Dee – Page 2 – simple tips for a rich life

How do you ‘feel’ about your spending?

No, really. Do you know your feelings and emotions around your spending habits?

I am a big believer in tracking your expenses. And for all the practical reasons, of course: transparency around our spending, increased awareness of our money habits, and a mathematical basis for being able to actually save as much as we mathematically can.

But there’s another quirk to expense tracking that doesn’t get talked about. And it’s this: it allows us to tap into our feelings about how we spend money.

There’s no shame in not knowing.

Gang, the financial fitness journey is challenging enough. The combination of mentality and behavior change alone can is new for many of us. And the consistency and diligence required to build wealth is a marathon all on its own.

Let’s not add shame to the mix.

If you’re someone who’s embarrassed that they don’t understand how credit card debt works, yet you have tons of it, let go of that shame now.

If you’re someone who has a mortgage, and you’re embarrassed because you don’t understand how escrow works or if you’re still paying PMI (private mortgage insurance), let go of that shame now.

If you pay for any kind of insurance – health, automobile, etc – and you’re embarrassed to admit that you don’t understand how deductibles or premiums work, let go of that shame now.

And so on and so forth.

Don’t cancel that credit card just yet.

If I could have it my way, I would only ever use 1 credit card for all my purchases.

Why? Because I’m someone who doesn’t like clutter…even though I’m human and fall victim to it time & again. It’s a mental load to me, knowing that I have multiple credit cards – all originally opened for different purposes – that don’t all get consistent action these days. And it’s a chore to go in and physically pay each bill. (Yes, I can automate this. But for reasons both valid and loopy, I refuse. Another post for another day.)

Maybe you’re the same way. Or maybe for you, having multiple credit cards is just too much temptation. That’s a far more reasonable excuse for wanting to close those accounts.

But as I made moves this morning to cancel one of my cards, I did a quick web search and soon realized that could be an annoying mistake.

All thanks to credit score math.

Big money gains start with small money moves

The reminder of the day. Big things tend to start small.

You might be hundreds or thousands of dollars away from that savings goal. Or that home purchase. Or that car purchase. Or that once in a lifetime vacation. Or even on a more basic level, you may be many dollars away from that feeling of being stable and financially secure.

That’s okay. You’re not alone.

But how do you relate to that reality? Does it make the thought of getting to that place too daunting? Does it feel like you’re so far away, that it doesn’t even make sense to start? Because what’s the point really, when the amount of change you’d need to achieve is far beyond your current grasp.

What if the biggest roadblock to your financial goals today isn’t just financial?

Being “good” with money isn’t just about having it.

Let’s get one obvious thing out of the way here. Having money is pretty great.

Being able to pay your bills – without worrying how you’ll afford the rest of your life – is critical for our well being. Having extra money on hand to enjoy hobbies, care for loved ones and treat ourselves from time to time – pretty awesome. And getting to a place where you can smartly put away money into savings or investments? That’s the dream right there.

And sure. It would be cool to get massively rich somewhere along the way.

But let’s not hold our breath on that last one, to decide that we’re “good” with money. Let’s not even hold our breath that we’ll hit a certain amount in our bank accounts or with our debts, before making that determination.

Instead, let’s decide right now that we’re good with money.

Student loans take no prisoners, too

Much like credit card debt, it seems, student loan debt can really take a bite out of your ~~financial~~ life.

I’m not talking about interest rates – which can be lower for federal loans, and downright predatory for private ones. And I’m not even talking about the high principal balance that a typical American student needs to borrow in order to afford even just 1 year of school. As bad as those things are, they’re not what I’m focused on today.

I’m focused on what student loans can do to your credit score – specifically, when you fail to make payments on time.

If all your money goes to food delivery- the temptation just got worse.

The Scoop: Doordash plans to offer an ‘Eat Now, Pay Later’ plan for those who’d prefer not to pay upfront for their food. Frankly, I’m not sure what to think.

The Pro: On the one hand, giving people the option to pay for purchases when they’re financially stable enough to do so always sounds great.