Gun Shy

Now that we are really getting to the part where you have to track your spending and tell your money what to do, you might say to yourself, “I’m not sure I can do this,” or “Well, I will start next month.”

Don’t wait until you are upside down to begin any of the income-increasing or debt-reduction strategies we have talked about. The more you can cut expenses and increase your income, the faster you will be able to get rid of your debt. And, this time of year is the PERFECT time to get started. Why? Because it’s TAX RETURN TIME.

Many people totally BLOW their tax returns, but YOU know BETTER. Making a plan for your tax return dollars (just like making a plan for your monthly income dollars) can really get you ahead and set you up to win. Set your sights on the debt-free target ahead and don’t let anything deter you.

Use your notebook (or the bookyou got from Amazon) to track where your money is scheduled to go before you let it leave. Here’s how: Write the name of one budget item or the debt at the top (i.e. Groceries or Credit Card #1) and the monthly budgeted amount for that category (i.e. $500), each one getting its own page, front and back.  Do this for each debt and for each expense. I suggest listing each living expense before debts because those are more important–you gotta eat.

Pull the trigger on this plan…commit to this by writing these things down. Next week we will discuss the next step.