Dear friend Happy New Year. I thought I would begin the New Year with some Money Management reminders. So here we go. The key to making long-term change in one’s financial life depends on three things:
1.Making a decision not to increase consumer debt for any reason.
2.Ensure that all important living needs are covered during the month.
3.Making a written spending plan monthly and tracking cash flow (so that you can make adjustments if necessary mid-month and compare the plan with actual spending at month’s end). A big benefit of actually writing the plan down on paper/spreadsheet is that this discipline allows us to release the constant juggling act in our minds. Having a plan allows us to relax and feel open.
If your spending plan is very tight, it may be necessary to call creditors and negotiate longer terms or smaller payments. Making smaller payments with no new charges – will actually allow us to be more responsible in meeting our obligations. Following through with reliable payments goes a long way to establishing a good working relationship with creditors – even big companies.
The main point of all this considered planning is to ensure your basic living expenses and not set yourself up with unrealistic goals, which in the long run, undermine your debt-clearing program.
The key is to get your life balanced first, and then take care of the debt over time. The key to doing that is to promise yourself that debt is no longer an option. You have to eliminate debt as a solution to financial problems so you can develop your creative muscle with other solutions.
The new habit of putting money aside for things that would have been charged before – clothes, car repairs, tires, dental work, and furniture – begins to eliminate the thoughtless impulsivity from which we often make our purchases.
The second point is that we are now carefully choosing to allocate our money for savings, vacations, hobbies, or other self-nurturing activities that keep us from feeling deprived. We are retraining ourselves to know that we can meet needs and wants on a consistent basis without credit. This behavior marks a major step in attaining and maintaining financial health. We have moved from surviving to thriving.
Until next time, make this a week one in which you are living your life to the fullest.
With appreciation and gratitude
Nigel St.Hill
Nigel St. Hill is a writer and a life and money management coach helping people who are ready to discover their path to love, happiness, success and abundance , so that they could live the life of their dreams. He is the founder of http://www.moneyandabundance.com and author of the book, Money Management Caribbean Style and several ebooks including The Easy Cash Flow System, 12 Secrets to Creating Money and Abundance Caribbean Style, 8 Money Management Secrets for Caribbean Women, Creative But Practical Ways to Save money, 8 Simple Ways to Live a Healthy Abundant Lifestyle, and 7 Steps To Becoming An Empowered Single Woman
https://www.amazon.com/author/nigelsthill .