Checking in on your finances is the first step to taking control of your money!

Finances! This is everyone’s favorite topic, right?

*crickets*

Just me? That’s okay.

Even if finance isn’t your cup of tea, you should still care about what’s going on with your own money.

“Why?” you may ask, “I’ve managed well enough so far without paying it much heed. It’s so boring and confusing, can’t I keep ignoring it?”

Well, it doesn’t have to be that way.

Do you remember School House Rock?

Knowledge is power!

When you know what’s going on with your money- how much is coming in, how much is going out and where it’s going- you can make more informed decisions.

You may see that you’re spending more than you’re making, or that you frittered away a couple hundred dollars on random, unnecessary things.

You may realize that if you saved that money instead, you could afford to take that vacation you’ve been dreaming of.

You’ll begin to understand that you can afford anything, but you can’t afford everything. You may even start making value-based decisions, spending money on the things you actually care about.

What you focus on grows

This quote came from an email newsletter and it has stuck with me: “When you give something your attention, you give it power to grow”- Adriene Mishler

I don’t know about you, but I want my money to grow.

By looking at your numbers you’ll start making changes. It’s the same concept as tracking your food.

Even though you’re not consciously dieting, you can’t help but be more mindful of your food choices and make better decisions when you start tracking what you’re eating.

Because you’re focusing on it.

You’ll decide that you’d rather not spend money on that movie all your friends want to see (that doesn’t even look that good to begin with) and you instead host a game night at your house.

This is value based spending.

You work hard for your money, and you should guard it well, don’t give it away to things you don’t care about.

Less stress anyone?

How would you like to not have to worry about if you have enough money in your account to cover all your bills?

What about not living paycheck to paycheck?

Not looking at your bank account at the end of the month and wondering where all your money went?

Not being in debt?

Sounds nice, right?

You can do all this

The first step is to look at your finances.

You can’t change where you’re going if you don’t know where you are.

Debt doesn’t feel good.

Living paycheck to paycheck doesn’t feel good.

You don’t have to live with financial burdens hanging over your head.

Sit down and figure out how much is coming in and where it’s going out. That’s the first step.