Great news!
I do not have a money problem, and neither do you.
But there is some far, far worse news than that. Whatever money I do not have, that I think I should, like an extra quarter mil in my retirement accounts, an extra quarter mil in home equity in a far nicer house than we live in, paid off luxury vehicles, perhaps a weekend getaway house and a half mil in the bank, is not in our family's account due to my many other non-money problems.
Those problems include, but are not limited to, thinking problems, problems with taking action, problems making the right decision, attitude problems, problems with self-discipline, problems with being lazy, problems related to my lack of goals.
Shall I go on?
My biggest problem is not in my bank and investment accounts. My problems are mostly between my ears. And when I say "my" problems, I mean "my" in the sense of "many of us." Not all of us because I read some bloggers who live enviable lifestyles that I dare not even dream of. If you are on your way to retiring by the age of thirty-five, you are far ahead of me, my friend, and have little to nothing to gain by reading this.
In his book, You're Broke Because You Want to Be, tough guy Larry Winget details the above reasons why guys like me are not rich, and he hits the nail on the head for the most part.
He writes many harsh truths that many people would not want to read or hear. He writes to stop thinking you are different or that your story keeps you from getting rich. Your story, regardless of how bad it might be, is not unique.
Like most authors, bloggers, writers and self-appointed personal finance writers, Winget urges the reader to make a list of every dime you own and to whom. He means all of it.
At least for me, the list is fairly short and basically consists of our mortgage debt. Between my wife and I, we have balances on three credit cards at any given time, a Visa card and Kohl's charge card for her and a Visa card for moi. However, after struggling fairly hard and living frugally for a number of years when our children were very young and I was a workhorse at my current place of employment, we managed to pay off our credit card balances. That was nearly ten years ago, and I have striven to pay the balances off every month although some months we are not able to for various reasons.
Our monthly expenses are fairly high in my estimation, but we would not owe another dime to our son's current college or daughter's future college if they did not attend. But it just so happens that I do feel that I owe our son's college another fifty-four grand over the next two years because that is the amount that I am certainly going to pay.
One thing that we have never done in twenty-two years of marriage is set a budget. Like all the other gurus, Winget urges you to write down your monthly expenses. Anything at all including groceries, gasoline, eating out, going to the movies, pet care and more. Check your bank records, receipts and credit card statements. This is no place to fudge the results; this is the place to tell yourself the cold, hard, ugly truth about your money.
I suppose that is good advice for some, but I will not be taking it to be truthful.
I have started embracing concepts like the 50-30-20 budget or the anti-budget, which I look forward to writing about next.
I just do not have the time or motivation to be a stickler when it comes to every dollar that goes in and out. What am I supposed to tell my better half? A more valuable book to a guy who strives to be a mensch like me including making his wife happy if possible is "How to Get a Reluctant Spouse to Buy into Budgeting" or being more frugal.
Does it do me any good to save five dollars on a haircut if my wife spends an extra fifty at Bath & Body Works? Should I use a fifty cents off coupon while buying shampoo if she decides that we should dine at Bonefish Grill instead of purchasing food to prepare at home for dinner?
Winget would be right in saying that we're broke because we want to be, even though that is a hard pill to swallow.
It's good to realize that I do not really have money problems.
This is not meant to be a book review, but more of a sharing of an interesting concept that provides the basis for one of the more interesting finance-related self-help books that I have read.
Word of warning though: Winget warns the reader that there will be some things that will make the reader squirm a bit. He writes about those of us, this time meaning me, who feel themselves above such menial jobs as doing lawn care or trimming trees or sweeping floors to make extra money.
He details numerous ways to make a little extra scratch, and even more ways to cut your spending. Although the book is ten years old and he does not really get into all the online gigs like blogging, creating eBooks or starting an e-commerce business, the point is still the same.
As I have previously written along with many others, there are just a few ways to put yourself in a better financial position. One is to make more money, one is to spend less and the best way is to make more money and spend less.
The book made a fairly strong impression on me, from its grabber title to the blunt, straight-shooting writing manner of the author. Do not expect any Shakespearean prose, but expect some highly personal stories from the author as well as a multitude of ways to better your financial station in life.
This mensch only hopes to incorporate a little bit of what Winget taught me in my own financial life, and I look forward to sharing a bit more about it prior to returning the book to my local library for safekeeping.
I do not have a money problem, and neither do you.
But there is some far, far worse news than that. Whatever money I do not have, that I think I should, like an extra quarter mil in my retirement accounts, an extra quarter mil in home equity in a far nicer house than we live in, paid off luxury vehicles, perhaps a weekend getaway house and a half mil in the bank, is not in our family's account due to my many other non-money problems.
Those problems include, but are not limited to, thinking problems, problems with taking action, problems making the right decision, attitude problems, problems with self-discipline, problems with being lazy, problems related to my lack of goals.
Shall I go on?
My biggest problem is not in my bank and investment accounts. My problems are mostly between my ears. And when I say "my" problems, I mean "my" in the sense of "many of us." Not all of us because I read some bloggers who live enviable lifestyles that I dare not even dream of. If you are on your way to retiring by the age of thirty-five, you are far ahead of me, my friend, and have little to nothing to gain by reading this.
In his book, You're Broke Because You Want to Be, tough guy Larry Winget details the above reasons why guys like me are not rich, and he hits the nail on the head for the most part.
Like most authors, bloggers, writers and self-appointed personal finance writers, Winget urges the reader to make a list of every dime you own and to whom. He means all of it.
At least for me, the list is fairly short and basically consists of our mortgage debt. Between my wife and I, we have balances on three credit cards at any given time, a Visa card and Kohl's charge card for her and a Visa card for moi. However, after struggling fairly hard and living frugally for a number of years when our children were very young and I was a workhorse at my current place of employment, we managed to pay off our credit card balances. That was nearly ten years ago, and I have striven to pay the balances off every month although some months we are not able to for various reasons.
Our monthly expenses are fairly high in my estimation, but we would not owe another dime to our son's current college or daughter's future college if they did not attend. But it just so happens that I do feel that I owe our son's college another fifty-four grand over the next two years because that is the amount that I am certainly going to pay.
One thing that we have never done in twenty-two years of marriage is set a budget. Like all the other gurus, Winget urges you to write down your monthly expenses. Anything at all including groceries, gasoline, eating out, going to the movies, pet care and more. Check your bank records, receipts and credit card statements. This is no place to fudge the results; this is the place to tell yourself the cold, hard, ugly truth about your money.
I suppose that is good advice for some, but I will not be taking it to be truthful.
I have started embracing concepts like the 50-30-20 budget or the anti-budget, which I look forward to writing about next.
I just do not have the time or motivation to be a stickler when it comes to every dollar that goes in and out. What am I supposed to tell my better half? A more valuable book to a guy who strives to be a mensch like me including making his wife happy if possible is "How to Get a Reluctant Spouse to Buy into Budgeting" or being more frugal.
Does it do me any good to save five dollars on a haircut if my wife spends an extra fifty at Bath & Body Works? Should I use a fifty cents off coupon while buying shampoo if she decides that we should dine at Bonefish Grill instead of purchasing food to prepare at home for dinner?
Winget would be right in saying that we're broke because we want to be, even though that is a hard pill to swallow.
It's good to realize that I do not really have money problems.
This is not meant to be a book review, but more of a sharing of an interesting concept that provides the basis for one of the more interesting finance-related self-help books that I have read.
Word of warning though: Winget warns the reader that there will be some things that will make the reader squirm a bit. He writes about those of us, this time meaning me, who feel themselves above such menial jobs as doing lawn care or trimming trees or sweeping floors to make extra money.
He details numerous ways to make a little extra scratch, and even more ways to cut your spending. Although the book is ten years old and he does not really get into all the online gigs like blogging, creating eBooks or starting an e-commerce business, the point is still the same.
As I have previously written along with many others, there are just a few ways to put yourself in a better financial position. One is to make more money, one is to spend less and the best way is to make more money and spend less.
The book made a fairly strong impression on me, from its grabber title to the blunt, straight-shooting writing manner of the author. Do not expect any Shakespearean prose, but expect some highly personal stories from the author as well as a multitude of ways to better your financial station in life.
This mensch only hopes to incorporate a little bit of what Winget taught me in my own financial life, and I look forward to sharing a bit more about it prior to returning the book to my local library for safekeeping.
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