Last week I knuckled down to finish off my taxes for the year, which had two outcomes. The first was the realisation that I did jack last year and cannot have done too many five day weeks. The second epiphany was that I have to do more this year if I'm ever going to pay off the debt mountain that I created in my twenties. Fortunately I have taken some steps to ensure success there.
In the last year I have worked for four different tradies and two retailers. Despite this I have had a fairly erratic income and not saved any money or paid any debts off. This year I decided to change myself and take positive action to correct my roller coaster income. I got life coaching, applied for new jobs and for the past month I have been on a strict budget. I think I had become sick of myself procrastinating over work and money, thinking too much and not "doing" enough. Sadly at the age of 30 years I had little to show for ten plus years of working and I was ashamed of that. I've never been good with money, but I turned a corner by challenging that mindset and proving to myself that I can be.
So the deal breaker with my new budgeting has been to withdraw cash for the week every Sunday. I now leave my card at home and just carry that cash for spending on anything outside of my regular bills. This means that I have cut back on my coffee intake, I no longer buy snacks or food out and I think about how I am going to spend my money. The budget I have set has been brutal, I won't lie. It is a mere $50 a week and is this low for a few reasons:
- Firstly I am trying to live within my means. This is something I never did in my twenties because I had credit cards and spent as though I was entitled to experience as much in life as possible.
- Secondly it allows me to save. If I ever want to get rid of my debt and have savings I have to be brutal for a few years. So I won't do as many things now, but by restricting myself it means I can create an emergency fund, pay debts off and then save some money. In the future I will be able to live a better life.
- Thirdly I am changing habits. My previous attempts at budgeting failed because I told myself that it was OK to have that coffee, to buy that lunch or to purchase that album. I kidded myself. When you do all those small things regularly it makes for a big hole in your wallet at the week's end!
I think the big thing that has had me thinking (oh no, not thinking!) is that my parents, brother and Catherine have helped me exist financially for the last 7-10 years. Well actually my parents have helped me all my life (bless em), but I mean more in terms of bailing me out of financial woes than raising me. As I was thinking this over I went back in my mind to the day that I wrote my folks a letter. In that letter I spilt my guts and told them how bad my credit card debt had become. I explained how it had made me worry so much that aside from anxiety I had become depressed and had contemplated doing myself in on a number of occasions, purely from the shame I had created! By thinking about those dark days I reminded myself what I owe my Mum, Dad, Catherine and Rich. It's not money, it's more than that. It's my sanity, my happiness and ultimately my life. Between them they have lifted the biggest weight in the World from my shoulders and for too long I have rested on my laurels and not pulled my finger out to repay them the love they gave me in doing that.
So to finish on a positive (because I know my writing can get a bit deep and depressive) I have found an enjoyment in my budget. I have already saved a few hundred dollars towards my Emergency fund of a $1000. Once I have that in place I will move onto paying off my debts. I know I sound like a sad old man, but there is immense satisfaction from taking baby steps, getting some wins and realising that money is there to work for us, not for us to be it's slave.
Tom :)
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