Spend More Time Reviewing Your Finances

Mark Victor Hansen and Robert Allen teamed up to write a book called The One-Minute Millionaire. It’s a fantastic book written in two parts, so it’s great for people who are more creative and want to read a story, and for people who are more analytical who just want the facts. One of the points they make in the book is that millionaires spend an extra few minutes on their finances every day. Some people say they don’t have time to focus on their finances, but we’re not talking about hours and hours of reconciling bank statements. It’s an extra couple of minutes deciding whether or not you really need that pair of shoes you just picked up. It’s an extra couple of minutes figuring out what you have left in your checkbook. If you really want to get serious about monitoring your progress, spend a few minutes a day on Quicken or some other financial software that helps you track you’re spending, saving, and investing. Just spend a little extra time every day and see the progress you’re making.

In order to monitor your financial progress, obviously you need to have some defined money goals. For some, this may mean sticking within a budget and monitoring that closely. For others, it may mean determining by what day they want to have their debt paid. You may have a desired income goal for the month – or maybe you’ve been eyeing something in a store for some time and you’re saving the money to pay cash for it. Whatever your money goals are, you must determine how long it will take you to reach those goals and strive every day/week/ month to achieve them.

Finally, make a commitment to yourself that you want to WIN The Money Game. Make a commitment to stick to your budget, to pay off your credit cards, to live within your means, and to pay cash for everything. If you need help staying accountable, ask a friend, family member, or co-worker to keep you on track. Sometimes it’s nice to have someone checking in on your progress. If you should happen to falter or take a couple of steps back on your progress, re-commit to yourself that you WILL accomplish what you set out to do: WIN The Money Game!