How to convey ideas to self and others?

Just this morning I was reading the NYTimes on-line and ran across a great visual addressing all the ideas of money, finance, planning for the future that each and every one of us considers.  It was done in such a unique and creative way I just had to share it.

Here it is -  The Sketchpad: Personal Finance on a Napkin  It draws you into exploring what the ideas are about and hopefully gets you thinking about where you stand and how you would rate yourself.

As we have all learned over time, no one person has the correct answer for all which is why it is important that we take responsibility for educating ourselves about money and the ideas around managing it.  Not that we have to be a whiz at every aspect of financial planning, investments, life insurance, as that makes no sense, but it is our responsibility to ourselves to have at least a global understanding so we can choose people who can help us get to where we want to go.

That, of course, suggests that we know where we are going.  I think that answer isn't always available to folks who work hard in a jobs that only allow them to cover their basic needs.  If you are just living check to check, you may not be able to take the time to think about the future or even believe there is a financial future for you.  But believe me, even those folks who can only save a few dollars here and there are trying to plan for tomorrow.

Take a look at this article and enjoy it's message.  Hopefully for those of you who, like myself, are visual learners, you'll start thinking again how you can better manage your own personal finances.

Today's another day to save!

Each day we spend money without thinking about it.  A coffee, a pastry.  Lunch arrives and we go out with friends, lunch out again.  Then there's dinner and instead of cooking we choose to go out and yet another expenditure that we hadn't necessarily planned for is created...and it's probably not one that can be written off as a business expense...right?  This is not new news but these are expenses that over a month's time can add up to a significant amount of money.

Suggestion:  for just one month, keep track of all meals, snacks, waters, coffees and any treats that you buy during the day.  Many of us use our credit card or debit cards to pay for such things so it's easy to keep track by just going on-line to add these up.  Once you do this for a month and arrive at a total - divide it by the number of days of that month and you'll see how much per day you are spending that you could converted into savings! 

When you are able to determine how much you spend on food (whether it's grocery shopping or outside purchasing) then you can figure out what your real cash needs are for food per month and budget that amount for yourself.  Some people just take out the cash, put it away and draw from it when they need to buy groceries.  If you start to make your own lunch, you will be amazed how much of your "food fund" is left at the end of the month.

Just try it some time and see what you discover.  Remember what you're spending could be what you could be saving for your future and your financial security. - another step towards reducing anxiety and building confidence in your ability to manage your money.