Sharpen Your Financial Skills and Tools
As we still navigate through this pandemic, how do we cultivate an environment of patience to plant our money trees? One of the first steps I start with new clients is to get organized. Ever walk into a junky or messy room and immediately feel bogged down? Well, the same happens when your finances are all over the place. When a person tells me they really don't know what they spend on a monthly basis, I already know they are not tracking and their receipts and statements are not organized if they even keep receipts at all.
Let's start off the second half of the year with a bang. Starting July 1st, keep all of the receipts (email and printed) and yes, get your receipts for the purchases you make over the next 30-days. You can always use your bank statement to get to the same number, but what about the items you paid for with cash? Also, there are still some who operate without bank accounts and I want to include everyone. And there is something about the realization you get when looking at all of those receipts that seems to signal to your brain differently than when you just check off a line on your bank statement. Getting and staying financially organized allows you to always know exactly what's coming in and what's going out. I "think" and "round about" are not financial equations. If companies ran their businesses this way, they would be out-of-business and many have done so.
Once you learn and keep up the skills of being patient with the process to let your money tree grow, you still have to cultivate the environment by sharpening your financial skills and tools. You should organize your bills weekly and review your total finances. Check your debt balances to see in which directions they are actually heading. Check your expenses and statements to see if prices are slowly creeping up and if the company has included a notice on your statement regarding changes to your interest rate. Many of us do not notice these slight increases until the bill has spiked significantly.
Planting good financial seeds in order for your money tree to grow starts with the good habits you put into practice daily, weekly, monthly, and annually. Have a place for your financial records (receipts, statements, bills, etc.). Make sure you actually review and not just when the financial storm has already started. Cultivate a learning environment on being savvy with your dollars and patiently watch your situation improve and just as important, sharpen your skills and tools. If you are reading this article, then you have already started. This pandemic is still not over, so your financial health is ever so important. Cultivating good habits will allow you to plant fruitful financial seeds when you organize your plans, sharpen your skills, and allow patience to see you to the finish line.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1FcrQqk96U
Happy Saving!
Written by: Michelle Alexander
AJM Financial, LLC.