Let’s look at some items or habits you can stop this month in order to start saving (Use your items and figures that you had logged into you daily expenditures).

$208/yr – newspaper $72/yr – 1 movie a month at $6 $720/yr – 20 breakfast drinks a month at $4 $48/yr – 1 magazine at $4 a month

GRAND TOTAL of SAVINGS a YEAR=$1,048

In ten years that would be $10,4800

Now, think a minute, what can you do with that $1,048 extra a year or that $10,4800 in ten years?

Get a big jar; water bottle, tin can, piggy bank, or something to start throwing your MONEY into (don’t forget a container for your car).

If you pay cash for a daily newspaper, throw your paper cost DAILY into your container. If you pay monthly, write yourself a check for that cost. Start a new habit by being selective on what you NEED to read and see if you can read it on Internet or at library. Can you hear about it on tv news? Better yet, try a life change and STOP readin gor listening to news and start making your own * news * to share with relatives and friends.

When you go to rent a movie, STOP, and throw that money into your container. See if movie is at library, if a friend has it to borrow, or wait for it to come out on regular tv.

Start making your * special drink * at home in morning. You are now able to ENJOY your * special drink * because now you have more time because; you don’t have to drive to * special drink * place, get out of your car, stand in a sometimes long line, wait for your order to be prepared, and guzzle down your *special drink * while sprinting off, racing off, or dashing down street to wherever you might be headed; NOW you can relax and throw your $4, your stress, problems, and concerns into your container and REALLY ENJOY your * special drink *. (whew, didn’t mean to get off on a rant ).

That magazine that comes monthly, that you never have time to read, and is piling up on table or floor; stop it from coming into your home or office and write yourself a check at renewal time! If you think you can’t live without it, see if a friend gets it and ask to borrow. See if it’s on Internet or at library

I’m not trying to tell you to be a penny pincher or a miser. I just want you to REALLY look at where your money is going. Stop, think, and look at how you can * OverHall * your daily expenditures so you can get some of your hard earned money back and bring a sense of financial BALANCE back into your life.

If you find you are spending money on something that TRULY brings happiness, pleasure, comfort, and BALANCE into your life, then don’t give it up. Although you might consider cutting back on that item.

The Organizing Wizard, Janet L. Hall, is a Professional Organizer, Speaker, and Author. She is owner of OverHall Consulting, and Organizing By Phone. Subscribe to her FREE organizing newsletter at http://www.overhall.com/newsletter.htm or visit her web site at http://www.overhall.com

Copyright ( c ) 1999, 2000, 2001 by OverHall Consulting P.O. Box 263, Port Republic, MD 20676 All Rights Reserved. Permission is granted to reproduce, copy, or distribute so long as this copyright notice and full information about contacting author is attached.

As Deborah Fowles, financial writer of about.com, stated in her article * Financial Planning *: * To those of you who think you know where your money goes without keeping detailed records, I issue this challenge: keep track of every cent you spend for one month. I promise you'll be surprised and perhaps shocked by how much some of your "small" expenditures add up to. For an eye-opening illustration, try American Express * Savings or Spending Big Calculator at http://www6.americanexpress.com/401k/scripts/saveBig.asp Enter cost and frequency of a habit or indulgence and how many years you expect it to continue. Click a button and see not only how much you'll spend over specified time period, but also how much that same amount would grow to if you invested it at various rates of return. Mind-boggling! *

You might think all of this is too much work, am I right? Well let me ask you, how much work will it be or take when you are retired and have no savings, no investments, no assets, no money, no NOTHING because you didn't control your cash flow?

If you're already retired, how hard might you be struggling because you aren't paying attention to your money?

As Dr. Lair Ribeiro, author of * Success Is No ACCIDENT * wrote, * If you go on doing what you've always done, you'll go on getting what you've always got. *

STOP procrastinating! Get your priorities in line! Get focused! OverHall your cash flow so you can stop worrying about money, stop living from pay check to pay check, stop being late on your bills. Work on balancing your cash flow so you won't have problems or troubles NOW or in your later years.

TIP: The best time to work on this is when you are paying your bills.

Business Owners-The Small Buisness Development Center in your neighborhood will be happy to help you for FREE with your business cash flow!

Websites of interest:

~~ Basic Budget Worksheet at http://financialplan.about.com/finance/financialplan/ library/blbudget.htm

~~ Budget Worksheet http://www.moneyminded.com/incomego/start/a7budw15.ht m

~~ List of Small Business Development Centers http://www.nttc.edu/assist/sbdc.html

~~ Cash Flow Worksheet http://www.e-analytics.com/fpa2.htm

~~ Managing your Business Cash Flow Worksheet http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/lifestyles ext/ p06_0100.htm

~~ FREE Exl-Plan Business Shareware to prepare comprehensive financial projecitons, budgets, and business plans http://www.planware.org/exldown.htm Smiles, not Piles, Janet L. Hall

The Organizing Wizard, Janet L. Hall, is a Professional Organizer, Speaker, and Author. She is owner of OverHall Consulting, and Organizing By Phone. Subscribe to her FREE organizing newsletter at http://www.overhall.com/newsletter.htm or visit her web site at http://www.overhall.com

Copyright ( C ) 1999, 2000, 2001 by OverHall Consulting P.O. Box 263, Port Republic, MD 20676 All Rights Reserved. Permission is granted to reproduce, copy, or distribute so long as this copyright notice and full information about contacting author is attached.