Financial Freedom

Every single year of my life I have included a financial goal and every year I have achieved those goals. This year I wanted to do something different. I wanted to make sure that I put a focus on finances because I am going to be setting some serious goals that use this as a major step to achieve them.

Usually when setting finical goals I focus on what I want done by the end of the year: credit cards paid off, a student loan paid off, cars paid off, etc. Those are all great goals to be set, but those are the goals that I set every year. I wanted to change it up and push myself.

I decided that this was a year of investing. Investing in myself, investing in others, and doing things that will push me. These goals are a little more personal for me, but I wanted to share a way that I have found to get me to where I want to be by the end of this year, as well as the years to come.

Recently, my brother-in-law and I were discussing about saving money and how we could be better at it. I am all about enter in data and seeing the outcome of interest over time. He shared a biweekly budget excel sheet with me that I fell in love with. It was the greatest thing because I could enter in what I knew my paychecks would be (since I am on salary) and if I stick to my plan I see the results.

Get the excel spreadsheet here – Biweekly Budgeting

Then he gave me an excel sheet that I would be able to enter in my income, bills, everything to tract spending habits. This made us see where our money was going and how we could make better use of it. By planning ahead and keeping to our spreadsheets we’ve been able to change from living paycheck to paycheck to having a little nest egg.

Get that excel spreadsheet here – Bills Spreadsheet Template

For me, these were the answer to getting me from where I was, to where I want to be. Looking towards my future I can achieve these goals as I stick to it and stay focused. I know you can do it and hopefully these spreadsheets will help you like they’ve helped me. Enjoy!