Who is in control; You or your money?
Most of you would probably say you have control over your money and I really hope you do. However, I would venture to say that a larger percentage of you are controlled by your finances, at least to some extent. Consider the following: - It is your 10th wedding anniversary and you want to do something very special for your wonderful wife. She has always wanted to take a trip to Bermuda and nothing would make you more happy than to provide this trip as an anniversary gift to your one and only. BUT……After you paid the bills and figured the finances, you had enough funds to get to Bermuda, but not enough to fly back home. So, you settle for a trip to a resort in Vancouver, BC. It is still a nice trip for you and your loved one, but just not the trip your wife really wanted. Who has control; you or your money?
- Christmas time has always been a special event for your family and something everyone is really looking forward to doing. You find out a week before you are scheduled to work both Christmas Eve Day and Christmas Day. You plead your case with your employer, stating you have already made plans to be out of town with the family. Your employer, knowing he can get someone else to replace you says you will be working both days as scheduled. Your boss goes on to say if you want those days off, you can have them, but don’t bother coming back to work as this job would no longer be yours. Being the responsible adult you are, knowing you have to take care of the family, keep a roof over the head, keep food on the table, and pay for the various loans and credit card payments you have, you contact your out of town family to cancel the trip. You still have a nice Christmas with your spouse and children, but the family out of town is disappointed. Who has control; you or your money?
- You go grocery shopping. Your freezer has very little meat, so you decide to buy some. You are thinking pot roast, bbq steak, and maybe some salmon. As you pickup the pot roast, you notice a price of $3.99 per pound, T-bone steak (your favorite cut) is $9.95 per pound, and salmon (which is healthy as well as tasty) is $7.99 per pound. At these prices, you can only buy enough meat for a couple of meals and you have seven meals throughout the week. Therefore, you settle for whole chickens at $.99 per pound and hamburger on sale at $1.59 per pound. Now you can make some tasty dishes with chicken and hamburger, but it is not steak. Who has control; you or your money?
- You would love to go visit a friend or family member that is a six hour drive away from you. Your vehicle is having some minor mechanical problems which affect the gas mileage significantly. Gas has seen a 20 percent cost increase in the last month, so you decide not to visit your friend or family member. You plan to fix your vehicle in the spring. Maybe you can visit after the vehicle is repaired. Who has control; you or your money?
If a person really thinks about it, I believe a large percentage of people are controlled by money rather than controlling the money. We, as a person, need to move toward controlling our finances. The way this happens is one step at a time. It cannot and will not (outside of a sudden, unexpected windfall of money) happen overnight. Some time and effort are required, but the payoff is worth it. When you control your finances, you gain freedom. Finances are an area of life we tend to dislike talking about. Finances are something that we, as intelligent human beings, feel we have a good handle on and a good knowledge of, and quite honestly, we are a little uncomfortable talking about it. Folks, like it or not, finances are a big part of our life. Our ability to control that part of our life is dependent on our willingness to focus on that area of our life. A great place to start would be to purchase, read, and put into practice the teachings in the book called, The Total Money Makeover. Focusing on your finances, does not mean to loose sight of other areas needed for maintaining a level of balance in your life, but you do need to be sure to include finances as one of those areas of focus for maintaining balance. Some areas we will be discussing are:
Click Here to view other financial related articles
Subscribe to your FREE Good Health Newsletter
Return to Home Page
|
