You first need to assess your financial situation, then set financial goals, create an action plan to guide you towards those goals, take an identified course of action and monitor your progress over time. Assessing your financial situation usually involves a listing of all your assets and liabilities.
Examples of your assets would include things like a car, a house, a bank account, and so on. Your liabilities would include items like credit card debt, a bank loan, and so on. Subtracting your total liabilities from your total assets will indicate your personal financial situation or your personal net worth at that point in time.