Getting a Grip on Your Financial Life
Sometimes things just get out of hand financially. “Out of hand” can mean something extreme like drowning in debt, or it can mean a vague feeling that you’ll never get ahead.
When things like that happen, it’s time to get a grip on your financial life.
Start by evaluating where you are. This can sometimes be an unpleasant task, but it’s worth it. (Sometimes it can also be a pleasant surprise.)
It’s important because if you don’t know where you are, you can’t figure out how to get to where you want to be.
If you’re in debt, list out all of your debts, along with their interest rates, minimum payment amounts, and due dates. Get a handle on the current market value of your assets too, and figure out your net worth.
Don’t forget the income & expenses side of things either. List out your monthly income and expenses. Do you have more coming in than going out? Or is the reverse the case? Either way, you’ll know where you stand, and from there you can start to make changes.
And what about how you are earning your income? Are you happy with what you do for work and with your work environment?
Once you’ve figured out where you stand right now, think about where you’d like to be. What’s one thing you could change right now that would help you to feel more in control of your financial life?
Focus on that one thing, and you’ll begin seeing visible changes.
That’s one thing that I don’t know about the student loan that we have…the interest rate. I guess I didn’t see the importance of knowing it since it’s been paid…and aggressively at that.
Lenci, if it’s being/been paid aggressively, it probably doesn’t matter much. My thoughts were more along the lines of if a person didn’t know where they stood.
Thanks for the post, sometimes I stall (like I have lately), and it’s good to hear post like this one!
Thanks for the kind words :)
Just like obesity, drug addiction and alcoholism, people will only help themselves when they truly want to.
Until you have this willingness and desire, you will never get a grip financially.
For most, this is the biggest step…
David, you’ve got that right. No one changes for good unless they’re truly internally motivated to do so.
The best way to get out of debt is by earning more money, even if that includes doing a second job or overtime. Been there done that. So glad I am out of Debt….I still have a home loan but at least with a budget i can manage that. Thanks for the post Jackie.
Being out of debt makes a huge difference, that’s for sure.