Chaotic and disturbing are the words that spring to mind when I think of my approach to the worldly goods to which I had been endowed. And no wonder—I never wanted to face my finances because so far from being fun, my bills, saving and spending were frightening to me. I never felt there was really enough, and this in turn left me feeling scared and dodgy. I would do anything to avoid dealing with the numbers, but now I look at things differently.
It pays pays pays to look your money square in the eye with gratitude and a sense of fun and adventure. I can feel that way with no problem when I’m shopping, it’s just all the other times that require a conscious application of joy and bonhomie to get me into the spirit of things.
Take when I’m paying bills. After setting up a system of tracking and paying bills, I now actually get a thrill of satisfaction when I have dealt with my bills. The dread of being overdue, not knowing when things were due, wondering how much was due, wondering how much I had in the bank to pay what was due ... you get the picture ... has changed to a real sense of accomplishment. I feel solid and powerful when I know my paperwork is up to date. It’s a relief and it actually helps me feel and sleep better. What’s interesting too is that it gives me a better outlook on the present and future in terms of what I can spend, and how to spend, because I’m mindful of where my money is currently flowing to, and this allows me to realistically project where future money may go.
For instance, the other day I was looking at my credit card bill and noticed how much I had spent on medical and supplements. My initial reaction was “Oh Lord, not all that!”, but that was immediately replaced by a feeling of real thankfulness about how improved my health is over what it was 10 years ago, and that the reason for this is that I now spend the time and money required to mend and maintain my body, and that just made me feel so good.
Another thing that happened was I saw there had been no vacation expenditures. I’m the kind that has to be reminded to play, so I took one small step towards recreation, and set up a regular date night on Friday nights with my boyfriend. Just monitoring where the money went helped me to actually get a read on how I was living my life, and how to make minor adjustments if need be, or express happiness at knowing I’m on track.
Having fun with money isn’t all that hard if you start with the small things and do them consistently. You could try just organizing the cash in your wallet every day for a week, so they are in order and so that you know how much you’re carrying. You could spend 15 mins. a week working on balancing your checkbook. You could start the habit of sorting your mail every single day when it comes in, immediately tossing the junk and paying the bill when you lay eyes on it, even if you don’t mail it till later, or send the payment electronically till later. You will be surprised at how these little things you do for yourself on a daily basis will make you smile and lighten your load.
Don’t you just hate not having fun?
Martha Turner is a former opera singer turned crusader to get women everywhere to have fun while become financially empowered. Come visit her at MarthasCorner.com and also check out her new video.