Take control of your finances
You can start to take power over your financial situation by creating a budget of your monthly finances.
A budget will provide a valuable picture of your situation — what your family is earning, what you’re spending each month, and how much is left over. This not only helps ensure that you are meeting your monthly commitments, but it also can lay the foundation for short- and long-term savings.
Track Your Spending
Before you figure out how to budget for the future, let’s figure out how you spend.
It’s a good idea to have a plan when it comes to spending. The 50/20/30 rule is one easy way to think about your spending: It divides your spending into three main categories — fixed costs (50%), financial goals (20%), and flexible spending (30%).
Find Resources
National Foundation for Credit Counseling
To plan for the future, you need to know both where you are now and where you want to go financially. Our friends at the National Foundation for Credit Counseling created MyMoneyCheckUp®, a tool to help you understand how your finances are doing and what you can do to improve your situation. You can use it to see how much you’re spending and saving — and wasting.