Archive for the ‘finances’ Category

Your current financial health has a major impact on your financial future. Your financial health is made up from a variety of different factors. Your ability to manage your money as well as your relationship with money all contribute to how money comes into your life. If you have trouble keeping money in your bank account, or you feel financially stifled, you need to give yourself a financial health checkup.

Once your financial life is in balance, you’ll begin to see money flowing in your direction more freely. In addition, you’ll be able to handle the money you receive in a better way. Evaluate your financial life, make changes where necessary, and you’ll see great results.

One of the first steps toward financial health is acknowledging and dealing with your debt. Credit cards and other high interest debts need to be reduced and eliminated if you ever hope to be free. The most important step is determining how much you actually owe.

Write down all of your current debts and then set a realistic date when you will have them paid off. Create a debt management program and put it into action. It is a generally accepted strategy to first pay off and close the account with the highest interest rate and the lowest balance, while making at least the minimum payment on all other accounts.

When you take an active role in reducing your debt, you’ll be on the way to having more control over your finances. Many people have a very distorted idea of how much money they spend. An important step in financial health is making a spreadsheet of your expenses and the various ways you spend money every month, along with expenses that come up a few times a year, like school supplies or winter heating bills.

When you have an accurate view of how you are spending, you can figure out where to cut back and how to spend wisely. Once you have a plan that is realistic, based on your income and true expenses, then you can incorporate other financially healthy steps, such as smart ,savings, charity, etc.

Another vital, and sometimes overlooked, part of being financially healthy is actively seeking to increase your income. Many people focus so tightly on controlling the money that they forget about thinking abundantly. People who are financially healthy work on both sides of the equation, inflow and outflow. Setting and reaching goals with your online business will help you keep your income growing and your budget on track.

Your relationship with money is a very important part of the picture. Money is a point of stress for most people, and this creates a great deal of negative thoughts and feelings surrounding money. All of this negativity creates an energy wall around you where money is not welcomed. You may not think that your perception of money effects how much you earn or receive, but the impact is profound.

Take a look at your past relationship with money, including behaviors or attitudes that you learned in your early life, such as “money is the root of all evil” or “we’ll never be able to afford it”. Examine those beliefs and ask yourself if they serve you well. If not, replace them with new, empowering beliefs that will allow you develop a healthy relationship with money, such as “money is one of many of rewards” or “right now I choose to spend my money another way”.

By taking proactive steps in your financial life, both practical and  psychological, you can transform your financial health even beyond your dreams and expectations.