The Scale

As someone who has attended Weight Watchers in the past, I cannot help but see the analogies between money management and weight management. Every week at WW you step on a scale and your current weight is recorded enabling you to literally "see" the progress towards your ultimate weight loss goal(s). I must note that I HATE stepping on the scale and will go to great lengths to avoid this act which most likely explains my 11 month absence from WW! However, last week I knew it was time to gain some accountability for both my weight and my eating habits so I returned to WW to step on the scale. Fortunately the damage of inattention was not as bad as I had anticipated and the reality check gave me my weight loss marching orders.

So it is with our finances, while I can certainly move forward in life without a budget or verifying my bank account, having real-time information is a much better and proactive place to be. This means tracking your spending (stepping on a scale) and seeing how it aligns with your budgetary goals. recently my husband and I were more than a month behind on inputting our receipts into Quicken. Typically we do this twice per month, but in the absence of this I felt as if I was spending money in a void. I was hoping everything was ok but I didn't have the confidence without complete information. The scale can be scary, as can reconciling a check book, tracking receipts, or creating and maintaining a budget can be but the benefits of knowledge, truth and reality can not be overlooked. Take a step in your personal finances to be honest and know exactly where you are today and where you want/need to be in 6 months, a year and farther into the future if you can. One of my favorite quotes is, "If you aim at nothing, you very often hit it."