April 27, 2017

The POWER of Money

“For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” -King James Bible

“Having money isn’t everything, not having it is.” –Kanye West

Power = Money?

Whether we chose to admit it or not, money is power. We do have a choice though, will we hold the power or will we assign it to money (or to people with it)?

 

Do you have credit card debt and no idea what you purchased to get yourself there?

Do you work crazy long hours to keep up with a lifestyle you don’t have time to enjoy?

Do you feel like no matter what you do, you’ll never make enough money to have what you want?

 

Is money the elephant in the room with your partner?

This may be a really good time to stop for a second and notice what you have already accomplished. We often get so focused on doing more, getting better, getting closer to that allusive goal post, we can forget to reflect and be grateful what why we have already built.

What can you reflect on financially and be proud or grateful for? Have you caught up on the bills? Paid off a car note? Tackled a loan? Have you been faithful about retirement or college fund savings? Anything! Find something that you can say you have done right with your money, even if you aren’t where you want to be financially today.

 

Now let’s look to the future. What do your values (not your “shoulds”) tell you that you need?

[I equate “shoulding” on yourself to s$%ting on yourself. I pay attention to anytime a sentence or thought begins with I/you SHOULD. Why?! Who says?]

 

Anyone who knows me really well knows that I hate debt…. Like a lot. My journey isn’t yours but in the spirit of sharing, in order for me to feel free to explore other financial goals, I needed (for me- no one else) to pay off my student loans. Pursuing that goal was totally for and about me and it was really interesting to get (unsolicited) feedback from others. I often heard things like, ‘You don’t need to do that you should do this…’ or ‘I’ll never pay off all my student loans’ (as though it was a frivolous goal). But it meant a lot to me so I kept at it. I’m stubborn!!

 

Be stubborn for yourself!!

I don’t really care what your goal is, but I challenge you to take your power back when it comes to money. Set your financial goals for yourself and keep them for yourself and your family.

There are so many financial philosophies out there. When you are thinking about your values and using them to guide your goals, I encourage you to find one for yourself to help give you structure and ideas; a community of like-minded people to support you when it is difficult to reach the finish line.

Before I list some names, I will preface by saying I am not endorsing any of these as a solution and I know that no plan is perfect. We can find flaw anytime we search for it. Instead of searching for flaws, perhaps you can find nuggets of support for yourself.

 

David Bach (I mentioned one of his books in my last post, I find him really helpful.)

Suze Orman (She has resources on all sorts of things even wills and estate planning.)

Dave Ramsey (Believes in living debt FREE and has a lot of free resources on his website.)

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