Money is something most of us don’t ever truly understand. Take it from me, I 100 percent don’t understand money most of the time. It’s a mysterious subject, one that we more likely than not avoid because it’s a taboo subject. Even though it really shouldn’t be.
Over the past few years of my adult life, as I’ve tried to better understand my own money, and money as a general concept, there are a few things I’ve learned that I’d like to share:
Yes, You Can Always Get More Money
Getting more money always seems like an impossible feat. As a freelancer, I understand this much better than I’d like to. But if you want to understand money, you need to understand that it’s not a finite resource.
You can always get more.
Getting a part-time job, doing some freelancing or getting yourself a side hustle are all ways to assist in getting more money in when you need it.
Start Saving Today, Not Tomorrow
I am so bad for procrastination. I am the worst for saying “I’ll start tomorrow” even though I know in my world “tomorrow” never really comes. So when it comes to saving, I’m bad for spending this chunk of money now, and saving the next one… or the next… or the one after that…
But if you want to understand your money and evaluate your relationship with it, you need to know that now is the time to start. Especially when it comes to saving money. If you start tomorrow, tomorrow might never come (I’m talking about procrastination here, not something darker).
Your Small Purchases Do Add Up
Yes, your daily coffee, weekly gum habit, and the fact that you constantly buy multicolored post-it notes because your company only has yellow adds up. And it’s not because you’re spending the money (though that is part of it), it’s because you’re setting a precedent and a habit of spending the money.
Once you start that daily coffee, it’s hard to give it up. And it’s hard to justify not buying the coffee because you’ve always done it. It’s the same thing about all those subscriptions you pay for but aren’t using… it’s too easy to keep going with them.
Doing It Once Is Not Enough
Finally, when it comes to assessing your relationship with money, building a budget, setting up that spend app, or anything else you might do to help you understand money and get better with yours, doing it once is not enough.
A budget is not useful if you set it up then never look at it again, or don’t follow it. A money app is no use if you don’t use it to its full ability and your relationship with money will not change if you only try it once.
Understanding money is a life-long process, and getting a handle on it takes more than one brief effort to do so.
Understand Your Money, It’s Important
Trying to understand money is incredibly important; there are so many things you’ll learn if you take the time to get to know how it works and learn how to manage it!
Looking For More Money Insights?
- 12 Mindset Quotes to Get You Aligned With Money
- You Can Travel For Cheap — Here’s How
- Can You Afford a Dog? Here’s How Much It’ll Cost You
Tae started out as a journalist before following the money into the corporate world. But it turns out that the grass isn’t always greener and now you can find her spending most of her time writing about all the things she loves. Namely, money, travel and business with a hefty dose of self-deprecating humor. She is a podcast fanatic, blogging aficionado and loves to find new ways to turn passions into cold hard cash!