Where Does All My Money Go?

About This Course

Ever get frustrated that you never seem to get ahead? Are you and your family constantly arguing about money? Do you ever wonder where your money went last month? Do you have trouble saving money? Do you wish you had financial security? Want to work on paying down your debt but don't know where to find the money?

This course will teach you the very basics of how to get control of your finances rather than letting them control you. It is the help you need before learning about investing, debt elimination, retirement or college planning. There aren't many places that you can go to learn these principles, so take advantage of this opportunity to learn online.

Start to make conscious decisions about spending and saving. Find out where your money goes. Make your own informed choices about where you want it to go. Learn how to fund your dreams and how to save money for everything from emergencies to vacations. If you have ever felt lost about where to start working on your finances, this course is for you.

You can't afford not to take this course and change your habits. This course is an investment in your future and you will save the cost of the course many times over by applying what you learn.

About The Instructor

This course includes a knowledgeable and caring instructor who will guide you through your lessons, facilitate discussions, and answer your questions. The instructor for this course will be Susan Price-Batting.

Susan Price-Batting is the money manager of her husband's business, and she co-manages the money side of her family's 30+ year old mail order business. She created, ran and later sold her own successful mail order business. She put herself through graduate school without taking out any loans and is also a graduate of the H&R Block Tax Class. Susan has lived virtually debt free for her entire life and brings her practices for day to day money management to those who need guidance. Her expertise with managing money started long ago when she had the good fortune to learn good basic money principles from her parents around the dinner table. Because of her first-hand knowledge of how to live within one's income, her knowledge of how to run a successful business, and her ability to teach, Susan is constantly asked by others to help them get their financial lives in order. Now she counsels others individually in money management and wrote this course to help even more people learn to get control of their money. Susan has been called the Budget Lady, and is a born teacher. She teaches by example, and will help you understand not only how to get control over your money, but why you'll want to.

Syllabus

A new section of each course starts monthly. If enrolling in a series of two or more courses, please be sure to space the start date for each course at least two months apart.

Week 1

Wednesday - Lesson 01

Why know where all your money goes? This lesson will inspire you to take this course and find out the answer! In this lesson, we'll talk about why anyone would want to set up a Spending Plan. We'll also discuss the difference between the Planning Mindset and the I Want It Now Mindset, as well as the ways that either mindset affects your everyday life. We'll look at lifestyles and how people usually choose them unconsciously. Then you'll find out how to examine yours, and whether you want to make any changes. We'll also discuss The Black Hole of Monthly Payments: what it is, how it works, and why you'll want to learn how to avoid it. This lesson is the foundation of all of the ones that follow, because it will get you excited to learn why to get control of your own money.

Friday - Lesson 02

In this lesson, you'll begin the work of tracking your money by learning how to create a Net Worth Statement. We'll look at how your personality affects your attitude towards money, and how to manage money in marriage and relationships. Then we'll discuss why you should set some goals for yourself, and you'll work on writing your own financial Wish List.

Week 2

Wednesday - Lesson 03

This lesson begins with a discussion about the importance of your checkbook. We'll discuss various banking topics like ATM transactions and debit cards, and how to choose the best bank account for you. Then we'll delve into how to create a Mail Station and a Bill Paying Station as a place to organize yourself for paying your bills. We'll also cover how to keep all of your paperwork—from what to save to how to create a filing system.

Friday - Lesson 04

This lesson is the backbone of good money management. You'll learn how to balance your checkbook and how this task affects all of your money issues. We'll also take a look at keeping track of your credit card statements.

Week 3

Wednesday - Lesson 05

In this lesson, we'll examine that enemy to financial freedom: debt. We'll look at how to know if you're in debt trouble, and you'll compile your own personal debt list. We'll also discuss tax debt, and then most important, we'll examine how to best pay debt off. Finally, you'll work on prioritizing your debt so you know what to pay off first.

Friday - Lesson 06

In this lesson, it's time to look at your spending habits and where you've been spending your money. You'll create a list of expense categories, and then create a Historical Costs Worksheet to examine where your money has been going. We'll also discuss how to keep a cash log to track where your cash gets spent. Very few people know the answer to this! But you will after completing this lesson and its assignments.

Week 4

Wednesday - Lesson 07

In this lesson, we'll get into planning how to change the way you manage your money, which begins with drafting your first Spending Plan. We'll discuss how a Spending Plan works, and we'll look at how to create one using your Historical Costs Worksheet as a base. Then we'll compare your figures with standard guideline percentages to see where your Spending Plan might be off.

Friday - Lesson 08

Now it's time to set up some detail about how to work your Spending Plan. You'll start by learning how to create a Bill Paying Plan. This will show you what bills to pay when. We'll also discuss getting an allowance (like a lot of us had as children) and how this will help you to manage your spending.

Week 5

Wednesday - Lesson 09

In this lesson, we'll go to the heart of how to really use your Spending Plan with the Envelope System. We'll examine what it is, how it works, and why it's superior to other methods of budgeting. All of the other lessons build up to this one.

Friday - Lesson 10

In this lesson, we'll look at the guts of the Envelope System and examine it in detail. This is the nitty-gritty, how-to lesson that pulls together everything you've done so far.

Week 6

Wednesday - Lesson 11

Today we'll discuss some temptations to overspending, including your personal spending weaknesses, keeping up with the Jones, housing and transportation issues, and teaching kids about money. If you're not careful, these things can pull you off track.

Friday - Lesson 12

In this last lesson, we'll look at why and how to save, and how to best use your savings account. We'll explore stocks, bonds, mutual funds, retirement accounts, and saving for college. And you'll review your Wish List now that you've learned how to better handle your money. At the end of this lesson and this course, you'll be able to confidently answer the question "Where Does All My Money Go?" And you'll experience the freedom that comes from not worrying about money any more!

Requirements

Internet access, e-mail, the Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox Web browser, and the Adobe Flash and PDF plug-ins (two free and simple downloads you obtain at http://www.adobe.com/downloads by clicking Get Adobe Flash Player and Get Adobe Reader).