Organize Your Personal Finances and Achieve Financial Freedom by Evana Richards

Organizing your personal finances is something that many people tend to put off, sometimes to avoid facing reality. If you want to save money and get out of debt, putting your personal life in some kind of order so that you understand what you need to do is essential. You need to know exactly what goes in, and what goes out. Although you may have a feeling for this in your mind, it does not become absolutely clear until you really put it all down on paper.
The easiest way to organize your personal finances is to have a special place where you place every invoice, bill, or statement in a special file so that it does not get shuffled around in the mountain of mail on your desk or table. Label the files clearly, and organize them in a manner that is easy for you. For high interest bills such as credit cards, you may want to mark the folder in red so that it is easily identified, and you are sure to pay it. Paying off the bills that have the highest interest rates first is the quickest way to achieve financial freedom.
You should have a folder for utilities, mortgage payments, car loans, credit reports and any other expenses you have. By organizing your financial expenses this way, you clearly recognize what payments you have each month. After two or three months, you realize exactly what your monthly expenses are. This helps you devise a few ways you can save some extra money that may be applied to your bills.
To pay off your debts faster, devise a plan of attack. What do you waste money on every week? Although you don't think about it too much at the time, that $3 you spend at Starbucks a few times a week really adds up over a months time. Cancel your cell phone contract and start using a prepaid phone. You will save a substantial amount of money. Take your lunch to work. You would be amazed at how much money you can save in just one month by doing some of these things.
Put your paperwork in order, and keep good records. Decide that you are going to be proactive toward paying off your bills, and you are going to cut back on luxuries in order to do this. You will find that you can achieve financial freedom in a much shorter time period than you thought possible!