Good personal finance management is an important part of many people’s lives. We all have challenges when it comes to controlling our spending and allocating our financial resources.

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Perfecting your personal finances involves balancing your spending with money available.  A good starting point can be managing your cash flow so you always have enough on hand to pay for spending and saving.

The following are some basic tips that can help you do that.

  1. Set goals and plans

It’s often said that goals are dreams without deadlines. You have to turn your dreams into goals and describe what you want to do with your finances.

In the plan, include the numbers and by what dates you want them accomplished,incorporating both long term and short term goals.

For instance,a long-term goal would be buying a home while saving for clearing a debt is a short term goal. This is the starting point.

You will not accomplish anything without a plan – here are some more tips on how to set financial goals.

  1. Track your net worth.

Net worth is the difference between your assets and debt and the position you stand financially.

Staying focused on net worthoften offers a more sighted view of your finances and can help you determine what needs to be done to reach your financial goals.

The figure of the assets should balance with that of the debt (liabilities).

In case the figure of the liabilities is higher than that of the assets, serious steps should be considered to fix this and you should think about consulting a financial advisor as soon as possible.

  1. Investing and saving

You have to carefully study the markets and identify the available opportunities to expect success.

Investments can be risky; it is often advisable to invest in riskier investments earlier in your life and stable investments later in life.Investors regularly report that the more the risk the more the return.

When investing it’s often considered better to diversify so to reduce the risks as one may be compensating the other.

If you’re unsure about where best (and how best) to invest your money, you could seek professional help; but don’t dive in and hire anyone without research.

When researching financial advisors, it’s a good idea to look for companies that engage with their customers and promote transparency. Modern businesses understand the value of customer openness and the sharing of information. When it comes to managing your money that’s often a good sign.

A great place to start your research is a Google search. Find a few companies that look interesting, and then check them out on social media outlets like Twitter and Facebook.

On Twitter for example, some companies will have active accounts and high followers to following ratio, suggesting they share worthwhile content and value customer interaction. Hargreaves Lansdown and Fisher Investments in the UK are examples of businesses with very active accounts.

  1.     Pay your monthly bills on time.

Paying your bills on time will help you avoid late charges. Take stock of your regular monthly bills and make reminders for when each bill is due. The best approach is to pay the bills as soon as they arrive.

You should know how much you spend each month on food, clothing, housing or entertainment.

  1. Insurance policies

Fires, floods and earthquakes are all major catastrophes that we all need to be prepared for.

Insurance is a vital management tool in protecting risks and finances.

By having the right kind of insurance coverage you will be guarding your property as well as your investments.

  1. Create a financial calendar

A financial calendar reminds you of your financial responsibilities throughout the year.

For example, if you find it tasking to remember to settle your quarterly taxes, set reminders for the due dates just as you do with your doctors appointments.

A financial calendar may be the missing link between you and perfect personal finance management.

There are numerous ways to set reminders including free tools like Google Calendar which allow alerts direct to your email, further helping you stay on top of things.

To summarise:

Perfecting personal finances can be termed as a procedural undertaking. Take one step at a time and eventually you will see some progress.

Take advice only from companies that you have thoroughly researched.

Plan your risk carefully.

Set goals and stick to the promises you have made that will allow you to achieve them.

Good luck!