Personal Finance.

Hi Everyone! I am posting today's article from Minnesota. I went to the trip with my friend Sally. Her daughter is playing volleyball in Minneapolis this weekend and I decided to join them, to watch the games and to visit new places. Minneapolis looked nice but I love Chicago so much more :-)

I knew that I wouldn't have too much time to work on my blog, so I made the video for today's article a week ago, here is the link: Personal Finance. Today I want to talk about something that I never talk about - about money! And how to save money in particular.

When I was younger I was not very smart about my spending. Well, we all make mistakes. Now it's time to learn from them! I want to save as much as I can, but at the same time I want to buy things that I like, I want to go to different interesting places, to look nice. And I don't make too much money. So I started to think of what can help me to save and spend at the same time.

I found that the most effective way to save money is to do your budget. I use Pocket Expense app for that and I also have a Budget Notebook that I bought on amazon. You can find something similar or use my options, it is up to you. You can even use excel if you like it better. I just like to do my budgeting on iPad, that is why I use app, and I like to have back-up version on paper. Notebook and app also have different options so I feel like with both of them I have the best visibility of my finances.

I like to do monthly budget. I write down my income, my regular payments, I schedule the days when I do grocery shopping and I know approximately how much I spend, so I can put these expediences in advance and reconcile them later. This way I know how much money I will have left by the end of the month, I can see how much I can spend on entertainment or beauty. And if I feel like I want to have more savings, I can cut my expenses in areas that I don't really enjoy and just spend money because I am bored or something.

You can also do daily budget, when you can take your monthly income, deduct all monthly bills and other expenses and whatever is left divide by number of days. This method didn't work for me, because I like to see my future balance and compare my expectations with actuals. It helps me to understand which assumptions are wrong and in what areas I need to make adjustments.

But the main idea of all these methods is awareness. I think that my biggest problem was in not knowing how much I used to spend. I could buy tons of clothes, skincare and go to restaurants with my credit card and then pay it off for several months. Right now I don't use any credit cards at all. I know that it is a little bit too much, because this way I don't get benefits they might bring. But I guess my approach is kind of like they do with alcoholics: if you want to stop drinking - stop drinking. So I just find it easier for myself not to use any credit cards for now. And my very important rule is to spend less than I make. It was very helpful.

I also like to transfer some percent of my salary to saving account for unexpected events or for things like vacation right after I get my paycheck.

Believe me, if you look at your spending and track them regularly, you are already half way there! I find it very rewarding, when I don't waste money on something I don't really need. It makes me feel like I am stronger than my silly desires. I like this sense of self-control. Your finance tracking can be a wonderful area for your self-discipline improvement! In the end of the day this is just another area for brain training, it can be fun! The most important thing is to make a decision and stick to it. You can do it!

Be Strong And Love Yourself!

From Dasha With Love!

Love Wins!

PS: here are some photos from my Minneapolis trip :-)

On our way to Minneapolis. It was a super easy 6 hour drive. Maybe because Sally is a great driver!

Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. I really wanted to look at the spoon. It was so cute! And I also found Love :-)

Walker Art Gallery. Charles Ray "Unpainted Sculpture". I think that this sculpture was really interesting. I looked at it for a while and was thinking of how life can be changed in a second.

Sea Life Aquarium in Mall of America. I didn't take any good photos, I was mostly taking videos. There were a lot of cute fish and other sea animals, super cute!

Loring Park. I got a chance to feed a little squirrel! There was a man walking in the park, He gave me some peanuts and I gave them to tiny animal, it was fun! :-)

Mall of America. Girls just wanna have fun! :-)