Ok...sorry it has taken me so long to get back into the swing of things...please excuse me--this blog thing is quite new for me but I have lots to share--
Lets do a quick review- you have thought about what money means to you and you have thought about where you think you would like to start taking a hatchet to your spending...you have a snap shot of where your money has been going and I would assume by now your heart has started beating again and you have gotten over the shame of where you have been bleeding money...no worries...this is why you are working with me to wake up from your zombie state and start making your money work for you...while you were at it you also have defined what money means to you and what you want out of it in honest terms...like for me...I once thought that saying that I wanted to be wealthy was somehow a bad thing..."I am middle class and damnit I will always be middle class"....that people who have money were somehow "different"..I now know this to not be a fact but only a self limited thought in my head.
This is where I am going to need your patience and willingness to stick with it here...now we are going to talk about the psychology of money and what it means to you on a deeper level. I am going to go over this briefly in multiple blogs, but there will be more learning when you read...read....read....
I personally believe that people who don't save money do so for several reasons, biggest one of which is that they have never seen an account grow without touching it once it reaches a certain amount ("hot damn I have $200 dollars...Best Buy here I come)or never saving past a certain amount("Oh hell...I've been saving for months and all I have is $100 dollars. Screw it..I'm going to go shopping..I deserve it). I call this the savings threshold and you need to determine yours. If I was to give you $20 what would you do with it? Immediately spend it? save it? save half spend half? what about $50? $100 $200 $400 $500?? determine what you have in your head as the scale tipping amount that you personally feel is worth saving and hanging onto IE NOT TOUCHING...and let this be the amount that you head for...your Bulls Eye ....write it down where you can see it and look at it every day...kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, office, car- you get the pic...everywhere and I mean write it down with pen and paper old school style...and start your Bulls Eye fund (name it what ever you want) where ever you want but somewhere you can't or won't touch...in a jar, savings account (that you don't have an atm/debit card linked to it ), or with a trusted friend/family member. Add to this piggy bank every time-every moment you can, even one dollar at a time any week you can....challenge yourself..Make it yours...It is my belief that once you achieve this number, while no magical pixie dust will rain down on you and you will wake up on a beautiful island vacation...the sense of achievement that you will feel will be a small success and a solid foundation to build on. It is soo much about small, success, and building.
I will leave you with this last thought..this money thing is all about your brain and how you mentally/psychologically wrap your mind around it...its behavior modification and learning to make smarter choices automatically..its not about a quick fix or just filling out a spread sheet....change your thinking and how you see things and the world is yours... and I am not just talking about the mighty dollar :)
Tootles-
Heather
Monday, August 20, 2012
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Decisions Decisions
Hi-- well..moving along to the next phase...lets see...you have all of your spending in a neat report. Now it is up to you to decide where and how much you are going to cut from your spending. Most of what you need to do to be successful in your spending and savings is subjective and only you can decide what you will do without or not. Try not to cut anything major or multiple things at once. One thing that helps is for you to switch to cash for all of your "fun". Think about your "fun" or "mad" money in two week intervals. Designate how much and pull it out in cash each paycheck. Start with a realistic figure and know that you can adjust it as you go. See how long you can make it last until you "pay yourself" again with your next paycheck. It is amazing how much easier it is to spend when you swipe a card vs using cold hard cash. It actually makes you sad to break that twenty because you know it is as good as gone when you do that! So you will tend to make the break count! It makes you want to hold onto it longer and spread it out more judiciously. You can have fun going out with your friends- either once and blow your whole wad or you can go several times by going out during happy hour, or switching to a cheaper beer/wine/rail liquor or ordering an app instead of a full meal. You can go shopping but again- do you want to spend all of your money in one place or break it up and be able to do it multiple times. Make it a game. This is a great time to do some inventory in your closet and house. How many shoes/purses/clothes etc does one person really need? This is also the time to do a lot of reading on budgets and how they work.
Keep in mind and have faith that if you allocate your money and get in the habit of pre-spending and savings it will all come together. No one is making you do this. This is your choice and the amount of success- how fast and how much- is all up to you and how determined you are. The very first budget book I tried to read I never made it through to the end.I can't tell you how many times I tried to create a budget and it failed. One of the first ones I actually got through was Idiots Guide to Living on a Budget. Great start. It wasn't until I read Dave Ramsey that I actually finally understood that a budget is fluid and changes every month. For me I do my budget every two weeks. For now- just read about them. Don't try and make one just yet.
One of the most important concepts when you are trying to change a behavior in yourself is that you build on successes. Start with something small and the success you get from that will snowball into more and more success. Here is an example. I enjoy coffee and the coffee at work is horrible. Starbucks gets expensive-fast!! so I purchased a thermos I got at a consignment shop and brewed it at home. Yeah- my co-workers thought I was crazy and laughed at me but it got me started on something. Starbucks is $2 a day for basic simple coffee. $2 x4(days a week)=$8 x4(a month)-$32.( I do make sure a few times a month I treat myself to a cup at Starbucks to keep things on tract and reward myself) This is what I started drafting into a savings account. I auto drafted it into my savings $8 each week and watched it grow. Then I stopped smoking. I estimated that I spent $80 a month on cigs. So I added $20(cigs) + $8(coffee)=$28 a week x4 (month)= $112 a month into a savings account. That is $1456 in a year --an amazing amount!(since you are putting it away every week take $112 x52 and you will get this figure) I was already spending that money any way right? So why not put it into better use. Its amazing to watch something so simple grow so quickly. That is another key concept into gaining control over your money- make every penny that you possible can go somewhere automatically.
I would like to suggest depending on your overwhelmed meter- read and re-read about budgets at least twice. Repetition is important when you are attempting to re-wire your thinking. I sure hope this is helping and is making some sense.
Tootles-
Heather
Keep in mind and have faith that if you allocate your money and get in the habit of pre-spending and savings it will all come together. No one is making you do this. This is your choice and the amount of success- how fast and how much- is all up to you and how determined you are. The very first budget book I tried to read I never made it through to the end.I can't tell you how many times I tried to create a budget and it failed. One of the first ones I actually got through was Idiots Guide to Living on a Budget. Great start. It wasn't until I read Dave Ramsey that I actually finally understood that a budget is fluid and changes every month. For me I do my budget every two weeks. For now- just read about them. Don't try and make one just yet.
One of the most important concepts when you are trying to change a behavior in yourself is that you build on successes. Start with something small and the success you get from that will snowball into more and more success. Here is an example. I enjoy coffee and the coffee at work is horrible. Starbucks gets expensive-fast!! so I purchased a thermos I got at a consignment shop and brewed it at home. Yeah- my co-workers thought I was crazy and laughed at me but it got me started on something. Starbucks is $2 a day for basic simple coffee. $2 x4(days a week)=$8 x4(a month)-$32.( I do make sure a few times a month I treat myself to a cup at Starbucks to keep things on tract and reward myself) This is what I started drafting into a savings account. I auto drafted it into my savings $8 each week and watched it grow. Then I stopped smoking. I estimated that I spent $80 a month on cigs. So I added $20(cigs) + $8(coffee)=$28 a week x4 (month)= $112 a month into a savings account. That is $1456 in a year --an amazing amount!(since you are putting it away every week take $112 x52 and you will get this figure) I was already spending that money any way right? So why not put it into better use. Its amazing to watch something so simple grow so quickly. That is another key concept into gaining control over your money- make every penny that you possible can go somewhere automatically.
I would like to suggest depending on your overwhelmed meter- read and re-read about budgets at least twice. Repetition is important when you are attempting to re-wire your thinking. I sure hope this is helping and is making some sense.
Tootles-
Heather
Monday, May 28, 2012
Lets get started
well- lets get started with this blog thing-since I am interested in becoming a life and money coach I will choose to start with money and life later. All of the ideas that I am going to talk about is a starting point for someone to try. These things worked for me and they may work for you. Maybe not. The idea is you have to start from somewhere and then tweak it to work for you. There is a lot of reading that needs to be done. One of the self limiting thoughts that I have had in the past is that you get an education from a school and you read for fun from the library or book store. I have proven this wrong by accident in my journey for teaching myself about finances. I have read about 15 or so financial books and have lots more to read. Through this I have taken control over my checkbook and constantly improve on on my spending habits and where to put my money. I have more in savings than I ever have had in my whole life of 41 years. I still have a long way to go but I have gotten to the point where it is more fine tuning then having the overwhelming feeling of how money can make you want to puke.
So where do you begin to untangle the snake clutch of a mess your checkbook is in and figure out where all your money goes and why you don't have savings? This is the part that will take patience and persistence on your part. Step one is taking a three month snap shot of your spending. Or two months if you can't handle three. Account for every penny that you can without going blind. Don't get emotional. Don't change your spending habits today. Pretend if you have to that you are digging into someone else's checkbook and spending habits and sort it out into categories. Most likely you will find the hardest part is the little stuff that is hard to chase down and drives you crazy. Do what ever you have to do to accomplish this. Work on it for twenty minutes a day. Start with the hard stuff. Start with the easy stuff. Just get started. Once you know where your money goes mindlessly then you can start to decide where you choose to spend it. Learning about money is mostly about the psychology of what money means to you. Grab a notebook, electronic or an old fashioned pen and paper and start to write down what money means to you. Your fears about it. Your likes and loves about it. What you want from it. During your journey to financial intelligence you will read about more than just creating a budget, where you spend your money, or the mechanics of numbers. You will need to unlock why you spend the way you do so you no longer spend like a zombie. Its ultimately getting to the meat and potatoes of why you do what you do. Even think about the phrase financial intelligence. I wasn't even aware there was such phrase existed until I read Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. I never thought about money in concrete terms that could be mastered. I thought it was a means to survive and move from one paycheck date to another. Spend until it runs out and wait to get more.
So that is it. First things first. Think about what money means to you. Write it down. Put it in your pipe and think about it. Get three months worth of bank statements and track your spending into objective information. Remember to make this into a game for yourself. I know thinking about money and finances is like going to the dentist or doing your taxes but like everything else- if you put in the work you will reap the reward. The headache and dizziness will go away. Power through it and get it done. Home work reading is on the horizon. I have some GREAT books to suggest for you. Should it do nothing else than get you thinking... you are making progress!
Tootles-
Heather
So where do you begin to untangle the snake clutch of a mess your checkbook is in and figure out where all your money goes and why you don't have savings? This is the part that will take patience and persistence on your part. Step one is taking a three month snap shot of your spending. Or two months if you can't handle three. Account for every penny that you can without going blind. Don't get emotional. Don't change your spending habits today. Pretend if you have to that you are digging into someone else's checkbook and spending habits and sort it out into categories. Most likely you will find the hardest part is the little stuff that is hard to chase down and drives you crazy. Do what ever you have to do to accomplish this. Work on it for twenty minutes a day. Start with the hard stuff. Start with the easy stuff. Just get started. Once you know where your money goes mindlessly then you can start to decide where you choose to spend it. Learning about money is mostly about the psychology of what money means to you. Grab a notebook, electronic or an old fashioned pen and paper and start to write down what money means to you. Your fears about it. Your likes and loves about it. What you want from it. During your journey to financial intelligence you will read about more than just creating a budget, where you spend your money, or the mechanics of numbers. You will need to unlock why you spend the way you do so you no longer spend like a zombie. Its ultimately getting to the meat and potatoes of why you do what you do. Even think about the phrase financial intelligence. I wasn't even aware there was such phrase existed until I read Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. I never thought about money in concrete terms that could be mastered. I thought it was a means to survive and move from one paycheck date to another. Spend until it runs out and wait to get more.
So that is it. First things first. Think about what money means to you. Write it down. Put it in your pipe and think about it. Get three months worth of bank statements and track your spending into objective information. Remember to make this into a game for yourself. I know thinking about money and finances is like going to the dentist or doing your taxes but like everything else- if you put in the work you will reap the reward. The headache and dizziness will go away. Power through it and get it done. Home work reading is on the horizon. I have some GREAT books to suggest for you. Should it do nothing else than get you thinking... you are making progress!
Tootles-
Heather
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