Are you resisting a financial plan?  Do you even know what a financial plan is?  A financial plan is a plan that you use to organize your finances and work towards completing financial goals.

You need a financial plan if you want to live without worrying about your finances, be able to afford a house, car, retirement, vacations, etc., and succeed with financial stability.  If you argue with your spouse about money or if you just want more money, you need a financial plan.

Steps to a Financial Plan

There are several steps needed to complete a financial plan.  Follow these steps, and you can get there.  Of course, this is assuming you have some sort of income and money to manage.  If you don’t, you are either not old enough or don’t have the access to it.  As soon as you start earning money, you can follow this, too.  The steps you need to follow are to set goals, design a plan, and build a budget to complete that plan.

Setting your Goals

There are no perfect goals for everyone.  You can have any kind of goals, but the most common are buying a house, buying a car, retiring, sending your kinds to college, going on vacation, etc.  You can have these goals, or any other that are smaller, larger, farther away, a few months away, etc.

A financial goal is something you want to complete that costs money.  If you follow these steps, work hard, and keep working, you can get them.  If you think these goals aren’t attainable, that is why you design a plan.

Designing a Plan

The plan will allow you to complete these goals.  You figure out how much time you have to complete them, how much money you need total, and how much money you need to save each month.  If a goal isn’t attainable according to your income and plan, you will either need to trash it, adjust it, or adjust your budget.

Build a Budget

Building a budget will help you to complete your goals faster.  The faster you complete them, the more satisfied you will be, and the more goals you can complete because you have more time and money.

A budget will mean setting up spending categories and setting a maximum spending amount for each.  This way, you will not overspend as long as you follow the budget.

Follow your Financial Plan

Finally, you must follow your financial plan and budget.  If you follow it and adjust only when necessary, you should meet your goals.  That is the whole point of building your plan, to make it easier and guaranteed to fulfill your goals.

Some people make a lot of money. They make more money and probably have more expenses. They have a lot to deal with because they have to keep track of where the money is coming from, where it’s going, and where it will be until it is spent.

This doesn’t include everyone. There are also the people that make moderate incomes and have moderate expenses. This article is for neither of these kinds of people. There are also the people who don’t make a lot of money and don’t spend much either. These people usually include students, or people who live with someone else or being partially supported by another.

There is nothing wrong with being in either of these situations, it is just a fact of life. The problem comes when it comes time for money management. He probably make a little bit of money at your part-time job or even a full-time job, but not much. You don’t have to pay for things like rent or mortgage because these are covered by the people you live with. You don’t make a lot of money, so you don’t have much to sit around and banks are investments.

You want to save more money so that maybe you can move out or buy a house. You decide that the best way to do this is to begin by managing your money. Financial planning software is what you’ve decided you need to help you out. Anything you look at it so complicated, is this really necessary for your small income and low amount of expenses?

There are varying degrees of financial planning software available. Usually the deluxe or premium versions will have a lot of features you won’t need.  If you don’t make a lot of money and you don’t spend a lot of money you have less to manage.

I would recommend that you either use an online program such as Quicken Online because it is free and simple, or keep track of an Excel spreadsheet. This is going to be the easiest and simplest way for you and you can still be an effective budgeter or were money manager.

Notebook and Pen or Pencil

Using a notebook sounds basic and simple, especially if you easily get confused with software and confusing, but overall, it really isn’t easier.  Once you get the hang of a software program or spreadsheet, there will less likely be mistakes and the whole process will be faster and more efficient.  I wouldn’t use a notebook unless you are carrying around a tiny one to keep track of spending on the go.

Should you use Excel?

You can manage your money with excel.  You can budget and you can keep track of your financial goals.  The downside is that unless you find a premade worksheet that you like, you have to design one yourself.  For some people, this is preferable because they can tailor it exactly how they want.  If you are lik this, excel, is perfect.

What’s great about excel is that you can have a book and set up different sheets.  Make a sheet for long term financial goals, short term financial goals, a budget, investments, etc.  You can be as detailed or as simple as you want and design it all as you want.

When you should use Software?

Software makes things a lot easier.  It’s all set up, you just customize it to your situation and add in your numbers.  It might even give you great features you never thought of.  Quicken and Microsoft Money are two of the most popular financial planning software available.

Quicken is also available online which is absolutely free.  This is great if you are trying to save money because not only will it help you with a budget, but it’s free, so you don’t have to buy anything.  It’s really worth giving it a try.  If you don’t like it, stop using it.

Another great benefit of Quicken and Microsoft Money is that you can connect all your accounts such as bank accounts and investment accounts, all together.  This makes it so simple having everything in one place.  You can keep everything organized.  Most of us have 2 or more accounts dealing with money, and this is a great benefit.

Making a one time investment into financial planning software can mean a simple money management program and keeping good track of your money.  It’s worth the investment, and if you don’t want to spend money, you don’t have to with Quicken Online.