Conquering Finances: Part 3 Why?!

With my break from being on the computer it's been a while since I've posted about finances. I really wanted to continue though because it is something that I feel is really important. In the last post about finances I talked about setting up a budget sheet with categories that show exactly how much money you receive and how much money you spend in different areas such as mortgages, insurance, utilities, food, clothes, etc.

I used figures that I tried to base on average incomes and costs. We can see that a lot of times when we first begin to budget we find that we are spending more than we are earning. In my sample budget, the income was about $140 less than our expenses. So why is that a big deal? $140 really doesn't seem like much. Little bits add up though (which can be good and bad... you'll see why in a minute). That $140 each month adds up to $1,680 in one year and at the end of five years it would be $8,400.

Loosing over $1,000 each year isn't something that anyone can sustain for very long. It's probably why so many people today have had to face the very real possibility of bankruptcy. Mismanagement in money is also cited in many sources as being one of the leading cause of problems in marriages and just in general is a huge source of stress that limits our choices and freedom.

If you want to think about it another way, try thinking of how much having an extra $1000 each year could mean if you were to spend $140 less each month than you earned. It could mean being able to put money away for a college fund, retirement, afford a new home, or take a vacation. Not to mention if you're able to pay your bills each month that your credit rating goes up instead of down.

Everyone wants to have more money. So many people today are looking for financial counseling to figure out how to fix the problems they are having. I'll be offering some more in depth strategies for making this possible but you have to decide that you really want it. While many people offer quick fixes to get rich or getting out of debt I can't do that. Honestly, I've never seen once where any of those actually succeeded for very long. But if you decide that you want to do it bit by bit and make the sacrifices (which really aren't that bad) I promise you that it is possible.