What is the most important aspect of getting your finances
in order?  In past articles I've written about how important
discipline, organization and sacrifice are to solving
your money problems, but this all comes later.
For years I would write my bills down, figure my income and
subtract the bills from my paycheck to see what was left.  It
was a real good start but by payday it was either forgotten or
something would happen to mess it up.
It finally dawned on me that the way I was going about this
wasn't going to work.  I needed a different plan.  Something
that would make me understand the problem and help me come
up with a solution.
What I came up with was a little surprising, at least to me.
I had been trying to solve my problems without being willing
to make some major changes that needed to be made.  I really
wasn't serious about fixing the problem.
After several years of counseling a lot of people about their
finances, I've come to the conclusion that this is what keeps
many people from overcoming their financial woes.  There are
exceptions of course. In some cases there isn't much that can
be done short of bankruptcy.
Before you sit down and try to develop a budget or decide what
your future plans are, you need to decide if you are willing
to follow it through to the end.  If you aren't, you will be
just spinning your wheels.  Here are few questions you need
to ask yourself:
~~Are you willing to do without the joys of what those credit
cards can buy?
~~Are you willing to have your family sacrifice as much as you do?
~~Can you make the hard decisions that will be necessary?
Remember, this is only the first step, however, this is absolutely
the most important.  If you can't cross this hurdle then going
to the next step is futile.
On the brighter site, if you are determined to get your
finances in order, the rest is relatively simple.  You first have
to decide what it is that you want.  Set your long and short
term goals.  Do you want to retire early, buy a house, send
the kids to college?  Will you need a new car in the near
future?  This will take money and it is absolutely necessary
that you start saving as early as possible for these goals.
You next step is to set up a simple and workable budget.  For
many people living on a budget is like serving a life sentence
in a maximum security prison.  It doesn't have to be that way.
The worst thing you can do is develop a budget that takes hours
every day to manage.  I have a developed a budget that takes a
few hours to setup, just a few minutes on payday to keep up and
is free for anyone to use.  You can visit The Complete Budget
and Bill Organizer at http://www.homemoneyhelp.com/BBOonline.html.
While you are developing your budget you need to look for every
way possible to cut corners but you have to be realistic.  If
you try to budget $400 a month for groceries then you need to
make sure that you can make it on $400.  If you can't then you
have to set aside more.
Being organized is also an important aspect of money management.
Assign one member of the family to manage the budget and bill
paying.  Setup your files so that you can quickly lay your hands
on the bills, receipts, contracts, etc.
Deciding you have the willingness to get control of your money,
setting your goals and developing a budget will all take an
enormous amount of discipline to carry it out.  I believe that
if everybody applied the same discipline to their finances that
they use to get up in the morning, go to work, take care of the
kids and all of the other things we have to do everyday, money
management wouldn't be such a struggle for some people.
Today, you don't have to do this alone.  The internet has
thousands of web sites that are designed to help.  Most of them
won't cost you a cent.  However, it is going to be up to you to
decide if you are ready.
Terry Rigg is the author of Living Within Your Means - The Easy Way and editor of The FREE Budget Stretcher Newsletter and Budget Stretcher web site. He has 25 years of experience counseling individuals and families concerning their personal finances.