Managing Your Finances to Achieve Your Goals Plymouth

Many people over 50 have what they call ‘pipe dreams’, things they really want which to them seem totally unachievable. If you ask them what’s stopping them from realising their dream their answer is nearly always just one thing: ‘money’ - a pretty obvious and realistic answer you might think.

Well, not entirely. Time and time again real life examples of people who have gone all out to get what they wanted - and have succeeded - prove that if you really want something badly enough, lack of money isn’t going to stand in your way.

Many other barriers might cause problems but money is a comparatively simple bridge to cross if you’re passionate about what you want.

Simple rules for success

If you have a dream and you really are prepared to put some effort into achieving it, then following these few simple rules, ruthlessly and single-mindedly, will put you in a good financial position to do so:
1. Set realistic financial goals: First of all, it’s essential to clarify your goals. What exactly do you want to do? How much money would it actually take to get your dream off the ground? Often our vague estimates are far in excess of the amount we could make do with if we really wanted and needed to, so it’s important to do some serious, detailed research into precisely what your costs would be.

2. Write down your figures in a notebook (or on a spreadsheet) and keep adding to them or amending them as you find out more. It’s important to have those figures somewhere safe and accessible as you start to work towards achieving them.

3. Assess your worth: Now undertake a similarly rigorous and realistic assessment of what you’re actually worth. What savings do you have? What assets do you have - those things like property, a car, or anything else of value that could be sold? Delve deeper and start thinking about anything else you might have that could earn you money. Perhaps you have at least half a wardrobe full of hardly worn clothes that you could sell? Likewise CDs, tools, books, accessories? These days with eBay and car boot sales there’s very little that someone somewhere doesn’t want to buy, so be totally ruthless when assessing what you could sell – the hardest part will be when you actually have to do it.

4. Be a savvy shopper: Although looking at how you can realize some cash and earn more are both important, the easiest way by far of making more money is simply by cutting back on your spending. Most of us waste huge amounts of money on things that we want and think we have to have, but actually we don’t need at all. Much like dieting, it’s often best to go ‘cold turkey’, set yourself a strict budget, and stop spending immediately on anything which isn’t strictly necessary.

5. Be a smart saver: Now – and this is where it starts to get harder – look at how ruthlessly you can cut back. If you cut out all the ‘nice to haves’ whether that’s ready meals, going out, new clothes, gym membership or whatever – and stick to the absolute bare essentials, how much would you save every week or month? Okay, you may need to spend more time on doing things for yourself, you may need to make a lot more effort and work even harder, and you will certainly have to deny yourself a great deal over a long period of time – but how much do you want to achieve your dream? If you really want it, it’s worth it.

6. Look after the pennies: The old saying, ‘Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves’ is actually very true. Although it may not seem that saving a few pence here and there makes much difference, over time it does. First of all, it is an expression of an overall mindset that is focused on proper money management. And, equally important, it shows that you value what money means and, like precious drops of water in a drought, that you recognize you can’t afford to waste any of it.

7. Love a Lada - don’t long for a Rolls Royce: Finally, be prepared to set your sights lower than you might ideally like. Often our ultimate dream is the ‘Rolls Royce’ version of what would be really lovely to have, when actually we could just as well start with a less ambitious and less costly version of our dream with a view to building things up in future.

Finally, whatever your dream and whatever your approach, be prepared to persevere. Unfortunately it takes time and not inconsiderable self-sacrifice to accumulate capital and it will be hard. But the joy you will experience both in seeing your savings grow and in ultimately achieving your dream will make it all worthwhile. Stick with it and you will succeed.


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