Do you continuously search “creating a budget” or “stop living paycheck to paycheck” but still find yourself in the same old routine? Are you having trouble breaking old patterns, creating new habits, and getting on the right track? YOU’RE NOT ALONE!
Let’s look at some numbers…
- More than 65% of people don’t know how much money they spent last month1
- Nearly 80% of Americans are in debt2
- It takes roughly two months to form a new habit – not 21 days!3
What does this mean for you?
This means that money is not purely a math equation – who would have thought! Our relationship with money goes so much deeper than that. Instead of thinking about your finances as a simple equation, let’s set the groundwork for treating money as we would in real life: with emotion.
While I will be adding budgeting worksheets, templates, and spreadsheets to this page, it’s important to know that everyone’s will look significantly different depending on a variety of factors. Family, a mortgage, varying income, seasonal jobs, even certain hobbies can make it so that standard budgets don’t work correctly!
So how can we take that first step in taking control of our finances? By recognizing where we’re at of course! You can’t fix what you can’t pinpoint!
In order for us to change our finances, we need to change our mindset regarding money.
Your money should bring you joy!
Take a moment to think about how you feel when you discuss money. Are you:
- Stressed?
- Embarrassed?
- Ashamed?
- Apathetic?
- Confident?
- Excited?
If you’re not feeling one of those last two, it’s time to take a hard look at why money is bringing up negative emotions. People’s reactions to money come from so many different scenarios. Upbringing, conversations or experiences with a partner, future plans, and current situations can all shape our relationship with money. We will discuss how to handle common situations in future posts, but for now we want to work on two things:
- Pinpoint Your Emotions
- Change Your Mindset
Pinpoint Your Emotions
The first step to creating change is to figure out where you’re coming from. If you are excited and confident about this step, great start! We can build on that. If you are feeling stressed, ashamed, nervous, or the like, I would encourage you to dig even deeper and find the root of the emotion. Try to answer the following questions:
- What part of your finances is causing a negative emotional response?
- What would it take to make you feel better about your situation?
- What resources could help you get there?
- Why are you feeling this way?
Change Your Mindset
This leads us to the next step in taking control of our finances: changing your mindset. Once we’ve figured out our emotional response towards money, we can begin to rework the way we view it. Try to answer the following questions:
- If you had an endless amount of money, what would your life look like? What would you do with it?
- How much money would it take to make you feel comfortable? (Take this one seriously – the average person is not going to suddenly make $1 million next month)
- If you paid off all of your debts right now, would that free your budget up enough to live the life you want?
Your life, although it may feel as though it revolves around money, revolves around YOU. Your wants, your needs, your goals, your plans. Reaching those goals is ultimately up to you; however, it will take dedication to get there.
If I ask you to pay down $100,000 of debt so that you can finally be debt-free, does that motivate you? What if I told you that by paying down $100,000 of your debt, you can afford to take a 2 week vacation each year? Or that you could afford to go out to a nice dinner twice a month? Does it sound more motivating to let you know that you could afford that new sports car you’ve been dreaming of?
Money will always have emotions tied to it. It is significantly easier to work towards a goal when you are excited about the outcome! Let us know in the comments below if this was helpful!