What finally kicked me in the ass hard enough for motivation? The only other thing certain in life than death... taxes. For years I've been one of those people who looked forward to tax day as a kind of yearly bonus check... how much am I going to get back this time? But this year was different. It wasn't so much taxes that doomed me, simply poor financial planning, and forgetting that taxes are not deducted from contract work paychecks. So tax day brought me a $1500 surprise bill from the government, yay! Now I'm happy to pay my taxes, and I remind myself of that every time I see the DOT fixing a pothole in the road, or when I remember the 13 years of public education that contributed to my personal success, or when I see men and women in uniform who work hard to protect our country.
However, what doesn't make me happy is putting $15o0 on a credit card that I just celebrated paying off for the 3rd time. It's the cycle that has me pissed off. The cycle of jumping in the hole and slowly crawling your way out only to be kicked back in the hole again and again and again. Some people are OK with debt... I'm not one of them. Debt makes me anxious, like I'm unprepared for a big test and it's going to cause me to fail the class... in this case, the class of life. So my number one motivator is avoiding debt, and the only way to do that is to pay off your debt and simultaneously save enough so that when life kicks you in the financial ass again, you can punch it right back in the face, because this time, you were ready.
I want to clarify that I am not the kind of person that thinks money is everything. Not long ago I abandoned a successful career in advertising with a money-filled future because I wasn't happy, and to me, happiness is much more valuable than money. Now I'm a receptionist as I work towards my dream of becoming a veterinarian. I make over $40,000 less per year than what I would be making had I stayed in advertising... but I'm OK with it, because I'm happy and I look forward to going to work every week. Even on my current path, I've been shocked when people say to me, "You should go to med school instead of trying to be a vet, doctors make so much more money!" This statement is true, there is no comparing a Vets salary to that of a surgeon MD, but that's not the point. I believe that if you pick your career solely on it's income potential, you are bound for an unfulfilled, unhappy life. I'm going to be a Vet because I have a passion for veterinary medicine, not human medicine. I may not end up $300K-per-year rich, but I'll be able live more than comfortably and that's enough for me, especially if I get to wake up everyday and say that I love my job.
However, money can definitely make life easier, so no matter how much you make, it's just smart to try and keep as much of your hard earned money in your pocket as possible. This is why I've jumped on the money saving bandwagon and I hope to always be a frugal, money-conscious person.
My first goal was to gain control of my finances. The best book I've ever read on the subject is "Smart Women Finish Rich" by David Bach. He's written many other books pertinent to men, couples, homeowners, etc. But I think his methods are easy to follow and practical and they have definitely helped me time and time again.
My second goal was to be conscious of where all my money is going. This was partly achieved by goal #1, but mostly this pertains to how money is handled in my relationship. As an unmarried couple living together, Sean and I have our own system of handling expenses. As the homeowner, all of the utilities/bills are under Sean's name and we both do grocery shopping and cover restaurant bills, etc. We settle everything 50/50 , ideally once a month, but it had turned into "whenever we get around to it." It's hard to be conscious of your spending when you owe another person 1/2 of what they've spent and you have no idea how much that might be until you get around to settling up. Also, since I never saw the utility bills, I wasn't very conscious of how much they were adding up to. We've changed all that. We now try to meet weekly to settle and talk about bills/expenses so that we can keep a closer track on everything and discuss changes that we may need to make. We've realized the areas that we can control such as utility usage and grocery bills and have honed in on those categories to find ways to save money.
My third goal is to take action and SAVE, SAVE, SAVE! This is the area that I've become quite obsessed. Realizing that you have control over how much money you spend is truly empowering. I used to think that you just go to the grocery store and buy what you want and it just costs what it costs and there's nothing you can do about it. I was completely wrong. Everyone can choose to take the time to save themselves more money. I'm now an official member of the coupon-cutting, ad-searching, grocery-planning club, and proud of it.
I plan to post more about my money saving adventures and hope to inspire some of you to jump on the bandwagon with me. I'm really having fun learning how to make my dollar stretch and am amazed at how it's changed the way I see everything.
Take control, be conscious, take action. Ignoring your financial blunders is a sure-fire way to create stress and unhappiness, as well as a debt-filled future. If you're smart with your money, it doesn't take much to live comfortably.
