Financial Success: 3 Steps for Better Habits & Behavior Towards your Money

You don't have to have a finance degree to have financial success. It's really less about how "smart" you are, and more about your behavior towards your money. People starting with little or next to nothing can make informed financial decisions and get really far ahead financially. While another person that has the head knowledge might not have good money habits and fall behind.

Here are 3 steps to help you set up good habits and behavior towards your money:

Money Audit

Sit down and do a complete audit on where you currently are with your money. This can be really intimidating, and you might have to face some uncomfortable truths on how you're managing (or not managing...) your finances. I can't stress the importance of this though, because you can't improve your financial situation without being brutally honest with where you are now. If you don't know where you are now, you can't figure out the steps necessary to get you to where you want to go.

Create a Budget

Create a budget that aligns with where you want to be and what your long-term goals are. When doing this, you want it to be sustainable so you can hit it every month. If you love to hit up Starbucks or Target or whatever it is, you can include that in your budget. I've talked a lot about this on the blog and on Instagram, but your budget is for you and YOU get to create it. Create it in a way that works FOR you! If you want more tips on creating a budget, I talked about it on the blog here, here, and with our budget templates here. One of the most important things to remember when creating a budget is your mindset around it. People often think of budgets as restricting. But for me, budgets actually allow me to spend while still working towards my goals.

Regularly Review your Finances

Have a money date to review your goals and budget at least every month, if not every week. Again, you want your money to work for you, so regularly checking in is a must. Are you hitting your goals in the timeline you want, and if not, why? What needs to change for you to hit your financial goals? Are there any unexpected expenses to account or plan for? This is also a good time to review/save receipts, and just make sure everything is up-to-date an in order.

I do realize that there are privileged situations and sometimes your financial situation has nothing to do with your behavior or how smart you are. However, I do think that there's something to be said for the importance of our behavior and actions when it comes to money. Your habits and dedication can make a big difference no matter where you start!