basics in life – plus a few extras is not a good place to be. Anyone who thinks this isn’t the case has never been broke! I am happy to say that we are much more financially sound, now that we have clear goals in the area. Here are some tips to help you get control of your finances, so that you can “Work to live, not live to work.”

A Haphazard Approach doesn’t Work

Your financial future needs you to steer it to the best place it can be. Having a decent amount of money ‘behind you’ doesn’t just happen. It takes planning and usually a bit of effort too.

Write it Down
If you want to save a certain amount of money for a holiday or a deposit for a home for example, then writing it down specifying what it is going to take to make it happen, is a sound way to achieve this goal. The 3% of people in the world that take the time to set goals for themselves and get it down on paper are amongst the wealthiest in the world. Why not join them!

Start Young

If you have children, it is prudent to teach them about good money management as early as possible. Many say as young as three is a good age to start. If you don’t have kids, and don’t particularly like thinking about money and seem to spend whatever you have, then perhaps it’s time to take it upon yourself to re-educate yourself in the area. With the ease of access to online course etc out there, there’s no excuse to get your own knowledge up to speed.

Outsource it if you have to

If figures just aren’t something your head computes then there are other actions you can take to improve your money situation. This is something that you should always get a personal recommendation for to make sure that the person you are going to entrust with your financial information come with a good stable record. Whether it is a bookkeeper; accountant, financial advisor or stockbroker – Trust your “gut”. One personality may suit someone else just fine, but if when yo meet someone something just doesn’t sit right then don’t proceed with them as we are more intuitive that most of ourselves give us credit for.

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket

With the stock market and real estate market being so volatile at times it’s a good idea to not to put all your money in the one area. With the amount of money people have lost putting their life savings into one venture –the good old 7% term deposit interest rate in a bank looks quite healthy. Just remember if it seems too good to be true that’s probably because it is.

Little amounts really do add up

It constantly surprises me how many people buy their lunch most days and shout themselves to regular coffees etc. These indulgences – and they really are that – have become all too common and as the prices have almost doubled in recent years, put even more of a dent in your hip pocket. So take stock of what you are really spending in areas like these, so that you can see what you could be saving over say a year. The same goes for alcohol – A regular self-imposed detox is a very good thing, not just for your health but also for your bank balance.

Create new Pathways in your Brain

There is now growing scientific proof that we as humans, are in fact capable of putting an end to bad behaviours, by paying attention to our thought patterns. We are not pre-destined to be incapable of doing certain things. That’s not to say we are necessarily going to be really good at everything or enjoy doing things we don’t feel competent doing– such as keeping on top of our finances – but we can at least head in a better direction if we try.

Have a Giving, not Taking Mindset

Giving what you can when you can is an important part of everyone’s life when it comes to shared social responsibility. Pick a few charities that resonate with you and do what you can to support them. A percentage often quoted to donate from your income is 10%. Most of us don’t get anywhere near that figure, but perhaps we should. If you believe in Karma it will come back to you some way or other.