There are many people all over the world who live from one payday to another. For such people if there is even a tiny bit change in the lifestyle they are used to, money at the end of the month becomes elusive. If you too find yourself without any money at the end of the month just since you have had a single outing too many with your friends than you are in need of some serious personal finance advice. Managing your personal finance means keeping a track of all your monetary transactions, from getting your monthly salary to spending it as well as saving it. And managing your personal finances in a disciplined way every month would not only help you be money wise but would also help you to fulfill your financial goals like buying a car or saving for your children’s future.
The very first thing you can do to start your personal financial management is save before you spend and not after you spend. Hence at the very beginning of the month, once you get your salary, keep aside a certain sum of money, however meager it is. The remaining amount is then all you have for going through the month. The second thing you can do as your personal financial management is to make two lists. The first list would contain all the basic necessity related expenses and the second list would consist of all your lifestyle related items. For example, the first list would have expenses like grocery shopping, electricity bill and so on while the second list would have items like going out with friends, eating out and so on. Once you are done with this, keep aside the first list since you cannot make any cuts on it. On the second list cross out the things that can help you save like if you go out with your friends every week, make it once every two weeks.
The utility of the two lists is that it would help you to find out where you splurge on your money such that if you are willing you can curb on that. It may be a little difficult to give up on your splurges but think of the brighter side. You can save that amount to buy a property of your own which is a good investment too, or get a new car for your family or save for your kid’s college. The money that you save like this at the end of the month by cutting down your extra expenses you ticked off on list number two, you can put it away with the little saving you made at the very beginning of the month.
