Simple money tips
Do you have a good relationship with money?
Growing up in a household with very little gave me an odd relationship with money. I was never taught how to respect money, and it was always about not ever having enough of it.
As a child, I could not understand how you could be working but not have enough money. Why were you working and getting so little?
Couldn’t you have a better job and earn better money?
Table of contents:
· As an adult
· Earning enough
· Making a choice
· Bank accounts
· Having savings
· Money for bills
· Money for holidays, investments and more
· No one tells you the truth.
· Be yourself
As an adult
Firstly I knew that as an adult, I didn’t want ever to live that way. I worked a part-time job in my teens from when I was 14. When I hit 15, I had saved enough money to buy a camera and lenses, which was my passion then.
Once out of school and around 16 to 20 years, I worked two jobs seven days a week. Buying the things I wanted, I saved a little and borrowed to buy a new car.
I met my husband at twenty, and we both yearned to have things—cars, holidays, buying our home and more.
In my twenties, I couldn’t figure out that it wasn’t the material things I needed. It was easy to fill any void by purchasing items to make myself feel like I had enough. Now married and with a house and a mortgage, there sure were a lot of bills. Loading up credit cards to ensure we could have what we thought we needed to get by.
We are comparing ourselves to others and trying to portray that we are living the dream.
In my thirties, it was still about getting by, paying bills and being on the treadmill of life. Not so fun!
Bring on the end of my thirties, and I figured it out.
Earning enough
At any income level, you need to live within your means.
You must move if you cannot earn enough to live in an expensive city. It is not the city’s fault that you cannot make enough; it is not the world's fault, the government's fault, or the cards you have been dealt with.
As an adult, it becomes your choice to ensure that you can live within your means, no matter how big or small they are.
Many high-income earners are living week to week because they are still spending more than they earn. Many people you see driving a fancy car cannot afford that car.
Money and the amount of money you have is not the problem.
Making a choice
You need to decide that you have enough.
You need to decide that you are rich not in $$$ but in gratitude for what you have.
You need to decide that you will have respect for money.
You need to decide to live within your means.
Bank accounts
It has never been easier to organise your money than it is right now. Everything can be accessed from your smartphone.
You only need two or three accounts:
- Main account — An account where your income is deposited
- Another account — An account for your savings
- Another account — An account for your bills
Of course, you can have more, but do what makes sense for you. Maybe you also have a holiday account.
When your income is deposited, you can have it set to transfer to the other accounts automatically. Or you can do it manually.
The only money that remains in your main account is the money you can spend on living until you get paid again. Once this money is gone, it is gone.
Having savings
You need to at any age, income or lifestyle; you need to have savings to have a good relationship with money.
If something happens, you will feel less stressed instantly by having savings or an emergency fund. We all got to see, though Covid, how essential it was to have that rainy day money. Did you have rainy day money?
Some people have savings that cover 3, 6 or 12 months of income. How much do you have?
Money for bills
Unfortunately, bills tend to keep coming. Even if it is only your phone bill, it will keep coming. Having the money sitting there for when bills come in is yet another massive relief from stress.
Sit down and work out your bill totals and how much you need to put aside weekly to ensure you have money for your bills. You will be glad you did.
Money for holidays, investments and more
We all have goals. What are your goals, and what do you need to do to reach those goals. By putting money aside for these goals, you will be able to achieve them.
No one tells you the truth.
Think of the people you know; do they seem to have everything?
You will never be satisfied unless you respect the money you have, whether it is a lot or a little.
You will constantly be comparing yourself to others and thinking they have more. And you will be justifying why you need that purchase over adding to your savings.
Please don’t believe what you see on Instagram, and don’t believe your friends when they show up in their new car with their new designer outfits. Chances are they have credit cards maxed out to try to look like something they are not.
Be yourself
Know yourself and your money, and you will be rich.
You will be happy and have more than you ever need.
Some of the happiest people appear to have very little, and some of the most miserable seem to have everything. Ideally, you want to be satisfied.
Remember that comparison is the thief of joy. Theodore Roosevelt
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And if you are a coffee lover, why not, shout me one too.
Thanks, Kelly
PS: Did you know if you read this article, you can clap up to 50 times :)
