Get Organized & Boost Your Finances!

Financial success requires disciplined budgeting. And if you want to be faithful to your budget, you’ll need to get organized. Simply drafting a neat, calculated list isn’t enough: you’ll want to streamline your daily habits, too. If you can stick to your own schedule, you’ll be far more likely to stick to the scenarios and lifestyle you budgeted for!

Here are four ways you can become more organized, and secure:

• Create Room in Your Schedule: Before you do anything else, schedule time… to schedule time! Understand that organization takes reflection, assessment, and work. Give yourself a window in which to plan and implement your changes.
• Keep Track: You not only want to hold on to receipts and bills, you’ll want to log how long it takes you to accomplish your daily tasks. You may realize you’re losing time browsing the Internet or socializing with co-workers, when you could be increasing your productivity at home or the office.
• Helpful Tools: Keep a daily schedule in your phone, tablet, or planner. If you maintain your calendar, you’ll avoid emergencies and surprises that leave you running late or forced to buy expensive food on the run instead of cooking an affordable meal at home. A to-do list is your organizational friend!
• Practice Staying Focused: If you can stay focused on your tasks at work, your brain will be better trained to not only stick to your budget, it will also better keep your “eyes on the prize,” which is the dedication required to achieve your long-term financial goals. Quit multi-tasking and avoid distractions. The same tendency to look at our phones instead of working can evolve into the same urge to splurge instead of sticking to our financial plan!