Track and Know Your Numbers
What value do you place on your own peace of mind? Practical changes here are less simple to determine and to define, but I would like to suggest that one practical step you can take is to become more conscious in your thinking about money, debt and savings. You have an income from a job and hopefully you have created one or more incomes from a side hustle or part-time business that you run alongside your main work. Being reliant on just the one income is a potential problem waiting to happen in the event of a layoff, reduced hours, or the change to the structure of your workplace.
Being consciously aware of your money in and out, taking the time to track and monitor the flow of monies around you is crucial to success in achieving the necessary changes to reaching debt freedom. Success in reducing debt is like success in every sphere of your life - it requires you to work at it diligently and with focus. So build time into your schedule to be aware of the money, to look at the bills and the statements associated with your debt, with your earning, your tax and your savings activities. You must not think that you will become debt free just by setting aside some of your income, or only by requesting the stopping of interest from your creditors, or even through the act of setting up some envelopes for separate household expenditures. No, you need to get yourself actively involved in each practical area of your money and how it functions in your day to day life.
Make time on a set day each week to look at your numbers in detail. This is your income for the past seven days and the predicted income for the next seven. Let me be as bold as to say that if you only have one job and you are paid monthly, that you should look at some other activities to create revenue for the other weeks of the month when you are not receiving money. As a private landlord, as a writer and as a networker, I love the fact that I get a monthly income from my writing, but that I get daily rental income from the rooms we rent and manage. This happens because I have more than 31 tenants, enough literally for there to be someone paying their rent each day of the month. I know there really is some money coming in every day and this gives me great confidence in planning my finances.
But it was not always like this and I hold a clear picture of how difficult it was to climb out of debt myself. With our networking business we also get a monthly bonus as well as a weekly payment for activity. When I had a job with a monthly salary I got paid one day a month and felt like I was holding my breath for the other thirty days and dreading a large bill coming in.
When will you look at your diary and set aside that time to focus on your money flow?
* Can you get a simple filing system ready for the paper bills and some online tracking notes or software to record the movement of your money?
* Do you need to clear anything from your diary that is costing you time and money and not bringing a return worth having?
* Can you make enquiries about a part-time job that brings in additional money?
* What business opportunities can you explore locally or online to create another income stream?
Make an appointment with yourself to sit down and look at your diary, at each of your bank and savings accounts and at your thoughtfully filed debt paperwork.
Create new results by thinking in a different way about these important aspects of your life and see yourself getting closely involved in your journey to debt freedom.