I've made my share of mistakes and learned the hard way in my 20's when it came to budgeting. It took some time, understanding and much patience to learn and put better choices into action. I hated being broke or living paycheck to paycheck when I was just starting my young adult life out on my own. I don't think money problems ever go away, it is a constant exercise we have to stay on top of or else, like our health, it can get away from us if we're not careful.
Money isn't the root of happiness, but it can definitely relieve a person and family of financial stress and burdens. Let's be honest, life isn't cheap and it definitely doesn't come free. We have rent/mortgages, electric/water/gas, grocery/dining out, medical/dental, and education obligations. These bills fall under the "necessities" category that we need to consider first. I'm sure a few may be missing in here for you, but you get the picture.
So what got me thinking about money lately? A 6-month fresh wound I am constantly trying to heal. Let me share wth you a tough moment I had to work through when it came to making a huge money mistake and learning from it. Sadly, this one is the most recent money mistake, but I'm better for it.
I used to have a VIP Rouge membership card at Sephora (still love you girl!) and that meant I was spending over $1k a year on beauty products!!!! Let that sink in for a minute.
Yeah...I know. I'm not even a beauty blogger/vlogger. WTH?
I don't even feel as if ANY of that necessarily made me feel pretty. Most of it either expired, was donated, or thrown out once 1/2 used. That didn't make me feel pretty that's for sure. And we all know sadness and anger lead to wrinkles and I wasn't going to go back and get more face cream. Clearly, I was buying temporary happiness and not focusing on my budget.
So this bad habit of mine came to my attention when I realized what that membership cost to keep and I put an end to it. I haven't gone into a Sephora in 6-months. Before you feel as if this is a small, lame or not so "real money problems" issue let me tell you how much I spent over time. When I saw in our financial spread sheet the number after 11yrs of spending at ONE store I was shocked. I mean, I thought the yearly membership status was enough to make me change, but then I read that over the course of 11yrs I had spent over $7K!?? Yes, that's a SEVEN, not a one. I KNOW! Me & my husband worked very hard over the course of 11yrs for that number and sadly it went to beauty products.
#lessonlearnedthehardway
#beautyatacost
As tough as it is for me to admit this horrible mistake, it's my life and my lesson and I realize that so I'm easing myself away from beating myself about it. I hate to think of anyone doing the same, or have done the same, but froze and didn't make a change because they didn't know where to begin. We have to really listen to our money and make smarter choices to feel less stress and more freedom. I say this because it made me feel amazing to fix a huge problem in our finances that I basically ignored because when you're spending even increments of $20, $30, $50 at a time it seems so small...but over time? WOW!
Some things to think about with your family:
How much you spend on coffee outside the home? Dining out? Groceries? Clothes? Think of these add up in a week, month, 6-month's time. How do you save money or invest it? Do you have a way to track your spending monthly or do you just notice your bank account and rely on text notifications? Does your system really work or is it just comfortable? There are SO many options are out there depending on how you work best when it comes to managing money.
Check these out to help get you started and to also motivate you to build better financial habits. You have big dreams to plan for darling!
Don't spend it all in one place! (like I did)
No comments:
Post a Comment