Why guilt free spending is important?
– deprivation is not sustainable
– bring change into your life
How much should you be spending guilt free?
– relative to your income
Spending considerations:
– on a regular interval
– not on life’s necessities
– not automated spending
– be deliberate about it
– make sure it is aligned with your priorities
– no room for personal agendas (not significant in value)
Sources of guilt free money:
– allowance – make it part of your budget
– gift money
Personal Finance Myths We like to make excuses; easier to blame others then ourselves. We all, like eating, have the ability, for thee majority, to earn, save, and spend.
1.“Personal finance is too hard.” — news flash, a lot of the most important things we will ever embark on in life are really hard. Anything worth having, anything worth being good at is always going to challenging, But its how willing you are to fight to achieve what you want to achieve is the true measure of strength and resiliency. Change will come from a place of discomfort.
2. “Personal finance is easy… just don’t buy anything or spend any money, I’m set…” — things happen, clever marketing ads get shoved in your throat in all sorts of subconscious ways, its harder then ever not to spend money
3. “My parents are bad at it which means they didn’t teach me how to get too at it.” — the moment you stop letting someone else dictate how good or bad you are and will ever get at something is the moment you relinquish control. Control and permission to excel at something and be great. You are not your parent’s legacy, instead you can foster your own legacy at leading an incredible personal financial life. Yes, you may not have been dealt an incredible hand, but you own how you play that hand out. I will also in the same breathe be the the first to admit that my parents are incredible with their finances, that everything I know and everything I told true is because of them.
4. “People with a financial background have an upper hand.”
5. “Personal finance is a place you get to.” — in reality, it’s a journey not a destination and you have to be kind, gentle, and patient with yourself as you grow and go through this journey
6. “There’s a “right” way to do personal finance” — and by right way we mean there are right strategies to take on i.e. spend less then you earn, but the things that work for your neighbour, friend, etc. might not work for you. It’s easy to get caught up in the perfectionist side of things, that if you live your life according to the success plan that worked for someone else it’ll work for you, however in reality our lives are all so unique.
7. “I’m older now, its too late.” — its never too late
8. “Caring about personal finances is only for those with lower incomes.”
9. “If I made more money I wouldn’t have any financial worries or problems”. —Don’t look for external solutions to an internal problem
10. “Everyone else around me is living large, why can’t I?”
11. “It feels like my debts will never get paid off, why even try or start?”
12. “I tried the personal finance thing and it didn’t work.” — Trust yourself — trust yourself that you’ll have the ability to succeed
13. “My spouse takes care of the personal finances so I don’t have to.” — faulty approach, important to delineate roles, but also as important for both partners to have a pulse on your joint personal finance situation and be jointly involved (regardless of who may be the primary/larger bread winner of the family unit). Each partner serves as a sounding board, your accountability partner. Ensures your immediate/short term actions align with your long term goals.
14. “Thinking about personal finance is too restrictive — budgets, curbing my spending…”
15. “I’m not wired that way.” — its not about math, its something you need to learn, something you should embrace getting good at
16. “Personal finance is something I can ‘dabble in’ whenever its convent for me” / “I have a bad habit on spending money on things I don’t need.” — no, personal finance is a way of life and a way of living, not a habit to be broken and then commit to next week or next year when you think it’ll be easier.
To survive without budgeting at some point would require the
use of credit or a very extremely conservative lifestyle which would mean lost
opportunity.
Very High
level – How to Budget
Tracking income and expenses – find a tool and
develop the skills
Set spending parameters – this is where the
“why” becomes important
Project future income and expenses – this is the
real payoff to budgeting
Budgeting
Myths:
Budgets are for “poor people”
Budgets are restrictive
Budgets are temporary
Budgets are “one size fits all”
Why
Budgeting is important:
Provides a roadmap with directions to your goals
Budgets identifies problems before they occur
Makes you aware of where your money is going –
automation is your enemy
Budgets drive behavior change – you need to
review your budget regularly