Personal financial planning is a two-step process, according to Stay Out of Debt. The first step is to develop the spending and saving rules that will dictate how you handle your finances. Once you have set your own rules in place, you need to be committed to follow these rules and learn from them. Instead of fighting the urge to spend money, try to take the time to understand how good spending rules can lead to opportunity that will get you out of debts.
The second step in good personal financial planning is turning those rules into habits. If you stick to making these rules as part of your daily decision-making process, then you start to develop an understanding on your spending pattern and will learn to curb your tendency to overspend.
The site also offers five steps to get out of debt. These steps range from budgeting your money and analyzing your spending to find ways to reduce your expenses. The site also provides way on how you can save rather than spend and offers guide on being wise in using your credit card.
One last tip given, which I find really practical, is to spend time learning how to do tasks that you would normally pay a contractor or professional to do. For example, you can save some money every year by changing your own oil and taking the old oil to a local auto mechanic for disposal. If you are interested in home decoration, you can do projects such as curtain making, or sewing your own pillow cases and bedsheets instead of buying them from stores or hiring someone to do the job. Or you can take the time to wash your car each week to avoid paying for a car wash.
But be more practical by not going beyond what you can do. There are certain tasks where you need to hire professionals – like when there is an electrical wiring trouble, or when a family member needs medical attention. If you find some ways to save money by doing something on your own, then you should take the chance to save money and avoid putting yourself deeper into debt.
