More Money is Not Always the Answer

How many of us haven't dreamed of winning the lottery? I know I have. But while winning the lottery remains one of my top secret fantasies (or not so secret now!) I remain fully aware that more money is not always the first answer to every problem I have. Until I know what to do with what I have, more will disappear like what I have now does. Learning the principles of sound financial stewardship is the key to success during times of "more" or "less."

To grasp this concept more fully, lets imagine I have a bucket with a small bit of sand in it which is slowly leaking out of a hole in the bottom of the bucket. If I put more sand in the leaking bucket it will drain out the same hole that the original sand did. The only difference is that it will just take a bit longer to drain out. Until we learn to plug up the holes in our buckets there is no use trying to get more sand to put in it. It is an exercise in futility, and just plain stupid.

Before we take that second job - or look for ways to bring in more money - we need to make sure all the holes in our buckets are plugged.

What constitutes a hole? Anything that is a steady drain on our finances. Most of them are unconscious habits that ceased adding value to our lives long ago.

Some examples are:

1. 
   
2. Magazine subscriptions
3. Starbucks
4. Cigarettes
5. Eating out
6. Lottery tickets
7. Memberships in organizations we are no longer active in
8. Paid membership in video rental clubs
9. Web site memberships we no longer use
10. Expenses for hobbies we no longer really enjoy

The list will be different for everyone. I have always cringed when people say write down everything you spend for a week, or a month, or a pay period. But in reality - if spending has become unconscious - that may very well be the only way to become mindful again. You always hear people say, "I never realized how much I spent on 'X' until I wrote everything down." I don't think there is a person alive that is not engaged on some level in unconscious purchasing of some sort.

We need to be aware of what we do with what we have. The fact is that "more" will just go the same place as "less" did and we will be forever filling a bucket that will never be full, and always leaking our time, energy, and money. Once you have mastered the art of plugging holes you will find that what you have goes alot further and the universe just may start trusting you with more!

Colleen Mitchell

Single mother of two who shares her many years of experience learning to live within her means on her blog "Uber frugal" - http://www.uberfrugal.wordpress.com