Guest Post by Carrie Smith
Carrie is a great writer and friend who writes at Careful Cents. Please make her feel welcome here at The Millionaire Nurse Blog while I’m off on storm duty!
Financial Control-It’s Worth It!
Most people don’t realize that creating a fun and fulfilled life takes money. Of course that’s not the only thing it takes, but money is one of the biggest factors to getting what you want and hopefully following your dreams.
Are you trying to take back control of your finances but don’t know how?
This is something I didn’t know how to do until about a year ago, when I first decided to become debt free. I make a good income at my full-time accounting job, but I never have enough money to do things I actually care about, like traveling, reading a good book or being with family and friends.
I discovered I wasn’t in control of my finances and I was making decisions based on what was in my bank account. Debt and loan payments were already dictating where my money went. I was forced down a path I didn’t consciously choose and I didn’t always have the liberty to live how I wanted. Finally, I got sick of it and decided to regain control of my financial life.
The First Step To Financial Control
When trying to regain control of my finances I learned the first step is to get out of debt. Which involves making a plan and being dedicated to that plan. Because if you don’t have any debt, there’s so much more you can do with not only your money, but also your time. And as we all know, time is a precious commodity, one you can’t replace once it’s gone.
Control of Your Money: Step Two- Motivation
The next step towards taking back control is to find the right motivation. You’ve got to prepare yourself mentally and have the proper
Learn How To Build Your Own ‘Horn of Plenty’
attitude. Because without proper motivation you’ll start working towards your goal, but then easily get distracted, sidetracked or end up quitting altogether.
If you’re a visual person you can try something like creating a visual aid, maybe a Vision Board or Bucket List. If you’re an audio person, you can listen to podcasts, audio books or check out local seminars to hear others share their get-out-of debt stories. Finding the right motivation will keep you inspired throughout the whole process.
Make Your Goals Clear
Once you’ve found the right motivation it’s time to make specific and clear goals for yourself. I like to write down all my goals on paper in a notebook. This makes them real so they’re no longer just thoughts or ideas, but tangible plans I’ve put in place. It takes time to sit down and contemplate what you want to accomplish, but doing so is the first step towards real progress.
Celebrate Small Wins
Whether your goal is to change your budget, pay off debt or save for the future, it can be a long process. It’s important to understand that these goals might take many months or even years to accomplish, so you shouldn’t expect to see results overnight.
You will have successes and failures along the way, but either way you can’t give up. Celebrate your achievements and learn from your failures. I am learning that life is full of both, and I won’t make progress without either of them.
Are you trying to get out of debt? What motivates you to take back control of your finances?
{photo credit: colros c.c.}
Author Bio:
Carrie Smith is the personal finance expert behind the Careful Cents blog, where she helps people get out of debt and find a career they love. Her work has been featured in The Huffington Post, Yahoo! Finance and Lifehacker. Connect with her on Twitter @applecsmith
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Tags: basic money management tips, need help with my money, Tired of being broke, tired of running out of money
Those little milestones are so important! Celebrate every bite of that elephant and you’ll soon finish the whole thing.
All sound points. I believe that we mostly forget to celebrate small achievements; and for that matter to break down the task in small chunks we can celebrate.
[...] If you didn’t already know about my man-crush on Dr. Dean from the Millionaire Nurse Blog, I’m gonna lay it on here. Do you know where he was all week? He was out helping support hurricane relief workers. While he was gone, our friend Carrie from Careful Cents guest posted: How to Regain Control of Your Finances. [...]
[...] How to Regain Control of Your Finances – The Millionaire Nurse Blog [...]
Keeping expenses under control is very important. And to do that it is mandatory to maintain a monthly budget. I am doing this for a few years already and I say that it pays off. I started first with an excel sheet, later I realize there are free online tools which helps you to do that. I am using http://www.planthebudget.com