No matter how much money you have, it never seems enough, does it? Well if that’s the case, you might like to take a piece of advice from the financial solutions company Think Money, which recommends delving into your past (one year is enough) to find out how your finances back then compare with your finances today.
photo credit: Philippe Put
You’ll need your old bank statements, receipts, budget plans, bills and any paperwork associated with debts like credit cards or personal loans. If you don’t usually keep these things, now is the time to start! Looking back over your financial past can reveal secrets you never knew about yourself and it’s very useful for debt management.
You might discover some great financial habits you had in the past that you’ve lost along the way. Or, you might be able to identify where things started to go wrong if you have fallen into debt, or started to have debt problems.
The advice from Think Money for anyone with debt is to look back at their level of debt one year ago – was it more or less than now? Is your debt moving in the right direction? If you have bought a house, understandably you may have more debt, but if you have taken on another credit card, more than one payday loan, or if you exceed your overdraft limit more often than you’d like to, it may be time to speak to a debt expert about debt management – and finding a realistic budget you can stick to.
I’ve got budgets on excel spreadheets going back several years now and occasionally look back through them, more out of interest than anything else. Most satisfying bits are seeing the previous credit card debts and car loan that are now thankfully paid-off!
It’s a very good idea for budgeting. I have never thought of this before. And I wanted to say that I am impressed by the way you handled this subject. I saved as a favorite to see newer things you publish.
Quite interesting. I am going to check it out. The way to go when it comes to consumer debt is get out