Necessity? Affordable?
Shopping can be a fun experience, if you qualify our actions.
You can do more shopping if you quantify your decisions.
Some planning will make shopping purposeful. But walking through stores can reveal items you never thought about that appeal to you. That is when planning will serve you well!
The appeal to you may be intense. Though you must ask yourself if you need it and can you afford it?
Kids Grow Up
Many of us had little when we were kids, which motivates us to shower our kids with toys. Just watch that you do not limit their use of imagination. If they have less, they have to use their imagination more.
When you shop for kids be sure to ask if you are buying because you can or because it fills a need?
“This Too Shall Pass”
As adults, we face good times and bad. Mom told me there would be bad days. But you can get through them.
When the good days come, they will feel more like a blessing when you have endured rough times.
Pray for the good days and be thankful when they come. But do not be surprised at bad news or bad days. These are days that can toughen your resolve to power through them. Be positive. You can do this!
Change Is Important
I must offer a mental picture to help you remember to be prepared for difficulty.
Life is like standing in a mountain stream while fly fishing. The water is moving fast, and the bottom of the stream is uneven. You cannot stand in one place very long. It is easy to stumble. You must walk to shore to get some rest before you venture out again.
Forces will push against you. You need to be strong to hold your ground. Be smart and rest when you are tired. You need your strength to try again.
Learn all you can to be able to make good decisions. You have options, many of which you are not yet aware.
You cannot stand still for long. Change is the primary constant in our lives. Be ready to change or let the current knock you down when you stumble!
Storms Will Come
When you are making plans for shopping, be sure to ask if you are ready for the storms that always come. That will be a good reason to ask if you have saved enough.
Then, if you have plenty of money on hand, are you planning to shop because you can or because you should?
What kind of shelter do you need from the storms that will come?
When the tornado sirens go off, will you be in an RV, as I have experienced, or in a building with a basement? I prefer the basement. What value will you give to your safety?
Qualify your actions and quantify your decisions. Be prepared for those storms!
Build a Solid Base
You can get distracted by being busy. Being employed often makes us relax, often too relaxed. It is easy to lose sight of what you are spending in relation to what income you are making.
Are you spending more than your income? How long do you expect that to last?
Face the facts. And make some goals. Do you need to make some changes?
Spend too much? Spend less.
Not enough income? Earn more.
Reality is a good motivator. Your need for change must be like a burr under your saddle. It will hurt until you can unload the saddle.
Debt is like a saddle. Pay the unpaid bill. Get yourself clear of that obligation. You will feel much lighter when you do.
You have the power to build a better road for your life. And a good road has a solid base.
You need a solid financial base to ease all the other concerns in your life. Resources help and debt interferes. You make the choices.
Is it can or should spend? Cost to benefit is a qualifying rule. Give value to your choices.
Make saving a priority to build your reserves. Those reserves will help you have a solid base to weather your storms!
Plan to Harvest
If you like nice things and enjoy shopping, then add to your income.
Plant the seeds of learning and formal education and certification to qualify you for better income opportunities.
Change is up to you.
Build your resources for income and they can become your means to harvest reserves for investment. That is when you begin to see the possibility of having more than enough!
Be careful what you plant. Be aware that growth will require cultivation. Otherwise, the weeds will take your crop!
Use What You Have
What you have is what you have to work with. To use more is to put yourself at risk.
Living above your resources is like getting an advance on your paycheck.
I hired a boy to mow my mom’s yard. After a while, he asked for an advance on his next mowing to buy something he wanted. But it was hard to get him to come back to mow when there would be no pay at the end of his hard work.
Do not lose your motivation by borrowing against our future income. Build a better mindset for money! Use what you have.
Live on What You Can Get
Your self-confidence is important. Pay attention to the prosperity of your employer. Live based on what you are sure to be able to earn.
And build a reserve for any misjudged situations. A job loss can be very stressful when your resources are low. Give yourself the luxury of being able to take three to six months to find a job.
You can make better choices for employment, including self-employment, when you already have enough in the bank to pay your bills.
To some who are just barely getting by, saving that much can sound unreasonable and out of reach. But, like building a rock wall where you add one stone at a time, small deposits will add up over time.
Live on less to save more. That is a habit that will eventually help you live with greater peace of mind than you ever thought possible.
Cache Your Cash
Cache (pronounced “cash”) is a term used long ago by the Mountain Men as a place they hid the hides of animals they trapped all winter so they could trade them in the spring.
When computers became common, they referred to the cache as the place for temporary memory to operate. A place to help make your computer useful.
Therefore, I would like you to think of your savings account as the place to accumulate money for use in trade that will help you save more, such as avoiding interest expense on borrowed money, being able to take advantage of bigger deals or sales on needed purchases, and putting you in a better position for investments that can produce income.
That sounds like wisdom to me and good stewardship.
There are many opportunities out there. So be ready to take advantage of those that appeal to you.
Plan to cache your cash!