Goal Achievement Monthly Budget

Basic Financial Planning Basics

Goal Achievement Monthly Budget

I have been writing concerning the need to purchase real estate and, in the future, I am planning to write about construction. After discussing my blog with a few people, I discovered that it may be wise to write concerning personal finances. Every person has some form of capital. Capital is a supply of useful assets or advantages. Before I start hearing moans about some poor lost soul in so remote corner, that person is part of their own capital. They have some value or talent: they possess life and that is an advantage over all the dead. In this discussion for the most part the use of capital refers to money. But everyone has some capital, if they are broke, they have a skill set that permits them to get money to purchase the items they need, or perhaps they have the ability to barter for these items. For the sake of this discussion let us say that everyone has some money, it is the amount which they process that varies. It is the individuals needs, financial choices and their unexpected situations which will vary from person to person. The next series of post will be concerning basic personal finance, because even those with less capital deserve the opportunity to increase their capital.

I remember watching a You tube or something along that line concerning preschoolers given a cookie and being told not to eat it until the presenter came back. The things the kids came up with were surprising. Those cookies were calling their names. Most of the children tried hard but didn’t listen or at least they did obey. However, those who did obey were rewarded for having done so. I think every child received another cookie but those obedient children receive many more cookies. That is kind of how financial security works. Financial security comes our application of our knowledge and skill sets so we can earn, save, spend and invest our capital. We do this as a person, a family, or as a community with goals. When a person has no goals, they never know when or if they have achieved their place of reward. Goals could be short term, (I ‘d like to have One hundred and fifty dollars at the end of the week so I can take Sally to the movies and a meal) or they could be long term goals. (I would like to have a professional degree and it paid off in ten years) To reach these goals we have to developed the skill set which those children who did not eat their cookie had. Basically, we need to strengthen our attitudes, and behaviors to be able to obtain our short-term and long-term financial goals. However, when we have accomplished these tasks, we soon discover they have led us to our financial stability.

To arrive at this place in our lives we need to set priorities. Financial stability is the result of organizing the process to achieve our long- and short-term goals. It is our personal money management which causes us to achieve this success.

An example of a monthly financial plan sheet is provided. However, filling it out will not provide the financial stability needed. The sheet is only an example and it needs to be adapted to your current lifestyle needs.  Its author takes no responsibility for the truthfulness in filling it out or the results arrived at by doing so. The person filling in the sheet’s information remains fully responsible for their financial stability. If for any reason you disagree with this do not fill out the sheet.

After filling it out you can look at each section’s totals, The typical object is to get to the point where the totals percentages are 50/30/20 percent of our incomes. Do not be alarmed if they are not there when beginning the process. The plan is to help us get there. We could add anything as a reward for reaching our goals. It could be a car, truck or house.  You are able to screen shot the example or create your own to fit your needs.

When we use this type of tool it helps us:

• showing us areas where we need to work harder in maintaining our financial balance
• protecting our financial resources
• improve personal relationships resulting from well planed and followed financial decisions
• freedom from the worries through the achieving of our economic goals

As society evolves individual financial needs adapt. People tend to get married much later than what use to be the norm, if they chose to marry. Today there are many single parent households today and over two million people are the providers for their dependent children or their ageing parents. There has been the improvement in the quality of our drinking water and medical care which has resulted in people living longer than prior generations. Many Americans live past the old average age of sixty-five.

Our financial needs are also shaped by other external factors, morals or lack thereof, things we feel are desirable or important. We like to think we are logical beings, but they put those temptations at the end of the grocery isles because the reality is we’re not. If you are telling yourself those are small items. Then I ask, why is it the car sales people want to get us behind the wheels so we can image the feel of owning that new car?  It’s not because we’re logical.

Down Load is available to copy and use.   However the author does not assume responsibility for the usage. The responsibility remains with the person filling out the form.

You can download the form using this link below:

There are many factors which alter our financial decisions. Our ages influence the way we manage our money, our incomes factor into it as well as our family size, religion also factors into our finances. Your lifestyle will alter your approach to budgeting. However, it is important that we write down our budgets. Doing so helps us achieve our goals. It through taking control of our finances that we become able to afford the finer things in life.

The exercise is simple and short to accomplish, but if you establish yourself a habit of doing it the effects are long reaching.

Note: Images on this blog site are from a free source. No image or group of photos are intended to represent the people I serve. I don’t care about race (that is a politically correct term that I do not like because we are all of the same race, the human race. I prefer the term ethnicity), color, religion, sex, gender, marital status, disability, genetic information, national origin, source of income, Veteran or military status, ancestry, citizenship, primary language or immigration status. I am a service provider for all people. We will all rise together when we band together and help one another. Joseph Erwin is a Real Estate Broker, DRE # O2131799, and a CA general contractor # B 696662. He’s a member of the CRMLS and The East Valley Association of Realtors located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California.