For the majority who work daily and budget frugally to survive - it can seem like a never ending battle to prevent the gas refuel light from coming on in a vehicle - before the next payday.
Make no mistake - these are tough economical hard times that most of us are financially struggling in.
So how can we defeat money - instead of - feeling like money defeats us? What good could come from acknowledging spending habits, budgets, bills, and stretching each penny a little further? How can we end the circle of stress with our money?
To defeat anything (object or human) - one must know their opponent's tactics. One must be aware to the opponent's ability to offend - defend and what they do to manipulate us to defeat us. Have you ever thought about an opponent in this way?
One must be aware to the emotional, rational, logical, and physical strengths and weaknesses that an opponent has. So are we talking about a sports match or an intellectual debate? Are we disregarding how to defeat money now?
Actually - no! We are going to view money as our opponent. So how are we going to do that? By answering a few questions honestly.
How would we classify our relationship with money? It is a healthy or an unhealthy relationship? How would we classify our money relationship at work that we are responsible for? What about at home? Would we call money our friend or a foe?
Anyone who struggles with money needs to become aware of why their money is their opponent. They need to understand the origin of what they do with their money and learn how not to be defeated anymore. Why?
Because many spend money without a thought to the impulsive actions they do. They spend without thought to the consequences of their financial actions. But they will surely whine and cry when the bills aren't paid - after - they come back from eating at a restaurant they couldn't afford. Why do people do that?
Did you know that spending money is as much a stimulant as caffeine and soda or sugars are. Ever consider the high you feel of shopping without thought or regards to your consequences? How many window shop and end up purchasing excess of things they do not need? Ever take inventory of every possession in your home or your vehicle that equates to clutter, garbage or ends up being sold at a price that has zero equity or investment for you? That's the power of stimulation that money buys you - when you don't think about it.
But now - if you thought about what you can afford to do and what you can't afford to do ~ how would that change your life? Your habits? Your hobbies? Your relationship with money? Your relationship with people?
Start making a commitment to your self to pay attention to how you spend every penny. Notice who you spend the most money with. Admit why you spend more money with some people and not with others. Learn what emotional fulfillment you get from spending. Be honest in your answers.
Consider waiting - before - making any purchases. Set a one week decision date - before making any new purchases. By thinking of these things and setting a future date - before making the action to spend - chances are - in a few weeks, you will not want that item anymore.
Look at self to see how you could be the one responsible for the spending damage you do to your finances and increasing debt.
Next - view your money as an intellectual opponent. As if - your money could have the potential to be wise - but somehow - the things you do with money - seems to keep producing negative consequences.
What can you learn about money to make wiser choices? What can you learn to create a healthier and less stressful budget? What new skills could you gain by researching finances on the internet to apply to your money?
The internet is a wonderful free library. The knowledge that is waiting to teach you about your money and your personal finances can improve your penny spending to increase your dollar savings. Start small to learn about your opponent. Are you an emotional spender? Do you use wise budgeting skills? Do you hold yourself accountable with your money? Do you blame others about your money?
Facebook is loaded with sarcastic money quotes on many news feed every day.
* Not enough money.
* Politicians stealing money.
* Family or friends won't let me borrow money.
* And the list of woes continues.
Some are funny. Some are just rude. But at the bottom of sarcasm, whining, and pouting is truth. The truth usually is within each person to be honest about and to change it. We can't force financial changes upon others. It is up to self to do and up to self to be responsible for.
Complaining about money will not fix your money problems. Envying or being jealous of others' possessions, quality of lifestyle, and their financial gains will do nothing to help you increase money knowledge and to solve your money problems.
What if - you considered your brain and emotions as your primary enemy and opponent that defeats everything in your life - including how you relate and spend your money? Many will agree that we get consumed in our thoughts and emotions to feel like our own worst enemy. Some even will say they feel "emotionally paralyzed or numb."
So what if we apply this same generalization to our money situations and the actions of how we spend our money? What if our perceptions and views are our biggest opponent that defeats our money? What if - each person is the primary reason of their financial demise? What if - each spends their entire time and life complaining about money - but never hold self-accountable? What if - self is the biggest problem of money and self keeps denying they have a money problem?
For anyone to manage money wisely - they must have a balance internally. One must view each purchase and every bill as a emotional, rational, or logical investment in their life. For each penny has the power to improve our life or make it worse. However, most never realize the power of money as our opponent until the bad consequences pile up to become more than we can handle and cope through.
This internal process is a mixture of thoughts and emotions that become our actions. Self-discipline and awareness begin by pondering these questions and answering them truthfully.
"Why do I think or feel like I do?"
"Why do I act the way I do?"
"Why do I respond the way I do?"
"What or who have I allowed to influence me?"
"What type of influences would help me improve my life?"
As you can see - money goes a lot deeper into a person's psyche than simply calculating pennies and dollars.
30 years ago - everyone had an excuse not to learn something new. Unless you paid to go to college or traveled to a library - free education was not something that everyone had an opportunity to gain.
But since the internet has exploded into practically every hand, every home, and with multiple devices - we have no excuses for our emotional, logical, rational, and impulsive deficiencies and weaknesses anymore. This includes how we relate to money and how we spend money.
Money is a tool. Money is an item to be controlled. The only way to defeat money problems is to be honest with what you do with it. Stop looking at others. Why? Because their budget - choices and spending is not and will not be the same as yours.
No one wants nor plans to file bankruptcy. No one wants nor plans to have a vehicle repossession. No one wants nor plans on having a foreclosure. No one ever signs a loan contract with thoughts of what will happen if I lost my job, become disabled, or can't no longer meet the obligations of this contract.
But these are the things that one must consider - before signing any line of debt. These are the things that we must have answers for - before - signing on a debt line.
For the only person that can defeat your money and conquer your money is you! Any loan obligation is not a bad thing when remembering that the loan, interest rates, and duration of a loan are a tool to give you the means to have what you want. But the destination of that loan is for yours to control. How you pay for it when the worst situations could occur is on you to have a plan for. Buy with a plan on everything! Set your own payoff date. Have a plan that is realistic to what you can afford. Never spend money that you can't afford.
Do not continue spending your money by using the past tools and skills you have. Keep learning. Everything about money has knowledge to be gained through researching - learning and applying new skills. Make your money work smarter for you!
For instance - utilities bills have acronyms for what a customer uses. Do you even know what GPM or KWH mean? These smallest of details that one overlooks on their monthly bills - makes the difference of controlling a bill to pay what you can comfortably afford by knowing what these things are and how you can learn to control them by researching and learning more about them to help improve your life and your money!
* So dissect each monthly obligation you have.
* Learn what those bills are and the products you are paying for.
* Learn ways to improve your skills to control what you pay.
* Learn what you can do to control your money and make wiser, smarter, and more responsible choices.
* Accept what you can control.
* Admit what you can not control.
* Accept what you can learn and improve upon to apply new ways to deal with money.
* Be forgiving to self when you falter.
* Demand as much patience from yourself through this learning curve, as you would teaching a child a new skill.
Money is a tool that can be defeated. You can gain peace with the bills you pay, the luxuries you can afford, and the security of knowing you have a plan that you can happily appreciate and be responsibly content with.
When there is no one - but you - in the silence of your mind - is it a good place to be? Or is it a horrible place to be? That's what you need to find out and seek out. Never give up on defeating money. Because the only one responsible for burning your money or growing your money is you. Everyone has the ability to learn something new to help improve their life. What will yours be?
