OK – maybe it’s just me. Maybe it’s because when I was 14 years old I had a summer job doing landscaping on a corporations beautiful grounds – where we were required to open a savings account such as a passbook savings account and save 10% of our money. This bank account we could not withdraw from until 3 years later. It was communist. And it was good. I’m very glad I’ve learned how to save the bills through that summer job.
I don’t think anyone should ever spend money like water (except on the rare occasion). Instead, money should be like water in the sense that it flows into your life easily, however you should have a big ‘ol reservoir that collects most of it, with a small steady stream flowing from the bottom of it. I’m not saying you shouldn’t spend on things you truly enjoy, but how many of those things are really that satisfying? Or are they just filler for the fact you having been chasing the false American consumer dream? Think about those things that really make you happy that you’ve bought, and I’ll bet they are few and far between. Not that you shouldn’t be grateful for what you have already, that would be just be bah-humbug scrooge-like behavior. That’s never fun!
If saving money at will is not a natural habit for you, then it’s time you learn. But why isn’t it so easy? It all has to do with habits, yes. But something more powerful beneath are your money beliefs. And once you change those your habits will naturally change. It’s harder to change beliefs but then everything becomes easier to change on a grand scale in your financial life. In an upcoming post, I will be talking about money & wealth beliefs, some common ones, and what you can do to change them.
On a tangential personal note, I want to list some of my individual financial planning goals for the next 6 months.
Here are three of mine my important ones:
To earn $10,000 a month by July 1st, 2010.
To start an investing experiment with a small sum of money (say $1000) in the stock market. Yes day trading, I’ve always wanted to try it. Friends have recommended courses from investors.com (Investors Business Daily).
To live back in NYC again in the East Village in a crappy, cheap room in an apartment. Ah I love simple dreams!
What are your personal finance goals however big or small for the next six months? Comment at the bottom of this post – we wanna hear your thoughts.
2 replies to "Learning NOT To Spend Money Is Easier Than You Think"
How are those goals coming along? One of my goals for the next 6 months is to generate at least 500 a month in income from my blog.
LaTisha – the goal for income was set about a month ago. I have something in the works I hope will be lucrative, but so far not much more income towards that goal. I’m going BIG here. I’m a big believer in changing beliefs to make things easier and have great success, so I’m doing an interesting exercise from Think & Grow Rich. It’s where you read a statement every day you wake up and every night before you go to bed on how much you want to make, by when, what value you will provide people with and how you will make that money providing value. I’m certainly even more passionate and working harder than ever!
Thanks for stopping by!