How to reach your financial goals

If you want to do repairs on your house, you need to determine the cost analysis of the materials needed and labour to give you a clear view of how much you should start saving.  

In Summary

Most people are not so good at managing their money because they only think about it during a crisis. Annet Katusiime explains the deliberate steps to make money part of your life.

 

By Annet Katusiime

The reason we don’t stop working is because we have something we are looking forward to achieve. As humans, we never stop wanting more. In life, we all have financial goals which can sometimes pressure us to meet.

A financial goal is an objective which is expressed in or based upon money. For example, most parents must get school fees every term in order for their children to go back to school and study. Besides that, one needs to pay off debt, make investment and so forth.

However, reaching your financial goals requires financial discipline in the way you spend, save and invest your money. Achieving goals is not easy but you can make it easy if you have the right mindset and a good set of effective techniques.

First and foremost, be grateful of the progress so far made in your life. Unless you build confidence that you can do it, chances are high that you will be filled with negative emotions that will not yield any good. Even when you feel your life is going nowhere, be grateful that you are alive. Success begins with you. So, allow me to share with you four tips on how to reach your financial goals.

Income
What is the amount of money you earn and spend? Knowing your income and expenses is crucial to attaining your goals. It acts as a road map without which it becomes complex to attain your goals. It should not be so hard to do.

For starters, just draw a line between your income and expenses, get the totals and see which side is greater. If one of the sides is greater than the other, do something about it. If, for example, you have surplus income, think of how to save more and invest. If it’s the reverse, try to cut expenses by considering alternatives or foregoing luxuries to achieve your goals.

Assign costs to each goal
Determine the cost of each goal. For example if you want to do repairs on your house, you need to determine the cost analysis of the materials needed and labour to give you a clear view of how much you should start saving.

It also helps you choose between the most important goals especially if you have many goals you would like to meet in the same period of time. Therefore, knowing the cost of each goal helps you concentrate on one by one until you meet all your goals.

Make a decision
Taking a step in knowing the ‘HOW’ aspect is very important. Most of us make wonderful plans on paper but acting on them becomes the biggest problem. Because we feel safe to shelve our plans for another year as well as fear risk.

However, one needs to make a decision on how much to save, how to pay off debts and how much should be invested in any business venture.

Decide on the time of action
Time is a free resource we all have. Unless you set timelines on when you should start and stop, you will find yourself in a circle of unfinished business which can create confusion and lack of concentration.
Naturally, we get bored doing the same thing over and over again, for example, if you have like goals, you will dilute your energy between all goals and achieve none. Therefore, set to accomplish fewer goals in a specified period of time to achieve more.

Ms Annet Katusiime is a financial literacy trainer and consultant at Be Money Wiser co. Ltd