Two thirds of Americans aren’t confident in their finances and 45% say their relationship with money is stressful. People who have a financial plan are twice as likely to meet financial goals as those without one, and simple steps like creating a budget can help you reach your goals. When you have enough money to cover your bills but you still feel out of control, it’s time to take the right steps toward financial control through budgeting and more.
Taking control of your finances means more than just allocating where all your money will be spent. It also means designating some of that money for savings and retirement as well as for enjoyment. After all, the purpose of life isn’t to pay bills and die. Taking control of your finances can help you feel more in control of your life and, consequently, happier.
The first steps toward taking control of your finances are:
Setting goals is an important step toward financial independence. If you want to pay for at least part of your child’s college education, that’s something you need to be figuring out now. 97% of parents say that is their goal, and 70% plan to pay 70% of college costs for their child, but unfortunately only 29% are on track to meet that goal. Setting the goal and then working to meet it can decrease the stress of actually meeting the goal when the time comes.
Once you are meeting your financial goals, it’s important to figure out where you can buy some of your time back for the things that are important to you. After all, time is far more valuable than money.
There are a whole host of products designed to make your life easier. Roomba and Braava are robots designed to vacuum and mop your floors so you don’t have to. Alfawise Magnetic is a robot that can clean your windows. There are robotic security guards, robotic lawnmowers, and even a robotic pool cleaner, all designed to take some of your chore burden off your shoulders.
In addition to robots that do your cleaning for you, there are several apps that can help you get all kinds of different tasks done.
![More Than Money – How to Plan for the Life You Want [INFOGRAPHIC]](https://i.imgur.com/KsGMPx8.jpg "Financial Planning For The Life You Want - Infographic")
Read next: How Your Personality Is Impacting Your Finances (infographic)
Taking control of your finances means more than just allocating where all your money will be spent. It also means designating some of that money for savings and retirement as well as for enjoyment. After all, the purpose of life isn’t to pay bills and die. Taking control of your finances can help you feel more in control of your life and, consequently, happier.
The first steps toward taking control of your finances are:
- Decide how you want to spend your time
- Figure out which job would make you jump out of bed each day
- Ask yourself who you want to spend more time with
- Determine whether there’s something you’d like to learn about
Setting goals is an important step toward financial independence. If you want to pay for at least part of your child’s college education, that’s something you need to be figuring out now. 97% of parents say that is their goal, and 70% plan to pay 70% of college costs for their child, but unfortunately only 29% are on track to meet that goal. Setting the goal and then working to meet it can decrease the stress of actually meeting the goal when the time comes.
Once you are meeting your financial goals, it’s important to figure out where you can buy some of your time back for the things that are important to you. After all, time is far more valuable than money.
There are a whole host of products designed to make your life easier. Roomba and Braava are robots designed to vacuum and mop your floors so you don’t have to. Alfawise Magnetic is a robot that can clean your windows. There are robotic security guards, robotic lawnmowers, and even a robotic pool cleaner, all designed to take some of your chore burden off your shoulders.
In addition to robots that do your cleaning for you, there are several apps that can help you get all kinds of different tasks done.
- Plowz & Mowz helps you find someone to take care of all the yardwork you keep putting off
- Fancy Hands gives you access to your own personal assistant for hire
- Rinse can do your laundry and mending
- Rover can take care of your pets, including dog walking
- Taskrabbit, Thumbtack, and more can take care of light chores and handywork
Read next: How Your Personality Is Impacting Your Finances (infographic)