Follow the Money
I’m reading a book titled “You’re Broke Because You Want to Be” and let me tell ya, this author is hee-larr-y-us!! Whew!! And y’all think I’m a riot? With every page, all I could do is shake my head and crack up laughing. LOL But I can’t give you too many details right now because I have to save them for my review. However, there was ONE thing in particular that resonated with me and I just had to write about it.
The author said…FOLLOW THE MONEY
You’re probably saying, so…and? Well he then goes on to say “money is a dead giveaway of what is important in anyone’s life.” In other words, if you want to know what’s important to someone, look at where they spend their money. Hmm…what does he mean by that? I had to think about it for a minute and let it marinate.
Are sports important to you? Then you probably spend most of your money on game tickets, paraphernalia, or electronics to make game watching better.
Is travel important to you? Most of your money is probably spent on vacations.
Is fashion important to you? Most of your money is probably spent on clothes, shoes, and accessories.
Hmm…then I realized he was on to something. At the beginning of every year, my credit card company sends me an itemized report of my spending. Very similar to my own annual review, the detailed report from the credit card company shows how much I spent on dining out, groceries, transportation, travel, etc. It’s really an eye opener. According to the 2007 reports, my priorities were debt reduction and housing. And that’s about right.
The same is true for the flip side. No one will ever tell you they value bad habits, but if they’re spending most of their money on – let’s say, smoking or drinking or drugging – their habits are obviously more important to them than anything else in life. Another example – and I’m gonna put myself on blast with this one – a person can not honestly say they value their relationship with God (Bu.ddha, Al.lah, Jeh.ovah, whatever…) when their spending patterns reflect tithes/offerings as their smallest spending category. If you don’t value your religion, then that’s ok…I guess.
The point is…Follow Your Money.
What do you think is important?
What does your money say is important?
If they are different, reevaluate your spending habits and get them aligned with each other.
Single Ma Out! – at least until tomorrow. I’m having a TERRIBLE day. :-(
This blog is a personal account of my journey to become Healthy & Wealthy. If you like what you've read, feel free to subscribe via (feed reader) or (email) to follow along.
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Fabulous Financials v2.0 » G’bye January and Good Riddance (Pingback), 31 January 2008, 8:55
[...] to know what I’m talking about. Right? So I decided to take a trip down memory lane to follow my money and figure out how I can get back on track – once and for [...]
I guess it’s true that everything has been written already. The concept in the book sounds similar (with a different twist I guess) than the post I published today. My idea is that “Every time you write a check or use your credit card, you’re writing your autobiography). But the two concepts are basically the same. Perhaps I’ll see if the author wants another review so I can get me a free book ;) . I can’t stand dry books, so if YOU say it’s funny, then I believe you.
I don’t like what my spending patterns in the past has said about me… LOL! They basically say entertainment and fashion.. Of course a good chunk of my money is spent on childcare stuff, but that’s mandatory.. But as far as things I chose to spend them on, then yep entertainment (dining out, socializing) is important to me. That’s what I equate with enjoying life.. I just have to figure out how to do it on a lower amount of money.. And I have had previous years where my tithes reflected what I valued and I was so impressed to see that at year’s end, but unfortunately last year wasn’t one of them.
I do tithe – faithfully and I’m happy about that. But I don’t like other things like my lack of committment to my body, my overspending on shoes and hair and underspending on books. I’ve made a comittment to be better but worry because I don’t have things in place to keep me honest. But I’m working on that too!
Larry Winget is the MAN !! He have a kick a$$ approach. He does not hold back. That’s why I like him. He tell it, like it is
Well, I guess keeping a roof over my head is the most important thing to me….that’s all I can afford to pay for! LOL
Let’s just lump that under the category of “my daughter” since it’s really all for her anyway. If she weren’t with me I’d be happy to travel the country, free of responsibilities!
Iwant to read that book when you are done. Very interesting point and very true. Priorities
I also felt enlightened by that part of the book. I looked at my spending and noticed it didn’t line up with what I thought was important in my life. Very eye-opening. BTW I love the signature in your feed! I’ve been a subscriber for a while, but I think this is my first comment.
That is such an amazingly good point. I know that when I look at the path my money takes versus my husbands spending, I can see we have totally different priorities. It has taken a long time to get him past the “keeping up with the neighbors” mentality.
I have always been a denier of self wants, instead focusing on my children. When I met my husband I fell, for a short time, into his way of thinking. This led us to the brink of disaster when I broke my foot, followed by a few months of unemployment for him.
I want our financial autobiography to tell a story that ends with us retiring comfortably and enjoying each other in our old age.
I’m new to your blog… and what a terrific post to get me hooked! Follow the money,,, how true! I’d have to say paying off our house and helping get the youngest one through college is where our money goes… not too bad of priorities I suppose. (Especially since 7 years ago it would have been hubby’s bad habits…)
I don’t even have to wonder where my money went – debt reduction. Most of the dollars I spent (and didn’t spend) had everything to do with financial fitness.
i looove your new site! :) i’ve been following your day to day “progress” if you may call it that and i love the way you write. Not boring like most PF blogs.
Anyway, i want to read that book! got to get it!
I loved that book. I am thinking about mailing it anonymously to a broke friend.
My spending last year said clothes and gadgets and extravagant vacations. My spending this year will be a huge wedding. I’m not sure which is better.
Oh, and then there’s your favorite, the doggie daycare. I loves my doggie!
Besides rent, I used to spend the most on education. I love learning new stuff. But then I decided that I had plenty of degrees (two) (which were not getting me jobs) and would not get any more degrees unless either my employer paid, my employer promised a raise or promotion, or I otherwise felt quite sure I would get a better job. None of these things have happened yet!
However, I did find much cheaper ways to continue learning. I have audited courses (practically free), which I really like. (If I don’t like the text, I can just find something better in the library and read that instead of reading the book anyway and memorizing it for the test.) I also read a lot of library books and learn a lot online and I take informal classes for things that could benefit from a more hands-on approach.
So in my case, education is still important, but you can no longer tell that by looking at my spending. I consider that a major victory in my life.
I think instead of following the money, it would be better to follow the time (though that doesn’t have the same ring). So for your examples, I’d say if sports are important, you might spend a lot of time watching games, studying stats, and discussing them with your friends. If travel is important, you may spend a lot of time traveling, planning your next trip, preparing slide shows or scrapbooks from your last trip, etc. Fashion lovers may roam the malls looking for deals and the magazines keeping up with what’s new. A religious person might spend a lot of time working on church committees, ministering to others, and studying religious texts (none of which has to cost a cent, by the way).
Of course one may spend a lot of time in front of the TV or playing video games or hanging out in bars or smoking on the porch or staring longingly into the refrigerator.
That said, it does make sense to focus your spending on what most value.