One of my favorite things to hear is, “I am just bad with money.” (notice the sarcasm) I have heard that so many times and every time I hear it it just makes me cringe. The truth is, you’re not bad with money. You just don’t have the knowledge or the motivation. It’s like saying, “I’m just bad at math.” (something I would always tell my teacher in high school!) I just didn’t know how to do it. And honestly? I didn’t want to do it.
80% of money is your behavior. You can have all the tools, resources, people telling you HOW to deal with your money, but if you don’t think you can do it you’re not going to.
I know that it can be stressful. Especially when you are in a financial mess and think you can’t get out of it. It’s easier to just sweep it under the rug than have it shoved in your face. But, that doesn’t work. That just makes it worse. The longer you put off trying to get your finances in order the worse it’s going to get.
I’m going to tell you a little secret, I get that way sometimes, too. And I love budgeting! I know how to budget and keep track of my money, it’s what I’m good at. But it gets frustrating, I totally understand it. That’s why I am here to help you. I’m going to give you some ways to start on your finances and not be so scared of tackling them.
1.
Figure out why you don’t want to deal with your finances. Does it disappoint you? Do you have too much debt? Do you just not have enough knowledge about it? Are you unhappy with your job or how much income you’re producing? There is always a reason why people neglect their finances, figure yours out and tell someone. Tell your spouse, your significant other, your dog or even me! I’d love to hear what it is that’s stopping you from gaining Financial Freedom.
2.
Figure out how to overcome your reason for neglecting it. One thing I used to have a problem with is not having enough knowledge about it. There were so many things that I just didn’t understand so I just didn’t worry about it. I left my money to waste away just because I didn’t know what to do. You know what I did to get out of my slump? Google. No, seriously. Now I know that you’re not supposed to believe everything you read on the internet but there’s a lot of people who have really good advice. I started to learn as much as I could about finances and budgeting. I read books about it. After I have gained the knowledge and am no longer afraid I conquered my fear, just like you can.
3.
Do something about it. In most, if not all, of my posts I always mention to JUST START. Like I said above, 80% of money is your behavior. You can research all you want but you’re going to get to a point where you just have to do it. Stop letting your money rule you and start ruling your money. Don’t be a slave to the banks, be their boss.
My Go-To
One of the best presents I ever got was a book my Dave Ramsey called Total Money Makeover. I highly, highly, highly recommend this book if you don’t’ know much about your money or personal finances. He is very detailed and thorough, especially for beginners (that was me!) about everything from budgeting to investing. Even if you don’t want to read his book at least look up his site, he has some great information.
Dave Ramsey is just my go-to and I almost always mention him in my posts. But remember that there are a lot of other people out there that can help. For instance, if you’re a beginner and just starting a budget then check out my post, a Step-by-step guide to Starting a Budget. If you’ve all ready started but don’t know the next step then check out Setting Goals for your Budget.
Once you start taking control of your finances your life starts to be a little less stressful. Don’t overthink it, JUST START.
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