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Day 1 - Setting Priorities
By JLP | February 1, 2006
Hi and welcome to the first day of “24 Days to Better Finances.” Each day for the next 24 days, I (along with some of my blogger friends) will be discussing the basics of personal finance. I will introduce the topic and discuss it from my perspective and then have links to other blogger posts. This is truly a community-wide effort. I hope you enjoy this and most of all, I hope it helps you make the right choices with your money.
Setting Priorities
What are your priorities? What is it you wish to accomplish with your money? Most likely, if you were to form a dream list of things you would like to do with your money, it would add up to more money than you could spend. The first step to better finances is to understand your priorities. Understanding your priorities will make it easier to say no to eating out all the time or buying that daily cup of FourBucks.
Since we can’t afford to do everything our hearts desire, we have to prioritize. For instance, I may want a big screen TV (I don’t actually) that costs $3,500. At the same time, I might need a new roof for the house that costs $5,000. Since I can’t afford both, I have to prioritize what’s most important: the big screen TV! (just teasin’).
Here’s a list of priorities that might be high on your list:
Saving for retirement.
Saving for your kid’s education.
Saving for a down payment for a house.
Saving for new appliances.
A new car.
A boat.
You get the picture. Everyone has their own sense of priorities. Prioritizing means making choices. If you are married, you and your spouse both need to work together in coming up with your prioritized list. I look at priorities as goals. If you have goals, it is much easier to stay within your spending plan (which is a future post).
Now, here’s a list of posts from other bloggers on the topic of prioritizing:
SeattleSimplicity:
Long Term Financial Goals Driven by Voluntary Simplicity
It’sYourMoney:
CanadianFinancialStuff:
MyOpenWallet:
BLOGGERS: If you have posts related to “Setting Priorities” that you would like me to include, send me an email with a link to the post in hyperlink format (so it is easy to cut and paste) and I’ll add them.
Topics: Basics |