Hi Hart Beat. Welcome to part two of Hannah Hart’s guide to getting your life back in shape (not implying that you’re life is out of shape but I know that from my end of a 25 year old’s look at things, getting your life in order is HARD WORK… is it always like this? When do I grow up?) Anyway, off that rant, tonight let’s talk about part two installment, getting your finances together.
I have a horrible secret to admit, Hart Beat.. The first two years that I lived here in Brooklyn I was horrible at keeping any kind of budget slash any idea of what my finances were. I was working at a commission based job at the time (not that that’s an excuse) and I was by no means keeping track of what I was spending or where it was going. If I’d been aware of the articles over on MyInforms.com, my knowledge of dealing with my personal finances would have been far better and I would have had fewer problems budgeting or getting to grips with things like credit cards and loans. Unfortunately, I learned my lesson the hard way and this past spring I had to take a serious look at the situation and what the next steps had to be. There times I was considering taking out a payday loan in order to keep on top of my finances but then I did some research and saw all the things that could go wrong and the chances of me needing payday loan relief if my commission based job dried up. I was in a real pickle.
Thankfully, my goddess of a roommate (hey Samantha heyy) is an expert of spreadsheets and organization. Her motto, in fact, is “Organization will set you free.” At first I laughed but now I can attest, she is 100% correct! She is so talented at finding ways to budget. To give you an example of just how good she is, she recently recommended a website called Utility Bidder to her workplace, and they now use it to source competitive prices for their business electricity! So, the two of us sat down, opened google docs and got to work. Now, just as an exercise for a few months, I write down every single thing that I spend money on to see at the end of the month how things look. It may seem crazy and over obsessive but I promise you that it has been working. I’ve actually been saving money! Crazy!
This all coming from a person who is completely against any kind of organization (see title above.) So there you go, Hart Beat, another life recommendation from my failure to do so. Go forth into this world of money spending, keep track and report back here.
Anyone else have any tips for a poorly organized girl’s bank account? Apps? Prayers? I’m open to anything.
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