I Got My Eye on You

When we enter adulthood, we know we need to keep our eyes on the road when driving, our eyes on our kids while they grow up, and our eyes on the prize in our career. But one thing we might be forgetting that we need to keep our eyes on the most: our finances.

Treat Your Finances Like a Teenager

In the hustle and bustle of everyday life, it can be easy to let our budget fall to the wayside. Unfortunately, if we don’t keep a close eye on our finances, we can do our financial future more harm than good.

If you are guilty of letting your budget go these last few days, weeks, months (or even years!), get back on track today by gathering up all your financial materials. Look back on your bank statements, and find the answers to these questions:

• Where did all your money go? (You want to get down “to the penny” as much as possible.)
• What is your average monthly grocery bill? How much for eating out?
• How much are your utilities each month?
• What about the extracurricular activities (e.g. kids’ sports) and entertainment?
• How much do you spend on necessities like clothing?

You want to know where every dollar and cent is going, so you can adequately plan your monthly budget. Plus, you can also see where you are overspending, where you can cut costs, and where you can even start saving!

Once you get all this in place, start scheduling an appointment with yourself and your budget each week to make sure you are staying on track and not letting things get out of hand … again.