This is the beginning of my attempt to be RICH!
Go ahead and laugh now, because I am laughing too, but this really is one tool I am going to use to document my successes and failures with money from here on out.
I named my blog Finances Friday, because in my perfect world (the one where the kids are always happy and everything is perfectly organized), I would be doing an entry every Friday. I am going to admit right now that the likelihood of that is very slim to none. But at least it is a catchy title and one to help me remember to ever update my progress (or lack thereof).
I will start now by telling you the sad standing of my money right now:
- We have $725 in our checking account right now (and for the last day of the month, that is something to shout about!)
- We have $110 in our savings account, and I don't even know where that came from, because usually we have none. I'll take it!
- Besides student loans (aaaah!) and our house, we have about $300 that we owe in credit card debt (thank you washer and dryer), and $3500 that we owe on a car.
That about sums it up. And you don't want to know how much we make each month, because, after almost 9 years of marriage, it's just sad. But things are going to change soon.
This is how it all started: I read Rich Dad, Poor Dad after my husband had been begging me to for quite sometime. That's it! Really. And now I am motivated to MAKE MORE MONEY!
I didn't learn tons of new things from this book. But I learned a few important things. I can't just hope that one day I will make lots of money. I have to be willing to do the 'work' for it. And by work, I don't mean a job. I mean learning. Financial learning or financial intelligence. But let me tell you--that is way easier said than done!
So these are the things I am working on studying to build up my financial intelligence:
1- Financial literacy (the ability to read numbers)
2- Investment strategies (the science of money making money)
3- The market (supply and demand)
4- The law (the awareness of accounting, corporate, state, and national rules and regulations)
I can't believe how clueless I am when it comes to money. I have kept a budget and balanced our checkbook since we first got married, but since we have always been living month to month, I guess I thought there was nothing I could do better. But now I know better.
So for now, my plan is to read and try not to be scared. It doesn't sound like a great plan, I know, but it will work for now. I'm on to my next book:
Wish me luck!
