Abundance is in the definition. My friend Jack seems to think "abundance" means having a plethora of high tech gadgets. He constantly trades up - the newest cell phone, plasma TV, computer with all the accessories.
Jack has trouble opening Notepad, hasn't yet figured out how to copy and paste, and despite repeated lessons with his computer savvy friends, he still can't read or send email without help. Meanwhile he trudges to a dreary job every day, complains constantly about his overwhelming debt, and is never happy with his own life.
Why does Jack keep spending money on these things? Probably because advertising invades his life - as it does all our lives - in so many ways, and that advertising promises him that he will find happiness, fulfillment, and the secret to instant wealth, love, and weight loss if he simply possesses the right tool. What the ads don't mention, and what Jack hasn't yet realized, is that the one tool that really can provide all this isn't available in stores.
Before Jack can redirect his financial resources in order to have the life he says he wants, he'll have to see through the fiction that stuff will improve his life. If he were to ask for my advice, this is what I'd tell him:
Accept that something has to change: His current spending habits, his desires, and his definition of abundance are all in accordance with the Have It All mindset. If Jack truly wants a different kind of life, he has to make the changes that will allow him to create that life.
Commit To Making The Change
- Start small: Cut out one money waster, however small, and put the money you would have spent on it into a jar or an envelope or a savings account.
- Stop feeding the debt: Pay up front with cash or a debit card for every purchase you make from now on.
- Expect financial crises and be prepared for them: The car will break down. The plumbing will leak. Count on it. Don't wait until it happens before you think about how you'll pay for it. Start an emergency money fund immediately and use it only for emergencies.
- Revisit your accounts: Go over the details of your checking, savings, and credit card accounts. Are you paying monthly or annual fees? If so, switch to different types of accounts or different banks, if necessary, in order to get no fee accounts. If possible, switch to checking accounts that pay interest. Banks make a lot of money on the interest that you pay them and on overdraft fees. Don't be the bank's sucker.
- Reduce your shopping: Impulse purchases will eat an entire paycheck if you let them. Commit to shopping only once a week (even better, only once a month) and buy only what is on your list of needed items. This ban on impulse purchases includes coffee by the cup, daily lunches in restaurants, and magazines.
- Collect loose change daily and designate a time and purpose for its use: For instance, you might use a month's worth of loose change to treat yourself to a special dinner, or a year's worth of loose change to buy a special item of clothing.
- Plan meals in advance, and prepare them yourself: Home-cooked food is healthier, tastier, and far less expensive than the cardboard burgers at restaurants.
- Redefine your gift giving: A gift should be chosen with care and with the recipient in mind. If you're spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on gifts for your friends, and if you truly believe the price matters to those people, either you've underestimated them or you've chosen the wrong friends.
- Have fun at fundraisers: Charitable organizations are always having events to raise money for their causes. Make your entertainment count for something by skipping the latest action flick and attending a play, a fall festival, or any other event sponsored by a non-profit organization whose work you support.
