Tweet

Are you Financially Balanced

Written by: Andrea Travillian

Article Overview: Are you saving or spending too much? Too much of one thing is still bad, learn if you are unbalanced and how to change if you are.

Are you Financially Balanced

What is financial balance? We all know what life/work balance is, managing the time spent in each area so that you are not depleted emotionally and physically. Financial balance is the same concept. You need to strike a balance between saving and spending so you are not depleted financially or emotionally. How do you know if you are financially balanced?

Ultimately you should try to save 10-15% of your income for retirement. In addition to that you should also save for emergencies, Kids College, cars, and all the other wonderful things that you want to have. So on the minimum side you should save 10%, on the maximum side that depends on your situation. Are you trying to save for a down payment on a house? Do you have everything paid off and the kids are gone, you may want to save much more to reach retirement earlier. You mainly have to monitor how you are feeling about your money.

Help I'm saving too much!

Saving money is a wonderful and necessary thing. I encourage everyone to do so! However it is possible to save too much. By saving too much you will begin to feel slighted that you are not able to buy what you want or that you are working for nothing. Saving too much although creates more for the future can create a false sense of scarcity now. Like when you work too many hours you begin to feel burnt out and undervalued. While creating a false sense that there is no time that is available for you and your family.

Help I'm spending too much!

Spending money is also a wonderful and amazing experience. Unfortunately over spending creates physical stress and problems, actual scarcity and it traps you into a future of financial problems. Likewise when you work too much your body never gets the chance to recuperate thus causing you harm today and tomorrow. This can come in the form of insomnia today and heart problems tomorrow. Not to mention the affects that both have on your relationships, creating conflict about your future and values.

So how do you find financial balance?

1. Live within your means. While this does not always create savings, it does eliminate overspending. If you cut your hours from 60 to 50 you may not completely gain balance in your life, but you will stop the deficit from getting bigger.

2. Slowly start to increase or decrease your savings. For most of us this is an increase in savings (the personal savings rate for November was 4.7%). Even small amounts will help get you started. Starting with $25 or $50 a month and slowly increasing that over time will get you more savings. If you are one of the lucky ones that need to increase your spending I also recommend that you start small. It can be equally as difficult emotionally to spend more as it is to forgo spending more to save money. Start by adding a splurge a month. Such as a manicure or an extra round of golf. Eventually spending will become easier.

3. Give yourself permission to make mistakes with your money. As you start down a new road to saving or spending remember that it is difficult to make a 100% change overnight. Just like when starting a new say no to work program it is easy to slip back and say yes to a new project. Just remember to acknowledge where you fell off, forgive yourself and start at it again. Do not give up!

4. Allow yourself the space to deal with emotional issues that arise as you change. Money is emotional; you have beliefs about money that have been around since childhood. It is hard to change these beliefs. Be forgiving of yourself and allow yourself the space to explore the emotions you will better be able to make a permanent change.

Striving for financial balance can help you lead a stronger, happier and healthier life. So start today by making small changes and see how far you can go!

Related Articles
  Count more than the money
  Balanced scorecard as a leadership tool
  More Answers to a Plea
  Financial Freedom – Not An Impossible Fantasy
  Replenishment!

Article Tags: finanical balance, money, save too much, spend too much
Referred by: http://www.SohoMarketingGuru.com



Related Forum Posts


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Make Small Commitments. Get Big Changes.

Join Conversations Politely, Part 1

Remind Me...

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.