Money Management

You don’t have to attend Sunday Mass or join a Buddhist monastery to find a peace of mind in this crazy upside down world and you don’t have to read motivating speeches and self-help books to find inspiration in your everyday life. Sometimes all we need is a little organization to the chaos to spark our motivation and get things moving in the right direction.

With the economy in shambles and your finances looking a little shaky, then perhaps now would be a good time to find inspiration while budgeting for bills. By keeping tabs on your spending habits, you can rest comfortably with the knowledge that you’re living within your means.

Money Management Tips:

1. Keep it Current: In your rush to get your groceries home, it can be easy to forget down that check number, saying to yourself that you’ll write it when after you’ve gotten the ice cream in the freezer and the pizza in the oven. But if you didn’t have time at the checkout stand, what makes you think that you’ll have time when you get home?

If you’re not careful, that unaccounted check can lead you to believe that you have more money in your account than you originally planned, resulting in bounced checks and even more fees. By keeping it current, you know how much you can spend and when.

2. Prioritize and Prepare: Although it’s important to get those bills sent off on time and still have money for food, clothing, gas, and the basic necessities of life, sometimes it’s nice to have a little extra just for yourself. By prioritizing your budget, you can put those extra pennies toward pursuing your dreams.

If money weren’t an issue, what would you want to do with your life? Travel? Become a wine connoisseur? Learn another language? Just because you can’t afford an entire trip to the Bahamas this year doesn’t mean you should give up on your dream completely. Instead, create a savings account that you refuse to touch – depositing a little from each paycheck until you finally have enough to purchase that golden ticket for your own.

3. Bigger isn’t necessarily better: Buying that big mac may seem like a good idea at the time, but you always regret it when you end up with heartburn and indigestion a few hours later. Buying the biggest truck Ford has to offer may boost your ego, until its resale price drops when you drive it off the lot and then your teenage neighbor scratches it with his skateboard.

Learn to enjoy what you have rather than craving the “next big thing.” Not only will you save money, but you’ll learn to appreciate the true value of the things you already have.