5 Tips To Reach Your Personal Finance Goals And Master Your Money.

Master your money, Master your life.

I’m not sure who said that, but truer words really have not been said. For the past three years, “Get my finances in order ” and achieve my personal finance goals was sitting comfortably at the top of my resolutions list, but I kept on procrastinating getting it done.

I had no idea how much I was spending in a month, didn’t have a budget and just felt like if I could afford what I wanted without my bank account looking too anaemic, I was good to go. Wrong! I definitely do not recommend.

Last year I was determined to hack this adulting thing, starting with getting my money in order. It has been one year plus of being on top of my money and I tell you, nothing beats this feeling.

It’s the start of a new year and I thought to share some of the steps I took to finally stay on top of my money and achieve my personal finance goals.

1. I did an audit of my inflow and outflow of cash.

The first step to getting your money in order is definitely knowing how much money is coming in and how much is going out. How much do you spend in a month? What do you spend it on? Etc.

I got my friend Alex to help me out with this audit because I was ~~lazy~~ seriously overwhelmed. Turned out that I was spending way more money than I should be considering the inflow. I still don’t know how I managed to pull that off lol!

2. I started tracking my money.

After the audit, I started actively noting down my daily expenses. Like literally accounting for everything at the end of the day. You can do this with an excel sheet or budget apps. I tried a couple of apps but my illiterate ass couldn’t figure it out so I went the old fashioned way – my planner.

Here's How I Got My Finances In Order And How You Can Too! Click To Tweet

3. Drew up a budget/savings plan.

For me, this was the part that I found confusing. How do I distribute my money? What percentage should go where? I read a number of articles about this but I still didn’t feel like they addressed my concerns.

My friend had attended a finance class so I asked for her opinion and she helped me come up with a plan that fits my needs. I’ve tweaked this over time and this is what it looks like currently.

Monthly allowance (25%) – Food, transportation and day to day bits.
Flex Money (10%) – Where I can purchase on a whim from – skincare, clothes, shoes. e.t.c. Because I have a certain percentage allocated for me to spend, I try not to spend on things I don’t need
Emergency Funds (20%) – After my surgery last year, nobody had to tell me how important saving for emergencies is.
Travel Savings (15%) – Previously, If I could take out the amount I needed to travel from my account without having too few funds left, then we move. Lol! Now I dedicate a portion of my money to saving for travel specifically.
Extra Savings (15%) – I found it a bit hard titling this because it’s what I initially called my “Going back” funds. This just means money I’m putting back in. Things like blog hosting, subscriptions, etc but I also dip in here to pay for stuff like swimming class, gym (I currently don’t do these but if I did, this is where it will come from)
I have yet another savings account (15%) – lol! I know, I know! Why so many savings accounts? I started this one to save for a new computer and now that I’ve achieved that. I’m not quite sure what to do with it. Regardless, I intend to keep saving in it and figure it out later. Probably invest in a mutual fund.

Looking at this here makes me realize that I’m saving quite a lot and in too many little silos. Obviously, this may not work for you because we have different personal finance goals and cash inflow but hopefully, it helps as a framework to figure out your own.

Also, because I was starting from the base, what I did was I took a lump sum and put in a fixed deposit and redistributed the remaining money into these different segments I listed.

Setting Up A Budget Plan To Help You Achieve Your Financial Goals Shouldn't Stress You Out, Here's How I Hacked Mine! Click To Tweet

P.S – I currently have a 9 – 5 and also work as a blogger/influencer on the side so there are multiple sources of income. I use this plan for my salary while the money I get from my other sources goes into Emergency funds, both extra savings and flex account.

Travel guide funds go strictly into travel savings.

4. Created separate accounts.

It seems pretty obvious, right? But I wasn’t doing this! I feel ashamed of myself even typing this. Most of my expenses were linked to one account, and I just kept dipping in and out without much thought.

After figuring out my budget, I redistributed my money so that I have a separate bank account for daily expenses – where my monthly allowance, uber is linked to, etc. and another for my Flex money. Everything else was pretty much moved to a savings platform.

Doing this has definitely made me more conscious of how I spend money.

5. Saving on platforms that helped me lock away my money.

Piggybank and Cowrywise really changed the game for a lot of people when it comes to savings. I use Cowrywise for my Travel savings, emergency funds savings (I use their stash feature so I can easily withdraw when I need it) and the last savings.

Looking to get your money in order? I'm Sharing some of the things I did to help me reach my personal-finance goals and master my money. Click To Tweet

I’m no finance professional or anything. In fact, I’m pretty certain I’m making some mistakes up there but this is what has helped me get my finances in order so far.

This year, I want to look into investments, getting more returns from my money and definitely earning more.

What does your budget plan look like? Would you say you’re on top of your finances or you’re still trying to master your money? Do you have any extra financial tips or budget tips? Please shareeee! I’ll love to learn from you guys!