Tuesday, February 21, 2012

life.spending

Many people hark over themselves to get their finances in order. You hear that Starbucks is costing you hundreds of dollars every year and you worry about getting out of debt or saving up for retirement/house/car/college. Basically life sucks and you should feel bad about spending money on that extra latte. 

Here's my point: We need a new outlook. Finance is 99% how we value money. What do you value? Is it your car, the gym, shopping, coffee, books, saving? There is no wrong answer. You get to decide how you spend your money based off of your values. 


The problem comes when we become unconscious of our spending habits, then later when we get the credit card bill we hitting our head against the wall. Every time you swipe your card, you are making a choice. For me, I realized that I was spending a ton of money eating out- and mostly because I was lazy and didn't pack myself a lunch. I realized that I would much rather keep that 5-10 dollars a day and spend on something that I actually want like my awesome (and expensive) gym membership. 


Bottom Line: Spend money on what you value, and cut back where it doesn't matter. 


Homework: Make a top five list of the things that you want to spend your money on, then check your spending for the past month. How does it match up?  

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