Prepare your money plan_1

This page intentionally left blank From the Library of Wow! eBook PART I Spending Smart Today Chapter 2 Chapter 3 First Things First . . . . . . . . . .27 Get FIT (Food, Insurance, Telecommunications) . . . . . .63 Chapter 4 How to Buy Stuff . . . . . . . .105 Chapter 5 Green Means Green . . . . . .145 25 From the Library of Wow! eBook This page intentionally left blank From the Library of Wow! eBook Chapter 2 First Things First Getting Started ou can take a number of supereasy steps to get your financial life in order. For some tasks, it’s a matter of actually doing them and crossing them off your list. Others require periodic maintenance. Often, these fundamentals alone will put you on a path to money success. It’s like learning to golf. If you don’t have a proper grip and stance, your swing is doomed. Children can’t read until they know the alpha-bet and what sounds letters make. You’ll be an unsuc-cessful driver until you learn about the accelerator, the brake, and the rules of the road. These fundamentals are always taught—and learned—the same way, step-by-step, in a process as easy as 1-2-3. Taking Stock Nobody is starting this minute with a clean financial slate. We already have a lot going on. We’re spending and saving every day. So, it’s time to take stock. 27 From the Library of Wow! eBook 28 The 1-2-3 Money Plan Taking Stock, 1-2-3 1. Take a snapshot. Find out where you stand now. 2. Look back. Track previous spending to see where your money goes. 3. Look ahead. Set specific goals for where money will go in the future. Imagine your money life is moving along a timeline. All you own and all you owe is constantly changing, with every swipe of your debit card and every deposit in your retirement plan. It’s important occasionally to take a snapshot of where you are now, a freeze-frame in the motion picture that is your money life. In the introduction, I wrote about how receiving financial advice is like taking driving directions from a GPS navigation device in your car. No matter how good the machine is, it can’t give you directions to where you’re going until it knows where you are now. It pin-points your location by searching for and locking in satellites as it boots up. Well, it’s time to boot up with your finances and find out where you are. It’s the first step in getting to where you want to go. From the Library of Wow! eBook ... - tailieumienphi.vn