What the heck is a ‘financial journey’ anyway? A road to Zion? A one-way ticket to Wall Street? Shortly put, it’s learning to use your money to help you grow, satisfy your needs (and wants), and giving you the life you’ve always dreamed of. So let’s talk money for a second, and I don’t mean your salary or the value of bitcoin. But let’s really sit down and figure out this tool we use to buy what we want.
First off, money is just that: a tool. And just like using a chainsaw wrong can risk your wellbeing, so can misusing your money. I’ve found that having a plan with your money is the most crucial step in achieving your financial goals. And while having a plan for your money might seem like something only a control freak would do, I urge you to reconsider. Having a plan for my money has helped me realize what I really want out of life, and set me on a path to achieve my deepest desires.
Let’s get started.
List Your Values
The first step on your financial journey is understanding your values. Look deep inside and figure out what really makes you tick. Maybe family and friends make the top of your list. Maybe it’s travel. Whatever it is, write it down. Actually grab a piece of paper (or the electronic equivalent) and write (type) out your values. For the sake of argument, let’s have a list of three.
What this does is give you purpose. It may seem like we’re getting a bit deep, but finding your purpose helps give your money purpose. This is the biggest step in your financial journey. Conquer this step, and the rest should fall into place rather easily.
“Does This Purchase Align With My Values?”
The next step on your financial journey is committing this question to memory: “Does this purchase align with my values?” Obviously, the values of this question are the ones from your list. I’m not trying to be your moral compass here. Ask this question every time you are about to make a purchase. It sounds silly, but asking yourself this question is very revealing about your spending habits.
What this does is help give you direction. Without direction, you will have a hard time achieving your financial goals (which I’ll get to in a bit). Having this check system makes it clear whether you are spending money in a way that you are happy with.
Only Spend Money On What Aligns With Your Values
Once you start questioning your spending, look for ways you can cut down on spending money on things that don’t align with your values. At this point, you will start using your money with purpose. Cut cable, switch your phone carrier, or do whatever else you have to do to use your money with purpose.
Inevitably, the question will arise of “How can I do this better?” Don’t worry, I’m here to help. Through the posts in this blog, I hope to share everything I know and everything I learn as I too try to better spend my money.
This part seems simple, but at first it can be pretty tough. Truth is, we don’t realize how much we spend on random stuff. We want to bring all of those little purchases to the foreground and call them out.
You are starting to condition yourself in this step. Get used to saying no. Do you want to upgrade to premium membership? No. Do you want fries with that? No. Controlling your spending will give you a lot of confidence when you finally make your financial goals.
Create Your Financial Goals
I can see some of you asking already, “Why isn’t this the first step?” Let me explain the method to the madness.
If you set a financial goal without the understanding of how to achieve it, then the goal becomes a pipedream. I don’t want you to have a goal of becoming a millionaire, then buy lottery tickets in hopes of winning it big.
If you have mastered the first three steps, then creating your goals will come easy. You will already know what you value most. There won’t be any denying it because you have been questioning your spending and saying no to purchases that don’t align with your values. In essence, the hard part is already over.
You will now have extra cash burning a hole in your pocket. This is where we want to create goals to help shoot us on a forward trajectory instead of falling right back into old habits.
Creating goals can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be. Here’s what I do. Create three goals for yourself: one short-term goal (within a year), one mid-term goal (1-3 years), and one long term goal (3+ years).
Having only three goals makes it much easier to focus on each one. Instead of juggling twenty different things, you only have to juggle three at a time. This increased focus will help you actually achieve your goals, instead of getting confused on which goals take priority.
Splitting the goals into short-term, long-term, etc. help you see your direction, but also enjoy the journey and not just focus on living for now or living for later.
Achieve Your Goals
The last step on your financial journey is achieving your goals. This is actually the easiest part of the journey. You have already narrowed down your spending by aligning it to your values, and you have your financial goals set.
Now all you have to do is put your money towards those financial goals. It’s that simple. You’ll be amazed at how many things you can cross of your financial ‘to-do list’ once everything is working the way it should.
Everyone’s situation is different, and the path you take to achieve your goals will definitely be different than mine. That being said, there are standard considerations that I try to give you more insight into within the blog. Things like saving for a house, saving for retirement, investing, and more are some things I try to debunk and help give you a plan so you can make your goals a reality.
The Journey Continues
Once you’ve made your first few goals a reality, you can start to set new goals, provided they align with your values. Your financial journey is never really over. So enjoy the ups and downs, and best of luck!
Happy Spending!
-The Spendgineer
Love it. Very interesting and informative!