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Browse published articles attributed to Mindy Crary, with full-archive search.
I heard something a while ago that I thought was brilliant: you can’t manage large gobs of money until you are able to manage SMALL gobs of money. I know some people might think this is self-evident, but this statement reminded me of how learning this helped me several years ago.
Researching your budgeting software options can be overwhelming if you’re just getting started. I believe that whatever is the most easily executable option—meaning that you can get set up and manage it consistently—wins out over anything else. The point is to get started, because that is the hardest part (or should be).
Always telling the truth about money is something to aspire to, but it may be unrealistic marriage advice. A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned in a blog post that it is absolutely essential that couples are 100% transparent about their money, or else the relationship probably won’t survive. How silly I am.
No one can ever be perfect with their personal budget; there will always be moments when you choose to overspend in a certain area, because something holds a higher priority for you than sticking to your budget. This can be either a conscious or unconscious decision. But getting back on track doesn't have to be difficult if you keep in mind 6 simple steps.
Switching focus from gift giving to others to giving to yourself, is the best way to feel some relaxation and peace during the holiday season. You may think others might feel neglected, when in fact, they will feel more peace and happiness as well.
When it comes to mutual fund investing, many people ask me how to evaluate the performance and quality of their mutual funds in their brokerage account, 401(k) IRAs, etc. Simply evaluating performance in terms of rates of return can be disappointing in our current environment; additionally, it doesn’t speak to an overall investment philosophy or guideline that you can refer to when times are tough.
If you are going to make a budget that lasts, you can’t just jump to categorizing and slashing expenses—that’s a lot like jumping into a diet and following a certain regime without really understanding the “why” behind your eating—it’s not a sustainable solution. Just like with eating, you have to understand the “why” behind your spending.
Many people thinking of failure as the undesirable end of something they attempted, when really it is just the beginning. People are scared right now because it seems like our economy is never going to fully recover from the 2008 mortgage fiasco. They worry about losing their home, their job, or being a bag lady in retirement; small business owners wonder how they are going to cover overhead, let alone thrive. The one (small) consolation we have is that everyone is "failing" as part of a global economy, versus just one individual experiencing it alone.
Occupy Wall Street (OWS) is a resistance movement of people who want Wall Street, the government and corporations to realize that individuals have the power to create change from the bottom-up. Yet the language of OWS conce s me, because it’s the language of war, instead of the language of collaboration and integration.
Money secrets are some of the most shame-filled secrets we keep. We’ve all heard that “the truth will set you free,” however, I believe that there are two kinds of money secrets we keep: the ones we keep because it’s inconvenient to tell the truth and the ones we keep because we don’t want to hurt ourselves.
Feng shui is all about creating good energy in your home, and the result will be prosperity and abundance in all areas of your life. So if you want to attract more money, then create an abundant, prosperous, energy in your home. Suggestions include using the feng shui money frog, placing furniture a certain way, using specific colors, etc.
Lots of people play the blame game with money—you blame the person who “owed” you because you worked so hard, or tolerated something else that you thought would bring a greater payoff—but whenever you play the blame game, you miss the opportunity to gain more power, control and peace over your money. And when you don’t recognize the dynamic you’re engaging in, you’re doomed to repeat it.
If one of your New Year's resolutions was to improve your wealth creation process, you have to approach it as if you were developing a brand new skill set, such as learning a sport or a game. If you want to continually improve your ability to create wealth, you need to keep in mind these 4 stages of awareness:
When people think about accumulating greater financial wealth, they usually think of beating the stock market, making millions from an invention or building a very successful entrepreneurial dream. The problem with this is that the dream starts at the END of a financial accumulation process, and one never considers the small, incremental steps needed to attain greater wealth. This ignores the importance of getting financial clear and organized even when you don’t feel like you have anything worth paying attention to!
Remembering and regretting money mistakes--instead of forgiving and forgetting--can actually hurt your efforts toward financial improvement.
What part of the financial world has the most potential to derail a person’s personal finances? Is it political or economical? No . . . I believe that the greatest threat to a person’s financial happiness and well-being is the threat of Ego. What is Ego? According to Eckhart Tolle, the ego is the habitual and compulsive thought processes that go through everybody's mind continuously. Left unchecked, this constant ego monologue prevents us from focusing on the present moment, and instead we are caught up in worrying about what happens next. Or what we want to buy next.