Financial Yoga.....Translation...Stretching a buck..............

As with everything else we encounter, it is my belief that money management begins with our attitude. Taking control of our feelings about money will give us control over the way we use money.

Have you ever really examined how you feel about money? Do some of these phrases sound familiar? "Money is the root of all evil." It's a neccessary evil." "Money equals power." If you believe these things about money, no wonder you are scared and out of control with money. If ask, could you tell me exactly where you entire last paycheck went? Do you find money laying all over the place, in pockets, under papers, ect...? What does this say about your feelings towards money?

I got this suggestion from one of Suzy Orman's books. She said (Paraphrasing, my take.) before you can control money, you have to understand your views on money. (Before you can fix a problem, you have to understand why it is a problem.) It has been a while since I read the book, but if I rememeber correctly you are suppose to think back on your early experiences with money and try and figure out what you were taught and what attitude you came away with regarding money. When I did this, I discovered two things one that really surprised me, one I kinda knew already. My old beliefs were that money is limited, and the other was any money spent for personal pleasure had strings attached. To change these beliefs (again following Suzy's suggestions) Every day for a couple of weeks I wrote down the following statement twenty-five times. "I have all the money I need to provide for myself and my family. I can spend money on personal pleasure without fear of suffering or retribution." To this day, BEFORE I look at the bills I repeat the first sentence. The other phrase I rely on, I have mentioned before, but will repeat again. Instead of saying I can't afford something, I say "I choose not to spend my money on _______." I don't know why it is so effective, but it is.

Something transported me from that day years ago whenI "could only afford one gallon of milk for the week," to being able to pay my bills the same day they come in the mail. I choose to believe that it stemmed from me changing my attitude, which in turn put all the other changes into motion.

The other thing that will help you, is to know and understand where every single penny that comes in, goes out. Keep track of all your spending for a few weeks, without judgement or worrying about changing anything. Just observe and learn. I think you will be surprised. Once you get a handle on your spending habits, you can review things and decide if you want to continue using money in your current way, or if you would like to make changes. When you listen to a financial person they always attack the fluff in our world. "Stop buying four dollar lattes, and wear black shoes with everything instead of color matching your shoes to your outfits." Who are they to tell you what to do with your money? (Even if they make millions following their own good advice.) Maybe that latte is the ONLY thing you have to look forward to each morning. Maybe if your shoes don't match you will be so ashamed that you can't force yourself to go into public, so you lose you job, your family ends up living in the car,............. Okay! I am being dramatic, but my point is you are the one that should be deciding what to change for the best results. When we take personal responsibility for our habits, we behave differently.

Another way I have brought money into my life is by giving it away. I am always telling you how very blessed I am. Receiving money is one (of the) way(s) I am blessed. Each time I have used money as a tool to create something postitive, I have been rewarded with more. The times I have held onto what little I believed I had, the more it dwindled away. I am not suggesting you be irresponbible with money. (Throwing it out of a plane to the crowds below or something like that.) Just be aware of ways that you could do good with money, and then reach out on faith. I share this example, not to brag, but to make a point. A few years back, I heard about a family down on their luck. We all hear stories like this every day, but for whatever reason this one touched my heart. So strong in fact that not only did I feel an overwhelming need to help out, but even had a sense of how much to give them. I talked it over with my husband (who fortunately for me has a very giving heart) and we decided to send them a certain amount of money for a certain amount of time. I am being general here because we sent them the money anonyomously using money orders to keep the gift from becoming a burden to the receiver. The point I want you to take with you is that even as we decided to do this, we were not sure where the money would come from. The DAY AFTER we sent the first money order out, we got a check in the mail for two dollars and thirty-four cents MORE than the total amount we had pledged to give them for over-payment of some insurance premium. So see, we ended up making money on the deal.

Another thing I want you to think about is if you are selling yourself short sort-to-speak. Do you place little to no value on your worth and/or service. I am so guilty of this, and I think it is all tied with those negative tapes I can't seem to rid myself of. First I tell you to give, and then I turn around and tell you to charge for every little thing you do......... NOT at all. I am just saying think about what messages you are sending to yourself (without even being aware of it) about your value. Say you can alter clothing. You hem a couple of pair of pants for a friend and she tries to compensate you for your time. Do you let her? How about at work. Are you the go-to-guy whenever there are extra tasks to be done? How do you feel about this? It may be that you believe doing these things is your life purpose, what you were put on this earth for. It may also be that you don't feel you deserve to be compensated for what you do. (If I can do it, then anyone could have done it, therefore it has no real value.) Just think about this. I struggle with this one lots.

Now that I have given you some BIG concepts about making your money behave, let me give you some practical ones. I told you I went out last Sunday. The purpose of this trip was to go to Goodwill and pick up a windbreaker that I could start the race in and then toss along the way if I got too warm. Why spend full price for something like that? When we first went into the store, my youngest was looking at some clothes, and she said, "Ya know mom. I kinda hate that you have converted me to liking to shop here. I remember when I thought I would never want to do it, now I actually look forward too it." Why? Because her money goes so much further there. Lately, it seems that all of our coffee cups keep chipping. Last Sunday (at Goodwill) I picked up four matching white Corning coffee cups for sixty cents each. They are in perfect condition, didn't break the bank, and won't end up in a landfill, broken and alone. I also get baskets and other containers to use as gift holders. There are so many things that people trash that have lots of life left in them if just take the time to envision it.

We go on vacation with what I call "found" money. This is money that comes to us in ways other than our paychecks. When I use coupons, I take the cash value and put it in the vacation fund. We live in a state that has bottle returns, that money goes in the fund. Money I get for respite care goes for vacation. Rebate money, gift money. You would be surprised how all these things add up, and how quickly it becomes a fun way to approach saving for a big want. I am one of those crazy people that likes those saving cards that you get in most stores. You know, the ones that if you spend so much you get a reward. I think I have made it clear that I like shoes. Well, we have a DSW that has one of those reward cards. For every two hundred fifty dollars you spend you get a twenty-five dollar reward. One day we were in line and the guy in front of us bought two pair of shoes for about two hundred dollars. When ask if he had a reward card he said no, and that he had no interest in starting one. I ask if I could have his points on my card, (I also ask for discounts and percent off coupons when I am shopping department stores. The worst that can happen is that they say no. Who amoung us has not heard that word a time or two. It NEVER hurts to ask.) and just like that I was on my way to another reward. When the twenty-five dollar coupon came in the mail, my youngest and I (who just happen to wear the same shoe size.....double bonus!) went shopping. I also had a coupon for fifteen percent off any two or more pair of clearance shoes. We found some shoes marked eighty percent off. With the rewards and the coupon, we got three pair of shoes for three cents. (Yes! You read that correctly.) To date, that is my best deal ever. I think it is great that when I say to one of my friends "I like your new blouse," and hear back "Isn't it great? I only paid two bucks for it!" (rather than it is a _______ designer original.) What's not to love about a good deal?

Another thing I do to implement financial yoga is on big ticket items I decide approximately how much I am willing to spend BEFORE I start shopping. Once I do, I look around and employee patience while I wait for the asking price to match what I am willing to spend. Right now I have my eye on a certain digital camera. I am willing to spend between five and six hundred. Two weeks ago, the camera dropped from one thousand down to seven hundred. Soon it will be mine. My car (I love my car!) just turned over two hundred thousand miles. (which is why I love my car!) It has been paid for for some time, but I did have a car payment. (Which I don't plan to do again.) Before I shopped, I secured my loan from my credit union. By doing this, I was in control of the purchase. I was upfront about what I was willing to spend, and when I got up to walk away, the salesperson called me back and agreed to MY terms. I have also heard it is better to shop for a car at the end of the month as salespeople are trying to make quotas.

Before ending, I can't help use one of Dave's favorite quotes: "The borrower is slave to the lender." Supposedly slaverly was banned by the constitution, but when we work hard all week just to cover basis living and credit card mimimun payments, we have become slaves of a sort. If you happen to be one of us that financed their American dream, (and get sick at the amount of money you pay in interest) take comfort in the fact that people are getting out of debt every day, and you can be one of them. After you get sick and tired of being in debt, get really really angry, and use that anger to fuel your drive away from credit and a have it now, pay for it later attitude. I encourage you to listen to Dave Ramsey. Find out how at http://daveramsey.com . I like him, because he has a sense of humor, but isn't afraid to make people take an honest look at how they spend their money. He also speaks from experience as he went broke using credit and has re-gained his millions using common sense and living on less than he makes. A simple strategy, but it works.

Deny myself? NEVER! Reprogram myself to have a bit of disapline and restriant when it comes to parting with my money? It has made a big difference to me, most importantly in the shape of reducing the amount of stress and worry I now have regarding money. As I have learned to be pro-active about changing my attitude towards money (both giving and receiving) money has in turn learned to behave itself around me. Atta boy!