Removing the Finance Blinders

For the past 20 years, I’ve been walking around like a blind woman. Since I started making enough money that I was not needing to shift between accounts to just stay afloat, I have completely ignored my money situation. I know. That behavior is not smart. It is not good. It is not what I should do. However, we cannot change what is. We can only live with it.

I have been listening to money podcasts for a few years - I especially like HerMoney with Jean Chatzky. I also listen to Bad With Money by Gaby Dunn. I’ve listened to a few episodes of some F-I-R-E people. While I do learn something from all of these, I don’t feel like anyone is really coming from a place of peer to me. I’m not a broke millenial, like Gaby; I’m not a financial journalist, like Jean; I’m not sure I’m interested in the F-I-R-E plan. I am a grown up with a middle-income salary as well as my own small business. That makes me a complete weirdo, but I bet I’m not alone. I’m not really into gambling, so I use bet in the ‘I am pretty sure’ sense of the word. I bet there are lots of people like me, who make enough to meet their needs, contribute to their investments, and just kinda slide through life. Let’s stop sliding

Last year, as part of my GHDR, I vowed to stay on top of money. I was going to make money and not spend so much. Well, well…I think I did check my investment accounts a couple of times, and I kept a few receipts and tracked spending at the beginning of the year. I did not get myself to the point where I was aware of my financial condition at any given time, and I certainly did not do anything to actively focus on making my money work for me. This year is going to be different. Really

Why this money year will be different

It is going to be different because I am going to force myself to track my spending and income. I’m going to graph it. I know I’ll do it because I’ve already created the graphs in my planner, and it would look all weird if I didn’t fill those in now, right?

It is going to be different because I am going to learn about money. I’ve already set a goal of reading 12 books about money - personal and business finance - this year. I already started reading AgeProof. I put a notes page in there. I’m taking notes like I’m in school! And, it is true; I am in school; school doesn’t end when we leave the formal boxes…it just has to be more self-directed.

It is going to be different because I am going to talk about money. I’m going to write about what I’m learning while I’m learning it. I’m going to share and seek other opinions. That’s how I learn and grow, and I think other folks will do the same.

Tracking

On this blog, I’ll tag posts related to this with ‘finance’ and I’ll publish something here, even if just a micro post, before or somehow linked to what I do on social channels to engage with other people. I have not worked out the details of that.

I’ll update this post when I read another related book this year, as a reference point.

Financial books this year

age-proof

I started reading this book 2020-01-04. Notes:

• Health and Money are two parts of our lives where the benefits are long-term and the costs are today, everyday.
• We can set up plans and habits for ourselves to make it easier to support future us
• We can track a few key numbers to see if we are on the right track
• We should consult the experts when we get past our own knowledge

broke millenial takes on investing

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