Workouts are not easy...

So it is my birthday today and I decided to wake up early and go for a birthday run. Which turned out to be more like a birthday crawl. Workouts are not easy and I got to thinking about how physical fitness parallels a lot to financial fitness.

Firstly, both are very important and affect other areas in our lives. I will not go into this but I am certain I won't have many who disagree that this holds true. Secondly, a workout takes discipline, which is the same thing that is needed with money. It does not come natural and it takes effort. Once you do this for a while you begin to get in shape.

With physical fitness it takes eating as well as working out. You cannot just eat all the time and be healthy it takes both eating right and exercise to be healthy. The same goes with the way we handle our money. Tracking AND planning are two essential parts that are necessary for financial fitness.

When we get overwhelmed with money, chances are it is because we are not handling it and letting it handle us. A common form of this is not tracking or planning. When you plan and track your money it takes all guesswork out. But you cannot just do one and be financially healthy; you have to do both.

It is important to take a spreadsheet (or even a yellow pad) and put down a projection of what your month looks like. Each month is different and will change so it is important to change and tweak before every month. Some things you need to plan for and set aside money each month (ie Christmas or Vacation). But the point is you have to start now. Just like when I got up this morning to run, even though it did not go as well you have to start somewhere.

Cliche Quote that applies is: "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

Practical Application Challenge: Download the Cash Flow Plan from my tools portion of my website FINANCIAL TOOLS. Fill it out and try to stay within your plan (keep all receipts for the new month, in this case it is August). Then after the month is over tally up all receipts and track where your spending went and compare that to your plan. From there you will see how you need to tweak things. If you have debt check back tomorrow, I will have a specific plan for you to attack with.

A word of prophecy if this is your first budget: you will not stay within your plan. I suggest that you put more than you would think for food because chances are you are going to undershoot it if you haven't been tracking your money closely. If there is no more money for food and there is still more month you are going to be going on one intense diet.