Keeping track of our finances is important regardless of our financial situation. It's important to stay on top of purchases, savings, and financial goals. Without a financial plan, we don't know or can't see the big picture. In this blog, we discuss how you can create the ultimate financial tracker with your favorite Soothi journal.
Keep track of your expenses.
Keeping track of everything that you spend is key to knowing where your money goes. It will also give you the big picture of how long it will take you to reach certain financial goals. Keeping track of all of our expenses may seem daunting, but in reality, all that it requires is consistency and the will to track your spending.
How can you track all of your expenses? We recommend that you keep track of everything in your journal, and we also understand that you may not always remember to carry your journal with you.
For the times that you don't have your journal with you, keep track of your spending on your phone or a notepad. When you get home or have your journal available, remember to write down all of your expenses for the day. This is one of the most significant key factors in controlling your finances.
Track your bills and recurring payments.
Create a monthly expense sheet in your journal where you will write down all of the bills you pay each month and your recurring subscriptions such as cable, internet, electricity, etc. Even if your total bill amount changes from month to month, it's good always to have an idea of what you have coming up. It goes hand in hand with your expense tracking so that you know the total of how much you have coming in and how much goes out.
Create money-saving plans.
Saving money can be hard, but it is doable, and there is no better way than the old-fashioned way. Writing down your saving plan, on paper is helpful.
In your journal, create a weekly, monthly, and yearly savings plan. Be consistent and ensure that you use it regularly.
Use your weekly goals for smaller saving goals, things such as reducing what you spend on coffee, eating out, and impulse purchases.
Use your monthly saving plan to set a goal of an extra amount that you'd like to save each month. Work towards that goal by using the first step where you keep track of your expenses and identify what you could reduce in terms of your spending.
With the yearly savings plan set goals for bigger purchases or savings goals. Are you hoping to save for a home or contribute more to your retirement savings? Use your money-saving plan to push your efforts to save more for emergencies, small goals, and bigger goals.
We hope that you enjoyed these tips and that this will allow you to create an effective financial tracker.
