Expense Control: Learn To Control Your Financial Life
Having a financially organized life is the basis for achieving many goals. Whether it’s buying a house, doing an exchange program, starting to invest or simply putting some order in your life, spending control can work wonders. And, the good news is that he is not the “seven-headed animal” he seems to be.
Do you want to learn how to control your expenses, in addition to knowing tools to help you with the task? Read on!
See how to control expenses
Organizing your financial life is not an extremely difficult task, but it does require dedication and, perhaps, even an organization course . To make this change in your life, you need to be aware that some modifications will be necessary, as well as the creation of new habits. For this, focus is an indispensable quality. So, check out some tips below to start your spending control in the best way!
Understand your financial situation
Understanding your financial situation means becoming aware of your current moment and realizing what your debts are, fixed monthly expenses, goals and your budget to cover all of this. By budget, understand your net monthly salary, that is, the one that is in your account at the end of the month, including discounts.
Putting on paper all fixed expenses, debts, goals and your monthly income, it will be possible to look at the whole and have a clearer view of the situation, as well as the solution to any financial crisis that is happening. Also, this is how you decide how much of your money for the month is already committed and the amount left over for you to use until the next payment.
Write down your expenses
The second tip for organizing life with good financial control is to write down all your expenses. Find a fixed place to register them and make notes of absolutely everything you buy. That way, you’ll be able to understand what’s happening with your money, in addition to having a greater sense of control of your finances.
It is also interesting to organize these notes by categories, such as health, fun, food, etc. Thus, it will be possible to better understand what you are spending and if there is any area that is compromising your monthly budget.
Get rid of debts
Getting rid of debt is essential to control your financial life. That way, you can focus on accomplishing your goals without having to worry about a dirty name or any other nuisance of the sort.
Of course, this is more complicated in practice, sometimes the budget is stretched to the limit and it is totally unfeasible to allocate any additional amount to debts. But, take a look at your expense notes and see if there’s anything on the list that could have been saved: chances are you’ll find some superfluous expenses. That done, just make a commitment so that it doesn’t happen again in the coming months and better allocate that amount. Even a cost control course can be very useful.
Set goals
After paying off debts, that saved money can be directed to things you dream of accomplishing. Trace one, two or three goals, it doesn’t matter, the interesting thing is to have a target to aim at. Plan to save money for an exchange program, buy a house or go on vacation, for example. When you have a goal, the organization always has a better chance of succeeding.
Expense control: discover 3 apps to organize your finances
Now that you know where to start, below are three applications to help you choose the best expense control app for your routine. Check out!
1. Organize
You know that fixed place to write down your expenses? So this is Organizze. The application allows you to manually add earnings and expenses, as well as classify expenses by categories, all in the free plan. The paid version costs BRL 11.90 per month and allows you to set spending goals in each category, receive alerts for bills close to the due date, among other things.
2. Pocket Guide
Guiabolso can be synchronized directly with your bank, which eliminates the need for you to manually add your income and expenses. In addition, the expense control app also has artificial intelligence to offer a personalized financial organization advisor service.
3. Google Sheets
Google Sheets is a great way to organize your life, especially when it comes to tracking your expenses. This application is for those who prefer the more traditional form of organization, through spreadsheets. It even presents some ready-made templates precisely for this purpose, and it is up to the user to just fill in their earnings and expenses.
Spreadsheet as a complement
As you noticed with all the applications exposed above, digital spreadsheets are not the only way to organize routines and processes. But, they can be allies to your organization. Whether it’s a notebook, application or computer software, you can create the ideal template for your needs. So, just keep the data organized, don’t forget to update them and always analyze the necessary changes.
In order to keep the organization, always value the division of earnings and expenses by categories. Revenue can be divided into: salary, bonuses and dividends, for example. While expenses need a little more detail. You have the option to sort them into categories like food, rent, house bills, donations, transportation, etc.
Everything will depend on your routine and what makes sense for you to be on the list, the important thing is not to exaggerate in the divisions, nor to be too general. There are applications that already offer ready-made templates and it is possible to find several spreadsheets to download on the Internet, which are editable in Excel. And, if your goal is to use paper and pen, know that there are also several inspirations on the web, just prepare the ruler and get to work.
