Do you control your money? Or do you let money control you? Let’s be honest here, many of us let money control us and that’s nothing to be ashamed of because, who doesn’t love money? We all get tempted to buy items that we really don’t need, which is a problem for the majority of the American population, according to the CNBC news, “Americans are ‘doom spending’--- here’s why that’s a problem.” We all work for ourselves, to fulfill our needs and wants, so this isn’t necessarily a bad thing to do because we deserve to rock the money we earned ourselves. However, the risk is that too many of us end up spending more than we make. To address this, we need to ask the essential question:  Are we beating inflation? Or are we buying unnecessary things that get us in debt, causing us to utilize credit cards and paying later methods that are dragging us into severe debt because interest rates, tax rates, and inflation are rising at a higher speed than our wages? (Answer: The average American is in credit card hell)  Well, I will show you today how YOU can control your money and stay within your own budget with only 3 steps. 

First thing is first: Create/Plan Your Budget: 

Start off by listing all your expenses and determine how much you can spend for every category. Prioritize your needs first, including rent/ house payment, groceries, bills, car payment, phone bill (e.t.c) There’s actually a method you can use called the 50/30/20 method in which 50% of your monthly income goes to your needs, 30% of your income goes towards your wants, and 20% of your income goes towards your savings. 

Second most important step to controlling your money is to Set Financial Goals: 

Determine short-term and long-term financial goals, such as paying off debt, saving for emergencies, or saving for retirement. Having clear goals will motivate you to stick to your budget, and will also motivate you to save money rather than spending it. 

Lastly, and this connects to setting goals for yourself, Prioritize Saving: 

Prioritizing saving rather than spending will save you from getting into debt because you will have money saved in case of any emergencies or if you are lucky enough that you will never have any emergency, then you will have money saved for long-term goals like buying a home or having retirement money saved up. 

My neighbor and friend, Anthony Morales, who works for KIA and happens to be skilled in the area of budgeting and saving shared: “ I used to be very irresponsible with money as a teenager/ young adult in my early 20’s. I attended concerts at least once every month, and the thing that affected me the most was dining out every day during college. However, I learned to manage money the correct way by planning out how I would distribute my monthly income in my needs ONLY! I pay off my necessities only and I typically save the rest of my income. Now, I only fulfill my wants every once in a while. This method has really helped me because I have already bought my car with only 2 years of using this method, and my next step is saving for a home.”