Where Does All My Money Go?

Lesson 1

Why Know Where All Your Money Goes?

Why know where all your money goes? This lesson will inspire you to take this course and find out the answer! This lesson will talk about why someone would want to set up a Spending Plan. It will discuss the difference between the Planning Mindset and the "I Want It Now" Mindset, as well as the ways that either mindset affects your everyday life. You'll look at lifestyles and how people usually choose them subconsciously. Then, you'll find out how to examine yours, and whether you want to make any changes. The lesson will also discuss The Black Hole of Monthly Payments: what it is, how it works, and why you'll want to learn how to avoid it. This lesson is the foundation of all of the ones that follow, because it will get you excited to learn why to get control of your own money.

Looking Back Then Planning Ahead

In this lesson, you'll begin the work of tracking your money by learning how to create a Net Worth Statement. You'll look at how your personality affects your attitude towards money, and how to manage money in marriage and relationships. Then, you'll learn about why you should set some goals for yourself and work on writing your own financial Wish List.

Checkbook and Record Keeping

This lesson begins with a discussion about the importance of your checkbook. It will discuss various banking topics like ATM transactions and debit cards and how to choose the right bank account. Then, you'll delve into how to create a Mail Station and a Bill Paying Station as a place to organize yourself for paying your bills. The lesson will also cover how to keep all of your paperwork—from what to save to how to create a filing system.

How to Balance Your Checkbook and Credit Cards

This lesson is the backbone of good money management. You'll learn how to balance your checkbook and how this task affects all of your money issues. You'll also take a look at keeping track of your credit card statements.

Debt Is a Four-Letter Word

In this lesson, you'll examine that enemy to financial freedom: debt. You'll look at how to know if you're in debt trouble and compile your own personal debt list. The lesson will also discuss tax debt and explain the best ways to pay debt off in general. Finally, you'll work on prioritizing your debt so that you know what to pay off first.

Looking Back: Assembling Data and Historical Costs

In this lesson, you'll look at your spending habits and where you've been spending your money. You'll create a list of expense categories, and then create a Historical Costs Worksheet to examine where your money has been going. The lesson will also discuss how to keep a cash log to track where your cash gets spent. Very few people know the answer to this! But you will after completing this lesson and its assignments.

Planning Ahead: Drafting Your First Spending Plan

In this lesson, you'll learn to change the way you manage your money, which begins with drafting your first Spending Plan. The lesson will discuss how a Spending Plan works, and you'll look at how to create one using your Historical Costs Worksheet as a base. Then, you'll compare your figures with standard guideline percentages to see where your Spending Plan might be off.

Paying Bills With a Bill Paying Plan

Now it's time to set up some detail about how to work your Spending Plan. You'll start by learning how to create a Bill Paying Plan. This will show you what bills to pay when. The lesson will also discuss getting an allowance and how this will help you manage your spending.

Keeping Your Spending Plan on Track, Part One

In this lesson, you'll go to the heart of how to really use your Spending Plan with the Envelope System. You'll examine what it is, how it works, and why it's superior to other methods of budgeting. All of the other lessons build up to this one.

Keeping Your Spending Plan on Track, Part Two

In this lesson, you'll look at the guts of the Envelope System and examine it in detail. This is the nitty-gritty, how-to lesson that pulls together everything you've done so far.

Avoiding Temptations to Get Off Track

This lesson will discuss common temptations to overspending, including your personal spending weaknesses, keeping up with the Joneses, housing and transportation issues, and teaching kids about money. If you're not careful, these things can pull you off track.

Saving, Investing, and Conclusion

In this last lesson, you'll look at why and how to save, and how to best use your savings account. You'll explore stocks, bonds, mutual funds, retirement accounts, and saving for college. You'll also review your Wish List now that you've learned how to better handle your money. At the end of this lesson and this course, you'll be able to confidently answer the question "Where Does All My Money Go?" and experience the freedom that comes from not worrying about money any more!