Have you sat down and decided what your financial priorities are? If you have never clearly stated what these priorities are you should find these steps enlightening. Completing the following five steps will help you have a stronger sense of what you want to accomplish with your money. It can also help you realize areas or habits that may be keeping you from achieving your financial priorities.
1) Write down the three most important things to you. These may vary, and do not need to be directly related to money. You may want to spend more time with your family. You may want to begin contributing more to retirement. You may want to get out of debt. You may want to retire early. The possibilities are endless.
2) Next you need to see how your top three goals relate to money. You may find that spending time with your kids is your highest priority. You may be able to cut back on spending so you can spend more time at home. You may consider moving to a lower cost of living area so that you can achieve this priority. You decide that you need to find more money to put towards debt or savings accounts.
3) Look at the ways that you can change your money habits to better match your financial priorities. You may need to limit the amount of money you spend on clothing or eating out each month. You may need to look for a better paying job. You may decide to use your money to save you time on cleaning and cooking, so that you can spend that time with your children.
4) You need to put these changes into place. It can be difficult to change your habits. You may feel guilty for hiring a cleaning service or spending extra money on food. However, it is important to realize that money and saving as much as you can is not necessarily worth sacrificing a happy family life. Similarly spending frivolously can cause just as an unhappy home life for your children.
5) Take time to review your priorities each month. You can check in and see how you are doing towards reaching your goals. You may want to make a chart, if this will motivate you to stay focused. Your priorities may change as your life situation changes as well.
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