Chatelaine Earn Spend Save: The savvy guide to a richer, smarter, debt-free life

Chapter 9. YOUR SIX-MONTH MONEY PLAN

MORTGAGES. CAR LOANS. RRSPS AND INVESTMENT portfolios. Emergency funds. Life and home insurance. Budgeting and wills. It's all enough to make the head spin.

But here's the good news: the hardest part of building wealth is simply getting started. Once you have a plan, everything else falls into place. As we finally move into this short, but incredibly powerful chapter, we're going to remove the guesswork from deciding which tasks to tackle first through last so you feel comfortable and even excited about managing your money well.

Why a six-month money checklist and not a six-week? Let's be honest about what it takes to forge ahead with planning for the rest of your financial life. It takes time. Not eight-hour days mind you, but at least a few hours each week need to be set aside for dreaming, dealing with banks and investment firms, web research, calculating, and, if you choose, talking to financial planners and accountants.

We know you're supremely busy, but finding just two or three hours a week now will buy you years of worry-free time later.

Even so, remember that the Six-Month Plan is merely a guide. And although we'll give you a list of high-priority goals for each month, only you know what is most important to your family and your life. So if you are already debt-free or you refinanced your mortgage last week, go ahead and tick off those boxes right from the start.

Whatever your story, this plan will help you take action, build momentum, and ...