Phase one keep track

PHASE 1

How much did you spend last month? And what did you spend it on? Do you know exactly? Do you have a general idea? Or, no clue? The first step to financial recovery is to know exactly how much you spend and exactly what you are spending it on. You need get a small notebook and a ledger. For the next 30 days every time you spend money, write it down in your notebook. When you get home add it to your ledger.

Having these two items, the notebook and ledger, one of those “little things” that is really KEY to your prosperity project. Nobody feels they need to get these things. Everybody wants to roll their eyes and say, “I can remember for a day.” …But we don’t. We get too busy; distracted. Or, we spend a little more than we know we should and conveniently forget—or “fudge.”

That’s another key. Be brutally honest. This is your project, your life. Who do you think you’re going to fool? Doing the correct little things leads to big changes. They help change your attitude and habits, both of which contribute to your “bottom line.”

Ok, you have your little notebook. It fits in your back pocket or purse. (It’s important to always have it with you.) You go to work, to school, to coffee with friends, sit at home and pay your bills (or have them automatically withdrawn from an account.) As you live your daily life, if you spend any money, write down how much you are spending and what you are spending it on. Even if it is a routine expense. Even if you should not have spent it. Even if it is only one penny. Write it down.

At the end of the day, get out your ledger. Enter the date (and maybe the day) and transfer to it the amounts you spent and what they went for. (At this point, you are being a bit redundant with the two lists. It’s a safety precaution. Your notebook might get lost—it’s replaceable and as long as the master list is in your ledger at home, only minimal information can be lost. Also, most of us don’t want to carry a big ledger around with us all the time—and its function will change later.) For right now don’t worry about putting anything in categories. Just know that you spent $10.00 on gas, $1.75 on a coke, etc. At the end of 30 days you will have quite a list, and it will tell you exactly how much you’ve spent and what you’ve been spending your money on. You’ll begin to see the pattern to your spending. One last note: If at all possible do not use credit cards during this 30 day period, but if you do log any charges (along with any checks or electronic payments) as cash. I’ll tell you why later.