03 - Live Within Your Means
50 Years, 50 Lessons
Lesson 3: Live Within Your Means
So many people seek wealth and riches, but what they actually want and need is financial security. They chase reassurance that the bottom won’t fall out of their life or business. They fear lacking control, losing their way, being uncomfortable and vulnerable.
Yet, along with that fear is behavior that contradicts their intentions and desires. It’s spending on things they can’t afford, including “get-rich-quick” lotto tickets, investments, or “deal of the decade” scams. It’s living outside their means by having more of their pay going out than is coming in. Month after month, netting below zero, or even at zero, is a losing strategy. It doesn’t protect us from the bumps in life that we all know happen.
But it’s fixable. In business too. Sometimes you just can’t afford stuff. And regardless of this, you can ALWAYS justify the stuff you want, need, or “deserve.”
Your money problems are yours. And they are from bad decisions, bad luck, and sometimes bad people. You can change the bad decisions, and you can screen the bad people. Money is like parenting – if it’s a bit difficult, you are probably doing it correctly.
Tips for managing money within your means:
Save a percentage or regular amount and put it somewhere harder to access.
Budget and plan ahead. An example – I have been saving for my purposeful pause for a few years. Why? Because it requires money to enjoy and lost income to navigate.
Save for the big and fun stuff, and buy those with cash.
Don’t borrow unless you must. Wanting something is not a reason to borrow.
If you are going to spend your pay, then when you get raises or bonuses, put the extra aside before you adjust your life around it.
Reconsider your daily spending and habits that might cost more than you realize (i.e. coffee stops are REALLY expensive now)!
Read your bank and credit card statements monthly. Trim the fat even if you can afford not to.
Gamify your spending – no Amazon for a month, only food or products on sale, try a cheaper grocery option.
Don’t use others’ lives as your money motivation. You will never know how people have what they have and if any of their choices were responsible.
Your turn: Any others you can think of?
To All: Thank you for being on this journey with me – past, present, and future.
Julie
