How to Get a Grip on Your Money

Most people have no idea where their money goes. They earn it and they spend it.

That's fine if you want to live from week to week and are not concerned about your financial future. However if you want to increase your wealth and have more options, action needs to be taken by you otherwise you could end up like most people further down the track, totally dependant on a pension.

Karen's Story

Karen is the Marketing Manager for a well-known organisation. She's 39 yrs old, single and earns over $80k a year. She is paying off a mortgage and that's all the debt she has.

Karen buys whatever she likes and says she has more than enough money for her lifestyle?or so she thought. And that's a very important point - Karen 'thought' she had plenty of money to splash around yet she had no real idea of where it went.

She was at the stage where she wanted to achieve more in her life including taking charge of her financial future.

One of the exercises I gave her to do was to sort all her financial statements - visa card, bank accounts and any cash receipts and list her income and expenditure under specific headings ie: loans, clothing, utilities, food etc. Karen recorded everything that occurred for the past 6 months . She nearly fainted when she saw how much money she had wasted and how much she was overspending! She was going backwards fast and only realised it by doing this simple exercise.

In the past Karen hadn't put a high priority on her financial well-being as it was just too hard. Being a marketing manager, her life was busy at work and she had a hectic social life. She didn't want to bother doing something that wasn't exciting like working on her financial future. After all, she had a well-paid job, didn't she?

Karen has now come to her senses and knows her true financial situation. If she lost her job, financially she couldn't afford to be off work for more than a month. She realises that she is responsible for her future.

The area of wealth creation hadn't been of great interest to Karen in the past. Now that she was undertaking coaching, she was serious to making a change. Prior to writing down where her money was going, Karen was completely closed to any suggestion to read more about how she can accelerate her wealth (or lack of it), so I didn't pursue this with her. Her attitude had now changed so she was ready and willing to move to the next step.

The next move?I referred Karen to an organisation who would look at her total financial picture and be able to recommend what she could do. The reason I chose these people is because they take a holistic approach to wealth creation. They look at every aspect and provide an on-going education as well as a hand-holding service.

We met after her first session and Karen said she nearly had a heart attack at the meeting. She realised how much money she had been giving away to the tax office. Being on such a high income she was being taxed 47c for every dollar earned. She now realised that by making some small changes she could keep this money and have investments that over time would accelerate her financial situation dramatically.

She now had enough knowledge to make decisions and take actions that could make her financially independent over the next few years. Karen couldn't believe how simple it was!

Your Financial Future - Whose Responsibility?

Unfortunately you cannot leave your financial well-being in the hands of anyone else except yourself.

Of course, you can seek advice from professionals in that field like accountants and financial planners; however, it really is up to you to lead the way ?to be proactive!

Having attended many seminars, spoken to wealthy people and to the financial professionals (many of whom aren't independently wealthy themselves), and read many books on the topic of wealth creation, I have found you cannot rely on any one person to delegate your financial affairs to. You need to be proactive and take control of your own life.

How to Take Control of Your Financial Future

Get your finances in order first: You need to know what you spend, what you earn, how much you owe and how much you own?Not in your head but in writing. What you think your situation is and what is reality, will more than likely be two totally different scenarios.

If you know where you are right now you can then seek out appropriate solutions to your specific financial needs.

How to Get Started

Speak with your accountant on the best way to set up your recording system.

Ask them how you can increase your wealth.

Ask your accountant and/or your financial advisor how they have created their wealth. What do they invest in?

Talk to people who are wealthy. Ask them how they accumulated their wealth.

Question everything.

Read books and attend seminars on wealth creation?the more informed you are the easier it is to make sound decisions. We regularly advertise these types of events in our Event Update: http://www.office-organiser.com.au/weeklyupdate.html

Don't believe everything you hear, see and read, particularly if the person advising you reaps financial benefit from you accepting their advice.

Only listen to people who "have rungs on the ladder". Once you've have done some research (and this can happen in a matter of days or weeks, depending on your efforts) then:

Take action

Sure you'll make mistakes along the way, however that's the only way you can progress. Learn from them and move on.

The Final Word

Looking after your financial well-being should be high on your priorities. It's about having choices in your life. Do you really want to work from dawn to dusk to support the lifestyle you and your family have become accustomed to? Perhaps you don't get to enjoy the lifestyle because you're too busy busting your guts at work.

Imagine what it would be like to work because you want to, not because you have to?

If financial freedom is something you desire in the not too distant future (and it doesn't happen overnight), you have to take action sometime... like right now!

About The Author

Lorraine Pirihi, principal of The Office Organiser (http://www.office-organiser.com.au) is Australia's Personal Productivity Coach

Lorraine specialises in working with businesspeople showing them how to dramatically boost their productivity, reduce the stress and the mess in their lives and have more time for enjoying their life.

We Offer a Broad Range of Services and Products including: Coaching for small business owners and professionals, keynote presentations and workshops, books, CD's, DVD's and on-line learning programs.

Take action today! Contact Lorraine to discuss your specific needs at lorraine@office-organiser.com.au

---

Executive Coaching ? Finding a Coach and Understanding the Process

Nobody in business can fail to have noticed the recent... Read More

Identify Your Two Rich Horses

The naked truth of person is that we are still... Read More

Its Only Adult ADD-What A Relief!

For most of her fifty years, Barbara was at war... Read More

Personal Core Values: Your Key to Success and Happiness

Each of us has our own set of personal values;... Read More

Personal Strategic Planning

I have a few questions for you ---What if we... Read More

Budda In Your Back Pocket

The other day I was late for something. Not very... Read More

Do You Dither in Your Job Search?

I looked up the definition of "to dither" before writing... Read More

Seeing Your Energy At Work

Our bodies are made of pure energy. With Quantum physics... Read More

Your Personal Treasure Chest

Sometimes it is helpful to review several of the basic... Read More

Why Don?t You Just Stuff It ALL?

You got busy at work, got busy in your marriage,... Read More

Courage and the Agony of Coaching Employees

Coaching employees on sensitive and personal topics like performance or... Read More

Walt Disney, the Inspiration to Form a Better Life?

You, like many others, may have come to this article... Read More

Not Blind, Just No Vision

Helen Keller once remarked that there was one thing she... Read More

Mentors and Coaches: How to Find a Great Mentor

A career coach or mentor is a person who can... Read More

How to Turn Around A Sinking Conversation - 7 Tips

When a conversation is not working out there is the... Read More

Coaching Skills

IntroductionThe question for leaders in organizations today is how do... Read More

Are You Addicted to Anger?

Michael was raised in a home where anger was used... Read More

Is Coaching Everything That It Is Cracked Up To Be?

Personal or business coaching has helped thousands change their lives... Read More

Handling Disappointment

Disappointment is an inevitable part of home-based business. Clients won't... Read More

Personal Power

All of us would love to have personal power ?... Read More

If What You Are Doing Is Not Working Change Your Approach

And ironically the more we worry about it, the more... Read More

You Have A Choice

I'm a relationship coach and, unlike most, I deal with... Read More

Are You At The Point Of No Return?

There is a point at which everything becomes simple and... Read More

How to Make $100,000 Dollars as a Personal Trainer ? Part B for Business!

My name is Greg Ryan. For the last twenty years... Read More

The American Dream ? Are We Really Free?

The promises of THE AMERICAN DREAM (to have it all... Read More

Training is Not the Same Thing as Exercising

What it takes to GROW!In almost every workshop we deliver,... Read More

Purpose

Many people go through much of their lives without really... Read More

How to Make $100,000 Dollars as a Personal Trainer ? Part A for Attitude!

My name is Greg Ryan. For the last twenty years... Read More

Searching For Your Calling ? Quest or Curse?

Judging by the extraordinarily positive reader response to Po Bronson's... Read More

Managing Your Perfectionism

What Is Perfectionism?This is the first of two newsletters that... Read More

The Biggest Loser

I am a "Loser". You're gonna learn from this writing... Read More

How to Deal Effectively with Anxiety

Every human feels anxiety on occasion; it is a part... Read More

Working With Choices

Despite our skills, experience or expertise we can still make... Read More