Financial Health Exercises

Getting into physical shape takes effort and consistency. You will need to outline the steps it will take to get to your goals. A healthier financial life takes the same thing. When it is your goal to take steps towards having a healthier relationship with your money, it is good to get something written down. If you do not know where to start, do not worry. Start by considering what you would like to achieve in the next 90 days. This time-frame will give you enough time to take a few small steps toward progress and then evaluate what to continue to work on and what to adjust.

Start Small

Personal finance experts recommend tracking your spending for 30 days so you can see where your money is going. If you have one income source and one bank account that all your expenses go through, go back through the last couple of months and use that information to track your spending. You may not completely realize how frequently you are spending money on convenience items or extra trips to the grocery store just for one item but coming home with ten. Maybe you have subscriptions or memberships you are no longer using. When you track all the places your money goes over a period, you can then decide where adjustments will help you achieve your goals. In today's world of online transactions, it is easy to spend money with little thought or intention. You may have almost all your bills on auto pay or your bank’s bill pay option making that part of your financial life easier to manage. You may also be unaware of where you could save money because so many bills are on automatic. 

Set Goals

Take the time to outline a few goals. An emergency fund is a good idea. Most of the population is only one to two pay cycles away from disaster. Having even a small amount in savings can help you keep your financial life predictable. Life will throw you curve balls and when you can meet those without throwing your goals off track, you will feel empowered and encouraged. Do not let that thought overwhelm so it keeps you from starting where you are with what you have. The realization is that you are ensuring that you will end up with financial health down the road. 

Write what you think your monthly total expenses are and then go total up the last 30 days of spending. Were you close?