Bite-Size Your Finances

Money Management

Successful money management involves taking care of a whole bunch of different things. You’ve got to get your bills paid on time, save & invest for the future, make sure you’ve got enough insurance, get out of debt, prepare for retirement, send your kids to college, take care of your taxes in the most beneficial way, etc. Just that list right there can be pretty overwhelming.

So overwhelming, in fact, that many people don’t ever really get beyond worrying about what’s pressing. But you can be different.

Start by bite-sizing your finances

Breaking things down into bite-sized pieces — things you can easily handle one at a time — can make the whole process of getting your financial life in order much easier.

It doesn’t make much difference where you start either, so long as you do start. Of course, as you accomplish certain tasks (especially things like building an emergency fund and getting out of debt) you’ll find that the other things you tackle seem to get easier and easier. That only makes sense, because you’ll have reduced your stress and given yourself more money to work with along the way.

Keep taking bites

Just remember to keep taking bites as you get each piece of the money management process taken care of. For me breaking down the money management process into bite-sized pieces has looked like this:

  1. Start learning about what I want to accomplish (by reading books and blogs, and sometimes talking to experts)
  2. Find out what the steps are that I need to take
  3. Get them taken care of (by scheduling an appointment or setting up a new way of doing things)
  4. If it’s a permanent change (such as the way I handle spending), keep practicing until it becomes second nature
  5. If it’s something that needs to be reviewed at regular intervals (such as insurance needs or a will) schedule time for the review in my calendar
  6. Return to step one, and start on the next piece

One bite at a time

As the saying goes, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.” And that’s exactly how you can improve your financial life. So get started, and then keep going until being in great financial shape is second nature.

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