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For around the past 3 months I have been educating myself on money.
It started slowly, with a couple of Finance blogs here and there, mainly US based, and a return to Cha-Ching, my money accounting tool to track where all my money goes.
These past few weeks, however, it's been something I've lived and breathed. Personal finance, mainly, by a wide variety of authors and viewpoints.
Personal finance is simple, really. Spend less than you earn. Track where your money goes. Have a budget. Have savings goals. Have an emergency fund. Know what you want from your financial situation in the short, medium, and long term.
Like healthy eating, doing your homework on time, or not playing WoW for 12 hours a day is simple.
Understanding the abstract concept is not the same as being internally motivated. Buying stuff is way too easy, and what can it hurt to buy this or that or grab lunch from a coffee shop or move into an apartment that's only a few pounds above what we can comfortably afford?
I don't regret any of the monetary decisions I've made; not the overly expensive flat, nor the plane tickets and visa fees. Without them, I wouldn't have learned some important financial lessons that you cannot learn from a book.
Namely, that the line of credit can run out.
If Nationwide had allowed me to increase my overdraft limit, I would have done it, because there was a point where I had no money, an upcoming rent bill, and no source of income equal to my outgoings. Luckily, I got a job and for about a month I worked 7 days a week at both my old and new job, whilst simultaneously working on my business. I was able to recoup some ground and some breathing room.
In order to take control of my finances, I have had to take control of my life. It is not possible to run out of food mid-week and have to make an impulse trip to the supermarket, or worse, the chinese. It is not possible to 'forget' to pack a lunch, and instead buy a sandwich for £3 from the van. It is not possible to rent movies from blockbuster when the question of how to spend the evening arises.
So; meal-plans and home cooking. Prep-work. Packed lunches. Free hobbies, like walking by the river, or working-out to a free internet video. Re-reading old books. Sex. Home baking. Repairing torn clothes.
And now, I do have a clearer idea of what money is, for me, of what it means. Of how much time is really worth, and of how little value the Stuff around us is.
It started slowly, with a couple of Finance blogs here and there, mainly US based, and a return to Cha-Ching, my money accounting tool to track where all my money goes.
These past few weeks, however, it's been something I've lived and breathed. Personal finance, mainly, by a wide variety of authors and viewpoints.
Personal finance is simple, really. Spend less than you earn. Track where your money goes. Have a budget. Have savings goals. Have an emergency fund. Know what you want from your financial situation in the short, medium, and long term.
Like healthy eating, doing your homework on time, or not playing WoW for 12 hours a day is simple.
Understanding the abstract concept is not the same as being internally motivated. Buying stuff is way too easy, and what can it hurt to buy this or that or grab lunch from a coffee shop or move into an apartment that's only a few pounds above what we can comfortably afford?
I don't regret any of the monetary decisions I've made; not the overly expensive flat, nor the plane tickets and visa fees. Without them, I wouldn't have learned some important financial lessons that you cannot learn from a book.
Namely, that the line of credit can run out.
If Nationwide had allowed me to increase my overdraft limit, I would have done it, because there was a point where I had no money, an upcoming rent bill, and no source of income equal to my outgoings. Luckily, I got a job and for about a month I worked 7 days a week at both my old and new job, whilst simultaneously working on my business. I was able to recoup some ground and some breathing room.
In order to take control of my finances, I have had to take control of my life. It is not possible to run out of food mid-week and have to make an impulse trip to the supermarket, or worse, the chinese. It is not possible to 'forget' to pack a lunch, and instead buy a sandwich for £3 from the van. It is not possible to rent movies from blockbuster when the question of how to spend the evening arises.
So; meal-plans and home cooking. Prep-work. Packed lunches. Free hobbies, like walking by the river, or working-out to a free internet video. Re-reading old books. Sex. Home baking. Repairing torn clothes.
And now, I do have a clearer idea of what money is, for me, of what it means. Of how much time is really worth, and of how little value the Stuff around us is.
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