When we look at our (I’m including myself in this pile of foolishness) dumb actions that invite drama and upset, we need to look no further than credit card due dates a lack of F#%k You Coins and of course most Americans Achilles heel- buying more crap.
My first point-know your credit card due dates. To take it further -write that shit down!
When I organized my accounts and put myself on a serious financial wellness plan, I gathered my credit card dates and decided against automation. Automation is great once you understand what it’s designed to do. It’s designed to move us one additional step away from our money and make it easier to manage.
The “Set It and Forget It” policy allows institutions to enter your financial accounts and remove an agreed upon sum.
However, for those of us on the recovery end of money management, we need a more hands-on approach for at least 90 days.
Forgetting about our money and where we’ve assigned it is how we screw ourselves.
It’s important that we commit to the following: organize all statements, move payment dates so that things don’t sneak up on us then check back periodically to prevent financial surprises. Once I committed to this way of physically looking at my money, it became difficult to spend on the fly or without a solid plan and or reason.
Knowing your dates won’t mean shit if your don’t have a F$%k You Account.
To me, nothing beats a F$%k You Account.
It reminds me that at any moment you can be f*^&#$d then shoved into the cold because you are no longer valuable to the business.
Maybe the boss gets tired of me and maybe I get tired of them. With this account fully funded, you are not relegated to staying at a job you hate nor dealing with all kinds of shenanigans that occur because you don’t have the funding set aside to say: Ya’ll know what? I’m out.
I’ve been in both situations and know the difference between being at a job you like or can at least tolerate and one that offers nothing but grief- filled days.
Our collective dumb mistake- buying shit you don’t need, is an American pastime.
Americans have too much shit.
I know this because I have too much shit.
Although I don’t use my garage as a makeshift storage unit, I often donate the one thing I have tons of – books.
I give away or donate twenty of my lovelies.
Many years ago, I realized that I was constantly moving and with each move there was a big production around what would make the next leg of the journey. Boxes, ideas, scraps of paper, half written plays, short stories, movies and all sorts of “Get- Rich- Quick” schemes were juggled each time I packed and unpacked.
After leaving NYC and moving to California, I adopted the Billie Holiday motto and dedicated my life to ” Travelin’ Light”. When I landed in San Francisco in July of 2008, I only had a bag or two.
Being transient rocks.
I often marvel at what people will hold on to . My parents relish our baby pictures.
This makes sense.
Keeping our toys and first grade projects doesn’t.
How much of our collective hoarding is based on grief, fear and unfinished business?Since we are a country steeped in grief and the denial of its expression, we are constantly holding on to things instead of holding on to people.
This is what I’ve seen again and again and no one is willing to address it.
Instead we hit the mall or Amazon and eagerly await one more package that will ease our fears and loneliness.
What could you get rid of to make the next decade your best dcade?