January Challenge

January Money Challenge!

For me, at least, the first step in getting better about money is to figure out where it's all going! How many times have you gotten to three days BEFORE payday and thought, but what happened to the money?? I still need to get food/gas/whatever!

Yeah, me too.

So the challenge for January is to WRITE IT DOWN.

Get a notebook- any notebook at all. I grabbed one of Curly's spiral notebooks she hasn't used yet, but you can use anything. If you want something nicer that will make you want to use it, go for it!

Next, I got all the bills together. I went over the bank account for last month and wrote down every bill we paid. Then in separate section, I wrote out all the credit card payments, and the overall balances. Then I made a section for groceries, and one for everything else we spend money on this month.

You don't need to get that detailed, but it will give you a clearer picture if you do.

Then, just start writing down every single penny you spend. The idea is to just get an idea of where money is going. This is the first step to creating a budget and financial peace.

My guess is that - if you keep up with it, of course - your spending habits will change by the end of the month. You might think twice about that extra grocery store run (what can we substitute that needed item for?) or that extra breakfast/lunch purchase - my biggest downfall!!

Even if your spending habits don't change right away, you might see some things you want to change or patterns in your spending.

Ready to join me??