Know Your Numbers!

You don’t have to be a geeky numbers person, but knowing your numbers is essential to just about everything. When you go on a diet, are you incredibly vague about it? “I’m going to lose some weight.” How much weight? How long will it take you? How are you going to do it?Reduce calories? How many? Reduce fat? How much? You get the picture. Knowing your numbers is essential to all stages of investing.  How much do you make? How much do you spend? How much do you save? How much do you want to have by retirement? 

When you’re first getting started, you need everything. Saving money seems monumental, but saving during this time is key to not piling on an enormous amount of debt because you want everything and you want it now. Of course, if you don’t have the money for everything that you need immediately, you use credit cards like we talked about in the spending chapter. Before you know it, you’ve maxed out all the credit cards and you’re saddled with college loan debt and the “need everything now” debt. That’s trouble! It’s hard to believe, but some of those need now items can wait even just a couple of months. Once you get a job and start earning money, give yourself a couple of months foran adjustment then start looking at your numbers. How much do you make? Do you have any existing debt? What are your expenses? Knowing
your numbers really applies to everyone, not just people starting out in life. Everyone should know their numbers!!!

Read more in my book, "The Little Black Dress of Finance"!  It's available for sale at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Little-Black-Dress-Finance/dp/1737125579/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=the+little+black+dress+of+finance&qid=1629050714&s=books&sr=1-1