4 Tips to Better Manage Your Time and Money - Introducing A.V.Y.’s New Free Class!
Many people find day to day life very stressful. One potential coping strategy offered by counseling services is time and money management classes. So often it isn’t how productive or in control we are that matters as much as how in control we perceive we are. If you feel like you are managing your time and finances well than you are more likely to make good decisions that will enable you to continue to make good decisions down the road.
One study revealed that personal financial management practices are greatly affected by personal education levels; meaning, the amount of time you’ve spent in finance classes increases the likelihood you will be a good personal manager. You don’t have to be a professional accountant, however. Instead, that same study reveals that professional finance people are no more likely to be personally financially proficient. The findings further revealed that high education levels do not necessarily lead to financial literacy but somewhat improve personal financial management practices. The greatest factor influencing personal financial management practices is personal financial literacy. Lack of it, therefore, leads to poor personal financial management practices.
What does this mean for you? If you need help with your finances you should become more literate. Take a class!
How a Financial Management Class Helps You
People who are in control of their time and money reported significantly greater evaluations of their performance, greater work and life satisfaction, less role ambiguity, less role overload, and fewer stressful situations. A personal financial management class can help you learn about and implement important principles. We’ve made a list of some of those principles below.
Priorities
Mark Twain had an interesting way to describe this principle. It goes something like this, “If it’s your job to eat a frog, eat it first thing in the morning. If it’s your job to eat two frogs eat the biggest one first”. A little gross to be sure, but helpful in helping us get our priorities straight. Whatever you NEED to spend money on, spend money on it first. By doing so you will ensure your needs are met.
Track Where You Spend Your Money
You’ve probably already been told to make a budget. Tracking your money is kind of a budget in reverse. Instead of (only) planning out where you are going to spend your money at the beginning of a month, try investigating where the money actually went at the end of the month. Often hundreds of dollars are discovered to have gone to places we might regret; gas station soda, subscription services, or impulse purchases.
Stick to the Plan
Whatever you learn from classes like A.V.Y.’s the most important part is to stick to your plan. No one can make good financial decisions for you. That means that whatever scheme you come up with to get yourself out of trouble needs to be followed. That might mean eliminating negative influences. This definitely could apply to friends and family that are causing you to spend unnecessary dollars.
Plan for emergencies
The car will need repairs. The emergency room will need to be visited. Your job could be lost. All really terrible things, that happen to most people! At some point, it is very, very likely that you will have one or all of these things happen. If you haven’t set aside an emergency fund you are going to be drowning in debt at the end of one of these unfortunate scenarios.