Get Serious About Your Money
Terry Rigg

What is the most important aspect of getting your finances in order? In past articles I've written about how important discipline, organization and sacrifice are to solving your money problems, but this all comes later.

For years I would write my bills down, figure my income and subtract the bills from my paycheck to see what was left. It was a real good start but by payday it was either forgotten or something would happen to mess it up. It finally dawned on me that the way I was going about this wasn't going to work. I needed a different plan. Something that would make me understand the problem and help me come up with a solution.

What I came up with was a little surprising, at least to me. I had been trying to solve my problems without being willing to make some major changes that needed to be made. I really wasn't serious about fixing the problem. After several years of counseling a lot of people about their finances, I've come to the conclusion that this is what keeps many people from overcoming their financial woes.

There are exceptions of course. In some cases there isn't much that can be done short of bankruptcy. Before you sit down and try to develop a budget or decide what your future plans are, you need to decide if you are willing to follow it through to the end. If you aren't, you will be just spinning your wheels. Here are few questions you need to ask yourself:

Remember, this is only the first step, however, this is absolutely the most important.

If you can't cross this hurdle then going to the next step is futile. On the brighter site, if you are determined to get your finances in order, the rest is relatively simple. You first have to decide what it is that you want. Set your long and short term goals. Do you want to retire early, buy a house, send the kids to college?

Will you need a new car in the near future? This will take money and it is absolutely necessary that you start saving as early as possible for these goals. You next step is to set up a simple and workable budget. For many people living on a budget is like serving a life sentence in a maximum security prison. It doesn't have to be that way.

The worst thing you can do is develop a budget that takes hours every day to manage. I have a developed a budget that takes a few hours to setup, just a few

First, what do you do if you don't have enough money? You either cut your expenses or you get more money. It's just that simple. Your best bet is to cut your expense as much as possible and still be able to have enough money for the essentials.

Check the web. There are thousands of ideas online to help you save on your expenses. Use search words like "saving money, cutting expenses, etc.". Click here