What you track, increases. What you measure, increases. Whether it’s a certain amount of money you want to have or a certain amount of debt you are paying off.
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How To Plan and Achieve Your Financial Goals
Today’s podcast episode is inspired by our most popular blog post where I shared how my husband and I paid off our $80,000 of debt. Hopefully, this will give you some ideas of how you can also manage your finances and pay off your debt. I am not a financial expert. But, I do know that zero debt has allowed me to be able to have work that I am passionate about.
Every month I write down and monitor:
- Retirement savings
- Business revenue
- Business expenses
- Net income
- Total Savings % (Personal + retirement/ total)
- Total personal expenses
- Tithing
- Net worth (everyone you own – everything you owe)
- College savings
- Total savings
- Total debt
Daily:
- Transfer income I receive into my Profit First Categories (percentage for taxes, profit, owners pay and operating expenses)
- Review orders/sales that came in the prior day
- Check my bank account balances (ensure enough, check expenses)
- Review my ad performance
- Write affirmation
- Gratitude
You have to spend less than you make. By doing this you can save for your future and save for your business. Save up for big expenses. Cash flow goals.
Financial Tools I Use
Here are the tools I’ve used to plan and track my financial goals:
- Personal capital (affiliate link – it’s free but you may get calls from them. I use the free version)
- Quickbooks
- Vanguard
- Google spreadsheets
- The Total Money Makeover
- Budgeting Template
- Ally
- Profit First
Questions Answered on the Podcast:
- “What tool should I use to manage the finances aspect to make the end of the year easier?” – Erin
- “How much should I plan on investing back into my company (other than the cost of actually doing the business I.e. supplies, materials, etc. )?” – Erin
- “I am looking at how to do my budget and it’s overwhelming when I think where to start – If I use different things (cash, credit and some bank cards) but varied so I can’t just pull a source to sort because it’s multiple taps – credit bill and bank statement for example … so if I want to get a good idea of what’s coming in and going out, my current monthly expenses so I can see what I can potentially cut – what is the best way without falling into overwhelm – what’s the best tool to start in a non-stress inducing manner? is it to start at the beginning of the month with a notebook and track everything? Is there a tool or method that people have found that works best – or is the bank statement download or inject using something like Mint, generally what’s recommended?” – Robin
- “I have trouble quantifying the results of my actions (specifically around marketing). Any tips on how to do that effectively so I can focus on and tweak my 20% would be super helpful!” – Kellee
