Financial freedom journal

Do you wish to become financially free? Do you wish to acquire wealth? Are you tired of being broke and living hand to mouth? Do you want to feel good about money? Well, good news – I am going to share with you a powerful idea that might transform your finances. The idea is to create a financial freedom journal. In this journal, you are going to document your journey to financial freedom. This idea is derived from a book called “Your Money or Your Life” by Vicki Robin. The main idea is that money is a form of energy and journaling about money enables you to raise your awareness about this energy and then you can direct it intentionally to achieve what you want.

Follow this procedure to document your journey to financial freedom.

1. Buy yourself a nice fancy notebook or journal. Get the most expensive one you can afford. Carry this notebook wherever you go and keep it private.
2. Divide the notebook into various sections. The first section is your dream and vision. Write down what you want to become, what you want to have, and what you want to achieve. Dream big and write down what you really want. Don’t hold yourself back. Just write.
3. The next section is your goals. Write down all the financial goals you want to achieve. The goals should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound). The goals could include the following: how much money you want to save; which business you want to start; how much debt you should take on; when will you enter your own home; establishing an education fund; etc.
4. The third section is your action plan. Write down all the things you are going to do to achieve your goals. Use one page for each goal and its relevant activities. Just write. What you are doing is creating your rich life and being intentional about your money.
5. The fourth section is your budget. List down all your typical income sources and amounts per month. Do the same thing for expenses. You can use estimates for now if you don’t have the figures. Make sure expenses don’t exceed income!
6. The fifth section is your net worth tracker. List all your assets and liabilities. The difference between these two is your monetary net worth.
7. The sixth section you use to track daily income and expenses. Each day write down all the money you received and the money you spent. Don’t judge yourself. Just write! Eventually, start to put some notes beside your records. For example, you can describe how a particular transaction made you feel. This is a difficult step and many people give up at this point. Use this section to also track the daily activities you documented.
8. The seventh section is your financial progress tracker. Draw a graph with a vertical axis which is the income/expenses, and a horizontal axis which is the months of the year. At the end of the month plot your income, expenses, and any additional passive income on separate lines (preferably in different colours). Over time three lines will emerge (the income line, the expenses line, and the investment income line). Your goal is to always make sure the income line is above the expense line. But ultimately you want the investment income line to cross the expenses line. This is the crossover point and you are technically financially independent because your passive income exceeds your monthly expenses.
9. The eighth section is your daily affirmation. Write down all the positive quotes and motivational lines to keep you energized. Review these affirmations every day. Also, review your journal every day (either early morning or before you sleep). A good affirmation is this one: “I am so happy and grateful now – that money comes to me in increasing quantities through multiple sources on a continuous basis.”
10. The final section is your study section. Use this part to document any learnings you have acquired. As you journal begin to read books on financial freedom, business, and finance. Document all the knowledge you acquire.

This project of acquiring and using a financial freedom journal is very powerful and it will accelerate your journey to financial independence. The majority of people will ignore this advice but a few of you will implement these ideas and you will be richly rewarded.

I implore you to try it for at least one year!