uccess With Money
uccess With Money
Your Personal Guide to Achieving Success With Your Money and Your Life
Does anyone understand human nature? Wow! People are hard to understand, aren't they. Well, don't suppose that I am going to explain human nature here. It's beyond the scope of this project.
However, I do want everyone to understand one particular interaction between people that is important for anyone trying to get in control of their money. It is this: people will never understand you not spending all of your money as long as they do. As soon as you get a dollar ahead they will try to pressure you to spend it, or if not to loan it to them so they can spend it.
There is an old saying that misery loves company. Perhaps that explains it. If people can't get ahead themselves, they want to make sure no one else does. Whatever the driving force, it is important to understand that others will not appreciate your getting ahead and you will need to find a way to deal with it if you want to avoid the tragic financial situation most of your friends live with.
The only excuse that most people seem willing to accept when you don't want to part with your money is that you don't have any. If you say you don't have any or that you can't afford something, then and only then will some folks leave you alone.
But if you are saving $200 a month for your next car and have almost $10,000 in the bank ready to pay for your next one while your friend is paying $400 every month on the one they drive, how do you say you don't have any money. You can't honestly do that anymore. So what do you do?
First, simply understand that with most people you are better off not letting them know you have any savings. You may understand that your new way of doing things is the reason you have money and they don't, but they don't see it that way.
For most people the facts are simple. If you have money you haven't already spent, it must be money that you don't really need and could better be used for something they think is important. Like donating to their cause or loaning them a few bucks.
Second, find a new way to answer when people enquire about your money. I am not being dishonest when I say, “I don’t have money for that right now.” I know that if I don't save my $200 per month for my next car, I will be soon paying $400 like my friends for one I am already wearing out.
Even worse, I will be enslaved by that responsibility. So I don't have any money to spend on “that”, no matter what it is, if it is not a part of my personal spending plan.
This is true no matter how much I have in savings or anywhere else. All of my money is committed by me according to my spending plan to some other use.
That is ok. In fact it is great. But I can still always legitimately say, “I don’t have money for that right now.”
There are many other situations where we must learn to think differently than others if we want to be successful with money. Learning how to cope with our relationships to others without being unduly influenced to give up our advantages is an important part of success. Learning that we do not owe others an explanation for our choices is a crucial key to realizing that potential.
