Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past week (or fishing in the remote northern Canadian wilderness without internet or cell phone reception like my honey) then you’re probably quite aware of the beating the markets have been taking due to the collapse of four major US finanial institutions (Mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and insurer American International Group Inc. and global investment bank Lehman Brothers) and the hotly debated $700 billion bailout plan. 

All this focus on wealth and finance and the markets has got me thinking about my own financial house of cards: is the foundation as solid as I believe it to be? 

Not wanting to be at the helm my own economic crisis, I’ve taken steps in the past two weeks to improve my financial stability.  I’m happy to say that my income is healthily larger than my expenses but there are still areas in my financial outlook that could be improved.  For example, I spend money on a few monthly business development subscriptions that I’m not really taking advantage of so I’ve begun reviewing each of them to see if they are worth continuing. 

And I’ve also not been very consistent about contributing to my investment accounts.  I’ll send money sporadically and never opened the trading account for which I’ve had the paperwork sitting on my desk for close to a year.  So I took steps to do that this week. 

And finally, I’m also going to undertake a complete review of my business and systems to see what systems are working and which ones need to be improved or abdandoned completely.

All three of those actions will bring me closer to ensuring that my life is supported by a solid financial foundation.

It’s important to feel financially secure and stable.  People who are in unstable situations make poor decisions.  The first step towards stability is to cut out all reckless and needless expenses and then focus on doing what it takes to increase you incoming income or sources of revenue.  If you need support in this department then be sure to sign up for Simpleology 102: The Simple Science of Money.