Money can’t buy happiness, or so the saying goes, but anyone who has had to live without enough of it can tell you that having it certainly doesn’t hurt. At the same time, the pursuit of wealth for its own sake seems like a singularly unsatisfying way to live. You can fall into a trap where you feel that you never have enough and thus you are never able to truly enjoy all that money has brought you. So, how do you find the happy medium between not caring about wealth at all and caring too much?
1. Look to Your Past
Money is a surprisingly emotive topic for many. You might think that you don’t have particularly strong views about it, but if you think about how you grew up and how your parents thought about their financial situation, you may find that you have inherited some or all their views, for better or for worse. This realization can help you start to break free of any anxiety you might have around the topic and begin using money as a tool to help you live your best life.
2. Starting Today
You can start making smarter decisions about what you do with your money today. That might mean deciding to put those extra coins or bills into a jar to save them instead of spending them on something inconsequential. It could mean cancelling an order you made last night for something you really don’t need. Choose one area to focus on for now. If you have a job that includes a retirement account, but you haven’t been contributing, find out how to start.
If you’re a college student, start managing your own budget if you aren’t doing so already. You might also want to lookto getting your first credit card. This is an excellent way to start building a borrowing history. You can review a student guide that can help you make the important decision of which credit card will be best. If you make a decent amount of money but you don’t really know what to do with it or how to manage it, a great first step can be to make an appointment with a financial professional.
3. Money and Mindfulness
You might not think of these two things as going together. Money might seem like something shallow and worldly while mindfulness is more of a spiritual value for many people. However, approaching your finances with mindful techniques can profoundly change your life for the better.
Mindfulness is all about living in the present and being aware of your surroundings. A mindful approach to your finances can be helpful if you have problems with overspending. It can also help if you worry a lot about your financial situation because it forces you to think about what’s happening right now instead of what might happen in the future. With mindfulness, you can start to see money for what it is, a tool with a neutral value.
4. Finances and Freedom
This brings us to the ultimate reason for changing your attitude and how doing so can alter your life. Whether you care too much or too little about money, you’ll end up hampered, either by worrying too much about keeping your wealth or being unable to live life to the fullest because you can’t make ends meet. Rather than think you can never have enough, consider how much enough is. Let’s say you plan to live to be 100, calculate how much you need annually, and you have your answer. This gives you a sum to strive for. Pay off your debt and start saving and investing, and when you reach your goal, you’ll know that you’re truly free.
Article Submitted By Community Writer
