This money management tip is all about setting aside some time every week to review your finances
If you decide to start using one hour a week to learn more about finance, then you will greatly increase your knowledge in a short period of time.
One hour a week can help you focus on your personal finances and become more informed
That’s all it takes to make a difference
An hour gives you enough time to deal with your finances “in the moment” but also enough time to start to educate yourself on personal finance
An hour also means you are dealing with your finances in a cool, calm collected manner rather than in a big rush when taxes are due or you have to pay a bill
An hour a week will also help you psychologically in a number of ways
- If you have money worries then you can deal with them during your hour and “put them to bed” for the rest of the week
- Committing to a definite hour a week means that you don’t need to deal with everything in one go
3 Steps to Effectively Review Your Finances
1) Where Can I Find An Extra Hour a Week?
“But I am busy” I hear you say… “where am I going to find an extra hour?”
Here are some suggestions
- You may want to consider using one hour of your weekend.
- Or you may also want to make a commitment to turn off the TV for one hour during a weekday
- Or turn off your social media activities for an hour
- Or get up early one morning before the family are awake
Just have a set schedule and stay accountable to using it
Call it something snappy, like the “hour of power”, but work it into your routine so that it becomes a regular commitment and part of your schedule
2) How To Use The Hour Effectively.
One hour may not seem like a lot, but you can accomplish great financial steps forward during this time. The key is consistency.
- This is the perfect opportunity to organize your bills and learn more about your spending.
- Use the hour to work on your budget and compare your costs to previous months and years
- Also, consider organizing those annoying receipts you know you will need at tax time
- Vary your hour so that at the end of the month you concentrate on your spend for the last month
- Let your family know which hour you are going to use so they don’t interrupt you
- Set a plan for the week ahead so if you do need to make a phone call or an appointment you have thought about it ahead of time
3) Learn More About Finance
There will likely come a point where you are so on top of your finances that you do not need the full hour to maintain your budgets and manage your day to day finance
My advice would be to keep the hour in place – and use it to increase and expand your money knowledge – it will stand you in good stead
- Spending one hour a week to increase your general money knowledge will help you long-term.
- You can read books about finance, find articles about money, or study online sources for information.
- The goal is to increase your overall understanding of finance topics.
- For instance you may want to learn more about investing in new stocks?
- Or how about growing your knowledge of retirement funds and pensions?
Simply spending one hour a week to increase your financial knowledge can help you in many ways.
You’ll learn more about your personal finance and discover new ways to plan or budget.
You will create a better financial future.