Financial Plan

You will need to make a clear plan of how to get where you want to. The financial plan needs to be broken down into realistic achievable goals with a clear deadline.

The plan needs to include how much you are currently using to pay off debts, how much you are currently using to cover all living expenses and how much you are currently saving.

When you have that clear you need to look at where you are going to cut costs.

What can you live without?
Do you subscribe to magazines or newspapers you do not need?
Do you have memberships you do not need?
Is your rent or mortgage very expensive?
Are you spending a lot of money on driving where you do not need to go?
Do you rather eat out then cook yourself?
Do you pay too much for electricity, telephone, Internet connection and TV?
Do you have the best credit card, insurance, rent or mortgage and bank account deals you can get?

The meaning of these questionins is that you should not settle with what you have now. Then your situation will stay the same.

Always shop around for better deals and always look at how you can cut costs.
Maybe you find out you need to move to another place where it is less expensive.
Maybe you need to eat more canned beans.
Maybe you need to use your bike, or your feet instead of the car.
Maybe you need to read magazines only when you go to the dentist or to the hairdresser.

Whatever it takes to improve your financial situation; decide to do it.

Write down both the longer term goals and the short tem goals and what you will do to achieve them.

*You need to set time limits for when you want to achieve the goals you worked out in the previous step.

*Write down exactly what you are going to do to achieve them.

*Make a detailed clear plan of exactly what you are going to do to cut your expenses.

*Make a detailed clear plan for how you are going to get out of debt.

*You need to set the amount of money you are going to save each time you get your pay check.

When that is done you are ready for the next step.

Action Steps

1 Taking financial inventory

2 Deciding what are your financial goals

3 Making a detailed financial plan of how to get there

4 Putting the financial plan into action and monitoring it

5 Become a member of the Financial IQ Club!

Ways of saving money

Practical budgeting tips

Here are some free tools:

Debt free calculator

When will you be a millionaire calculator

Money 101 Course