Skip to main content

Face the Music

A new year is historically a time when each of us promises ourselves that we are going to implement positive variations in our lives in some form or another...I am going to eat less junk food. I am going to get more exercise. I am going to lose weight. I am going to get more organized. I am going to be a better mother, grandmother, friend, or (insert your relationship-word here). My favorite? I am going to get in control of my finances.

More often than not, executing these new actions means doing something really hard...changing. Change is not easy, and it often means facing some tough, deep-rooted habits and lifestyle behaviors–demons, if you will. It can be uncomfortable and scary. But, as they said in the Old West, sometimes you gotta grab the bull by the horns.

In the days of the cowboy, ranch hands literally wrestled with steers.  It was part of their everyday working life throughout the west, and it was dangerous. While facing your financial situation might be frightening, at least you won’t have to worry about getting impaled by something sharp and spikey.

In my humble opinion, it’s easier to face something head on when you have a clearer picture of what it is. So, amid your start-of-the-year-renewal, make the time to figure out your net worth. Use an online calculator, if that makes it easier for you, like the one at Ramsey Solutions. (Thanks, Dave, you're my hero.)

Get in front of this. Maybe it’s not as bad as you think.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

One More–Christmas Experiences Part II

Christmas is just a week away. Hopefully you’ve checked everything off your to-do list and can spend some quality time “experiencing” Christmas gifts with your family. Because, after all, your loved ones will be far more touched by how you made them feel than they will be with what you gave them. This week, I want to share with you my sister, Carey’s, family Christmas experience. “One Christmas, when my boys, now 18, 23 and 28, were little, we gave them an experience that is still talked about now. And it’s something so easily replicated that any family can do it, and it’s not too late to do it for Christmas (even ON Christmas) this year. We drove around our neighborhood and looked at all the homes decorated for the holiday. We took note of the addresses as we numbered them. We talked about what made each ornamented yards stand out. And at the end of the night, we voted for our favorite. I had my sons help me make some of our favorite holiday desserts and, in addition to taking p...
Post a Comment
Read more

Timing is Everything

I was told that a good time to buy a car is January or February. Why? I would guess it’s because many people are financially destitute right after Christmas (because they have not yet been introduced to my blog!) so car sales are down. I do think there is another reason. I think that most people have yet to file their taxes and receive their tax returns (a.k.a. overpayment that they loaned interest-free to the government ) with which they plan to make a down payment. Now it’s March, and many people have already filed their taxes and received said overpayment that we common-folk refer to as a return, and it’s burning a hole in their pockets. This can be good news for you if you have things you want to sell. Now is the time to capitalize on the extra influx of cash. What do you have around your house that you no longer use that you can sell? Speaking as someone who has done this very thing, I must warn you. Selling stuff you don’t need anymore and collecting the cash can be addicting...
Post a Comment
Read more

The One Nobody Wants to Talk About

A young, twenty-something wife and mother of three in my neighborhood lost her husband unexpectedly a few years ago. He died with no life insurance. It left the family financially devastated . She had to sell her house and move into her parent’s basement. A Go Fund Me account paid for her husband’s funeral. I have another friend who lost her husband to a horrible illness when they were in their early forties. This couple had planned ahead and made sure they had the right amounts of the right kinds of insurance in place, including life insurance on the major breadwinner of the family–my friend’s husband. A year or so after he passed, I asked her how she was doing financially. She said her husband had taken care of her financially in death just as well as he had in life. Life insurance is crucial for a specific portion of your life. Do not overlook this. There is more to losing a family member than the overwhelming grief of the loss itself. No one needs financial hardship heape...
Post a Comment
Read more