Financial Stress

Do you know what it is like to experience financial stress?

Financial stress impacts family relationships – marriages, parents with children, children with parents, siblings. Financial stress impacts friendships and business partnerships. It can forever destroy your relationship with your spouse.

Why is this?

The way you manage your finances tells a story. It tells a story about what you value, about what is important to you, and about who is important to you. It can also tell a story about what you do not value, about what is unimportant to you, and about who is unimportant to you.

If you spend a majority of your money paying bills for debts (car, house, TV, credit cards, student loans, furniture, boat, lawn mower, etc.) you have signed up for, then it tells a story that having stuff might be more important than saving for retirement.

If you spend everything you make and live from paycheck to paycheck, it could indicate that you do not value security more than you value not having to take time developing a spending plan.

If you give away a pile of money to worthy causes, have taken the time to develop a spending plan that works, are saving for retirement, college, and other notable expenses, and are regularly reviewing your spending habits ON PURPOSE to understand opportunities for better management of your money … it tells me that you are weird and value others and your future more than you value stuff.

Go look at your spending. Does it line up with your values?

By the way, “you” can insert “me” or “I” everywhere “I” have listed “you” and “your” in this diatribe. 🙂