Regaining Control of YOUR Money

As I promised, Mark agreed to let us in on how he has managed to keep us afloat these past two years, even though: we lost $50K in a business start-up, I lost my job, got stuck with a ton of debt from my icky divorce, and took a job making 1/2 my previous salary. Actually, we didn’t just stay afloat – we flourished! I have to admit, I don’t like the word “budget” any more than I like other profanities! But thanks to Mark’s deligence and his budget – we’ve come out on top!

Because of the economic uncertainty and hardships – we all need better control over our money. Even if you are doing ok, I hope you’ll take some time to give Mark’s plan a try. It will be eye opening and I’m certain you’ll not just do ok next year – it will be your best year ever!

Here’s Mark:

Have you ever noticed that no matter how much money you make you always seem to be broke? If you’re like most people, after you have paid most, if not all, of your bills, you never seem to have anything left over. Even though you worked overtime and thought you had extra money, you find yourself asking “where did it go?” That is the question I get from most of my clients.

Money is the area that seems to be the most pressing problem for people. If they had more of it they could sleep better at night, or take that vacation they deserve, or put away a little for their retirement. But since they don’t, they feel stuck in their jobs, unhappy in their relationships and find that something is always missing in some aspect of their lives. What if I told you there is a simple solution to your problem and it only takes two things to do? Would you be interested? What if I told you it would be free to do? Still have your attention? Good. First thing is…………You need a budget. Yes I know, you have heard this before. But how are you going to know where your money goes, and doesn’t go, if you don’t track it? Second thing is……..You need to be disciplined about tracking it. Yes again I know you have heard that as well. I am going to give you a budget and a work instruction on how to use that budget but you are going to have to supply the discipline. Don’t worry, I am going to try to help in that area as well.

To help in the discipline area its time to start thinking about money a different way. From here on out I want you to look at money as a tool. As a matter of fact I try to look at most, if not all, my material possession as tools. My car is a “tool” I use to get me from point A to point B. My home is a “tool” I have that keeps my furniture, clothes, etc. stored, clean and dry. My clothes are a “tool” that keeps me warm. My….well you get the point. And money is the tool I use to get the other tools in my life that make my life a little easier. If you adopt this mentality it is easier to use your money in a way that is more effective in your life and easier to implement a budget. Then you can see where your money goes and how to best use this tool.

Remember, knowledge is power. So to start, I want you to download the “Monthly Budget Worksheet” and the “Budget Work Instruction” and start tracking you finances today. The budget is in Microsoft Excel format and the work instruction is in PDF form. You will need this software, or something equivalent, to use the budget and work instruction. (If you do not have a program to open an Excel document, you may download Open Office (free) from this LINK. If you need software to open a PDF file, you can down load it, free, from ADOBE. If you use the budget correctly you will see where every dollar is spent and what areas you can cut back in.

Angela and I found that we were spending WAY too much money at Wal-Mart. We would go there to grocery shop and end up spending two to three times more than we planned. It’s easy to do. But now we know when we go grocery shopping we will go to a grocery store only and not a super store. We also found we were eating out way to much as well. It was just one more area that we can save in. Like Angela said in one of her latest blogs, because we spent like we did last year we are only getting a 4-5 day Caribbean cruise instead of a 10 day Alaskan cruise. Alaska will have to wait until next year.

You will find when you manage your money in a proactive instead of reactive way you will have more time to focus on the things that are really important like family, friends, your relationship with God, your relationship with your spouse, or other areas you would like to improve. Lastly, I would like to get feedback from you. The budget and work instruction is free but if you think there is something we can do to make it better please let us know. Or if you like it the way it is and it has helped let us know about you success.

Here are your tools:

Budget Work Instruction Blank-monthly-budget(1)

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