allowing you to make the subtle, and sometimes dramatic, changes that will improve your situation. You'll discover your financial power and become the master of your money, not it's servant.

Think about where you are today. Just as you are the sum total of your life experiences and choices, financially, you are the sum total of your financial experiences and your financial ch

Industry pros, magazines, and financial television shows trip over themselves highlighting the bold and new over the tried and true. But, one of the most powerful things that anyone can do to improve their finances and increase their financial savvy is also one of the oldest, most widely known and simplest financial disciplines.

It's not sexy. It's not unique. It's not exciting. Yet, it's one of the most effective things you can do: Keep Track of Every Penny that Enters and Leaves your Life.

Whether you keep track with a pencil and a pocket notebook, a PDA, create a spreadsheet, or use one of several software packages, keeping track of every penny coming and going will transform your finances and build your financial acumen faster than any ten books on the subject.

We truly learn by doing. And, if you aren't doing this, this is one of the things you ought to be doing.

Let's face it, when we don't keep track, it's tough to remember, what you spent money on yesterday let alone last week or last month. On the flipside, anything of significance that is measured and watched, improves – especially your money.

Tracking your money demystifies how, and when, it flows into and out of your life. It helps you gain control of your money. More importantly, it'll make you stop, if only for a nanosecond, and take mental note of the financial decisions you make, big and small, several times per day – training you to stay in the financial present.

Awareness of your money habits will take shape, allowing you to make the subtle, and sometimes dramatic, changes that will improve your situation. You'll discover your financial power and become the master of your money, not it's servant.

Think about where you are today. Just as you are the sum total of your life experiences and choices, financially, you are the sum total of your financial experiences and your financial cho

ng. Yet, it's one of the most effective things you can do: Keep Track of Every Penny that Enters and Leaves your Life.

Whether you keep track with a pencil and a pocket notebook, a PDA, create a spreadsheet, or use one of several software packages, keeping track of every penny coming and going will transform your finances and build your financial acumen faster than any ten books on the subject.

We truly learn by doing. And, if you aren't doing this, this is one of the things you ought to be doing.

Let's face it, when we don't keep track, it's tough to remember, what you spent money on yesterday let alone last week or last month. On the flipside, anything of significance that is measured and watched, improves – especially your money.

Tracking your money demystifies how, and when, it flows into and out of your life. It helps you gain control of your money. More importantly, it'll make you stop, if only for a nanosecond, and take mental note of the financial decisions you make, big and small, several times per day – training you to stay in the financial present.

Awareness of your money habits will take shape, allowing you to make the subtle, and sometimes dramatic, changes that will improve your situation. You'll discover your financial power and become the master of your money, not it's servant.

Think about where you are today. Just as you are the sum total of your life experiences and choices, financially, you are the sum total of your financial experiences and your financial ch

ks on the subject.

We truly learn by doing. And, if you aren't doing this, this is one of the things you ought to be doing.

Let's face it, when we don't keep track, it's tough to remember, what you spent money on yesterday let alone last week or last month. On the flipside, anything of significance that is measured and watched, improves – especially your money.

Tracking your money demystifies how, and when, it flows into and out of your life. It helps you gain control of your money. More importantly, it'll make you stop, if only for a nanosecond, and take mental note of the financial decisions you make, big and small, several times per day – training you to stay in the financial present.

Awareness of your money habits will take shape, allowing you to make the subtle, and sometimes dramatic, changes that will improve your situation. You'll discover your financial power and become the master of your money, not it's servant.

Think about where you are today. Just as you are the sum total of your life experiences and choices, financially, you are the sum total of your financial experiences and your financial ch

acking your money demystifies how, and when, it flows into and out of your life. It helps you gain control of your money. More importantly, it'll make you stop, if only for a nanosecond, and take mental note of the financial decisions you make, big and small, several times per day – training you to stay in the financial present.

Awareness of your money habits will take shape, allowing you to make the subtle, and sometimes dramatic, changes that will improve your situation. You'll discover your financial power and become the master of your money, not it's servant.

Think about where you are today. Just as you are the sum total of your life experiences and choices, financially, you are the sum total of your financial experiences and your financial ch

allowing you to make the subtle, and sometimes dramatic, changes that will improve your situation. You'll discover your financial power and become the master of your money, not it's servant.

Think about where you are today. Just as you are the sum total of your life experiences and choices, financially, you are the sum total of your financial experiences and your financial choices. Your spending and saving habits are the result of attitudes, perceptions, and patterns developed over years. Regardless of their hold on you, the practice of keeping track of your money will unveil the role these attitudes, perceptions, and patterns have played in your life. Soon, you'll have the power to neutralize them and the strength to change them.

If you are struggling with debt, you'll discover you have much more than you think. You'll find many creative ways to cut back, stop digging, re-allocate your money, and slowly erase your debt.

The habit of keeping track of your money builds upon itself and, armed by knowledge of what you actually do with your money, you may soon find yourself setting a brand new direction for you life -- with a budget that works. Add an emergency fund, regular savings, insurance, and retirement contributions and you've got a solid financial foundation in place.

Wise planning may soon follow and, with a growing storehouse of assets and investments, great wealth may be in your future – all from the simple habit of keeping track of every penny entering and leaving your life.

Sound too simple, and too good, to be true. Perhaps? But, think about the young man who started out a lowly paid bookkeeper. With his first earnings, that man purchased an inexpensive ledger to record how every cent of his salary was spent. That man ended up one of the richest men in the world. That man was John D. Rockefeller, Sr.