Happy New Year 2013!

This is the time of our lives when we typically look back on the year that’s just passed and turn our eyes to the year ahead. Hopefully, we’ve learned from our mistakes of the past, but sometimes focusing on the future is scarier than what’s behind us. We can think about what we’d like to do, what we need, what we want, how much it’s going to cost, and we can speculate until we’re hyperventilating (or blue!) . . . but the fact of the matter is that no one knows what the future has in store for us. That in itself can be pretty frightening, not having total control of our destiny. But there is a way to have at least a little bit of control over our financial situation – it’s called effective money management. And there is a simple way to learn how to do it.

The Money Roadmap can be set up any time of year, but it’s especially effective when you begin in January. You can use your year-end checkbook balance as a base to set up your Roadmap for the coming year. It’s a “fresh start”, so to speak. If you need, or want, to set money aside each month for something coming up, or even later on in the year, now is the time to design your Roadmap so that you can achieve those goals. For example, my husband and I put a certain amount of money in our “Christmas Fund” every month so that when the shopping bills arrive, we’re not scrambling to find enough money to pay them. The money is already there, waiting. It’s been building up, little by little, for a year. We pay our car insurance premiums every six months, so we use our Roadmap to put a small portion from each paycheck in the “fund” so that when the invoice shows up in the mail, we’re ready to pay it. No questions about “if” we can pay it. It’s just a matter of when to mail the check so it arrives on time.

It’s much easier to handle money when you tuck away little bits over time than to try to come up with a huge lump sum, wouldn’t you agree? Kind of like eating a watermelon. You wouldn’t dare try to swallow it whole. You’d break it up into bite-sized chunks. Much easier to chew and no fear of choking on it! The Money Roadmap is your opportunity to gain control of your finances one buck at a time. You create your Roadmap based on your unique situation, your needs, and your priorities. You then “break up” the big amounts into smaller, more manageable chunks that you will stash away every month. And when the bill arrives, you’ll have peace of mind knowing the money is ready for you to pay it out.

So, if you’re pondering your New Year’s Resolutions, why not make one that you can actually stick with for the long haul? Why not choose to do something for yourself that will help you succeed? Pave your own way to a less stressful 2013 with The Money Roadmap. And, hey! You can even use that Amazon gift card you got for Christmas and get free Super Saver shipping . . . just a suggestion.