Ok, I promised it, and so now I deliver. This is, as the title implies, a blog about money.
There are so many things that we can do with our money. Let’s think of a few. We can: invest it, spend it, waste it, and, well, that about sums it up. I believe that our actions with money fall into one of these three categories. Now, I’m not going to spend a lot of characters telling you which thing falls into which category. You’re all smart people. I’m also not going to argue about certain things either falling under the spend or waste category. Different actions apply differently to different people. However, let’s take a quiz and see how you rate the following ways money is used. Ready? Begin below.
1. Christie Brinkley’s husband spends several thousand dollars a month on porn. Is he investing, spending or wasting his money?
2. You give a tithe, or tenth, of your income to your local church. Are you investing, spending or wasting?
3. Charles Barkley goes to Las Vegas and drops $10,000 gambling the night away. Is he investing, spending or wasting?
4. A teacher goes to the local school supply store and spends $200 on needs for her classroom and students. Is she investing, spending, or wasting?
5. John goes to the local cable company to pay the bill. His bill gives him internet access, two digital boxes, a DVR, and all of the digital tiers, including HBO, Showtime, Skinemax, and the like. Is he investing, spending or wasting?
6. Cindy puts away $100 a month for her baby’s education. Is she investing, spending or wasting?
7. You go to Target and spend the government’s minimum required limit of $200. Included in your cart was laundry detergent, cleaning supplies, printer ink, wrapping paper, a shirt that you had to have, and a DVD from 1997. Are you investing, spending or wasting?
8. Herman goes to Barnes and Noble and buys a book. Is he investing, spending or wasting?
Now, for several of these questions there can be more than one answer. For some, there is absolutely NO argument. I know, I’m not some genius for posting this blog. Nothing really revelatory is being posted here. Not a lot of “cutting edge” info here is there? Here’s what I want to leave you with though. While it’s ok to waste some money, and ok to spend money, and ok to invest money, we need to be mindful of what we’re doing and which category it falls into. Get yourself on a written plan, aka a budget. Make sure you are a good steward of money that’s been entrusted to your hands. Make sure the needs of your family are being met before your selfish desires.
Money is one of my favorite subjects, and it’s only in the last few years I’ve really learned how to manage my money. I’m still learning, but the one thing I’ve learned the most is money management is about 80% behavior and 20% head knowledge. It really is all about being disciplined and habitual when it comes to money management.
Be well.
I want to know what kind of book Herman is buying at Barnes and Noble
Money can be a powerful tool. It just depends on how someone uses it. I agree totally with budgeting. It does not matter how much your annual income is, a million or 10,000, with a budget that money can do exactly what you want it to do. Without one, even a person with a million dollar income can go broke. Thank you for teaching the Financial Peace class, Michael and I learned so much!
so the government’s legal required limit is $200 at target? i have been mis-informed my friend. now i can save that extra $20 and only spend $200 there. thanks for the info!
miss you guys.