For the month of November I have focused my happiness project on finances. So far I have worked on setting a budget, making charitable donations, and eliminating debt. For this last week of November, I am going to finish out the financial part of my happiness project by focusing on savings. Most people would agree that it's important to have a savings fund set aside for emergencies. I've heard a lot of advice about how much to save and it seems to vary from 3-6 months of living expenses. It's pretty overwhelming to think of saving even 1 month of living expenses, and especially overwhelming when you think of 3-6 months. I've decided to start small and set up a recurring transfer to my savings account each paycheck. Once the money is in the savings account it will be un-touchable unless there is an emergency. I've heard the experts say that this is the best way to grow your savings account because you can get the money straight into a savings account and try to forget about the money all together. The automatic transfer makes sure you stick to the plan and then you just have to exercise self-control and not touch the money. So that's it for my financial happiness. I feel better now that I have gotten a good look at my budget and have laid out a plan for paying off debt as well as beefing up my savings account. Next month's focus will be working on my spirituality. I don't want to push my spiritual beliefs on anyone, so I will keep the posts relatively short and non-denominational.
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This week for my happiness project I am going to focus on eliminating my debt. Like most Americans, I have fallen into the rabbit hole of credit card debt. I thought I'd turn to one of the experts, Suze Orman, in order to figure out how to get out of my credit card debt.
I went to her website and followed the links to find her "Paying Off Debt" advice. Here are her 10 tips to paying off debt:
Now that I know what steps to take, I am going to implement her advice and make my own debt repayment plan based on her steps. Next week, I will start looking towards the future and make a savings plan to follow.  "No one has ever become poor from giving." I've seen this quote attributed to both Anne Frank and Maya Angelou. Whoever said it was entirely correct. As part of the focus of this month's happiness project, I've been thinking a lot about money and finances. I truly believe the quote above and also think that the way to become truly rich, in terms of living a fulfilling and abundant life, is to give to others. That is why I've decided to add a charity donation to my monthly budget. I have many causes I'd like to give to, so I've decided to spread the love and give to a different charity every month. Here are some of the places I'll be donating to:
All of these places have touched my life in one way or another and I'm looking forward to giving back in some small way. What are some of your favorite causes or charities to donate to or volunteer for?
 For my second month of my Happiness Project I am going to focus on money. I will take a close look at my finances and figure out where I can make some better decisions on spending. I am also going to make a plan on how to get myself out of debt and start a savings plan. Unlike the picture above, I do not want money to control my life. I'd rather get a plan in place that runs smoothly on its own so I can live my life but still spend wisely.  In order to start making financial plans, I need to know where I stand. In order to get a good picture of my money situation, I am going to use Mint.com to track my spending. Their tagline is "It's easy to understand what's going on with your money." They pull all your financial accounts into one place and let you use that data to create budgets and track your goals.
They have a great mobile app that you can put on your phone so your financial information is always at your fingertips. Now it's time for me to get tracking! |
AuthorMy name is Beth and I live in Denver. I am a single lady in my 30's and wanted to start sharing my awesome and amazing life through a blog. Categories
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