MaXIMIze - Finances - Our Relationship with Money

There is a scrap of paper on the bulletin board by my desk that says:

Is money a naughty word?

No, it just means:

More
Opulent
Natural
Energy
Yeah!

When we think about dealing with finances and money in general, we come from one of two places - a place of abundance or a place of lack. Which do you come from?

This is actually a difficult topic for me to write about, which is probably why I decided to tackle this segment of the Circle of Perception first. My satisfaction rating for this particular segment of the areas of my life is currently a 5, which is down from last year's rating of 6. And I'll be quite honest, I am no financial guru in any way, shape or form.

When I was growing up, money was not talked about in our household, other than to say we couldn't afford something or other. I was not taught to save or plan for the future. My father was career military, so he had a guaranteed pension and medical benefits. My mother was Federal civil service under the old Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), which also meant a guaranteed pension and medical coverage.

Today, though, staying with one company for an career that could span forty years or more is the exception rather than the norm. And, even with Federal civil service, the retirement program has changed the ratio of the guaranteed pension to the 401k type program (Federal Employees Retirement System came on line in the mid-1980s, replacing CSRS), and is poised to potentially change even more, depending on the whim and will of Congress.

Back in the day, the advice was to save 10% of your income, and to insure you had at least three months' living expenses in the bank. The advice now seems to be have at least six months if not a year's living expenses in the bank.

The availability of credit is another thing that has changed over the years. Credit as we know it - with MasterCard, VISA, Discover, American Express, and all the store and gas cards - did not come into being until the 1970s. Back in the day, credit was something to be used sparingly for large purchases, not to buy everyday items such as clothes, groceries, even gas on.

Our way of looking at the use of money or credit to buy things has changed as well. We have become a society of "I want it all and I want it now" rather than one of "good things come to those who wait." We have lost the distinction between what it is we really need to live and what it is that we want to have.

When was the last time you waited to buy something - say, a painting - that struck your fancy? And by waiting, I mean going home, really looking at your financial situation, and sleeping on your decision rather than buying it right then, right there.

Household budget - do you know where all your money goes every month? Do you know how much you spend on meat, dairy, fruits, vegetables, laundry items, bathroom items, pet items, alcohol, soda, junk food, etc.? Do you really need all those cable channels or can you pare down to the internet connection and Hulu or Netflix? Or do you really need TV at all? How much is that smart phone costing you each month?

I challenge you to track each and every expense for a month or two and really see where your money goes - and I mean every expense - whether you buy it with cash, check, or debit/credit. Then ask yourself what do I really need to have/eat/use?

As you do this, you will begin to see your bank account grow, and then you can pay off your credit debt and save for your future.

Which brings me to my last question for you - have you done any retirement planning? Do you know where you're going to live, how you're going to spend your time, what funds will be needed to cover all that for as long as you are likely to live?

We have to take care of ourselves financially, period. No one else will do this for us - and frankly, we shouldn't let them. We owe it to ourselves to be able to pay our own way, balance our accounts, and save for our future, period.

We owe it to ourselves to become educated about money, our relationship with it, and its place in our lives. We owe it to ourselves to acknowledge the strengths we do have in the realm of finances and use them to the best of our abilities. We also owe it to ourselves to acknowledge our weaknesses in this area, bring them out in the open, and seek the help and advice we need to get to a place where we can have a healthy relationship with money and rate this segment of our lives at a minimum of 8 if not higher.

There are many resources out there for this particular topic. Suze Orman is one of my favorite authors and speakers on this subject. There is also a book called Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin, Joe Dominguez, and Monique Tilford that is very good.

If you are already dealing with your finances from a place of abundance - great! Keep on trucking and refine things as you need to.

If you are dealing with your finances from a place of lack - of never having enough - do the work you need to do to figure out why your relationship with money is what it is and work to move from a place of lack to a place of abundance. If need be, get counseling - both financial and personal - to help you move down the path toward abundance.

We owe to ourselves to live our best lives now - and MaXIMIzing our financial health and well-being will help us to do that.

As we move through the month, we will discuss more on the topic of finances and money, coming from a place of abundance and reminding ourselves that money is a tool we use to MaXIMIze our lives, not a be all and end all of itself.

Until next week, namaste!