Sarah van der Spuy from Accumen Fiancial Planning is our very own money guru! This week she gives us the lowdown on how to suss your finances, once and for all...

The exciting theme for September is about making all aspects of your life orgasmic...including your finances!

At first thought, your financial position may not be the most interesting thing to spend time thinking about. Unless budgets and cashflows rev your engines, it is understandable that you would want to spend as little time as possible on it…

How long have you been pushing your money issues aside? It is so easy just to ignore your extravagant spending habits, max out your credit card and give no second thought to savings. There are consequences to doing this though. Not only drowning in an ocean of debt, but the stress of it all which prevents you from living life to its full.

How do I set up this system?

1: Calculate how much it costs for you to live on: This can be done by gathering up all your financial documents - statements, bills and receipts. Go through them all and make a list of all your expenses in the month.

2: Set up a day-to-day account: This is the account you use to pay for all your monthly expenses (rent, mortgage, groceries, insurance, petrol, telephone, electricity etc).

3: Set up a big-ticket account: This is essentially your short-term savings account. Where you save up for the more expensive items which you would like to have (holidays, wish list items etc).

4: Emergency account: This is money to be used for emergencies. If you don’t already have some money set aside, plan to build up this account so that financial obstacles which come your way do not knock you off your feet.

5: Get-ahead account: This account is your long-term savings. This money is used to get ahead financially. If you have any debt, you should make it your first priority to pay them off first. Once you have eliminated all your debt, put as much money as you can afford into this account. You can start saving for a house deposit, or other assets which will build your wealth.

6: Sanity money: This is the money which you can spend on anything you choose, it's a bit like pocket money. The best way to manage this money may be to withdraw it as cash each week. It is important to remember not to spend any more than your allowance.

Creating this system will require some work in the beginning, because you will have to establish how much money you can put into each account. But, once you have done this, your money will operate automatically and you’ll have the freedom to chase after the exciting things in life.

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