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You typically go to the doctor's office at least once a year for a physical and the dentist every six months for a dental check-up but how often do you check on your money. It’s just as important as your health.
If you think about it, money affects every area of your life, for example, transportation whether you ride public transportation, take an uber or drive your own car, you pay in some way for all of these options, (unless you’re walking).
Even the most financially savvy person needs to keep track of what is going on financially to make sure they are on the right track to achieve their goals
Here some other reasons why you need a monthly financial check-up:
Know where your money is going and plug any leaks in your budget
When you complete a financial check-up you get an idea of how you're spending your money, how much money it costs you to live every month and where you're spending that money. It’s important to know the answers to these questions because if you don’t know where your money is going, you’re either going to miss out on something you want or something you need.
By completing a monthly financial check-up you'll be able to see if you’re spending too much shopping for things you don’t need or if you are spending the same amount on groceries each month as eating out.
Are you spending more than you make?
You also know whether or not you're spending more than you make. For example, if you are bringing in $3,500 a month and spending $4,500 a month that means that you are using your credit cards, payday loans and you're taking it out your savings.
Spending more than you make is a sign that you need to either increase your income or cut your expenses
Sometimes when people are making a budget, they will make their budget according to how they actually want to spend and not according to how they actually spend money.
If you already have a budget, a financial check-up will show you what you actually spent in those categories so you will know if you're really just overspending or is your budget realistic.
Track your debt, savings, and investments.
While doing your financial check-up you're also going to know where you stand when it comes to your debt, savings, and investments.
You will know what your balances are and if you need to pay off more debt, increase your savings or invest more.
It will also give you an opportunity to determine if you could contribute more to reach your goals, how much more you can contribute and an action plan to make it happen.
Track your goals
When you check on your money monthly they will tell you how close you are to reaching your financial goals.
You will know whether or not you are staying on budget, if you are putting a dent in your debt, if your saving and investing accounts are increasing.
So once you look at your financial goals you are able to see if you have made progress towards this goal and how far you are from actually achieving your goal.
It also gives you a chance to decide if you're going to increase your goal, pause your goal or create new goals to increase your level of wealth.
For example when we moved and decided to put the kid in private school. I knew it was going to be expensive and I was nervous about the cost but once I found out the monthly cost, I was not as worried because I knew we could afford it. If I was not doing a financial check-up I would not have known if we could actually afford private school.
To hold yourself accountable
If you start performing a financial check-up on a monthly basis you will start holding yourself accountable for your actions. You can even do this with a friend to hold each other accountable for their finances because I always say, I don’t want to travel by myself. I need my friends with me.
It'll also help you stay financially organized because on a monthly basis you're looking at your numbers so you know where you stand going into the next month which will make it easier to make quick decisions when something comes up
It reduces stress when you have a handle on your finances you feel good. Even if you’re not where you want to be, you feel better because you have implemented a plan to get there.
If you are looking to get a better handle on your finances, to know where your money is going, to see if you are progressing towards your financial goals and have peace of mind when it comes to your money then download my free financial check-up checklist and action plan that will guide you through the steps to complete your financial checkup and create an action plan for your finances for the next month.
And if you don’t think you can do it yourself, click the button below to set up an appointment with me and we will go through the financial check-up together.
