One of the greatest perks about being an adult is that you get to decide for yourself. You can wear white after Labor Day if you want, listen to opera if you want, shop at Target if you want, live in a loft if you want, eat ice cream for breakfast if you want...you get the picture. After seemingly endless years of our parents telling us what we can and cannot do, we finally get to do what we want to do.* Yeah, I've been an adult for a while, but there are still times when I feel like I should be asking someone's permission, whether it be a parent or friend. Generally, I don't, but there's still this sense of checking to make sure that what I want is okay.
However, it seems that for some, that power to decide comes with another facet - a sense of entitlement. I believe that as we get older, our sense of what we deserve or are entitled to gets stronger. It allows us to rationalize the things we want into things we need, regardless of whether we can afford it or not. Do I deserve that new dress? Or a new car? Or a trip to Paris? Um, hell yeah, I deserve it! I'm a nice person, I help short people reach things on the high shelves and I work hard - therefore, I get to play hard. I am entitled to drive my new car to the airport so I can catch a flight to Paris to buy my new dress, dammit!
Here's the problem: I don't have thousands of dollars to do that. My credit card does though....Hmmm. What to do?
While there are definite times when I get the financial f*%kits, something of this magnitude is not something I can just shrug my shoulders about and let Visa take care of it. But I'm sure I can find the dress...and that's exactly what gets us in trouble. Since we know we don't have money for the big stuff, it makes it much easier to spend money on the smaller, seemingly affordable stuff. The thing is, when we don't have money, we don't have money, regardless of what MasterCard may be whispering in our ear. When we put items on our credit cards because we don't have money in our bank accounts to pay for it, that could be an indicator we may be living above our means. (Please click on this link to see if this is you.)
That's such a bummer. I think I need to buy some shoes to go with my new dress to make me feel better about living above my means.
So what do you do when you're living above your means? First, track your money and figure out where it's all going. Once that is done, create a spending plan (aka budget). Many people have an adverse reaction when it comes to following one, but it's the easiest way to gain control of your money. It also helps you understand where you might be able to cut some of your spending; I'm sorry, but cable will never be a necessity! You can also hire someone to help you. Now, I've heard several people say they don't want to go to a financial planner until they get their money in order. That's like saying I'm not going to use birth control until after I accidentally get pregnant. Kinda silly, right?
Our relationship with money has a huge impact on everything - our lifestyle choices, our mental health, our physical health, our relationships. If we don't get it to a functional and healthy space, we're going to be eating cat food when we're old because we don't have any retirement money. Although I may deserve that trip to Paris, I also deserve to be clothed, sheltered and fed. Visa and MasterCard could help me get there, but in the end, I think I should just save up for it and go when I can afford it.
*Within the legal confines established by the law, of course.
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