How Long Will It Take?
Look at the goals below. Consider how long it will take to the goal—less than three months? Less than a year? More than a year? Categorize each goal by S (Short), I (Intermediate), or L (Long) next to the statement. With longer-term goals, you have to willing to give up something you want now to get something even better in the future. That’s delayed gratification. But so many Americans are in credit card debt because they opt for instant gratification—to something as soon as they see it. The problem with putting that new shirt on a credit is that it will probably cost a lot more in the end, compared to saving money and for it in cash.

There are two other important things you need to know about your SMART . First, they should be meaningful to you—something you really want to achieve and not just something your think you should do. Otherwise, you’ll lack the motivation to stick with your plans. Second, you should write your goals down and keep them in a place where you’ll see them often, as a of what you’re working toward.

Step 2 Analyze Information:
Where Does Your Money Go?The second step in financial planning process is to find out where your finances currently stand, so you can see exactly much money you’re
getting and how much you’re spending or saving. Let’s start with your income. Where you get money from? Do you receive an allowance? Do you have a job or your own ? How
much do you earn each week? Next, how much money do you spend each week and what are you spending it? Do you owe money to anyone for the stuff you’ve bought?
Whether got a loan to buy your first car or you borrowed money from your parents to buy new jacket, you owe money to others and need to be aware of that debt.
Questions like are critical because their answers have a direct impact on your ability to achieve your financial goals.

’t worry—most people don’t know off the top of their head how much they’ve spent. That’s why a Spending Record can be a handy tool for tracking your cash flow. Cash flow simply measures the you receive and the money you spend. We’ll talk more about it in Unit 2. For now, ’s important to know that how you manage your cash flow affects if, when, and how you reach goals.