Ask yourself what’s most important to you right now? What financial goals do you want to achieve? Now you get to look at your present financial situation and habits and decide what you want your future to look like. Once you’ve written out your expenses and tracked your spending habits, you’re ready for the next step. Tracking your spending will help you pinpoint the areas you may be overspending and help you quickly identify where you can make cost-efficient cuts. Spending $10 a day on parking or $5 every morning for coffee doesn’t sound like much until you calculate the total cost per month. Tracking your spending is a great way to find out exactly where your money goes. If you’ve ever felt like your money “just disappears,” you’re not the only one. It’s not enough to write out your actual expenses, like rent or mortgage, food, and auto insurance, you must also track what you are spending. Track both your expenses and your spending. Your net pay is the amount you receive after taxes and other allocations, like retirement savings, are deducted. Be sure to use your net pay rather than your gross pay. Calculate your monthly income by adding your paychecks and any other source of income that you receive regularly.

To create an effective spending and savings plan, you need to know exactly how much money you’re bringing in each month. Before you get started, here are some tips to help you #ThinkLikeASaver, ensuring that your money is working smarter and harder for you. We’ve created an easy to use, but thorough, Spending and Saving Plan tool to use.

Family budget tracking