Money 101

There’s no time like the present to get a better handle on your money and begin making progress toward your financial goals. Most financial experts agree that creating a budget is the best place to begin. Here are some steps to get you started

Know Where You Are

Go back through your bank statements and credit cards to track your spending. It’s all there in black and white, so you can see exactly where your money goes. Ask yourself what’s most important and valuable to you. Likewise, ask yourself where you might be able to cut back. For example, how much might you save by making coffee at home instead of visiting a coffee shop every day? Or how much would you save if you quit smoking?

Identify Your Financial Goals

Be clear about your goals, big and small. For the longer term, are you saving for a house? For college? For retirement? In the shorter term, are you planning a vacation? Need a new car or truck? What else is on your list?

Create a Budget

It might sound overwhelming to plan for a whole year, so you will probably want to set some smaller goals first. For example, you might identify a credit card that you’d like to pay off within a certain period of time. Decide how much you will pay toward that card every month until you have a zero balance

Use Some Tools

While you can keep track of your budgets and money with a simple notebook or an Excel spreadsheet, there are also some other high-tech ways to track your finances online.