Are you ready to win?
Often the hardest part of doing something is just getting started. For example, millions of Americans smoke and most people know that smoking will cause long-term health issues, yet they don’t quit. Why? The majority of people know that McDonalds is not only fast, but it can also be bad for you (and can be expensive). Yet, thousands of households feast nightly at the altar of the dollar menu. Why? I think the answer to both of these questions is because it is easier to keep doing what you are doing than to change your lifestyle.
Pay Me Now, Pay Me Later
Fram, the maker of automobile oil and air filters has a very effective commercial that says, unless you take care of your car problems today, no matter how small they appear, you will have to pay someone a lot more money to fix the big problems later caused by years of neglect. The same idea applies to our personal finance situation. If we refuse to make the necessary life changes now to address our current problems, the problems in years to come will be a lot bigger.
Have you thought about how you are going to pay for your kids college? What about your own retirement? Are you parents covered with Long Term Care insurance or are you going to have to cover the cost of the care when they become unable to care for themselves?
Just Do It!
In 1988, Nike introduced a new slogan – Just Do It! The idea originated (based on my research), because of Nike’s positive, can-do attitude. I am pretty sure that almost everyone has at one time or another heard or read those words. Most likely, especially if you are a parent, you have used those words. But too often, we ignore the meaning behind the phrase and become content with ‘not doing it’.
The thing we are not doing is obviously the one thing in our life that is preventing us from being successful. The weird thing is that the one thing that is holding you back, probably isn’t that big of a deal. As a matter of fact, for most people, 30-minutes a week, could change their financial life forever. What am I talking about?
Success Begins with a Budget
You guessed it a budget. What else would I be talking about on a Personal Finance blog. Maybe you have a budget, but you aren’t living on it. Maybe you feel you can’t budget, because you have an irregular income. Maybe you and your spouse just can’t agree on how to spend your money. Whatever the reason you aren’t living on a budget, it is time to treat the problem and let go of the excuses.
Jesse over at You Need A Budget (YNAB) has developed a Free 10 day online course that will not only help you address the reasons for not budgeting, but it also gives you insight to the YNAB philosophy. With four basic money management ‘rules’, he takes you from never wanting to hear the word budget again, to living each month within your means.
Over the next 10 days, I would like to challenge you to complete the online course and then give YNAB a chance. I will help you by giving you some of my insights on each days lesson. You can start now by signing up for the course. Did I mention the course was free? There is absolutely no reason that you can’t begin winning in the area of personal finance, other than you decide not to.
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- Thank You Fellow Bloggers!
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- Customizing a Budget
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