Five Secrets to Help You Reach Your Money Goals
Realistic View of Money Goals
Money is a not only a big motivator in our lives, but also a
necessary part of it. Therefore, it is perfectly normal to set
money goals, especially if we want to advance financially. It
may be difficult for you to set, and stick to your money goals.
Or you may be one of the lucky few who find it easy. For the
most of us, it is not easy to set, and keep to our money goals.
The real secret is there is no secret to reaching your money
goals - it takes a little common sense, with a dash of
determination.
This article offers five secrets/hints, which are practical, and
when followed, it is possible to reach your money goals. I must
stress that these secrets/hints are realistic.
What is your goal with money?
You have dreams and goals, and money is central to practically
all your aspirations and goals. Money almost always is central
to your achieving any number of goals. A teenager I spoke to
some time ago complained that she had a goal, but she wouldn't
be able to achieve it. She said it was her goal to travel
abroad, but she didn't have the money.
I explained that money was in reality her first goal, and that
is what she should focus on. She could take on part-time work,
save from her allowance, and cut spending. By focusing on her
money goals, she would then be able to work towards her bigger
goal - that of going abroad.
You may have the goal to become financially independent, but
that is not in the scope of this article.
Whatever your money goals are, you should always follow a
strategy to reach them, otherwise it will be extremely
difficult, if at all possible. The following are five practical
hints to help you reach your money goals.
1. Have a Budget
Please note that this is a realistic discussion on the subject
of having a budget. There are two aspects in having a budget:
income and expenses. A successful budget means the income is
more than the expenses. And therefore, the success of your
budget means the control of these two aspects. Having specific
goals can go a long way to helping you control these aspects.
These can be anything from buying a home entertainment center,
clearing credit card debt, going on holiday.
To help with establishing money goals, you could draw up a
written "agreement" with your partner, spouse, friend or family
member. This can be used to remind each other when the impulsive
buying urges surface. The first step in reaching your money
goals is the control of your finances, and a realistic budget is
the means to do this.
What do you do if your budget does not balance? There are in
reality only two options: decrease expenses, or increase income.
Most of the time it is not easy or practical to get the former
right. It is possible to increase income by making an extra
income. This can be done through a variety of means. You could
consider turning your hobby into an income generating source. Or
you could investigate operating a web business - the benefit of
this is that it can be started with minimal start-up costs.
2. Stay away from debt
Now, wasn't that easy to say? Here it is paramount to have a
realistic view. How possible is it really to stay away from
debt? As the old saying goes, "everything in moderation" or
something along those lines. Getting into debt is one of the
easiest things in this world, and for this reason you need to
put up your guard against it.
For illustration purposes, I'd like to share the following with
you: there is "essential debt" and "luxury debt", and the
differentiation of these can help keep you out of the debt trap.
Your house, vehicle, household appliances, etc. fall in the
"essential debt" category. On the other end, things like
entertainment centers, camcorders, and dress jewellery fall into
the "luxury debt" category.
Some ideas to control or avoid debt are: