March was undoubtedly a ‘Slump Month’ for me.  I spent the entire month in the crux of our kitchen remodel, preparing for  vacation, going on vacation, and then decompressing from vacation.  I unplugged from social media quite a bit and didn’t read or blog.  But in ode to April being Financial Literacy Month I’ve gotten back on my grind!  In today’s post I’m discussing steps you can take to get on top of your money matters this month!

1. Set Goals

Regardless of your life stage, you have a better chance of reaching your financial goals if you write them down and have a plan.  These goals can involve growth, income, or preservation and can include things like paying off your credit card bills, decreasing your overall expenses, or increasing your savings rate.

Personally, I like to set my financial goals in the beginning of every year (here are mine for 2018) because it helps me properly plan for future projects and also offers guidance on what my cash flow should look like if I want to reach my savings goals.  If you haven’t created this list yet, now is a great time to do so!  And if you’ve already established your goals for the year, now is the perfect time to revisit them and review your progress.  Setting financial goals is absolutely necessary for modifying your behavior toward money management and making sure you end up where you want to be in the future.

2. Create A Budget

It’s the condemned ‘B’ word! I know a lot of PF bloggers out there vie for a non-budgeting system but if you’re new to managing your finances (and we’re all new at some point) a budget is an excellent tool to keep you on top of your game.  Additionally, apps like Mint and Personal Capital have turned this vexatious task into child’s play.

After you’ve set your goals, your budget will help you determine how much and how long you have to save for each goal and most importantly – it will help you track your expenses, which is a precedent too often neglected!  Tommy and I keep a detailed budget in the form of a Google Spreadsheet.  It has been paramount in how we approach our finances.  We review it every pay period to make sure our income is being allocated accordingly.

3. Plan & Prioritize

Next, prioritize!  This is also considered The Planning Stage.  When you started setting out your financial goals you may have thought getting a car by years end was realistic, but after going through your budget getting a car may have to wait until sometime in the New Year.  Such is life!

4. Commit To Learning 

There are a plethora of resources out there for you to gain understanding of your financial situation.  Want to learn how to start investing?  There’s a book for that.  Interested in early retirement?  There’s a podcast for that.  Need tips on saving?  There’s a blog post for that (shameless plug).  Trust me, you can’t afford to say ‘I don’t have time’ anymore.

5. Talk to Someone  

Discussing money matters is seen as a gross taboo in our society and that’s not without merit.  We live in a sad reality where people use your income as a yardstick to measure your self-worth and success.  They scale themselves up to you and automatically feel superior if they make more and inferior if they make less than you do. Regardless, there is so much value in discussing your personal finances with trustworthy people.  Whether it’s a support group, significant other, family member, financial advisor, or close friend – it’s important to have someone (or if you’re lucky, a select few of ‘someones’) to carry dialogue with when it comes to your finances.  These individuals should be non-judgmental and respect your money matters as being confidential.  You will never know all the answers and will need to be comfortable asking others for advice and insight when you don’t.

What are some things you guys do to tackle your finances?