Developing Your System: Making Your Financial Success a Habit
Although I have been blogging about my finances for a relatively short period of time I have been following my credit card debt since July of 2005.
I have found that an often overlooked key to success is the development of a system that works for you.
How do you keep your money in your wallet and bank accounts?
Everyone starts differently, my system slowly developed from this: a blank index card.
I still use my index card system today to keep a list of all my credit card accounts, how much I owe and when my next payment is due.
When developing your system, the main idea is: simplicity is your friend!
You don’t need an overdeveloped computer program or an online database. If you start with a complex program that takes and hour or more just to download and set everything up you will have to overcome quite a bit of inertia to keep it going.
Just a simple list of all your accounts will enable you to answer the major financial decisions we have to make:
- how much money do I have?
- who do I owe money to?
- what is it costing me to borrow this money?
- who do I have to pay and when?
Once you have been doing this for a few months it becomes second nature and you no longer have to think about it.
The month is still young, it isn’t too late to begin a new habit in 2008 that will improve your finances.
