- I am aware of my expenses and income and write it down at least monthly.
- I dont need to write down anything, I have everything in my head.
- I dont care about money. It is just a means to an end.
If the first sentence describes you then you already achieved the first step to become a financial unicorn, because writing down your expenses monthly (more often is not necessary and rather confusing) is a very important step to get in control of your finances.
Most people will either say that they dont have to write anything down (second sentence) and know everything in their head. This is ridiculous, because brains are not made for finances. Everybody who said this to me was astonished after sitting down and looking at their finances with a pen and paper. Usually one underestimates the self-indulging escapades one has as well as regular horrendous expenses that just “happen”.
The third sentence says that one doesn’t care about money as long as one can pay the bills. While this is, at its core, absolutely acceptable it destroys the huge possibilities that financial freedom brings. Because knowing how much money you can spend or cannot spend each month is so much more fun. Maybe the biggest misconception most people have about capitalism is that it is bad and oppresses people, not seeing the freedom that money, and hence capitalism, can bring. When you know that you have money leftover for 12 months to live from, you could choose to go on holidays, you could work less, at least for a while, or invest the money to get even more free money in the long run.
That knowledge is what separates financial unicorns from the rest of the hamster wheeling population. And knowledge is power.
If you really want to succeed with money and your personal finances just read this blog and listen to my advice. If you follow the advice you will see that you will be in control of your finances and you will become a financial unicorn.
The first step is, as already discussed, to write down your expenses monthly. This could look as simple as this:
(1) 5th of February 23.23 EUR for food shopping.
(2) 6th of February 5 EUR for a present of a co-worker.
(3) 13th of February 75 EUR for food shopping.
(4) 14th of February 50 EUR internet bill.
(5) 15th of February 100 EUR dog vaccination and general health check-up.
(6) 23th of February 30.65 EUR food shopping.
(7) 23th of February 64.23 EUR gas (petrol for our Brexit friends) for car.
(8) 25th of February 1000 EUR for rent of next month (March).
(9) 27th of February 43.25 EUR for kitchen tools.
(10) 27th of February 80 EUR for additional health insurance (a German thing).
(11) 27th of February 85.23 EUR fun at the local restaurant with friends.
And that is it. Now you just add the numbers together and you have your monthly expenses. That would be 1556.59 EUR for the month of February. You might spend yourself a lot less than this or a lot more than this but that s not the point of this example. The point is simply to explain how it works. Just add the numbers for yourself together. If you pay with a card it is even easier because you can simply look at your online bank account and add the numbers together. NOW that is your real expenses for the month of February. Do it and you managed the first step of becoming a financial unicorn! Well done!