Happy New Year, friends!
I was having a random quick conversation with a fellow coffee shop goer, and the inclination was to delve into finances, and the words that came out of his mouth were amazing (lol)…too much talk. I had to stop him in the middle of the. I checked multiple times to see if his phrases were correct. 😆
Here are some of the highlights of our combo, as far as I can remember *in his own words*…
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“I’d rather play chicken with my bills than save money.”
Instead of spending money on “wants” first, as I’ve always done, I’ve flipped the tables and now save first and pay my bills second. And if you have something left over, use it to buy the “extras” you need.
I couldn’t save $1,000 and my credit score was 580, but within a year I had over $13,000 in the bank and my credit score was 730.
There were a number of triggers that led me to this, but mainly by changing my priorities and paying myself first, I was able to move in the right direction.
“We have moved to a system that manages cash flow more ‘spatially’. ”
Another reason I was able to save so much money this year is because I made major changes to my management structure. Instead of having everything in one or two accounts, we moved to a more “spatial” system.
This means that I spread my accounts across multiple banks that serve specific purposes.
I have one account for short-term savings. You have one account for long-term savings, one account for bills, and then one account for spending/what you want.
My business banking is similar: one account for savings, one account for bills, and one account for taxes (which I pay quarterly). It’s a lot to manage, but it’s brought me a lot of peace and savings.
“I threw away my debit card.”
The first thing I did when I started organizing everything was move all my savings to a brick-and-mortar bank with no online access. This way, the only way you can access your money is to go there directly. I also got a debit card, but I immediately cut it up and threw it away.
This really strengthened my discipline and is one of the reasons I was able to rise from $1,000 to $13,000 so quickly. It took me more than 30 years to save my first $10,000, but now the hardest part is over.
“I spend a lot of money looking for women.”
Over the course of 3-4 years, I’ve spent over $40,000, or about $1,200 a month, searching for love.
Some of it goes to dating apps like eHarmony (I was hesitant at first because it cost $300!), but most of it is just trying my best to “stand out”. So there’s a lot of eating out, hanging out with friends, visiting bars, community events, etc. If you really want to meet someone, you have to put yourself out there.
At first I felt bad about spending money without saving it in the bank, but later I realized that I was prioritizing what I wanted and it became okay. I could have worked more *efficiently*, but I’m proud of how well it turned out in the end. We are planning to get married at the end of this month. Ironically, the woman I found on eHarmony!!
(Editor’s Note: This was the most interesting part of the whole conversation, lol… As someone who met my partner years before online dating and apps, I’ve always been fascinated by the marriage of technology and love. And actually, how many dates are going on that generally seem to cost money??! And I’ve never met anyone who has kept track of it all (lol)…Maybe I’m the one That’s exactly what I would do if I were back in the situation 😂)
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So basically, yes – most of it’s stuff you’ve heard before, but in a more interesting way 😉
1) Save first, spend later
2) Build a system that suits you!
3) Make yourself more “visible” when you want something. It doesn’t matter if it’s love, business, career, etc. If you don’t put yourself in a position to “receive” something, you will end up creating limits for yourself. Nothing great is happening while you’re sitting on your couch. You have to put yourself out there and tell the world what you are looking for.
(By the way, this is exactly why I chose to do my project in a coffee shop. You never know who you’ll run into or what magic will happen. And I’m pretty sure this blog post would never have been written.) So, no one knows. What are you reading now? (laughs)
In any case, all good things to think about as we enter the new year 🙂 Do you consciously place yourself in situations that allow you to move closer to your goals, or do you move away from them?A management system Is it still working fine? Or is it time to tear down your management system and start from scratch? Where will you put the first dollar from your next paycheck? If not, check out this blog post I need to read the whole thing again. 😉
your FGA (financial guardian angel),
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