Category: money management

Money is Good for Three Things

My point in all of that is to say that it’s okay to spend your money. It’s your money, you earned it, and you should spend it but, you should also spend it with a plan in mind.  My goal is to help you create a spending plan to help you spend your money within some parameters. 

This holiday season as you, are shopping, keep in mind the three things money is good for.  If I were to ask you what three things money was good for what would you say?When I am teaching how to create a winning spending plan, I always ask this question and get a lot of different answers. 

Let me ask it in another way. 

The things you do with money, can be put into three categories, what are they?

When I ask this question, I always get similar answers.  Answers like It’s good for paying bills, buying stuff, saving, investing, and going shopping. 

And then I would say something to the effect of okay, we got spending and saving.  What is the third thing?  I put investing into the saving category. 

It’s interesting because at this point most of my students go blank.  Then
I ask again and say ok money is good for three things, spending, saving,
and…?  What are the three things we all do with money?

Most of the time I get no response and ask the class to think about and move forward with the class.

My point in all of that is to say that it’s okay to spend your money. It’s yours, you earned it, and you should spend it, but you should also spend it with a plan in mind.  My goal is to help you create a spending plan to help you spend within some parameters. 

What Are The Three Things?

Simply put, money is good for three things: spending, saving, and giving.  Interestingly when we are talking money, we forget about giving.  That is a discussion for another day. 

I am a Financial Coach, and I would like to help you navigate your finances and create a winning spending plan for you and your family.  Contact me
here, and we will do an assessment and get started improving your finances one GoldneRule at a time.  Take care.

When Finances Become a Source of Stress

When stress is getting you down, take a moment to reflect on all the things you appreciate in your life, including your positive qualities and gifts. This simple strategy of gratefulness can help you keep things in perspective.

Most of us have financial obligations or expenses that we must take care of.  Some of those include rent or a mortgage, maybe a car payment, credit card payments, and other needs such as clothing, and recreation.  Sometimes these obligations can become stressful and this stress can lead to anxiety, depression, and other physical and behavioral problems.  It’s important to take care of financial stress before it takes a toll on you and your family.

What Causes Financial Stress

Certain situations and circumstances can shake up finances and can lead to a major change in our finances and thus financial stress. 

For example, finances may be affected by a job loss or maybe a bad year of sales if you work on a commission.  Other major changes include a new baby, separation, divorce, or the death of a family member. 

However, financial stress can affect a family at any time and therefore, you must be able to recognize and manage it. 

Learn to Recognize

How do you recognize financial stress?  You have to learn the signs and signals. Your true sources of stress are not always obvious, and it’s all too easy to overlook your stress-inducing thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. 

For example, you may know that you’re constantly worried about being able to pay bills on time.  However, maybe it’s your lack of organization, rather than not having the money to pay the bills when they are due, that leads to stress.  Hence the importance to sit down and work with your money and bills consistently.   

Some signs of financial stress include: 

•Frequent worry or arguments about money

•Spending more than you make and using credit cards to make everyday purchases

•Only making minimum payments or making payments late

•Feeling overwhelmed by debt

If you are experiencing any of these, it could mean that you are experiencing financial stress and it is time to start managing that stress. 

Manage Financial Stress

Managing financial stress begins with identifying the sources of stress in your life. This isn’t as easy as it sounds.  

The ultimate goal is a balanced life, with time for family and work, relationships, relaxation, and fun – plus the resilience to hold up under pressure and meet challenges head-on. 

Talk about the situation and explain to family and children how things may and how they can help turn things around.  Keep up routines and keep life as normal as possible.  So, as a family, eat together and do other things together whenever possible.  Focus on the positive and know that your situation is temporary, and you can make it better. 

When stress is getting you down, take a moment to reflect on all the things you appreciate in your life, including your positive qualities and gifts. This simple strategy of greatfulness can help you keep things in perspective.

 Keep in mind that your children learn how to cope with stress by watching you. 

Create a household spending plan or budget.  This is the first step toward making it better and regaining control of your finances.  Track your expenses and know where every dollar is going.  In tracking expenses, you will begin to see ways to reduce expenses and save money.      

If your financial situation is stressing you out, recognize the causes of stress and begin to manage that stress.  Take charge of your finances and take charge of the stress. 

Don’t Resist the Change

Research has shown that when people are trying to change destructive or negative behaviors, only 20 percent of us are in a ready or action phase to change this behavior. The other 80 percent are really not interested in changing at all and are in fact various stages of ambivalence toward the bad behavior.

We resist a lot of things.  We resist significant others, we resist those more knowledgeable, we resist authority, and we resist change.  Resistance is a part of life; it’s in our DNA and can be extremely dangerous.  Resistance is an automatic response to feeling coaxed or to misunderstanding.  It is, misunderstanding or lack of clear, effective communication that, in my opinion, started every conflict that has ever been.  And so, it goes with managing our finances as well.   

Research has shown that when people are trying to change destructive or negative behaviors, only 20 percent of us are in a ready or action phase to change this behavior. 

The other 80 percent are really not interested in changing at all and are in fact various stages of ambivalence toward the bad behavior.

One of my favorite quotes from Mahatma Gandhi is, “You must be the change you want to see in the world.”

I like it because it can be used and adapted to many situations and circumstances.  If you want to make a change in your financial life, you must change your financial behavior or how you handle money.  And to do that, you need to think differently. 

The following tips will help you realize the change you want to see in your finances and help you improve your financial behavior.  

See that Change is Needed

You are the one, you are the person that will need to make the decision to change.  No one can make that decision for you.   And to make a change you must first see a need for change.  Until you see a real tangible need for change or realize the need for change, no change will take place. 

You may not see a pressing need for change at the current time but maybe a family member or friend does. 

Ask them if they feel like a certain spending pattern needs to adjust. 

If enough family or friends think that you overspend when you go shopping, you probably do and a change in your spending habits is needed.   Doing this, can help you see behavior that you may not see, or not see as such a problem.  

Develop and Implement Plan of Action

Once you decide to change you need a plan to make the adjustments needed.  Your plan should map out steps that you will take to change and possible barriers to finishing the plan. 

Additionally, you need to develop strategies for combating the barriers to plan completion.  For example, maybe you have a problem when you go shopping that you spend more than you should.   This could be a barrier to your plan for changing your overspending habits not coming to completion.  Therefore, to combat this barrier, you set a spending limit and take that amount of money with you when you go shopping so that you will not go over the limit. 

Maybe you make a list beforehand and take it with you as a tool to combat overspending. 

Review and Revise Plan

Plans are just that, plans, and almost meant for change.  Review your plans periodically to see if you are working with your plan and it is working with you.  If your plan seems to be working…great!  No need for adjustments, keep doing what you are doing. 

However, if the plan does not seem to be working, it’s time to make a change.  Try going back to the problem that caused you to change in the first place. 

Are you seeing the problem correctly? 

Next, revise the plan based on how you see the change that is needed now. 

You can change destructive or bad behaviors.  You must want to change the behavior first.  Then develop a plan and review the plan every week or so.  Revise the plan when it is not working for you.