As you already know Financial Planning is about your needs, your lifestyle, your dreams, it is your present and your future. Through a good financial plan you will be more secure, more confident, better prepared and it will also allow you to acquire the things that you need the most, you can live the lifestyle that you want to live, you can buy the things you want, you can travel, you can do whatever you want that you had planned for your life. If you do this right, you know create a good financial plan, if you concentrate and you are very responsible with the things you do about your financial future, then your dreams will become your reality. Remember financial planning is about everything that involves your financial and also your personal situation, saving money, making money, getting rid of debt, banking, credit reports, planning your retirement, etc.
Small Changes Make a Big Difference
Since this is the first article written on this website I don’t want to start right off the bat with the heavy artillery, you know, the meat and potatoes of financial planning, because as you know you always have to save the best for last, it’s just the rule of good stuff. You will not see that pattern only in this site and other websites or blogs; you can also notice the same trend on great books, novels, movies, TV series, etc. Anyway let’s start with the first of many strategies to start creating a financial plan, or at least an activity that’s about you achieving your financial security and that through this and many other activities hopefully your financial situation will soon become a wealth management issue.
“Small Changes Make a Big Difference!” That was what my first accounting teacher told me when I began my college education, he said: “the money is in the cents, and most people don’t even notice, but companies do!” Well without a doubt most companies have a solid financial plan.
I quote him because those words stayed with me forever; I started looking at things from another perspective. I want you to take this article as a mind opening article that will help you think about your current financial situation and about how you can immediately make it better. Probably not immediately right now in the next ten minutes, but maybe even then depending on what plans you have for the next few hours.
What I want you to do is perform a little brainstorming exercise for a few minutes and I want you to think about your expenses, about the things that you like to do that require spending some money, I want you to even think about your transportation, I want you to think about everything that you do on a daily basis that requires you to spend some money.
After you do that I want you to think about how you can save money at least a little bit on each one of those things, remember “the money is in the cents”. Then I want you to think about which of those expenses are necessary and which are unnecessary, if you have unnecessary expenses, if you spend money on things that you don’t really need and you don’t even know why you do it then just cut them off.
That little exercise will take only minutes; it is a very simple and easy analysis that will make a big difference in your finances. What you want to do after this exercise is open a secondary bank account, an account where you are going to place that extra money that was being wasted in the past, it is going to be an account to save money, your very own untouchable savings account.
This is the first step to change your financial future and the easiest step to begin your financial plan, if you do this right, if you are responsible and diligent enough to do this exercise every month, soon your savings account will begin to grow greatly without you even noticing it and when you do notice it you will start to feel more secure and more confident about your life, and about your future because you know that you have “Money in the Bank”.
This is just the beginning of a complete guide of real financial planning, for real people, with real dreams, and real needs. I will lay out information that will help you guarantee your financial freedom and your financial future; I hope that I can even help you manage your wealth after you have secured your long term financial situation. See you on the next one, and do the brainstorming exercise, open your account, and just let your money grow.
