We live in a world where pretty much anything that can be automated is you
can subscribe to grocery delivery so fresh fruit shows up at your door every
week you can preset your houses thermostat and of course you can set in
an automatic alarm so you wake them in time for work every morning now in most
circumstances these automation techniques make life easier and are much
more efficient than doing everything manually but as we know there is an
exception to every rule therefore in this video I will share with you the
best money tool you've never heard of and if you're new to the channel then
hit the subscribe button below for more life-changing content let's face it
technology has made life pretty convenient but it can also leave you
detached from the world around you for instance in business meetings of
transition from in person the video conferencing in order to save costs
moreover in our personal lives we have exchanged hanging out with FaceTime and
texting it seems like as technology progresses we become more and more out
of touch with those around us however humans were given five senses for a
reason and one of the senses that has been dulled by technology is our tactile
sense or sense of touch it seems like there are millions of different finance
apps out there for budgeting saving and investing and while these tools work for
some for others they simply aren't effective and maybe this ineffectiveness
speaks to the fact that going old-school sometimes the way to go take the example
of self-made billionaire Bill Gates despite being renowned for his computer
genius Gates routinely uses just a paper and pen to write down his thoughts this
nocturnal nature of know keeping has been proven time and again to improve
memory and processing and the atoms written down and when it comes to your
finances the same benefits are true it's for this reason that one of the best
money tools you've never heard of is as low-tech as possible yet has extremely
powerful benefits for those who use it enter cut cable cut a bow is a Japanese
word that translates to household account book a few english-language
versions that cable journals have recently been published but if you have
a blank notebook handy there's no reason to rush out and buy a special ledger
here's everything you need to know to put cut a bow to work for you first what
is cut a bow cut a bow is a way of manually tracking your finances to help
you stick to a budget and reach savings goals according to the Journal
of Japanese studies the concept of kekkai Bo is credited to Hanny Mikoto a
Japanese journalist who published one of the first housewives magazines in 1908
in the pages of her magazine Makoto encouraged her readers to develop
schedules and systems for household tasks she also promoted the concept of
homemakers as managers of the household finances and advised them to set aside
savings for their families 'get able revolves around the four following
questions how much money do you have available how much do you want to save
how much money are you spending and how can you improve by taking a close look
at what you're doing with your money and asking yourself in depth to reflective
questions you can change your financial habits and reach your goals now I know
not everyone sees the benefit of budgeting but let me illustrate why you
should budget with the following example imagine trying to lose weight without
paying attention to what you eat or stepping on the scale from time to time
you might drop a few pounds but you have no way of knowing for sure or
identifying what changes led to your weight loss well the same thing is true
when it comes to money if you want to set and reach any sort of financial
goals you need to know what's going on with your money you can't just get your
paychecks each month spend away and hope for the best
sitting down and taking a close look at your finances at the start of each month
then taking the time to write down everything that's coming in and out
might seem like a drag but it's a must if you want to tame the money beast once
and for all another benefit of manually tracking
your expenses income and savings goals is that it encourages mindfulness you
have to take a close look at your money and hold yourself accountable for what
you're spending if you know you want to save $100 one month for example you're
more likely to think carefully before you spend some of your limited
disposable income on something you don't need or don't really even want now you
may be thinking okay budgeting makes sense when you explain it like that but
why don't I just use a budgeting app instead of going old school about things
although it can be easier to rely on an automated budgeting app you're more
likely to process the information when you record things by hand a study
published in Psychological Science found the students who took notes in class
using longhand were better able to answer in depth conceptual questions on
a subject compared with students who too no it's on their laptop the students who
wrote out their notes by hand paraphrased and adjusted what they were
hearing taking the time to process the information as they recorded it manually
recording your goals including your financial goals can also make you more
likely to achieve them when you spend a few minutes each month thinking about
and writing down what you want to save you create an easily accessible record
of that specific goal the process of writing something down can also cement
the idea in your brain as you write down that goal to save a hundred dollars you
analyze it and begin to think of ways to achieve it this can be what kick-starts
the actions you take to reach that goal so now that you know the why you could
cable let's talk about how you can implement it into your own financial
life using cable as a multi-step process some of the steps you do at the start of
a new year some of you do at the beginning of each month and others you
do throughout the month at the end of each month you take some time to review
your spending and goals the process gives you both a big-picture view of
your finances and an in-depth detailed look at how your everyday spending plays
out here's how it works step 1 conduct an annual review typical
kickable journals include a yearly planner which asks you to start a ledger
with a general idea of your income and expenses for the year ahead in this
section you can record expenses that might happen just once a year such as
paying for a vacation or your annual property tax as the best practice look
at your previous year's spending to get an idea of what to include in your
annual review also think about what you plan to accomplish there in the next 12
months and what infrequent bills might come due step number 2 create a
monthly spending plan at the start of this section you'll answer two questions
how much money will be coming in and how much money will be going out record your
sources of income for the month identifying each source of your salary
freelance income side hustle income and include when you expect to receive the
money and then add up the total amount then you'll do the same for your
expenses record your monthly fixed expenses such as rent utility bills
health insurance and debt payments once you subtract your fixed expenses from
your income to answer the first question of queque Bowes how much money will you
have available next think about your savings goal for the month how much
would you like to save and what are you saving for record both the amount of
your saving schools and the purpose then
subtract this amount from the amount you have available ideally you're saving
school won't be the full amount of your available money at this point you have
your fixed expenses covered but you haven't budgeted for miscellaneous
expenses such as groceries personal care and occasional fun things that's where
the next step is for step number three determine your weekly spending after
you've figured out your big-picture annual and monthly spending it's time to
zero in on your weekly spending to determine how much you have to spend
each month take the amount of available money you have left after subtracting
your savings goal then divide that amount by the number of weeks in a month
the number you get is how much you can spend each week record your weekly
spending as it happens you can divide your weekly expenses into categories to
help you keep track of what's going on where and where you might have room to
improve it's best to keep your categories simple for example some cable
planners recommend using the following three categories category number one is
survival these are non fixed expenses you can't really live without like
groceries the second category is optional or wan items these are things
you can live without such as extra clothing or entertainment the third
category are unanticipated expenses these are sporadic expenses you can't
necessarily plan during your yearly review these expenses may include a
repair bill for your car or emergency medical bills to help you see at a
glance where your spending is going you can color-code your categories for
example you can use a blue pen for survival expenses a red pen for wants or
optional items and a green pen for your unanticipated expenses step number four
do a monthly review an analysis at the end of each month take a few minutes to
review your spending and saving for the month this helps you review your answer
to the question how can you improve record how much you had to spend how
much you actually spent and how much you saved to find ways to improve ask
yourself some detailed questions did you reach your savings goal what did you do
to reach your goal did you spend too much in some categories how can you
improve next month after asking yourself each question write down your response
in your journal so you have something to reference next month as you plan your
spending or if you find yourself about to make a purchase you
don't need now like I said this is probably one of the best money tools you
can employ but I never said it was perfect the biggest drawback of using
kickable is that it's up to you to remember to stay on top of it with an
automated budgeting app the system pulls information from your bank of credit
cards to keep track of what you're spending with Kokubo you're responsible
for recording everything and for holding yourself accountable for your spending
for some people that may not be a big deal
you might welcome the opportunity to jump in and keep better track of your
spending but if you don't want to carry a journal with you everywhere you go
or can't trust yourself to remember you to record your expenses after the fact
cut a bow might be a challenge for you if you've struggled to create or stick
to a budget in the past I think it's worth giving could cable a try you might
find that manually recording everything helps you finally get your financial
life in order if handwriting works for Bill Gates then
it could work for you too right funnel Iike cable goes a step beyond most
budgeting methods by asking you to look carefully at how you're using your money
and consider what you can do to improve it offers a big-picture mindful view of
your finances that many budgeting systems lack and that view can be what
you need to set yourself up for financial success thanks for watching if
you want to go from the life you have to the life you deserve then hit the
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