Political Polling: tracking personal finances

Congrats if you are reading this article because there exists in you, however big or small, the desire to improve your personal finances and this is a very good thing! One of the most empowering things we can do is to take ownership of our current situation, be it financial or otherwise, and figure out how to improve our sustainability and self-reliance on knowing we can make our situation better.

That said, below are some steps to improving your current finances today:

1. The first step toward being in a better financial place this month than last is to start tracking via a journal or any other simple notebook (electronically or otherwise) how much you spend every single day. A good starting place is to include the date, time, amount, and what you spent it on. It sounds simple, but this will prove a profound realization of where your money is going each month. How are you going to know where to improve if you don't know where you are?
2. Track (in this same journal) your income.
3. At the end of the month, (or even the end of the week if you want to peek) ,sit down and look at where it goes.
4. The next step is very important as it will require some of you to go somewhere you have never gone before.
5. Separate out the "needs" and "wants". Meaning, which of these items are requirements to live your life and which of these has your ego or some other part of your brain convinced you that you need it to survive? If you have trouble with this, it is because you have lost site of what you really need to live. To get you started, it normally includes the basics- food, shelter, and clothing for yourself. Some will feel justified by the amount they spend on clothing every month because it is a necessity on some level. Don't fool yourself and be honest about what you really need.
6. Watch this video: www.thestoryofstuff.com
7. The bottom line is simple and obvious and many of us have trouble realizing it and that is that your income needs to be greater than your monthly nut (the above expenses). Take a good look at what you spend on and if they are all necessity or "need" items, figure out a way to make more money and become self-sufficient on your own. It is important to do this regularly and know what your monthly nut is every month as it can change fast! It is also important to figure out how you spend money more easily (via cash or credit card) on items that aren't really needed. Some find that credit cards are easiest for them to rationalize the money they aren't seeing slipping through their fingers.
8. Find an area you want to improve and find an accountability partner that will help you stick to it. If you need incentive to improve, figure out what a good incentive would be (preferably not monetary reward), but if that works, use it.
9. The most important part is to be able to separate what and how our egos justify items we "need" while they are really items that we want.
10. Look for signs of improvement and be grateful you are improving a very important part of your life!

eric seiger

Political Polling

Thursday, November 11, 2010

tracking personal finances

Bad <b>news</b> from Jesse Jackson: Repealing ObamaCare would mean <b>...</b>

Probably Bad <b>News</b>: Transport Minister FAIL - Epic Fail Funny <b>...</b>

Part 2 of Real <b>News</b> Network Interview: “The Turkey Votes for <b>...</b>

Bad <b>news</b> from Jesse Jackson: Repealing ObamaCare would mean <b>...</b>

Probably Bad <b>News</b>: Transport Minister FAIL - Epic Fail Funny <b>...</b>

Part 2 of Real <b>News</b> Network Interview: “The Turkey Votes for <b>...</b>

Bad <b>news</b> from Jesse Jackson: Repealing ObamaCare would mean <b>...</b>

Probably Bad <b>News</b>: Transport Minister FAIL - Epic Fail Funny <b>...</b>

Part 2 of Real <b>News</b> Network Interview: “The Turkey Votes for <b>...</b>

Bad <b>news</b> from Jesse Jackson: Repealing ObamaCare would mean <b>...</b>

Probably Bad <b>News</b>: Transport Minister FAIL - Epic Fail Funny <b>...</b>

Part 2 of Real <b>News</b> Network Interview: “The Turkey Votes for <b>...</b>

Bad <b>news</b> from Jesse Jackson: Repealing ObamaCare would mean <b>...</b>

Probably Bad <b>News</b>: Transport Minister FAIL - Epic Fail Funny <b>...</b>

Part 2 of Real <b>News</b> Network Interview: “The Turkey Votes for <b>...</b>

Bad <b>news</b> from Jesse Jackson: Repealing ObamaCare would mean <b>...</b>

Probably Bad <b>News</b>: Transport Minister FAIL - Epic Fail Funny <b>...</b>

Part 2 of Real <b>News</b> Network Interview: “The Turkey Votes for <b>...</b>

Bad <b>news</b> from Jesse Jackson: Repealing ObamaCare would mean <b>...</b>

Probably Bad <b>News</b>: Transport Minister FAIL - Epic Fail Funny <b>...</b>

Part 2 of Real <b>News</b> Network Interview: “The Turkey Votes for <b>...</b>

Bad <b>news</b> from Jesse Jackson: Repealing ObamaCare would mean <b>...</b>

Probably Bad <b>News</b>: Transport Minister FAIL - Epic Fail Funny <b>...</b>

Part 2 of Real <b>News</b> Network Interview: “The Turkey Votes for <b>...</b>

Bad <b>news</b> from Jesse Jackson: Repealing ObamaCare would mean <b>...</b>

Probably Bad <b>News</b>: Transport Minister FAIL - Epic Fail Funny <b>...</b>

Part 2 of Real <b>News</b> Network Interview: “The Turkey Votes for <b>...</b>

Bad <b>news</b> from Jesse Jackson: Repealing ObamaCare would mean <b>...</b>

Probably Bad <b>News</b>: Transport Minister FAIL - Epic Fail Funny <b>...</b>

Part 2 of Real <b>News</b> Network Interview: “The Turkey Votes for <b>...</b>

No comments:

Post a Comment

Followers

Blog Archive

About Me