- A new outfit?
- A slicker ride?
- A vacation this summer?
- Hanging out several times a week?
- Not keeping track of my dollars?
One of the reasons we are often in emotional distress, is our lack of information about how to make the most of our money. Or rather, the mis-information we are given and shown about having money. As blacks, we are really good at looking good while not being financially sound. Many of us have bought the notion that we have been so deprived that we should spend whatever we have on whatever we can. That kind of thinking paves the road to bankruptcy and despair. The reason so many of us don't have two pennies to rub together is that we don't pay attention to the pennies. We only pay attention to the big bling, bling.
In the book, The Millionaire Next Door, the author notes that the feature common to most millionaires is that they did not have obvious wealth. They lived modestly, drove modestly, dressed modestly. It seems like black folks know how to find the bargains. You can look good without going broke. You don't need 90 outfits. You need 4 or 5 outfits that are right for you.
The secret to having more money is paying attention to each and every penny you have. If you refuse to spend a dime unless you've thought about it and planned it ahead of time, you will begin finding abundance where you normally found nothing.
Suze Orman, the financial writer who has gone to the brink of bankruptcy and back, says that you'll have as much money as the amount of time you spend tracking how you spend your money. Try it, it works. The book, Your Money or Your Life,(Dominguez & Robin) gets you thinking differently by having you ask yourself a number of urgent money questions. The first one is "Add up the total amount of money you have made over your lifetime - every dollar beginning with babysitting or lawn care money". (This book will change your financial life!)
The result: all of a sudden you understand that money is not like water. There is a limited amount of it and if it's gone, it is not renewable and going to reappear. It's simply gone. Most of us can't even remember what we spent it on.
So, as part of your first step to a new life, spending money only on what you have preplanned will make your money stay longer and cover those things that are your real priorities. Being pretty or pushing a great ride will not make you happy. Getting your mind and heart together will.
A natural stage in therapy is when the person finds peace with himself or herself and stops sabotaging their wealth. In the majority of therapies, the client moves from desperate financial status to a better job, solid finances and financial peace.
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