When Was The Last Time You Checked Your Spending Habits?

It's been awhile since I actually sat down and took a good look at our finances, which is odd for me, especially being so obsessed with numbers. I just couldn't understand why our money wasn't stretching further, so I pulled out an old fashioned pen and paper, drew a line down the middle, on one side put "outgoing" and on the other "incoming".

After crunching those numbers I realized that something was off kilter. So my next step was to check bank accounts and I started seeing some interesting patterns from both my wife and I.

I came to a few simple conclusions. First of all, we're wasting too much on unnecessary expenses, mostly eating out. Some of it's justifiable, as we don't spend a lot on entertainment, but it's still too much.

I also came to the conclusion that I need to start setting work goals/sales goals again. I'm not living up to my abilities. I'm much more productive when I have written daily, weekly and monthly goals in front of me. I lack a sense of urgency without them. I also need to start using my kitchen timer in order to dictate when I can take breaks.

Bottom line: if I simply stick to even the very basic minimum goals and we create and stick to a manageable budget that includes making weekly menus for meals, we could completely change our financial situation over the next few months.

I'm looking at it all written out neatly on paper next to me and it makes perfect sense, our bills will get paid, we can put money in savings, we can pay off/pay down some nagging debts, have cash on hand to pay for my wife's medical treatments, if needed, have a weekly allowance, eat great food at home and STILL go out once per week!

I'm actually excited to get started on Monday!

If you haven't sat down and taken the time to go over your finances recently I highly recommend you do. You may be shocked by what you see going out every month. Even if you can afford it, it's good to take inventory of your finances from time to time.