Last week was the ‘why’ and this week is the ‘who’ and ‘what”. Who is you! Now you need the ‘what’ to put together a picture of your finances.

• Your prioritized goals from last week.
• A list of your assets and liabilities. Assets = Things like real estate, vehicles, savings and investments and Liabilities = Money owing on mortgages, loans, lines of credit and credit cards (don’t forget to include any money you owe the taxman).
• Your monthly income – Before and after taxes and deductions (net).
• Your regular monthly expenses such as housing, utilities, food, clothes, entertainment, gifts and transportation. 
• Monthly savings
• Large (annual amounts) expenses such as insurance (home and vehicle), property taxes, trips and travel.

I suggest you organize the information by putting the assets and liabilities (in separate columns) on 1 page and the income and expenses (separate the large expenses) on another.

This information is most meaningful if it’s real and an easy way to be sure you’re using the right numbers is to review your cheque book, cash withdrawals, credit card and bank statements. 

The probability you’ll meet your goals is increased greatly if you’re working with accurate information – even if it’s not a pretty picture today 🙂

Next week’s post will be about using this information to develop the plan to reach your goals.