To get started, designate an area for incoming mail. Make sure you have a place for bills, magazines/catalogs, coupons, miscellaneous. If there is more than one person in your household, make sure each person has a miscellaneous section. It’s kinda like the mailroom at your office…at home. When the mail comes in, be sure to sort it accordingly and then pick a day of the week to clear it out. First step is to look at what you spent last month for the following categories: The great thing about your net worth is it will require you to look at and know some other numbers that you probably aren’t looking at as frequently like your retirement, debts, and the value of things you own. The good news is the internet is crawling with easy calculators to help you get to your golden number. Once you know what your net worth is, see how it compares to the average based on your age and then set a goal. Newsflash: It’s different for each person, so keep your eyes on your own paper and really identify what fits for you. Once you know this vision, you can work backward to identify the steps you need to take with your money to make progress toward your vision. Start by listing out the pieces of your dream life that are affected by your money. Do you want to take your family on a vacation every year? If so, what kind of vacation and how much do you think it will cost? Not sure? Google is your friend to help you get ideas and a ballpark of costs. It might not sound glamorous, but the act of doing the research to obtain an estimate will actually fire you up, and those emotions are exactly what we are going for because they are the magic motivation elixir. When we know where we want to go, we are more likely to take the steps to get there.
