Tell it where to go...

Being on top of your money is simple. It is the difference from telling your money where to go instead of wondering where it went.

Let me disarm people who are intimidated by their money. Life is hard to plan for, your money is not. However, we have made it more difficult than it has to be. Think about it, life has all types of curveballs. Relationships are confusing, jobs are frustrating, men are difficult, women are emotional, life has all types of abstract things that are being thrown at us. But money is not one of them...

We have a number of what came in. All you have to do is put it where you want it to go. So simple; it is a concrete number and you just use it. That's it. When it's gone, it's gone so don't put it in places that it shouldn't go.

Figure out your money TODAY. Basic suggestion that I challenge you to is write this down on a piece of paper.

Your Money : $________

Food : $________
Housing : $________
Power, Water, etc. : $________
Clothing : $________
Transportation : $________

These 5 categories are what you NEED. If your money coming in for a month is less than these 5 basic needs you are in need of ACTION. You need to sell that expensive car payment, you need to sell your house that is beyond your means, you need to quit buying Gap this and Ralph Lauren that, you need to quit eating out so much.

If your money is less than those 5 basic categories I urge you to act and get back in control of this thing.

Notice that I did not include any credit card payments. Those categories get paid FIRST. I don't care that Visa did not get paid and it hurt your credit. I care more about you and your kids having food or having lights on in the house.

But let's say your number of income is BIGGER than those 5 basic needs. Then choose where to put the rest, don't waste it. I recommend an emergency fund so that just in case "life" happens and you lose your job and that number at the top becomes $0 one month. Your family will still have food, home, lights, clothing, and transportation.