What kind of money disorders have you faced in our life and how did you overcome those disorders? We invite you to share your stories of change and transformation. Use the “post a comment” feature below to share your stories.
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As a college student, money is always an issue. While I do consider myself a rather frugal guy, money always seems to go away faster than it comes in. I have tried to plan and budget my money in the past, but I never seem to get around to setting a strict spending schedule.
Over the last few months I have come to realize that without budgeting my money, there is no way I’ll be able to keep up with my bills. The rent bill sitting at the top of a stack of other bills is a frightening thought when I think about it in passing. However, when I force myself to sit down and see exactly where I am financially, the bills don’t seem as scary. Instead of playing a game of hide-and-seek with my bottom line, where I am continually trying to dodge looking at how much money I actually I have, I have taken control and put myself as the dominator over my bank account and debit cards.
I now sit down at the beginning of every month, estimate my monthly bills, look at how much money I actually have, look at how much money I will make that month, and then plan accordingly. I always, ALWAYS, make sure I have some cushion for an unexpected event, but also make sure to give myself some spending money.
I own my money, it shouldn’t own me. After doing this, I have a new-found sense of confidence when I make a purchase because I know that I have the money and can afford it. Before, I was shooting in the dark and hoping to still be in the black come the end of the month.
For me, financial stress is even worse around the holidays and so is the desire to over spend. Not only to over spend based on personal budgets, but to actually spend money you don’t have. In the past, I was consistently trying to “float” charges on my debit card and just before Christmas, I had $345.00 in NSF fees. I hate the amount of money I’ve wasted in fees and I’m glad I don’t actually know the total amount. In trying to educate myself and I made three goals for 2009. To stop acquiring any sort of late or bank fees, to pay off old debts that are just ruining my credit and to learn more about how to avoid these pitfalls in the future. I’m doing pretty well actually although some of it has bled into the new year.
I am a recovering workaholic, raised by 2 workaholics…in our family you earned love and respect by doing. The problem is that when you’re trying to find a mate, that philosophy just doesn’t work–you have no time for anything other than work and even when I was in downtime, the blackberry was right by my side. I’ve realized that work was my mate and saying I was married to my job is nothing to be proud of…it cost me opportunities that others take for granted like having a family. I also judged potential mates against my own work ethic and of course, they never measured up. When I read the chapter on workaholics, it was absolutely a description of me and the fallout from that pursuit. I know it’s never too late to change behavior so this is what I’m striving for in 2010.