Your money is not you. However your money represents you. How you treat yourselves, how you take care of yourself.
Money in itself is not a value for most people. It is however a tool about how we take care of our lives. Watch any good craftsman from carpenter to visual artist. Their tools of their trade are cleaned and put away for their next use. A carpenter knows with the right tools at the ready they can construct anything. What they conceive they can build. The tools are not their life or livelihood, but they are an access point to creating what they want. Likewise, for you a strong money system is caring for yourself so money can take a back seat but build the life you envision.
Your money leaves clues. Clues are everywhere. Here are a few to get you started looking for yours, but this is only a limited list:
Your wallet and the material and contents say a lot about you. No, it does not mean go buy an expensive designer wallet. Rather, look deeper. Beyond Capital One’s catchy commercial with “what’s in your wallet?” is the inside information you need to understand more about your money habits.
A shabby leather one or a lovely vegan leather overstuffed with credit cards, or no wallet, just a phone with an id on the slot in the back. These all say a lot about who you are and how you treat your money.
What does your checking account say about you? Always running on empty? Or is it stuffed to the gills with money you do not know what to do with? Are you balancing it- reconciling what the bank has and you have? Or checking it on the fly, trusting whatever the bank says at the moment? This second approach is oblivious to the scheduled transactions coming or the withdraws not yet hit the account.
Or you may have everything on auto pay so you are not thinking about your checking account at all? But do you ever really know how much you have?
What about your savings account? How does that work? Do you have one? Do you contribute regularly withdraw often? Or rarely? That reveals a bit about you. Don’t have a savings account? That is a statement revealing your money habits too.
Where are your retirement funds? Don’t have any? Don’t know how your 401k or IRA is invested? Then, you may be ill prepared for what lies ahead. Your future matters.
Your money matters to your life. How you treat it today has implications throughout your life.
Without a doubt, health and family count. We have all learned that this year with the pandemic. Your money is essential to maintain your critical parts of living.
Too many people say they will wait until they make more money or win the lottery to learn more or organize their money. Like sharpening their saw, this money is a tool and a key element to improving your situation. The spiritual truth is key here: Take care of what you have to get more. Start with your current money and build to a financial resources – get organized, get a system, understand what you have and where it is.
Start simple by cleaning your wallet today.
