Does there never seem to be enough to cover what you need despite there being more than enough coming in?

If so then you possibly just need to organise your finances.  Most people have a rough idea of what they spend each month but often it is not actually realistic which is why they get to the last week of the month and find themselves without money. 

Create a budget. You need to be able to actually see what your income and expenses are. You don’t need to be a chartered account to do this. All you need is a list of your income and expenses, it is that simple. Make sure you add all your expenses, even the small amounts.

Track your expenses. Even if you have a budget, track all money going out for 3 months. Most banks have an “export to exel” option so you can easily export your statement to a spreadsheet and allocate the money spent to its respective category, groceries, petrol, school etc. Make sure you keep a note of any cash you may have spent. This is a good way to see what you are actually spending versus what you have budgeted for especially for the items that change like groceries and petrol.

Set a “pay day”. Set a day where you can pay all the accounts that do not go off as debit orders. This way you will avoid late payment fees and you will know that everything you need to pay has been paid.

Pay attention. Check the amount of your debit orders every month. Query any discrepancies immediately. Watch your bank charges and see if your bank doesn’t have a different account or product that may work out cheaper or maybe another bank has a product that suits your needs? Knowing what debits go off your account and what amounts they are will help you pick up any possibly fraud on your account immediately.

Reduce/Avoid debit. Avoiding debt is not always possible. Most people have a credit card or two and there is nothing wrong with that but try and keep it to a minimum. If you have a credit card try and keep it paid up each month. Prioritise paying off any other debt you may have like an overdraft, loan or accounts.

Save. People often assume that savings have to be a large sum each month or that you have to be rich to save, both assumptions are incorrect. You can save R50 a month, if that is all that is spare. There are no rules to saving except to do it every month.

Get a filing system.  A lot of finance paperwork today is paperless but you still need to have it organised. Things like your tax certificates, insurance details, medical aid information all need to be filed and kept up to date so you can access them easily when you need to.

Be honest. Trying to work out a budget when you don’t add your Woolworths account or the loan you took out for your wedding, is impossible. You need to be honest about what your expenses so that you can gain control of your financial situation.

Despite what it may feel like at times, money should not control your life. Organising your financial affairs will help you feel like you have control over your money.

Author bio: 

Laura is a mom to four which means she spends most of her day driving kids from one activity to the next. She lives in Pretoria with her husband, the kids, a dog and a bird. Laura blogs over at HarassedMom (www.harassedmom.co.za) and runs a small party planning business (www.journey2joy.co.za), Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Journey2Joy/10150128530740425 and twitter https://twitter.com/Journey2Joy

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