Right ways to plan your expenses

At the end of the month, do you know where your money went? Even though it may seem like a simple question, many do not know how to answer it. It was used only to pay basic expenses, such as rent, food and health, with no money left for leisure and unforeseen events? Or did you spend more than you could in social situations and superfluous shopping?

In both cases, it is possible to improve your relationship with money. Dealing with our incomes and expenses may not be easy, and many even avoid thinking about it, but it is fundamental to help us have a healthy and peaceful life, once money is usually a relevant factor for stress.

To achieve this control over your money, both past and present, some habits are essential. Investing in financial education, planning and creating goals are some. Learn more about these and see others in the article below. 

Invest in financial education

Finances may be a complex subject for many, especially because it is not usually taught at schools. However, this is not the first topic for nothing. Learning about finances, savings, credit and investments and how to spend money healthily is fundamental to avoid debt and live life with fewer financial worries.

This kind of education may be accessed in many ways. Financial books are successful and have helped millions around the world to understand important concepts of personal finances. For many, it still may seem like the best option to learn about financial education, especially because you can consult them whenever you want.

Recently, profiles in social media and YouTube, for example, are also doing this job, explaining complex information about finances for the lay public. Still, it is possible to find courses, not only on the internet but also in many public and private institutions.

Write down your expenses

Once you understand the basic concepts of finances, it is essential to write down all your expenses and incomes. This planning is the only way to really plan and control your financial life. Register your monthly incomes and expenses, including fixed, variable and one-off expenses; consider the expenditures on credit cards, loan installments and any other values that affect your finances.

With this control, it is possible to achieve the next topic: set goals. Financial planning allows you to pay all the bills on time, plan bigger expenditures, such as real estate financing, and save some money for unforeseen events and investments.

Set goals

This step completes the previous one and vice versa. Setting goals helps you to save money and understand that a specific amount of money already has a destiny. Creating financial planning allows you to see where your monthly income is going and, therefore, set goals for the future.

Still, planning the future is important to feel like your money is an important tool for your life, allowing you to achieve things you always wanted: an expected trip, a home, a good education for your children, etc.

Learn about investments

If children and adolescents are not even taught basic finances, imagine the lack of knowledge about investments? However, understanding how investments work, what are the investment options available and which is your investor profile is indispensable to make your money pay off and your work worth more.

Just as to learn about basic finances, to study investments you can bet on specialized books, profiles on social media and video channels, and courses. Investment news websites are also good options for learning about the topic, with articles ranging from basic to complex content, also including news and analysis.

Review the planning periodically

Last but not least, it is important to revise your financial planning from time to time, checking if fixed and variable expenses are still the same, if there is any new source of income and if the investments made are still paying off.