Tag Archives: staying within a budget

Can You Do One Cash-Flow Statement?

Last week we briefly touched on the fact that gas and groceries keep going up. That makes your expenses go up and harder to save anything.

If all or part of your logical brain knows you’re spending more than you’re earning, that’s frustrating. But you can’t turn it around without a budget. That’s something 95% of people won’t do, because they somehow think it puts them in a straight-jackets. But it’s quite the opposite: A cash-flow statement, even just once, sets you free. You’ll know how much you’re prepared to spend for what each month. You’re not spending an unlimited amount of money that you don’t have groceries, lunch out, or the kids.

The best way is having the cash in a number of jars or envelopes. One envelope will be for groceries and food stuff. Every two weeks, the cash from your pay goes into the envelope. When you go to the store, it’s paid out of that money. When it’s gone – you’re done until the next payday. It works – but will you do it?

Hear me really clearly: You will never have enough money for what you WANT to spend. Never – no matter how much you earn. But you do have enough money for what you need to spend. But you have to manage your money, and not have your money manage you. I guarantee that most of us have a lot of our expenses go to the category of “not really sure.”

Save two weeks of your net pay in a separate emergency account.
Do a cash-flow statement of where your money is going to go for a full month. You’ll be really bad at it for the first three months and then you’ll love it and be really successful with it AND have at least $200 or $300 left over each month compared to right now.

People don’t decide their financial future with specific goal setting. They decide their habits, and their habits determine their financial future.