Saturday, January 28, 2012

Financial Self-Reliance

This is the single most important part of becoming self-reliant. Don't you agree? The more comfortable we feel financially, the more prepared we are for the other aspects of our lives. Education, organization, food storage...all of these things are much easier when we working to be financially secure.

Remember, being financially secure doesn't mean you have loads of extra cash. The goal is to know where your money is going to better help you make wise decisions with your money, meeting your obligations and saving a little.

Note: I am no financial expert, that's for sure. But we can work on this together.

The first step to becoming financially self-reliant is using a BUDGET. A budget helps you to plan and track your income and expenses. If you are anything like me, you have started this processes several times and failed. Sometimes it's too hard to see that you don't have enough to cover everything so you just give up. It happens, I know, but it doesn't make sense. No matter how MUCH you have, it is necessary to TRACK your income expenses. The last few years I have been much better at tracking our expenses, and I can tell you, it makes a HUGE difference!

There are so many ways to do a budget:

-Online "checkbooks" like Mint.com
-Financial software like Quicken (which I use and love but you have to buy the program.)
-Spreadsheets on Excel (I use two: Long term and a year's worth of monthly budgets.)
-Or just a notebook or checkbook that you write everything in. Click HERE for Dave Ramsey's Quickie Budget.

You can see what your budget SHOULD be by going to THIS page on Dave Ramsey's site and entering your income. It is very interesting to see how much it says you should budget in the different categories listed.

Once you have a method of budgeting, you can decide what is realistic for you to budget for food storage and emergency preparedness. It will help you to distinguish between WANTS and NEEDS and to use some self-control when it comes to spending.

"All of us are responsible to provide for ourselves and our families in both temporal and spiritual ways. To provide providently, we must practice the principles of provident living: joyfully living within our means, being content with what we have, avoiding excessive debt, and diligently saving and preparing for rainy-day emergencies. When we live providently, we can provide for ourselves and our families and also follow the Savior’s example to serve and bless others" Robert D. Hales, Becoming Provident Providers Temporally and Spiritually.

Next post: Water

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