The amount of wealth that you have determines almost every aspect of your life. It can determine the car you drive, whether you rent or own your home, and even where your kids go to school. When you feel out of control of your financial situation, it is one of the worst feelings in the world, because it impacts your day-to-day life as well as your future. Luckily, it’s never too late to try to turn things around and take control of your financial situation. With some thoughtful planning, a few small changes can have a big impact on your personal finances.

Read on for our tips for how to get back on track for your financial future. 

Get a big-picture view

We’ve all heard the phrase, “live within your means” but in order to follow that advice, we have to understand what our means are. When you feel like you’re in a bad place financially, the first thing you need to do is get an accurate understanding of your current situation. Lay everything out, including expenses, income, debt, and savings. While this might be a daunting prospect, it is extremely useful to have a birds-eye view of your spending habits and income so you know exactly where you stand as you begin to plan.

Make a budget

While this advice feels as old as time, it is very important for regaining control of your financial future. A budget will help you to start to think about how you use your money. Take stock of your priorities. Maybe you want to take more family vacations or make sure that your little ones can go to college debt free. Does the way that you spend money reflect those priorities? If not, you need to make changes, and a budget is the first step to doing just that. 

Use technology

Long gone are the days when you needed to balance a physical checkbook or build your own spreadsheet. Nowadays, there are many apps that offer different levels of support for managing your money. Don’t be afraid to use a financial planning software to help you make monetary decisions, especially if you are new to working with your finances. These programs can help take the guesswork out of this intimidating process, making it all the easier to feel like you’re in the driver’s seat again.  

Make small changes to decrease spending

I don’t know about you, but decreasing spending is one of the least appetizing parts of this entire process. Life is expensive, and we all like to buy the things that we want and need. However, it is absolutely essential to begin to lower your monthly expenses if you want to get your finances under control. Fortunately, these changes do not have to be drastic to be effective. Multiple small changes, made over time, can really start to impact the amount of money that you spend and save. This can be as simple as getting one less coffee a week, or committing to walking instead of taking a ride share somewhere. Slowly, you will notice that your paycheck seems to last longer and you have more cash to put towards your true priorities.

Raise your income

One often-forgotten tactic to regain control of your finances is to work at raising the amount of money that you bring in each month. This can be done by taking on a side hustle or by advocating for a raise. You can also rent out part or all of your home, or even start a blog like mine! Any additional money you bring in will make your monthly expenses feel smaller and help you feel more secure in your financial wellbeing in the long run. 

With these tips in mind you can start taking important steps to setting your finances straight. Remember, self-discipline will go a long way in this venture.

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